Gender Sensitivity in Textbooks in Secondary Education in Bhutan

Article Information ABSTRACT Received: March 07, 2021 Revised: March 29, 2021 Accepted: April 05, 2021 Online: August 11, 2021 This study was carried out to understand gender stereotypes in the curriculum framework and textbooks, which form the main curricular materials in schools in Bhutan. The researchers reviewed the curriculum framework for Accountancy, Economics, Mathematics, Science, Geography, History, and English. Except for the science curriculum framework, which states that science curriculum should be gender-sensitive in terms of materials used, language used, and ensuring the equal participation of boys and girls in activities, other frameworks were all silent on gender. Textbook reviews were carried out by teachers (22 female and 54 male) teaching classes IX to XII in clustered workshops using the Blumberg model of textbook analysis, which was employed to analyze gender biases in Vietnamese primary school textbooks. The findings revealed a presence of imbalance of gender among the authors, reviewers, editors, and designers, as well as gender biases, gender stereotyping in the content, illustrations, and student activity. It calls for curriculum developers and textbook authors to integrate gender in the curriculum framework, guiding the development of gender-sensitive textbooks.


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The stereotype used in the textbooks and teaching-learning materials may determine how boys and girls choose their subject and ultimately their careers (UNESCO, 2009;UNESCO, 2004). Textbooks can influence users through their content, language, visuals, design (FAWE, 2005). Gender biases found in textbooks might create hindrances for males and females to opt for roles and responsibilities in the future (Saleem & Zubair, 2013). Thus, gender analysis of textbooks is one way to consider issues in education (MOET, 2010).
In the Bhutanese education system, textbooks are often the only learning resource students and teachers use, and they drive teaching, learning, and assessment practices. Therefore, textbooks are a powerful teaching-learning resource that can impact the teaching-learning process and learning outcomes. Given their significant potential as learning resources, especially in contexts where assessment is commonly very much focused on the rote memorization and reproduction of prefabricated discourse, textbooks can easily become vehicles for promoting biases, including gender biases. Such biases can be promoted explicitly or more subtly (MOET, 2010). The textbook contents, illustration, images, assessment tasks, and value judgments incline to be gender-biased. It may hinder gender equality in education. Rather, a gender-neutral textbook can contribute to the development of open-mindedness and gender-sensitive attitudes and approaches (MOET, 2010).
According to the Curriculum and Professional Support Division (CAPSD) under the Ministry of Education, gender mainstreaming efforts with a gender adviser is taking place within the curriculum reform initiated in 2004. These efforts take different forms: integrating a gender perspective while reviewing textbooks and other teaching materials, ensuring a gender-balanced representation among writers, and including gender-related activities in the teacher guide where relevant. One of the "outcome, outputs and activities" under the goal: Gender Equality in education and training achieved in the National Plan of Action in Gender 2008-2013(GNHC, 2007 reads as Gender roles and stereotypes removed from classrooms, in curricula, and textbooks for all levels of education and training. However, the recent textbook analysis from a gender perspective revealed gender-biased content, illustrations, exercises, and composition of writers, editors, reviewers, and classroom materials on wall displays. FAWE (2005) also suggests reviewing textbooks to portray positive images of both men and women. Several countries like Ghana, Namibia, and Zambia have undergone educational reforms to remove gender bias from their teaching-learning materials and produce textbooks that positively represent men and women and are responsive to new development. According to the United Nations (1995), girls and boys should be treated equally and be encouraged to achieve their full potential in the educational and social environment. The educational resources should promote non-stereotyped images of women and men to eliminate inequality between boys and girls. Similarly, UNESCO (2000) in the Dakar Framework for Action condemns gender stereotypes from education programs. Gender fair curricula are important to promote gender equality. In particular, it explores society's full potential, including both boys and girls in talents, creativity, and innovativeness (Hey, 2010).
National Plan of Action on Gender 2008-2013(GNHC, 2007 suggests activities identified to address this include conducting research; reviewing teaching materials and curricula content from a gender perspective; sensitizing and creating awareness on gender and prejudices and stereotypes among key stakeholders, and using the media to portray women and men positively. Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment (BCSEA, 2013), through its study of Student Achievements in English Literacy and Mathematics Literacy in class X, recommended the following to Curriculum Developers, Teacher Trainers, and schools: 1. Reduce the gender gap in Mathematics, programs, and manual could be reviewed to include more girl-friendly content, and mathematics teaching to girls be emphasized, 2. Include gender issues by modifying teachers' representation and persistent stereotype of girls being less talented in Mathematics. 3. Pay equal attention and provide equitable support to both girls and boys in their learning.
Therefore, the study attempted to study the curricular materials, mainly textbooks, which form the main resource for both teachers and students for the existence of any gender issues and gender biases in the contents, illustrations, and learning activities IJAE Page 346

