Table of contents:-

SR. CONTENT PAGE

NO. NO.
1 Introduction 3
2 Background 5
3 Aim 7
4 Thesis 8
5 Selection 9
6 Theory 10
7 Gender and education in India 12
8 Analysis of Balbarthi English Textbook 13
Standard One
9 Analysis of Chapters 15
10 Discussion 20
11 Suggestions for Change 20
12 References 22
 Introduction
In my textbooks I learned that only men are
kings and soldiers Till I read a book in
which famous, queens ruled and fought
against enemies In my textbooks I learned
that only men are doctors. When I went
to a doctor, I saw that she was a woman. In
my textbook I learned that only men do
farming in my country, until, on a train
journey I saw women working in the fields. I
have learned that I have a lot to learn by
seeing. Pooja, Ramya, Anuj, Utkarsh
students of Class VII, Gender equality is a
highly discussed subject in today’s society.
Generally, men and women’s access to
equality differs concerning salaries, respect
and power. Children grow up learning
about gender equality from parents, society
and other adults that surround them.
Clearly, gender equality deals with issues
of democracy and fundamental values. To
teach children at an early age about these
issues will benefit our society. An
understanding for gender equality will of
course not come by itself. R. W. Connell
states that “a willingness to learn, gender
theory and research can play a significant
role in making a more democratic world”. In
Sexual / Textual Politics Toril Moi states
that the “principal objective of feminist
criticism has always been political: it seeks
to expose, not to perpetuate, patriarchal
practices.” (Moi 1985.2001: Preface). Given
the gender bias of school curricula, one of
the prime aims of feminist curriculum
practice has been to challenge and change
the content of taken- for- granted school
knowledge(s) (Coffey and Delmont
2000:38). Feminist educational thinking
closely scrutinizes the way in which gender
stereotypes pervade curricula, syllabi and
teaching materials, how schools, colleges
and universities perpetuate stereotypes,
the link between education and gender
conceptions of society, the family and the
economy. While the academic
establishment in India is slowly taking note
of these developments, a lot remains to be
 said about the actual rhetoric and practices
of educational discourse.
 Background
The National Curriculum Frame work
(2005) document recognized that: “we must
use text books as one of the primary
instruments for equality, since for a great
majority of school going children, as also
for teachers, it is the only accessible
and affordable resource for education”
(Panday 2004).The textual material that is
developed for the school-going children is
of paramount importance in education. It is
the text book that they are exposed to in
the class room, and the teacher conveys its
meaning and interpretation, while
embossing his / her own ideas on the
minds of children, who are yet in the
formative stage. This is one of the earliest
and most important influences on the
young, growing minds. It is necessary and
relevant to study and understand how
gender is depicted in primary school text
books, because by age seven, and perhaps
as early as age four, children begin to
understand about the basic concept of self.
Gender Schema Theory suggests that
youngsters develop a sense of
femaleness and maleness based on
gender stereotypes and organize their
behaviour around them (Ben 1981, 1983,
1984; Eagly and Wood 1999). American
feminists like Elaine Showalter argue that
women and men write and read differently
since the contexts of their lives are
different. Showalter says, in many
educational settings the experiences of
women and the issues that concern them
are often ignored or5 trivialized by teachers
and by curricular materials (Tierney
2008:555). Firoz Bakht Ahmed (2006)
notes that since 1982-83, the National
Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) has been laying
stress on removing gender disparities –
specifically emphasizing the elimination of
gender stereotypes and gender biases
 from text books. He observes a general
slow reduction in gender bias is discernible
in the typical “second generation” study
conducted at least a decade after the “first
generation” research. But Ahmed’s overall
conclusion is that “Despite the NCERT
having developed a set of guidelines for the
elimination of gender stereotyping in textual
material and the same disseminated to the
authors and publishers, not much has
changed” (Quoted in Blumberg 2007).
 Aim
A general analysis of to what extent a
teaching textbook is gender equal or not.
The textbook studied is used in the primary
section for class one of Maharashtra board
for the subject English. The aim of this
study is to explicate the issue of whether
gender stereotypes are reinforced or not
by6 examining the representation of men
and women in the texts of English Balbharti
for standard one. Actually, this study will
 attempt to show how English Balbharti for
standard one gender stereotypes.
 Thesis
In particular, it is important to focus on the
awareness of equal rights and opportunities
for men and women in a classroom. It is
also of importance to relate English texts to
the student’s surroundings and social
life. Furthermore, we must examine
whether textbooks represent different ways
of living, social matters and traditions to
expand the student´s knowledge and
understanding of a foreign language.
Textbooks should therefore be written to
suit both genders to be able to capture
their interests and challenge gender
stereotypes. As already stated, my
study seeks to examine gender
stereotypes and also to what extent men
and women are represented and also how
theyare represented in the textbook.
 Selection
The textbook is the revised syllabus for
Maharashtra state board curriculum for
class one7 subject English. The first
edition was published in the year 2018
and the third reprint was done in the year
2021. For my study I am using the latest
edition of the book. The book not only
consists of texts but also of many different
images that may cause reactions and lead
to further discussions with the students. It
will also be useful to investigate the images
as well and for this reason I will include a
few of them in my analysis. The method
used is textual analysis as a qualitative
method. “Qualitative researchers typically
rely on four methods for gathering
information: (1) participation in the setting,
(2) direct observation, (3) in depth
interviews, and (4) analysis of
documents and materials” I have
concentrated on method number four
“analysis of documents and materials” in
examining the representations of gender.
 The strategy used is to study one or two
texts in each of the eight units the book and
to examine the representation of gender in
texts and images.

