Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Gender representations in the illustrations of the 6th Grade Language Textbook used in Greek Elementary School
Abstract
This study explores the way in which the two sexes are presented in education and particularly in the illustration of the language textbook used in the 6th Grade of Greek elementary school. In a society where gender equality is constitutionally enshrined and displayed as an educational policy objective, it attempts to examine if school textbook images respond to the demands of social reality, or perpetuate outdated gender stereotyped educational practices. The visual communication system that school textbooks use has the same rhetoric in of the conveyance of ideological and cultural messages as the linguistic system. Therefore, students receive plenty of information from both communication systems about the roles and stereotypes that are considered appropriate for each sex. In the past, several studies have analyzed the linguistic system, while this is the first attempt at an organized and systematic analysis of the visual system in language textbooks, and specifically the one in 6th Grade. Both content analysis, as a measurement technique, and semiotics, as a visual analysis method, were used as a research method. The analysis of data showed that (a) the presentation of the two sexes in the illustration of this language textbook is not objectively compared with social changes, (b) apart from the quantitative inequality that exists in the presentation of the two sexes, there also appears to be a big difference in qualities such as behavioral characteristics, occupations, and activities, and (c) there is a reduction in the representation of outdated gender stereotypes, which is not necessarily positive, as the diversity of roles they undertake in the modern social sphere is not emphasized.
Keywords: textbook, illustration, representation, gender roles, stereotypes, semiotics
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Anagnostopoulos, D. (1997). Representations of the female and male sex in the texts of the book ‘My Language’ of Primary Education. In V. Deligianni-Kouimtzi, & S. Ziogou-Karastergiou (eds.), Gender and School Act (pp.316-330). Thessaloniki: Vanias.
Apple, M. W. (2008). Official Knowledge. (G. Grollios, eds.) Thessaloniki: Epikentro.
Apple, M. W., & Christian-Smith, L. K. (1991). The Politics of the Textbook. New York: Routledge.
Arnot, M. (2006). Reproducing Gender? Essays on Educational Theory and Feminist Politics. Athens:Metaixmio.
Athanasiadou, Ch. (2002). Young women with a university education and the reconciliation of private and public sphere in adulthood design. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Psychology.
Augoustinos, M., & Walker, I. (1995). Social Cognition: An Integrated Introduction. London: Sage.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A., & Huston A. (1961). Identification as a process of incidental learning. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , pp. 311-318.
Barthes, R. (1979). Mythologies. (K. Chatzidimou, & I. Ralli, trans.) Athens: Kedros.
Barthes, R. (1983). Image - Music - Text. (M. Grigoriou, trans.) Athens:Plethron.
Barthes, R. (2014). Elements of Semiology. (Ch. Magoulas, trans.) Trikala: Epekeina.
Beauvoir, S. (2008). The Second Sex. (T. Konstantinou, trans.) Athens: Metaixmio.
Belsky, J. (1979). Mother-father-infant interaction: Anaturalistic observational study. Development Psychology , 15 (6), pp. 601-607.
Berger, J. (2011). Ways of Seeing. (E. Stamatopoulou, trans.) Athens: Metaixmio.
Berelson, B. (1952). Content Analysis in Communication Research. New York: Hafner Press.
Block, J. (1973). Conceptions of sex role: some crosscultural and longitudinal perspectives. American Psychologist , 28, pp. 512-526.
Boklund-Lagopoulou, K. (1980). Semiotics and Society. International Conference of the Greek Society of Semiotics (pp. 7-18). Thessaloniki: Odisseas.
Boklund-Lagopoulou, K. (1983, Jun 15). What is Semiotics?. Diavazo , pp. 15-23.
Bryson, V. (2005). Feminist political theory: An introduction. (E. Panagou, trans.) Athens: Metaixmio.
Chandler, D. (1994). Semiotics for Beginners. [Online] Available: http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/ (January 18, 2016).
Chandler, D. (1998). Notes on The Gaze. [Online] Available: visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/gaze/greek/gaze_greek.html (January 20, 2016).
Charalampopoulos, V. (2006). The teaching approach of the language course with the new language book for elementary school. Thessaloniki: Workshop of the Pedagogical Group.
Christodoulou, A. (1996). Semiotics and Advertising. Efarmosmeni Glossologia , pp. 51-62.
Christodoulou, A. (2007). Semiotics and School Textbooks. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.
Christodoulou, A. (2012). Paideia, Education, Values: Semiotic Approach. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.
Cohen, L., & Manion, L. (1997). Research Methods in Education. Athens: Ekfrasi.
Cohen, S., & Comiskey, T. (1977). Child Development: Contemporary Perspectives. Illinois: Peacock.
Creswell, J. W. (2011). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Athens: Iwn.
Dagtoglou, P. D. (2012). Constitutional Law: Civil Rights. Athens-Thessaloniki: Sakkoulas.
Deligianni-Kouimtzi, V. (1987). The stereotypes about gender roles in textbooks of primary school "My Language". Philologos , 49, pp. 229-248.
