Sex role stereotypes in Greek primary school textbooks

• Main Author: Kantartzi, Evagelia
• Other Authors: Cammish, Nadine K.
• Published: University of Hull 2000
• Subjects: 301; Sociology : Human services : Education : Literature : Mass media : Performing arts
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.342973

My purpose in this research is to examine the way in which the two sexes are presented in school textbooks. The incentive for pursuing my research was my own experience of using school textbooks and the observation of everyday reality. Until the present time research in Greece regarding the image of the two sexes has been limited to the primary school reading-scheme books. With this study I intend to give a detailed picture of the beliefs about sex roles as these are presented through the whole range of school textbooks. My ambition is that my work - in combination with other similar studies - will help instructors to comprehend and point out the traditional standard beliefs about the two sexes depicted in the textbooks which are used on a daily basis in schools in Greece. This research could sensitise instructors and simultaneously help them to be aware of and recognise the stereotype beliefs in the books they use. In this way they will be able, with the appropriate interventions and discussions, to consider their validity in relation to the children they teach. The present study is presented in 14 chapters. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the wide theoretical-work related to socialisation and the sex roles (Chapters 1-2). The third chapter discusses the agents of sex role socialisation (the family, peer groups, media, school). The fourth chapter studies the woman's professional role. Chapter 5 includes a brief description of the Greek educational system and an examination of a girl's place within it. The sixth deals with books as a factor in the configuration of the sex role. Chapter 7 includes a review of the related studies. The second part of the thesis includes the main body of the study, the methodology (chapter 8), the analysis of the results (chapters 9-13) and finally the conclusions and suggestions (chapter 14). Chapters 9-13 have their own separate bibliographies to facilitate reference for readers interested in one particular curriculum area.