Gender stereotypes and activities in the wild in the textbooks of Physical Education Primary

Gender stereotypes in the pictures that represent the activities in the wild in the books of Physical Education Primary

Gender stereotypes related to physical activity are still present in both primary and secondary education. The educational potential of activities in the natural environment has been highlighted in numerous studies. The objective of this research was to analyze the activities in the natural environment and their linkage according to sex, represented in the textbooks of Physical Education in the stage of Primary School, published in Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, Of Education. The total of the sample of images in the nature (n = 99), collected in 34 textbooks, belonging to six Spanish publishers were analyzed. For the content analysis of the images, the SAIMEF (Physical Analysis Images Analysis System) tool, elaborated ad hoc, was used. The results showed that the activities in the natural environment (p<0.05) are performed by men, who belong to the age group of the children, who practice mountain sports, namely orienteering, being the terrestrial environment the most used to carry out these activities. In contrast, women, especially girls, performed mountain sports, specifically climbing, being the aquatic medium the most used. It is therefore necessary to reflect the textbooks used in the area of Physical Education to avoid the transmission of gender stereotypes and offer models with which to identify both personally and socially for both sexes.