A preliminary study of textbook analysis in respect of gender roles in early childhood education

The formation of attitude towards gender roles begins at an early age and it is important for the education system to address the factors involved. Textbooks play an important role in local early childhood education settings. It is uncertain that the extent to which this issue has been addressed sufficiently. This paper discusses the depiction of gender roles in the thematic subject – Integrated Curriculum from Kindergartens 1 to 3. a questionnaire was distributed to 224 serving Kindergarten teachers attending the Certificate in Kindergarten Education Programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Education to determine the most commonly used publisher. A case study was employed to review the thematic textbooks published by the chosen publishers. Data collection methods included textbook content analysis and focused group teacher interviews. Implications and recommendations were made for kindergarten teachers, curriculum developers and teacher educators.