Gender equality in free textbooks as teachers' didactic material, 2006-2024

Abstract

Free Textbooks (FT) in Mexico are an essential element in the teaching work of teachers, they are a didactic resource that allows the implementation of teaching activities that help to achieve the learning objectives established for each grade and educational level. Books have been fundamental in the education of generations of children and adolescents for more than fifty years; on the other hand, they are also carriers of the State's educational vision, which has faced opposing positions, especially towards the gender perspective (GP) and the contents derived from it. The GP is understood as a differentiated view that makes it possible to identify the problems that people face because of their gender; in education, the GP promotes substantive equality between women and men, as well as the empowerment of girls and adolescents. All of this becomes more relevant in secondary education due to the nature of the developmental stage in which students find themselves; therefore, secondary school textbooks are considered especially important in the promotion of critical and reflective thinking so that teachers and students analyze, with GP, their daily practices and interpersonal relationships and, thus, can improve them. This paper offers an analysis of the inclusion of PG in the FTs in the period 2006-2024, identifying contents that have promoted equality between men and women, as well as sexual education topics. Finally, the relevance of gender equality is recognized in a context where students face major social problems, such as violence, discrimination and teenage pregnancy; therefore, the joint participation of individuals, groups and educational institutions is necessary to guarantee the human right to gender equality and build a more just society.