Children, Gender and School Curricula in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study investigates the effect of gender representation in Saudi Arabian school curricula on children's value systems and social character. In particular, the study examines gender distribution in first-grade school textbooks in Saudi Arabia where schooling, and education at large, is single-sex throughout. The data for the study is constituted by six textbooks prescribed for the first school semester at boys' and girls' schools. The study attempts a content analysis of the texts and illustrations in these textbooks in order to examine the representation, indeed construction, for the children of society and the stereotypical social roles of its members. Analysis reveals a gendered representation. Women suffer low visual and verbal visibility, and are almost completely denied occupations. Moreover, social activity is segregated by gender, with women appearing mostly in indoor activities and men in outdoor activities. The paper concludes by revisiting these findings against the backcloth of the idiosyncratic religious and cultural character of the Saudi society in which gender differences are normalized.

التغييرات في التعليم بسبب جائحة کورونا في المملکة العربية السعودية

“…However, male and female students are still taught in separate schools by male and female teachers respectively. This, according to Ghalib (2017), is influenced by the Arabian culture which is in turn grounded in religious beliefs. Teachers in training are also prepared to teach students of the same gender.…”

Gender Inequity in K-12 Education

“…Despite the increase in gender equality in textbooks today, school textbooks still contain gender-biased information and stereotypes about men and women. Some textbooks show women appearing mostly in indoor activities and men in outdoor activities [3]. Some texts and illustrations in textbooks and the representation of women and men in the domains of quantitative balance and gender stereotyping, show female invisibility, male firstness and stereotypical images [4][5][6][7].…”