By:

Kereszty, Orsolya: 'Mom is cooking. What is Daddy doing?' Gender roles in Elementary-level Hungarian Textbooks The research is centered upon the analysis of gender roles in Hungarian Textbooks. One of the general questions is that how and in what ways these textbooks present the life around students. What kinds of representations are there in the textbooks? In what way do textbooks promote alternative representations of the world? First I have concentrated on the proportion of genders, and in addition, on place, time and activity that are constructed in textbooks. Later due to the justification of my assumptions based on secondary literature, the general research questions have been modified, and the focus has been moved to the discussion and analysis of examples that do not fit the mainstream representations of gender roles. Second, I have also analyzed the members, activities, interactions, and surroundings of the families in textbooks. I will show the representations that attempt to present some alternative approaches and definitions of the family. The third aspect of analysis that I will discuss is the relationship between active agents of the educational situation, namely students, parents and teachers. Though there are some alternative examples of gender representations in Hungarian textbooks, which aim to differ from mainstream representations, these cannot be considered as a general and conscious practice yet. Traditional approaches of gender roles, the family and the educational situation dominate Elementary - level Hungarian textbooks. Issues of for example multiculturalism and minorities are also neglected. Therefore this research will continue with the construction of aspects and new ways of developing gender-sensitive textbooks for the future.

Stream: Educational Resources and Learning

Paper: 'Mom is Cooking. What is Daddy Doing?'

Graduated in English Studies and Hungarian Studies at ELTE, Budapest. Also graduated in Educational Studies at ELTE. In 2004 graduated at Central European University in Gender Studies. Now a PhD student and a member of a Hungarian NGO, called IgEN, International Gender Equality Network. Research focus mainly include textbook analysis and the analysis of gendered nation-building discourses and its connections to gendered education in the era of the Dual Monarchy in Hungary.