Depictions of Human Bodies in the Illustrations of Early
Childhood Textbooks
In many Ibero-American countries children in
the early childhood education (ECE) system have the opportunity to interact with textbooks on a regular basis. The
powerful social function of textbooks in socializing children in primary and secondary school, and in legitimizing
what counts as cultural norms and officially sanctioned
values and knowledge, is clearly documented. However,
the examination of ECE textbooks especially in the context
of developing countries for messages about the social
construction of the body is virtually nonexistent. Therefore,
the purpose of this research was to examine, through a
content analysis of the illustrations, the representation of
the body across the different categories of gender, age,
activity level, space and disability in eight Colombian ECE
textbooks from the three major commercial publishing
houses between 2009 and 2012. Our results show that these
textbook authors and publishers have made an effort to
promote equality between the genders. However, only four
disabled people were portrayed in the illustrations and
there was a lower proportion of older adults doing a limited
range of gross motor activities. Likewise the results note
that, although progress has been made in terms of the
balance of gender representation in textbooks, these still
reinforce and legitimize the status of the ‘‘able-body’’, and
contribute to consolidating a view of able-bodiedness as
the dominant norm. Taking into account that beliefs and
prejudices constitute barriers to education and social
participation, these results suggest that the representation
of children with disabilities in ECE textbooks at the earliest
stages of education should be mandatory.
j136 | | Perpustakaan FITK Pusat | Tersedia |
Penerbit
New York:Springer :
New York.,
2016
Edisi
(2016) 44:181–190 DOI
Pernyataan Tanggungjawab
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