Analysis of gender, age and disability representation in music education textbooks: A research update

Abstract

According to International and European Law, teachers are encouraged to analyse, challenge and to help to eliminate sexist stereotypes and distortions in curricular materials. We aimed to characterize and compare the efficacy of implementation of the gender equality-based approach in the Spanish educational system, through a content analysis of the illustrations in music education (ME) textbooks following a coding scheme constructed by the research team according to guidelines from previous studies about the depiction of women and girls in ME textbooks during two periods of Spanish democracy: before (1992–2005); and after (2006–2015). Our major findings were: (a) female characters were under-represented in both time periods studied; (b); the stereotype of women as amateur but not professional musicians is not perpetuated in the current primary ME textbooks; (c) both children and adults independently of gender were portrayed interacting with others; (d) despite the fact that women teachers are actively participating in schools, ME textbooks do not faithfully reflect that reality; and (e) the virtual absence of females and males with disabilities suggests that this aspect of inclusion is still pending. Notwithstanding, ME textbooks printed after 2006 tended to challenge some traditional stereotypes pertaining to how females and males think, play and act within the musical world.

El análisis de los manuales escolares en la educación musical

“…Numerosos estudios sobre la figura de la mujer en los manuales escolares coinciden en señalar una menor representación de esta con respecto al hombre (BERNABÉ-VILLODRE; MARTÍNEZ-BELLO, 2018;HAWKINS, 2007;HUMPHREYS, 1997;KOZA, 1992bKOZA, , a, 1994LAM, 2018). Además, Koza (1992bKoza ( , a, 1994 añadió que los libros de texto reflejaban estereotipos de género en los que la mujer no se vinculaba con el prestigio ni con un estatus elevado.…”

Pedagogías alternativas y educación en los márgenes a lo largo del siglo XX. XXI Coloquio de historia de la Educación SEDHE

“…Y estas cifras empeoran cuando nos referimos a los personajes principales, a los referentes culturales y a las obras con autoría, donde tan solo aparecen diez mujeres por cada cien hombres. Por ello, podemos afirmar que todavía estamos alejados de una zona deseable, resultados que podrían ser aún más discriminatorios en manuales de etapas educativas superiores como la Educación Secundaria; u otras materias (Ciencias, Matemáticas, Música, Educación Física…) (Bernabé-Villodre y Martínez-Bello, 2018;Blanco, 2000).…”

Open Educational Resources as tools to foster equity

“…Specifically, studies show that women, people of color, people of lower socioeconomic status, and differently-abled individuals often are underrepresented and/or are represented stereotypically in textbooks (Deckman et al, 2018;Parker et al, 2017;Rosa et al, 2016). While there have been some improvements over time, women, particularly women of color, are still not well represented in many textbooks (Bernabé-Villodre & Martínez, 2018;Eigenberg & Park, 2015;Woyshner & Schocker, 2015). OER are not inherently immune to issues with diverse representations, but, unlike commercial materials, the licensing of OER allows for editing to improve representation.…”