ABSTRACT

This paper examines caste bias in Odia language textbooks prescribed by the Government in middle schools in the State of Odisha, India. The analysis focuses on 10 textbooks for Social Science and Odia literature prescribed for Classes IV to VIII. The framework proposed by Sadker and Zittleman (2007) to study gender bias in educational material in the United States is contextualized for an application to Indian textbooks. Content analysis identified seven types of bias, with ‘invisibility’ bias being the most important form of bias. This first-ever systematic analysis of caste bias within curricular material in India brings to fore the exclusion of Scheduled Castes. The persistence of caste bias across textbooks is in direct violation of the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework-2005 and systematically creates an illusion that Indian society is an equitable one. We suggest that there is a need for further evaluation of regional language school textbooks to assess the extent of bias in curricular material.

摘要

本文研究了印度奥里萨邦中学政府规定的奥迪亚语教科书中的种姓偏见。分析侧重于为 IV 至 VIII 类规定的 10 种社会科学和 Odia 文献教科书。Sadker 和 Zittleman（2007 年）提出的研究美国教育材料中的性别偏见的框架是针对印度教科书应用的。内容分析确定了七种偏见，其中“隐形”偏见是最重要的偏见形式。首次对印度课程材料中的种姓偏见进行系统分析，将表列种姓排除在外。教科书中持续存在的种姓偏见直接违反了 2005 年国家课程框架的建议，并系统地制造了印度社会是一个公平社会的错觉。我们建议有必要对地区语言学校的教科书进行进一步评估，以评估课程材料中的偏见程度。