| Abstract [eng] |
The object of this research is the concept of family and family norms in six Swedish and Lithuanian in social studies for primary school. The aim of the work is to analyze how and what family norms are represented in the textbook discourse. The theoretical basis of the research is norm-critical pedagogy, which argues that teaching materials used in school, for example textbooks, reproduce social norms without questioning them. Apart from pedagogical functions of the textbooks they be normative. In addition to formal knowledge, the curriculum also creates an image of a “good life” often by employing acceptable social norms and stereotypes. The main goal of norm-critical pedagogy is to deconstruct how norms are created in education with aim of prevent discrimination against those who do not fit in the image of the ideal society. Through critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis the study tries to shed some light on how family norms are established in the chosen textbooks. Analysis of the texts, illustrations, photos, and the thematic structure of the textbooks shows that both Swedish and Lithuanian textbooks a family norm based on heterosexual families with two children, despite social changes and the emerging of new family constellations in the society. The results show that this norm is created by using various strategies. In particular, the heteronormative family is introduced first in the textbooks. It is interesting that in two of the three analyzed Swedish textbooks, the family topic is presented through examples of reorganized families, but in the Lithuanian textbooks – nuclear families. In both Swedish and Lithuanian textbooks, the nuclear family is depicted in other chapters which do not develop family theme explicitly. As a result, the nuclear family becomes a synonym of the word ‘family’. It has been observed that alternative family types are usually briefly mentioned only in the chapters dedicated to family topic or are depicted neither textually nor visually at all. It is worth mentioning that in the Swedish textbook discourse, homosexual, reorganized and adoptive families are portrayed as alternatives, but Lithuanian textbooks only one other family type in addition to nuclear families – a single mother family. The analysis showed that in the textbooks, the family is usually defined from a structural perspective, emphasizing family typology and highlighting a specific family constellation, in this case - nuclear family, as an unquestionable norm The study also found that Lithuanian textbooks reproduce gender-specific stereotypical images more often: fathers are portrayed as active characters, while mothers are presented as caregivers depicted in the home environment. To sum up, the nuclear family becomes a norm in the analyzed textbooks at the expense of existing diversity of families. |
