Invisible Females, Incapable Males: Gender Construction in a Children’s Reading Scheme

Abstract

There is now a considerable body of research into issues of gender representation in children’s literature. This is no doubt partly due to the perceived importance of such representation for children’s social and psychological development. In this paper I analyse gender representation in one stage of a reading scheme which is currently popular in early years education in the UK. I make use of two complementary discourse analysis techniques, and show how they create very different perspectives on male and female gender. By sharing this work with teachers and teacher educators, I hope to contribute to an increased awareness whose benefits will ultimately accrue to the children who read the books.