Deligianni-Kouimtzi, V. (1999). «Our fault...»: The «reason» of gender relations in the context of the problem of citizenship. In Diotima, Center for Women Studies and Research (ed.), The sex of rights (pp. 313-333). Athens: Nefeli.
Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 56 (1), pp. 5-18.
Diakogeorgiou, A. (2012). The illustration of Anthology “With Logic and Dream". Educational Sciences , 3, pp. 137-172.
Dimitropoulos, A. (2004). Lectures of Constitutional Law III – Constitutional Rights. Athens: Sakkoulas.
Dragona, T. (2007). Stereotypes and Prejudices. Athens: YPEPTH, University of Athens.
Duberman, L. (1975). Gender and Sex in Society. New York: Praeger.
Eccles, J. S., Jacobs, J. E., & Harold, R. D. (1990). Gender Role Stereotypes, Expectancy Effects, and Parents' Socialization of Gender Differences. Journal of Social Issues , 46 (2), pp. 183-201.
Eco, U. (1989). A Theory of Semiotics. (E. Kallifatidi, trans.) Athens: Gnosi.
Fiske, J., & Hartley, J. (2010). The Language of Television. (R. Astrinaki, trans.) Athens: Aigokeros.
Fragkoudaki, A. (1979). The textbooks of primary school. Ideological coercion and violence pedagogy. Athens: Themelio.
Freiderikou, A. (1995). Jenny behind the glass: Representation of gender in language teaching textbooks of primary school. Athens: Ellinika Grammata.
Gavey, N. (1989). Feminist Poststructuralism and Discourse Analysis: Contributions to Feminist Psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly , pp. 459-475.
Georgiou-Nilsen, M. (1980). The family in the textbooks of primary school. Athens: Kedros.
Giotopoulou-Maragkopoulou, A. (1998, 4). The historical shift of the State Council to real equality. Comment on decisions 1933/1988 and 1917-1929/1998. ToS , p. 774.
Gkotovos, A. (1986). The logic of real school. Athens: Modern Education.
Goldin, C. (1984). The Historical Evolution of Female Earnings Functions and Occupations. Explorations in Economic History, 21(1), pp. 1-27.
Golombok, S., & Fivush, R. (1994). Gender Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Greimas, A. J. (2005). Structural Semantics: An Attempt at a Method. (G. Parisis, trans.) Athens: Patakis.
Hartley, J. (1982). Understanding News. London: Methuen.
Holsti, O. (1968). Content Analysis. In A. Aronson, & E. Lindzey (eds.), The Handbook of Social Psychology (Vol. 2). London: Addison Wesley.
Igglesi, C. (1990). Faces of women, Masks of Consciousness. Athens: Odisseas.
Kanatsouli, M. (1997). Types of women and women’s "voices" in the books of primary school. In V. Deligianni-Kouimtzi, & S. Ziogou-Karastergiou (ed.), Sex and School Practice (pp. 303-315). Thessaloniki: Vanias.
Kantartzi, E. (1987). The curriculum and the parameters intervening in the syntax. Modern Education , p. 100.
Kantartzi, E. (1991). The Image of Woman. Diachronic Research of School Textbooks of Primary School. Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis.
Kantartzi, E. (1992). The hidden curriculum and stereotypes imposed on gender roles. Proceedings of Conference "Health and Quality of Life", (p. 108). Athens.
Kantartzi, E. (2002). Historical overview in illustration of children’s and school books. Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis.
Kantartzi, E. (2003). Stereotypes of gender roles in textbooks of primary school. Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis.
Kapetsonis, K. (2015). Representations of gender in the books of language course of the primary school. Unpublished Master Thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Education.
Kapsalis, A., & Charalampous, D. (2008). School textbooks: Institutional development and modern problems. Athens: Metaixmio.
Kapsomenos, E. G. (2014). Narratology: Theory and methods of analysis of narrative prose. Athens: Patakis.
Kohlberg, L. (1966). A Cognitive-Developmental Analysis of Children's Sex-Role Concepts and Attitudes. In E. E. Maccoby, The Development of Sex Differences (pp. 82-172). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kokogiannis, K. (2008). Feminist Pedagogy. Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis.
Kotsalidou, E. (2003). The ideology through the language textbooks of primary school. Education Issues (12), pp. 23-39.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. (G. Kourmentala, trans.) Thessaloniki: Epikentro.
Lagopoulos, A.-P. (2004). Epistemology of meaning, structuralism and semiotics. Thessaloniki: Paratiritis.
Lagopoulos, A. P., & Boklund-Lagopoulou, K. (2012). Introducting semiotics. (I. Vamvakidou, E. Kourdis, & A. Christodoulou, eds.) Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.
van Leeuwen, T. (1992). The Schoolbook as a Multimodal Text. Internationale Schulbuchforschung , 14 (1), pp. 35-58.
Levin, J. R., & Mayer, R. E. (2009). Understanding Illustrations in Text. In B. K. Britton, A. Woodward, & M. Binkley (ed.), Learning From Textbooks: theory and practice (pp. 95-113). New York: Routledge.
