School Textbooks in the Field of Socialisation
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DISSERTATIONES SOCIOLOGICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSÏS 1 SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN THE FIELD OF SOCIALISATION VERONIKA KALMUS TARTU 2003 DISSERTATIONES SOCIOLOGICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS 1 DISSERTATIONES SOCIOLOGICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS 1 SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN THE FIELD OF SOCIALISATION VERONIKA KALMUS TARTU UNIVERSITY PRESS Department of Sociology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia Dissertation is accepted for the commencement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Sociology) on May 22, 2003 by the Doctoral Committee of the Board of Social Faculty, University of Tartu Opponents: Professor Mikko Lagerspetz, The Estonian Institute of Humanities Professor emeritus Viive-Riina Ruus, Tallinn Pedagogical University Commencement: June 18, 2003 The publication of this dissertation is granted by the University of Tartu © Veronika Kalmus, 2003 Tartu Ülikooli Kiij astus www.tyk.ut.ee Tellimus nr. 315 CONTENTS LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS......................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 7 1. Stating the Problem................................................................................ 8 1.1. Relationships between Textbook Discourse and the Socio-Cultural Context............................................................ 8 1.2. The Role of School Textbooks in the Field of Socialisation....... 13 2. Methodological Issues............................................................................ 19 2.1. Methodological Insights into Research on Socialisation through School Textbooks............................................................. 19 2.2. Methods and Data........................................................................... 20 3. Relationships between Discursive Changes in Textbooks and Socio-Cultural Changes in Estonian Society........................................ 21 3.1. Collectivist and Individualistic Values......................................... 21 3.2. National Identity and Ethno-Politics............................................ 22 3.3. Gender Roles.................................................................................. 23 4. Interaction between Pupils and Textbooks in the Field of Socialisation....................................................................................... 25 4.1. Socialisation to Democracy........................................................... 25 4.2. Ethno-Political Socialisation......................................................... 28 4.3. Socialisation to Gender Roles........................................................ 29 5. Discussion................................................................................................. 30 6. Conclusions.............................................................................................. 33 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................ 35 REFERENCES.................................................................................................. 36 SUMMARY IN ESTONIAN............................................................................ 40 PUBLICATIONS.............................................................................................. 45 2 5 LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS The dissertation is based on the following original publications that will be referred to in the text by their respective Roman numerals. I Kalmus, V. & Pavelson, M. (2002). Schools in Estonia as institutional actors and as a field of socialisation. In M. Lauristin & M. Heidmets (eds.), The challenge of the Russian minority: Emerging multicultural democracy in Estonia, 227-236. Tartu: Tartu University Press. II Kalmus, V. (2003). What do pupils and textbooks do with each other? Some methodological problems of research on socialization through educational media. Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Curriculum Studies. III Kalmus, V. (2001). Socialisation to values: Collectivism and individua lism in the ABC-books of 20th century Estonia. Trames, 5(55/50) (2), 120-136. IV Kalmus, V. (2000). Õpikudiskursus muutuvas ühiskonnas. V.-R. Ruus (koost.), Kõnelev ja kõneldav inimene: Eesti erinevate eluvaldkondade diskursus, 205-218. Tallinn: TPÜ Kiijastus. V Kalmus, V. (2002). Ethno-political discourse in Estonian school text books. In M. Lauristin & M. Heidmets (eds.), The challenge of the Russian minority: Emerging multicultural democracy in Estonia, 255- 263. Tartu: Tartu University Press. VI Kalmus, V. (2003). ‘Is inter-ethnic integration possible in Estonia?’ Ethno-political discourse of two ethnic groups. Manuscript accepted for publication in Discourse & Society. VII Kalmus, V. (2002). Do textbooks teach democratic values? A reception study of a ninth grade civics textbook. In J. Mikk, V. Meisalo, H. Kuke- melk, & M. Horsley (eds.), Learning and educational media: The third IARTEM volume, 152-159. Tartu: Tartu University Press. VIII Kalmus, V. (2002). Soorollid ja kodanikukasvatus. J. Mikk (toim.), Soo rollid õppekirjanduses. Tartu Ülikooli Pedagoogika osakonna väljaanne 12, 122-149. Tartu: TÜ Kirjastus. 6 INTRODUCTION School textbooks and other educational media1 are considered important agents of socialisation, that is, means or instruments for transmitting knowledge and values to the young generation. In all societies, textbooks are designed to teach pupils what educators believe ought to exist. In other words, the function of textbooks is to ‘tell children what their elders want them to know’ (FitzGerald, 1979: 47). Accordingly, it is assumed and often documented that school text books tend to reflect the dominant ideas, beliefs, opinions, attitudes, values, and norms in the society or the community (see, e.g. Anyon, 1979; FitzGerald, 1979; Grueneberg, 1991; Ichilov, 1993; London, 1984; Sleeter & Grant, 1991). We may think of a school textbook as a discourse (Study IV), that is, ‘a the matically and ideologically structured, self-referring progression of communi cations (messages, texts) circulating within a definable community of communi cators and receivers over a specified period of time’ (Biocca, 1991: 45). A function of a discourse (e.g. a textbook) is to define and influence experiences of the participants of the communication process or discursive practice (e.g. pupils working with the textbook). Every textbook, as a discourse, is also a part of the order of discourse — the totality of discursive practices within the edu cational institution or the society and the relationships between them (cf. Fairclough, 1992: 43). According to Fairclough discursive practices need to be seen in a dialectical relationship with other social practices (social context) — discourses are not only socially shaped, but also socially shaping or constitutive (Fairclough, 1993: 134). The content and form of school textbooks as cultural objects is determined by social factors, such as the socio-political order, the level of modernisation, the value system, dominant ideological beliefs, etc. School textbooks as agents of socialisation are, in turn, ordained to transmit values and ideologies to the next generation, that is, to be socially constitutive. Discursive practices (incl. the production and use of textbook texts) may, theoretically, be constitutive in both conventional, socially reproductive ways and creative, socially transformative ways (Fairclough, 1993: 134; cf. Study IV). The relationships between discursive practices and social practices are more clearly observable in the context of social change. Accordingly, the relationships between discursive changes in school textbooks and social and cultural changes in society deserve intensive research and form the first focus of this dissertation (Study III, IV, V). 1 ‘Educational media’ is used here to refer to school textbooks in particular, but also refers to a whole range of possible texts, pictorial illustrations, films, computer programs, etc., which are produced for educational purposes, i.e. to inform and con vince the reader / viewer / listener that the presented information and perspectives are correct (cf. Selander, 1995a: 9). 7 Discursive practices related to school textbooks (the production and use of such educational media) occur within a complex set of power relations between various social agents in society. Following Bourdieu (1991, 1998), 1 view the sites for those discursive practices (the educational system, the family, peer groups, etc.) as fields — structured social spaces with dominant and dominated social agents and unequal power relations, which are constantly struggled over. These fields are discursively interrelated. In this dissertation, I regard all discursively related fields, which serve as the sites for socialising discourses, as forming the common field of socialisation. Socialisation is a process of cumulative effects of various discourses, events, and experiences, of which textbook discourse is merely one. The field of socia lisation embraces complex discursive and influential relationships between the individual being socialised and the agents of socialisation, or socialisers (per sons, groups, organisations, objects, events, etc.). Socialisers function con currently, are linked to one another, influence one another, and function in the context of different social structures, cultures, and processes (Dekker, 1991: 31). Moreover, each individual interacts directly with the textbook, and constructs his or her own meaning in the social process of reading