 Theory
Gender is the socially constructed difference
between men and women. According to
Connell there are different ideals for women
and men: “bodily differences and social
effects are often linked through the idea
of character dichotomy”. Thus gender
differences are established through
oppositions. As Connell states, “women
are supposed to be nurturing, suggestible,
talkative, emotional, intuitive, and sexually
loyal”, while men, on the other hand, are
“supposed to be aggressive, tough-minded,
taciturn, rational, analytic and
promiscuous”. In this context, an
important notion is what Connell refers to
as the “sex role”. Connell claims in his book
Gender that it has been assumed that “there
are two sex roles, a male and a female one,
with boys and girls getting separately
inducted into the norms and expectations
of the appropriate one”. Moreover,
researchers like Barrie Thorne have
observed children in school. She has
particularly studied the ways children “pick
up how to gender”. Even newborn babies
are treated differently because of their
gender; they are named either female or
male names and dressed in either9 blue or
pink baby clothes. From the time we are
born we are associated with different
objects. Many people associate the word
boys with cars, the colour blue, wild games
and bruises; the word girl is however
connected to the colour pink, clean, dolls
and quit games. Girls learn how to be polite,
kind and take care of our appearance at an
early age. As they grow up, girls and boys
learn how to act and look feminine or
masculine with the help from example make-
up, clothes, or magazines. Connell
continues to discuss how “blue” babies
 are expected to be “rougher and tougher,
more demanding, aggressive and
vigorous”. Growing up boys are given
computer games, cars and toy guns. Girls
are on the other hand expected to be “more
passive and compliant, also prettier”.
Growing up they are dressed in pretty pink
dresses and they are given dolls and
makeup.6 Kajsa Svaleryd states, in her text
Genuspedagogik, that the conceptions of
feminine and masculine ideals are present in
the media more than ever. She continues by
stating that the stereotypes for men and
women have never been clearer: pink and
pretty things for girls and tough and dark
things for boys. She found that many gender
differences were situational,10 created in
some situations and ignored in others.
Therefore, gender stereotypes continue to
be very important in our lives.
 Gender and education in India
Equality and equity in education are directly
related to the democratic development of the
 society, where the purpose of education is to
produce knowledge makers with the capacity
of making the most profitable use of the
acquired knowledge. The majority of the
nearly six million out-of-school children in
India are girls. Between 2006 and 2010, only
26% of girls completed high school,
compared to 50% of boys. This gender
inequality is most evident in low-income
families. Gender disparity is evident in India's
childhood literacy rates 82% of boys are
literate and only 65% of girls can read and
write, according to the 2011 Census of India.
Statistics show that about 10% more girls
enrolled in Indian high schools by 2019
compared to 2011. While this is a significant
increase, much remains to be done to
ensure that girls receive the same education
as boys. 11
 Analysis of Balbarthi English Textbook
Standard
One This analysis focuses on Balbarthi
English, a textbook suitable for English in
the Maharashtra state board curriculum standard
One. The new version was published in 2018. The
cover of the book depicts a Female teacher
teaching her students in natural environment. The
number of girls and boys students are equal. The
biasedness is about the gender of the teacher which
shows that the teacher is female which is
stereotypical occupation for a woman in our society.
It is always prejudiced that a woman could be a
good teacher or a nurse or a homemaker. It can be
seen in the image below-The layout is new and
attractive and each chapter has a variety of pictures
in colour. The textbook is divided into eight units.
After each text there are listening comprehension
exercises and writing and speaking exercises to
work with. The typeset is almost the same
throughout the whole book but the colours of the
pages vary and make the text more attractive and
fun to read. Each theme consists of a variety of
texts: the total is thirty-nine parts, the texts are12
designed for a grade one student in such a way that
there listening, reading and writing skills should be
developed. The curriculum is activity based most of
the texts consists of short activities for better
understanding.
 Analysis of Chapters
- • Gender biased occupation a. In unit one
chapter no. 4 Know Each Other. The
chapter is a verbal communication between
a boy named Soham and girl named Reema.
The text is about the basic the ethics of
introducing oneself. The occupation of
Reema’s father is doctor and her mother is a
teacher. This text shows gender disparities
regarding occupation, it is prejudiced in our
society that a male is normally highly qualified
and is always a doctor, an engineer or an
architect. Whereas a women could be a
teacher, a nurse or a homemaker. Below is
the image of the chapter where it can be
seen,

