Abstract
Civic education is a mandatory school subject in Jordan for all students between Grades 5 and 10. The curriculum revolves around teaching students Jordanian values, history, heritage, and culture, instilling a sense of loyalty to the country and Arab region as a whole. The subject’s textbooks are state-produced and are the only guiding material for students and teachers to navigate the curriculum. Female workforce participation in Jordan is among the lowest in the world. As women in Jordan continue to work toward equality in education, employment, and society, this research explores the representation of women as citizens in the civic education curriculum. The research seeks to explore representations of women and men in the curriculum and how these representations can challenge or reinforce socio-cultural norms surrounding gendered roles and responsibilities. The research engages in a content analysis of the textbooks for Grades 9 and 10, as well as interviews with civic education teachers and curriculum developers in Jordan, to discuss the strategic role the civic education curriculum can, or should, play to support gender equality.
This chapter is adapted from my thesis dissertation and research, titled Gendered Citizenship: Investigating Representations of Women in Jordanian Civic Education Textbooks. The thesis dissertation was submitted in February 2020 in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Arts in Education and Society degree at McGill University.
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Civic Education Grade 10 Term 1 (10.1).
—Ministry of Education Jordan.
Civic Education Grade 9 Term 1 (9.1).
—Ministry of Education Jordan.
Civic Education Grade 9 Term 2 (9.2).
—Ministry of Education Jordan.Author information
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Shahzadeh, Y. (2022). Reproducing Gender Identity in Jordanian Civic Education Textbooks. In: Vanner, C., Akseer, S., Kovinthan Levi, T. (eds) Teaching Peace and Conflict. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04676-6_7
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