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Pedagogy and Socialization: Adversarial Nuances in a Ghanaian English Textbook

Received: 4 November 2022     Accepted: 21 November 2022     Published: 15 December 2022
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Abstract

The school system is one world of revelation for many children. It is often an ecosphere where many things, good and bad, are learned and unlearned. In Ghana, the average primary school children are between the ages of 11 and 12 and are in their formative years where the binaries of good and evil are established, internalized, and tried. This warrants the investigation into how narratives in school textbooks in Ghana introduce adversarial binaries in terms of gender, age, character, and identity socialization in primary school children. Pivoting on Joseph LeDoux’s theory on consciousness and emotions and through a narrative inquiry where the narratives in the textbooks are the raw data, a selected primary school English textbook for primary six is analyzed to reveal the shades of rivalry and their perceived implications. The narrative structure and the connotations of the narratives are used to predict the stories’ effect on the learner’s perceptions of gender, culture, character, and identity. The study reveals that children’s literature is a veritable research arena because the content of the selected textbooks for school use provides fertile fodder for the possible imbibing of conflictual stereotypes in children during their formative years. It concludes with the need to pay absolute attention to the content of approved school textbooks for children with the view of eliminating untoward adversarial nuances. The study recommends that better scrutiny in selecting textbooks for use in Ghanaian schools to prevent unintended socialization of school children.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15
Page(s) 368-373
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Socialization, Children’s Literature, Textbook, Pedagogy

References
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[3] Bingle, B. (2018). The perceived influence of children’s literature on sociocultural understanding in UK Education. Journal of Literary Education, University of Valencia Press (1), 130-150.
[4] Campbell, E. 2010. Women in the history’s textbooks. http://www.education.com/reference/article/womens-history textbooks/?page=4
[5] Carrington, B., & Skelton, C. (2003). Re-thinking 'role models': equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales. Journal of Education Policy, 18 (3), 253-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930305573
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[9] Flanagan, V. (2010) "Gender Studies", David Rudd, ed., The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature, Routledge, pp. 26–38.
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[11] Griffith, A. L. (2010). Persistence of women and minorities in STEM field majors: Is it the school that matters? Economics of Education Review, 911-922.
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[18] LeDoux, J. 2015. Anxious. The Modern Mind in the Age of Anxiety. Oneworld Publications.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Juliana Daniels, Martin Kyiileyang. (2022). Pedagogy and Socialization: Adversarial Nuances in a Ghanaian English Textbook. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(6), 368-373. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15

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    ACS Style

    Juliana Daniels; Martin Kyiileyang. Pedagogy and Socialization: Adversarial Nuances in a Ghanaian English Textbook. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(6), 368-373. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15

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    AMA Style

    Juliana Daniels, Martin Kyiileyang. Pedagogy and Socialization: Adversarial Nuances in a Ghanaian English Textbook. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(6):368-373. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15,
      author = {Juliana Daniels and Martin Kyiileyang},
      title = {Pedagogy and Socialization: Adversarial Nuances in a Ghanaian English Textbook},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {10},
      number = {6},
      pages = {368-373},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221006.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221006.15},
      abstract = {The school system is one world of revelation for many children. It is often an ecosphere where many things, good and bad, are learned and unlearned. In Ghana, the average primary school children are between the ages of 11 and 12 and are in their formative years where the binaries of good and evil are established, internalized, and tried. This warrants the investigation into how narratives in school textbooks in Ghana introduce adversarial binaries in terms of gender, age, character, and identity socialization in primary school children. Pivoting on Joseph LeDoux’s theory on consciousness and emotions and through a narrative inquiry where the narratives in the textbooks are the raw data, a selected primary school English textbook for primary six is analyzed to reveal the shades of rivalry and their perceived implications. The narrative structure and the connotations of the narratives are used to predict the stories’ effect on the learner’s perceptions of gender, culture, character, and identity. The study reveals that children’s literature is a veritable research arena because the content of the selected textbooks for school use provides fertile fodder for the possible imbibing of conflictual stereotypes in children during their formative years. It concludes with the need to pay absolute attention to the content of approved school textbooks for children with the view of eliminating untoward adversarial nuances. The study recommends that better scrutiny in selecting textbooks for use in Ghanaian schools to prevent unintended socialization of school children.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AU  - Juliana Daniels
    AU  - Martin Kyiileyang
    Y1  - 2022/12/15
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    T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - The school system is one world of revelation for many children. It is often an ecosphere where many things, good and bad, are learned and unlearned. In Ghana, the average primary school children are between the ages of 11 and 12 and are in their formative years where the binaries of good and evil are established, internalized, and tried. This warrants the investigation into how narratives in school textbooks in Ghana introduce adversarial binaries in terms of gender, age, character, and identity socialization in primary school children. Pivoting on Joseph LeDoux’s theory on consciousness and emotions and through a narrative inquiry where the narratives in the textbooks are the raw data, a selected primary school English textbook for primary six is analyzed to reveal the shades of rivalry and their perceived implications. The narrative structure and the connotations of the narratives are used to predict the stories’ effect on the learner’s perceptions of gender, culture, character, and identity. The study reveals that children’s literature is a veritable research arena because the content of the selected textbooks for school use provides fertile fodder for the possible imbibing of conflictual stereotypes in children during their formative years. It concludes with the need to pay absolute attention to the content of approved school textbooks for children with the view of eliminating untoward adversarial nuances. The study recommends that better scrutiny in selecting textbooks for use in Ghanaian schools to prevent unintended socialization of school children.
    VL  - 10
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Author Information
  • Department of English Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

  • Department of English Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

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