The objective of the study
Several studies on gender in textbooks have been carried over the world since 1970 (Saleem & Zubair, 2013). No research has previously been carried out on textbooks in Bhutan. The study's main objectives were to identify gender bias and stereotypes in textbooks through analysis of textbooks and curriculum frameworks from a gender perspective.

Significance of the study
The study's findings will be useful for textbook developing agencies, policymakers, textbooks writers, teachers in developing a gender-sensitive curriculum, and textbooks.

METHODS
The researchers reviewed the following curriculum frameworks: Four workshops were organized in Paro, Trongsa, Punakha, and Trashigang to cover the country's western, central and eastern regions. Teachers teaching classes IX to XII were nominated by Schools through Dzongkhags/Thromdes to participate in the workshops. 22 female and 54 male teachers participated in the workshops. Participants were instructed to bring along the textbooks they used for teaching and their laptops. Once at the venue, participants formed subject groups with at least two teachers for every subject.
In most cases, there were at least two teachers (both male and female) analyzing a subject ranging from classes IX to XII because usually, it is the same teacher teaching the same subject in two or three levels of classes. Working in small groups helped teachers discuss the gender typing they discover in the textbooks and confirm their findings through verification. This way of textbook analysis helped collect first-hand information on gender sensitivity in the existing curriculum, particularly textbooks. Blumberg's (2007, p.52-54) model of textbook analysis employed to analyze gender biases in Vietnamese primary school textbooks (MOET, 2010) was adapted to guide analysis of textbooks for classes IX to XII used in the Bhutanese schools. To support real communication, a presentation on the definitions and terminologies on gender and gender bias terms and gender-inclusive terms was made to the teachers so that the common "unspoken assumption that listeners and readers already know the meaning and therefore the explanation is unnecessary" (Glasser & Smith III, 2008, p.343), is addressed to clarify the meaning assigned to gender and the related term sex.
Following this, the participants used the matrix for textbook review (Table 1) adapted from MOET (2010) in identifying gender insensitive content, phrases, language, pictures, examples, learning activities, and assessment tasks and illustrations in the subjects taught. The analysis results were shared with other participants through a presentation by respective groups to validate the results. The data collected were compiled subject-wise, compared, and contrasted for confirmation and common understanding. The data was then randomly checked with the respective textbooks for further confirmation.

Curriculum framework
The framework for the development of a new curriculum or improving existing curriculum need to spell out the guiding principles of curriculum development such as the age and grade appropriateness, time, developmentally progressive, culturally appropriate, gender-sensitive, special needs, inclusive, national and global context, vocations, sustainability, lifelong learning educational goals, and curriculum standards, learning outcomes at key learning stages (REC, 2018, p.22). However, upon analysis, it was found that none of the other curriculum frameworks addressed gender except for the curriculum framework for science. The science curriculum framework attempted to address the gender aspect under its guiding principles. The guiding principle states that "It is important that the teachers ensure equal participation of boys and girls in all aspects of the science learning process, consistently use non-sexist language and avoid competitive approaches in curriculum design and teaching. Activities, materials, and resources must be developed by the curriculum designers that will appeal to both girls and boys, and be relevant to their lives" (REC, 2018, p. 7).

