Children's literature and representations of gender : a study of texts in the year 3 primary classroom

Abstract

Children's literature is an important element of primary education. This literature positions males and females according to specific cultural norms; some of these norms can be considered stereotyped. Relevant large-scale international research suggests that females are under-represented, both on a textual and pictorial level, in children's books. Moreover, books seem to portray stereotypical messages through the roles, activities, physical charactersitics and items of clothing attributed to male and female characters. In this study we look at the representation of gender in Maltese Year 3 primary classes, at one State College, through content analysis of fifteen English language books and fifteen Maltese language and locally produced books, identified by a total of six teachers, as the supplementary texts being used most often in their classrooms. The detailed analysis of English language books, on pictorial and textual levels, as well as concurrently in the text and pictures, corresponds to the findings of large scale studies; in that females are underrepresented and the roles of female characters are rather trivial to the storyline. On the other hand, a similar analysis of Maltese language books revealed that female characters are more prominent to most storylines, however they are still in line with traditional roles and expectations. Subsequent to such an analysis of texts, the data gathered is compared and discussed in relation to semi-structured interviews, conducted with each of the six teachers. The analysis disclosed that although teachers realised the importance of gender equality, they were still oblivious to the stereotypical messages being transmitted through these stories.