Evaluating textbooks for gender bias and inclusion

¶ … Gender Bias & Inclusion

Recently, The Wall Street Journal took the highly respected children's textbook publisher, the Houghton Mifflin Company, to task for its overly inclusive approach to children's textbook design. The Journal accused Houghton Mifflin of taking "able-bodied children selected through modeling agencies" to pose in wheelchairs or with crutches for Houghton Mifflin's elementary school textbooks. (Golden, 2006) A editorial in The Boston Globe agreed that by reducing "diversity to something as shallow and meaningless as appearance," the company reinforced "the most dehumanizing stereotypes of all" that "people [are] first and foremost...members of racial, ethnic, or social groups." (Jacoby, 2006) However, this anger seems perplexing, given that a model is supposed to be a representation of a child, not the 'actual' child -- even the able-bodied children in the pictures are not 'actual' students in classrooms studying the textbooks. The model children might be older, younger, or not live in the states where the textbooks depicted are being used.

The anger that this revelation spawned, however, is instructive for the controversial and emotional nature of the diversity debate in children's textbook design. A more valid issue might be, for example, how a social studies textbook for K-12 graders can accurately depict real life, which may have, for example, a gender imbalance in some occupations, without reinforcing and perpetuating such societal stereotypes. To refer once again to Houghton Mifflin textbooks, a 2004 social studies textbook series entitled My World, designed for children K-6, encouraged children to take an interest in their contemporary communities in an inclusive manner, regardless of gender. Drawing a map of one's home community is not called a male or female occupation. Scientific aspects of understanding how the world works, like figuring different time zones, or mapping the community, are not gendered, rather icons instead of persons of either gender are shown engaged in such tasks. However, somewhat perplexingly, in the handouts available for teachers on the website, when showing how to help students map their community, gas stations, schools, and homes are suggested as common sights, indicating a rather suburban emphasis of in the company's approach. Also, the use of reference points like gas stations might be more of interest to boys than girls. Still, the series should be commended in the fact that, when discussing contemporary occupations, both men and women are shown working at non-stereotypically gendered occupations.

The series also tries to show boys and girls from the past engaging in efforts like chopping wood, hauling water, traveling by train, and doing daily chores to help their families. This is realistic in the sense that it accurately depicts the hard life of persons alive in America many years ago, does not misrepresent the roles of the genders, yet also pays tribute to the labors of women and girls in a way that is meaningful and relatable to all children. All children have to do chores, and all children travel, and this is a way to bring history alive to both girls and boys without suggesting that one gender labored or engaged in exploration more than the other gender. The clothing of the children is historically accurate, but girls are not only seen as objects of admiration. Famous figures of the past of different genders are both given respect and attention. There is a stress upon transportation regarding America's past, though, that might, depending on the viewpoint of the educator, seem to tip the balance of 'typical' interests of boys and girls in favor of male-oriented pursuits.

Not only Houghton Mifflin has demonstrated a commitment to greater inclusiveness and diversity in publishing. Glencoe, a division of the educational publishing company McGraw Hill, puts forth a book entitled The World and its People. This geography book mainly pays attention to scientific facts about the world, and focuses more on natural aspects of the world than individuals of either gender, although it does pay tribute to the diversity and high rates of immigration in the United States. Natural life is the focus of this text. But again, if one considers the stereotypical interests of boys and girls, the stress upon facts and statistics, rather than upon persons might make the approach of the text more of interest to one gender than the other.

In another McGraw Hill edition, entitled American History: Early Years to 1877, there does seem to be more of a stress upon being clear and factual, rather than presenting an equal number of women and men than in the Houghton Mifflin approach. Major figures such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses Grant are given the greatest amount of attention. Issues of sex, gender, and sexual orientation and gender identity are seldom included in this textbook. There was an avoidance of special 'boxed' topics, segregating female or diversity issues away from other issues.

In most of these social studies books, the issue of female oppression is not at the forefront, although when relevant to the history of the past, such as with the struggles of African-Americans to find their way to freedom via the Underground Railroad under Harriet Tubman's watch, these issues are not ignored. This raises the question, of course -- what is more important, that children learn the traditional factual basis of history at a young age, even if the history gives more importance to male figures in chronicling the early period of American history, or is it more significant to present children with a balanced gendered perspective? The textbook devoted to social studies like the My World series, had essentially an easier task than a book on older American history. Today, a child's world is likely to be more balanced in terms of women and men as significant historical actors, and also likely to be more inclusive in the variety of roles open to men and women. A textbook about the historical past, especially the long-ago past must fundamentally revaluate what constitutes important history. A geography book or a book about life long ago can give equal attention to the daily lives of ordinary men and women, but a historical book must filter out the most important men and women, and the most important issues for young citizens to know. Photographs, staged or not, about likely readers or persons living today cannot stand in for the images of significant actors in history. But who are those significant actors? The textbook American History: Early Years to 1877 could have given more attention to the First Ladies of colonial America, to the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe, to Susan B. Anthony, and other females whose lives impacted America's historical development.