National School Curriculum Conference
In 2016, the first-ever National School Curriculum Conference was carried out with the aims to reflect on the school curriculum to make it more relevant to the current national and global contexts to enable learners to be creative, communicative, critical thinkers, collaborative, innovative, and enterprising, and b) guide to design immediate, short, medium and long-term strategic plans for curriculum reforms (REC, 2016, p. 2). As of 2016, the date of the last revision of textbooks stood as shown in Table 3. The 2016 National School Curriculum Conference report is generally silent on gender inclusion in the school curriculum. All subjects analyzed respective themes of the subject, outlined recommendations, and drew up an action plan. But gender sensitivity is absent in all the respective themes. However, health and physical education stated the need to include class PP to VI learners in health and physical education irrespective of age, gender, or different abilities (REC, 2016, p.28). It does not imply that health and physical education explicitly considered the gender dimension in the primary school curriculum. It showed that only gender in terms of including girls and differently-abled students are considered. In the revision, development, or selection of textbooks and teaching and learning materials by the REC, the text materials are assessed on the accuracy, currency, and alignment against the standards and learning outcomes relevant to the Bhutanese society and the global world. According to (REC 2018, p.23), identifying, revising, or developing teaching and learning resources shall be done following the holistic approach to education given in the framework such as textbooks, manuals, workbooks, readers, charts, equipment. When the curriculum frameworks for the various subjects miss out on covering gender matters, it is far from reality that the curricular material developed or selected will address gender matters. For example, although the curriculum framework for science has mentioned gender in the framework, it does not guarantee that gender will be addressed in the textbooks or the teaching-learning process.

Textbook review Author, editor, and reviewer
There is an over-proportional number of males in the list of writers, reviewers, editors, advisors, designers, and facilitators. Learners need to notice that both men and women can be textbook authors, reviewers, editors, designers. The predominance of one gender (and the absence of the other) in the case of different subjects may trigger the belief that gender is associated with excellence in certain areas. Moreover, if only men are authors, reviewers, illustrators, and advisors, women's voices and experiences may be excluded (MOET, 2010).

Content of the textbook
Overall, there is a gender-segregated selection of content, illustrations and displays, and student learning activities. The content, diagrams and illustrations, and activities do not consider existing gender inequalities. For example, socio-cultural perceptions generally hold women as less confident, less capable, weak, and sexually more vulnerable than men and these are seen depicted in the textbooks. The change, although slow, is visible. Women and men are increasingly engaging in activities generally not considered typical of their sex, and women are especially coming forward to challenge culturally accepted stereotypes. The contents generally are gender-biased, discriminating, and do not portray women as having equal value as men.
Most contents had male protagonists, examples of cases dominated by male characters and stories, and examples had stereotypical portrayals of males in leading roles, owing businesses, decisionmaking, and dominant roles in Economics textbooks. Women and girls are portrayed as submissive and engaging in hard, laborious work where educational qualification and high-level analytical thinking were not required. Most contents used gender-biased terms such as man, policeman, chairman, learned men, businessmen, mankind, biodiversity and man, volcanoes and man in Geography, History and Civics textbooks. The names of companies used in the textbooks are male-oriented, including the examples used in student activities. Major contributions were acknowledged to males, be it humans or deities, in IJAE Page 350 business managerial positions, such as board members. Social impacts of alcohol are shown to be impacting only females. Female-oriented quotations such as, "If a woman decides, it is the decision for the family," "Educating girls means educating future mothers" are also seen in the Bhutan Geography textbooks.
In subjects such as Mathematics, textbook content showed efforts to make the textbook genderneutral by using gender-neutral names in examples and questions. Most articles, stories, and poems in English depict women as fragile, weak, tender, soft-hearted, and the male is strong, enduring, industrious, and determined.

Illustrations and graphic design
It refers to how men and women are depicted in the textbooks; whether there is always a quantitative and qualitative balance of representations of men and women; whether graphic elements avoid positioning different characters in a marginalized and inferior situation; whether illustrations or graphic design are offensive to men or women (MOET, 2010). Most diagrammatic representations were only males; there was a balance of males and females represented in a few cases. There are images of male thinkers only in Economics textbooks; while initially there would have been only males pursuing academics, the role of women in modern development could have found someplace in the textbooks.
Women were illustrated as teachers, nurses, customers, engaged in husking, harvesting, plantation, while men are depicted as police personnel, fishing, farming, medical staff, telephone operators, business owners, and machinery operators in Economics. Illustrations also showed males running, playing volleyball, throwing the discus. In Physics textbooks, examples of force, work, power, energy, and required labor are mostly male characters. Girls and women are depicted as cooking, sweeping, onlookers, while males stereotype women's roles as wives, mothers, and caregivers.