EQRE 2004

Content Analysis for Gender Bias in Turkish Elementary School Textbooks

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Gizem Aksoy, Nurçin Erdoğan, and Fatma Gök

This study analyzed the presentation of gender roles in Turkish elementary school textbooks. Gender roles and identity are among the primary social values that educational systems help their students to develop and internalize. Content and delivery of the educational materials reflect the values and ideals in a given society. Turkey, like other patriarchal societies, has values that put emphasis on male dominance and favor male priority. In this study, the way that gender roles were presented and members of the two genders were depicted in two Turkish elementary school textbooks were investigated by utilizing content analysis method. Content analyses of Turkish and Life Studies textbooks for 3rd grades showed that there were important differences for two genders in terms of social values, roles, and relations both in school atmosphere and family environment. Results implied important directions for educational administrators and policy makers in the preparation and use of educational content.

Keywords: Gender roles, identity formation, content analysis, textbooks

Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., Aksoy, G., Erdoğan, N., & Gök, F. (2004). Content analysis for gender bias in Turkish elementary school textbooks. Proceedings of the sixteenth annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education conference. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/eqre/papers/39EQRE.pdf