Gender Discrimination in Chinese Primary School Textbooks: Evidence in English Textbooks

Abstract

Textbook is an indispensable medium for students to acquire knowledge. The completeness of its content and the clarity of its logic are the reasons why it is used as a teaching aid in schools for so many years and not easy to replace. But behind the visible, intentional formal curriculum, there are hidden curriculums. Hidden curriculums include not only objective factors such as social environment, but also subjective factors such as people's subconscious and inherent impression. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, this research examines whether Chinese textbooks contain hidden curriculums with gender discrimination from some specific perspectives. In this research, data analysis and interviews are both included. The results have shown that gender discrimination exists in China’s English textbooks. Instead of appeal directly in the textbook, it appears in the form of hidden curriculum. Also, in the end of this paper, there will be some suggestions to textbooks writing team, and teachers in China.