The representation of poverty and poverty alleviation in the prescribed economics textbooks at a higher education institution: a critical discourse analysis.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
This study has been motivated by the necessity for a more complete understanding of how
textbook authors project content knowledge, conveys facts and inspire thoughts and
attitudes. The Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) reaffirms the textbook as
a critical pedagogical tool in the classroom and a leading resource tool for knowledge
transmission. Specifically, the aim of this study is to examine how the representations of
poverty and poverty alleviation within prescribed Economics textbooks at a higher
education institution are represented. The objective was to uncover the ideological
meanings hiding beneath the written words and sentences in the prescribed textbooks that
reference poverty and poverty. The study is positioned in a critical paradigm using a
qualitative methodology and the principles of critical discourse analysis established by
Huckin (1997) as an analytical framework. A purposive sampling approach was used to
select two prescribed Economics textbooks for this study.
The findings are arranged according to themes that emerged in the course of the study. The
themes that emerged are: Rural poverty, Feminization of poverty, Poverty and Race,
Poverty and Income Inequality, Disparities within countries and across countries, and
Poverty as a valid idea. The findings in this chapter affirm that there are inferred power in
the representations and portrayals of poverty and poverty alleviation in Economics
textbooks. This research supports the argument that negative connotations or stereotypes
are still being used to describe the poor, especially in discourse. The main concern is how
poverty and poverty alleviation related knowledge is presented to learners in the classroom.
Recommendations are made to encourage future researchers to take cognisance of the
words and powers that is being presented in the textbooks and interview authors, teachers,
and learners in classrooms to determine their viewpoints on what is written and learned.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.