Abstract
This study was conducted with the aim of investigating how gender roles are represented in a selection of South African picturebooks, with particular attention paid to how these books cumulatively constitute a hidden curriculum. The social role theory was the theoretical framework that was selected to serve as an overarching framework of this study. The picturebooks of the Book Dash collection were chosen as the case study and the data was analysed using thematic analysis. The interpretation of the themes discovered from analysing the picturebooks of the Book Dash collection was governed by Eagly and Wood’s (2012) social role theory. The theory suggests that the difference in the way men and women behave is based on the socially constructed division of labour. This theory predicts that men would be more dominant than women when placed in the same environment. The theory also predicts that when men and women are placed in an environment that is governed by rules that apply equally to both, then the gender role differences would be less pronounced or eliminated (Eagly & Wood, 2012). This is to say that gender roles come about as a result of the patriarchal environment and the manner in which the individual chooses to respond to this environment. Gender roles may be represented in picturebooks and may contribute to stereotypes (Evans, Joubert & Meier, 2018). Efforts have been made to reduce the representation of gender role stereotypes in children’s literature (Clark, Guilmain, Saucier & Tavarez, 2003). However, it is incorrect to say that this has resulted in the representation of the gender role stereotypes being completely absent over time (Narahara 1998; Nebbia, 2016). The persistence of gender stereotypes can be observed in the Book Dash collection, which depicts gendered characters in a variety of ways that could be read as both perpetuating and challenging stereotypes.
Findings obtained from analysing the Book Dash collection reveal that some of the picturebooks perpetuate gender role stereotypes by featuring characters that are directly differentiated by their gender (Brugeilles, Cromer, Cromer & Andreyev, 2002; Trepanier-Street & Romatowski, 1999) through text, illustrations, character names, clothes and actions; however, when the picturebooks are read cumulatively, the collection does show that gender role stereotypes are being challenged. This
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challenge takes the form of men and women in non-traditional roles, the inclusion of gender-neutral characters, and even the exclusion of the explicit labelling of the gender of a protagonist, thereby promoting the equality of both genders. The dissertation argues that the implications of this in terms of the hidden curriculum and teacher training are that while a range of gendered representations are available to teachers and caregivers, how the books are selected and incorporated needs to be interrogated. This is a case study that has findings that are not transferable to other picturebook collections found in South Africa. Recommendations were made about the other aspects of the collection that may be studied to gain a well-rounded understanding of its position within the dynamics of the hidden curriculum. Some of the recommendations suggest that the picturebooks from the Book Dash collection may be analysed using content analysis to account for the frequency of measurable units in a future study. Alternatively, a new study may involve human participants to explore how learners and teachers experience the nature of the hidden curriculum when engaging with the collection. Another recommendation would be to conduct a study that accounts for non-binary and transgender characters within the collection so as to avoid promoting a “cisgender normative” (Carolin, 2014). The implications of this study to teacher education were also discussed and they allude to the fact that aspects of the hidden curriculum should be addressed carefully when selecting children’s literature for children or when teaching the selected children’s literature.