ERIC Number: EJ1378943
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2331-186X
Gender and Class in the Imagined Educational Spaces in Pakistani Primary School Textbooks: A Challenge for Inclusivity Agenda
Tayyaba, Tamim; Ansari, Humayun; Faisal, Bari
Cogent Education, v9 n1 Article 2146858 2022
Post-COVID educational planning demands an urgent re-evaluation of the inclusivity of our educational systems, now that almost 24 million learners, a majority of these girls and the poor in developing countries, are at the risk of dropping out. This paper explores the discursive inclusivity of some primary level textbooks used in government and low-fee private schools in Pakistan. An analysis of the intersection of gender and class in 38 'imagined' educational spaces (classrooms/schools and related contexts) appearing in the textbooks revealed that the discourse strongly excluded and legitimized the absence of working class females, while marginalizing those from middle class. Education appears to be largely irrelevant to the lives of females across classes, just as they themselves appear to be knowledge construction. The normalized presence in education is that of middle-class males, with some peripheral space for those from working-class males. Foucault's theoretical framework reveals exclusionary techniques of: (a) spatial exclusion (b) exclusivity of the right to speak what counts as knowledge; (c) construction of differential enabling possibilities. Although transgressive at times, the discourse never challenges the dominant norms, highlighting a worrisome aspect in textbooks that need to be addressed by policy makers and educationists.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Equal Education, Elementary Education, Textbooks, Textbook Content, Public Schools, Private Schools, Gender Differences, Social Influences, Social Class, Gender Bias, Social Bias, Grade 5, Classroom Environment, Educational Environment
Cogent OA. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Pakistan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A