b. In unit six chapter 2. Shyam’s Horse

cart. The chapter is designed to improve
reading and listening skills of the student. The
text is a short story of how Shyam takes his
passengers to the fair. The title of the chapter
clearly shows gender bias on basis of
occupation. Again, in this chapter the horse
cart driver is a male which is a typical
stereotype in our society that mostly vehicle
drivers are male, the students learn so much
from their textbook they feel whatever is given
in their textbooks is always correct, this
develops the mindset of the student in that
particular direction. The text indicated in the
chapter will have an impact in the minds of
children that only males can drive vehicles.
Following image can give a clear picture of
the chapterc.
C. In unit six chapter no 3 Buying Things. The
chapter is designed to enhance the reading and
listening skills of the student. The chapter how
two kids went to a big shop and see so many things
and decides what to buy. The chapter shows the
shopkeeper as a female which has broken the
normal stereotype of shopkeepers being male. This
would give a new perspective in the minds of the
students that a female could also be a shopkeeper.
It can be seen from the image below

Gender biased games. In some of the chapters of

the textbook gender disparity could be seen on the
basis of games . Boys are normally seen playing
football and riding bicycle. The images below can
give us a clear idea,
Gender biased Emotions. In unit four-chapter no. 5
The Helpful Girl. The chapter is designed to
enhance the reading and thinking skills of the
students. The chapter is about a girl named Reema
who is very helpful, it describes how Reema helped
her father, mother and friends and that she is very
caring and takes care of her friends. The chapter
depicts that woman should be soft hearted and
caring which is again a typical stereotype of our
society. The name of the chapter itself shows
gender disparity on basis of emotions. The
perspective of how a woman should be is described
in this chapter. A typical mindset of students about
women will be developed through this chapter. It
could be seen in the image below-
 10. Discussion
From above analysis of the chapters, it can be
clearly seen that the texts encourage male
and female stereotypes and reflect
stereotypical gender assumptions. My study
of the textbook suggests that there is a
reinforcement of male and female
encouragement in the stereotypes instead of
diminishment.
 Suggestions for change
Effective pictures and illustrations should
show to the children that a woman is not
merely a mother or a teacher but she can be
a doctor, a professor, an engineer, and so on.
 It should include in the textbooks and reading
materials. • Depicting men and women in
shared roles and one can display the talent of
women. • One can counter prejudicial
references in textbooks if noticed. Textbooks
should be made non-racial and non-sexist. •
A gender-sensitive life skills approach to
curriculum transaction includes all the skills
necessary for day-to-day functioning and
covers areas such as family life education,
legal literacy, and lifesaving skills, etc. •
Textbook should be designed in such a way
that it shows gender equality. There should
be no gender biasedness on basis of
occupation, emotions and attires. This
approach could be bid to alter the unequal
gender relations and empower both boys and
girls for a shared future by breaking down
gender stereotypes and gender barriers in
skill development.

 References
Websites -
https://www.estartindia.com/knowledge-hub/bl
og/gender-disparities-in-the-indian-education-
system • Books fdocuments.in_gender-
analysis-of-school-curriculum-and-text-books-
unesco.pdf gender_issues_in_education.pdf
Gender_Bias_in_School_Textbooks.doc17