Textbooks and Inclusive Education: Background Paper Prepared for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report, Inclusion and Education

This report, based on an analysis of a sample of textbooks from 28 countries, shows that the subject of inclusion has become increasingly significant in terms of both structure and subject matter, and particularly in the contexts of human rights and citizenship. Social diversity is also increasingly taken into account and reflected upon, albeit with varying emphasis on the differing dimensions of diversity, given that genuinely intersectional perspectives via which these are linked only occur in isolated and rudimentary cases. With regard to inclusiveness in the gender-related dimension, the overall picture of the textbook sample under analysis here is a heterogeneous one; further, the incorporation of LGTBQIA+ perspectives remains insufficient. Nevertheless, the textbooks examined here do show increasing critical reflection on the social discrimination of different groups, and, ultimately, we do observe a significant trend towards a more pronounced consideration and representation of different social groups and minorities.