Tracing Gender in High School Sport's Textbook Images: Management and Organization in Sports

Abstract

The individual is prepared for higher education through sports high schools, where fundamental sports education is provided, leading to sports science faculties and physical education sports colleges. In this context, instructional materials play a crucial role in creating a foundation for individuals to pursue their desired field in higher education. The way unit contents of textbooks used as instructional materials in sports high schools are presented is a significant tool not only for the individual's career development but also for their personal growth and direct knowledge transfer. This study aims to elucidate the representation of gender equality in societal roles within the field of sports and how representations of sports figures are addressed in terms of management in the content of the textbook titled "Sports Management and Organization," created for the 12th-grade level in high school to support theoretical knowledge with visuals. Access to the textbook in question was obtained through the eba.gov.tr website's documents section. Among the numerous visuals preferred in the content of the instructional material, the selected visuals for the study were chosen through document analysis. The analysis of the visuals was conducted using the semiotic analysis method, examining the signifier-signified relationship in terms of denotation and connotation dimensions. In this context, 22 visuals were included in the study. In visuals featuring a single person, 10 used male representation, 1 used female representation; in group visuals consisting of both male and female or entirely male, it was observed that 9 visuals were male-dominated, and 2 visuals were exclusively male. In the textbook where male examples are predominantly chosen, it is presumed that the indicators convey concepts such as leadership, formality, success, time management, coping with stress, fairness, and being knowledgeable in a gender-biased manner, emphasizing the male perspective.