School ethnocentric discourse and gendered bodies

Abstract

In this article I consider whether the gendered construction of national identity is compatible with the aims of a democratic pluralistic education. Initially, I focus on how the concepts of 'gendered body' and 'citizenship' are articulated in the ethnocentric imaginary that is produced through the teaching of history at the last grade of Greek elementary school. Thereupon, in drawing examples from the school book, I analyze how gendered bodies are constructed through an ethnocentric discourse. In this context, I claim that female students are imposed certain gendered patterns which result in their marginalization. In other words, they are induced to embody values and practices that reproduce women's subordination. My aim is to address social discrimination, marginalization, and inequality, and to present possible links between the occurrence of such phenomena, and the official school curriculum and pedagogical discourse. © Common Ground, Yannis Pechtelidis, All Rights Reserved.