Lips, H. (1988). Sex and Gender: An Introduction. California: Mayfield.
Louvrou, E. (1994). The sexist profile of textbook "My Language" of primary school: linguistic analysis. Glwssa , 32, pp. 45-61.
Maragkoudaki, E. (2000). Education and gender discrimination. Athens: Odisseas.
Markantoni, I., & Riga, A. (1991). Family, motherhood, sponsorship. Athens: Mauromatis.
Matsaggouras, H. (2006). School Textbooks: Critical assessment of knowledge, teaching and learning process. Comparative and international educational inspection, 7, pp. 60-92.
Maurousoudi, H. (2007). The gendered mode of school textbooks: a study case of the new textbook of 1st Grade of primary school. Unpublished Diploma Thesis, University of Western Macedonia, Department of Preschool.
Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Online Journal) , 1 (2).
Mead, M. (1977). Growing up in New Guinea. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Measor, L., & Siker, P. (1992). Gender and Schools. Gr. Br.: Cassel.
Michel, A. (1981). Sociology of the family and marriage: Basic elements for Greek family. Athens: Gutenberg.
Michel, A. (1986). Down with Stereotypes! Eliminating Sexism from Children's Literature and School Textbooks. Unesco.
Mikk, J. (2000). Textbook: Research and Writing. Frankfurt: Lang.
Mpamplekou, Z. (1997). The formation of the notion of gender roles: changes in the theoretical stage. Modern Education: Quarterly Review of Educational Affairs , pp. 89-95.
Mponidis, K. (1998). Research issues of contexts of textbooks: National self-stereotypes and hetero-stereotypes in illustration of textbooks "My Language" of primary school. Proceedings of the National Conference on: Greek pedagogical and educational research (pp. 239-246). Athens: Atrapos.
Mponidis, K. (2004). The content of the school textbook as a subject of research: Diachronic review of research and methodological approaches. Athens: Metaixmio.
Nasiakou, M. (1982). Psychology Today. Athens: Papazisis.
Papageorgiou, G. (2004). Hegemony and Feminism. Athens: Tupothito.
Propp, V. J. (1991). Morphology of the Folktale. (A. Parisi, trans.) Athens: Kardamitsa.
Rasinski, K., Crocker, J., & Hastle, R. (1985). Another look at sex stereotypes and social judgments: an analysis of the social perceiver's use of subjective probabilities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 49 (2), pp. 317-326.
Rosenberg, G., & Sutton-Smith, B. (1959). The Measurement of Masculinity and Femininity in Children. Child Development , pp. 373-380.
Saussure, F. (1979). Course in General Linguistic. (P. D. Apostolopoulou, trans.) Athens: Papazisis.
Shrewsbury, C. M. (1987). What Is Feminist Pedagogy? Women's Studies Quarterly , pp. 6-14.
Skinner, B. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: The Free Press.
Spender, D., & Sarah, E. (1980). Learning to Lose: Sexism and Education. London: The Women's Press.
Stratigaki, M. (2010-2013). National Program for Substantive Equality. Athens: General Secretariat for Equality.
Tatsis, I. (1991). Sociology, vol II. Athens: Odisseas.
Tong, R. (1995). Feminist Thought. A Comprehensive Introduction. London: Routledge.
Tsaousis, D. (1985). The human society: Introduction to Sociology. Athens: Gutenberg.
Turner, B., Abercrombie, N., & Hill, S. (1991). Dictionary of Sociology. (S. Kantas, & A. Kantas, trans.) Athens: Patakis.
Tzampazi, F., Kyridis, A., & Christodoulou, A. (2013). ‘What Will I Be When I Grow up?’ International Journal of Social Science Research , 1(1), pp. 19-38
Vamvakidou, I. (2004). Gendered narratives and readings of Macedonian Struggle through the historical evidence: gender suppression in the historical action. Filippos , 145, 13-19.
Vamvakidou, I., Christodoulou, A., Vazoura, Z., & Solaki, A. (2014). Childhood representations in school history textbook of 3rd Grade of high school. Proceedings of Panhellenic Conference with International Participation: Rethinking on childhood (pp. 330-353). Thessaloniki: Zygos.
Vamvakidou, I., & Gkolia, P. (2009). The representations of woman in illustration: school textbooks of Modern Greek History of primary school. Modern Education , 159, 80-94.
Vamvakidou, I., Solaki, A., & Papadima, A. (2016). Gendered representations of the First World War, the suffragettes return. In S. Koniordos (eds.), Proceedings of the 5th Panhellenic Congress of Sociology (pp. 45-59). Athens: Greek Sociology Society.
Varika, E. (2009). For a political grammar of gender. Athens: Plethron.
Ziogou-Karastergiou, S., & Deligianni-Kouimtzi, V. (1981). The stereotype of gender roles in textbooks of primary school. Philologos , 23, pp. 282-295.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2010-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.
Advances in Language and Literary Studies
You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.