Analysis of the School Canon of School Textbooks Used at the High School Level in Ecuador.

Abstract

The textbooks used in Ecuador's public education system to teach language and literature at the upper secondary (Bachillerato) level are examined in this article. This piece is a component of a larger PhD thesis. In order to determine the standards for author and work inclusion, material structure, and selection, the goal is to analyze the school canon that is contained in these textbooks. Using a qualitative technique and a socio-critical paradigm, a documentary design and content analysis were also utilized because of the nature of the subject of the study. The results show that books that fit the definition of literary skills are the primary focus of the school canon's organizing, but their presence in the study of literary history or theme studies is not clearly contextualized. Furthermore, established literary movements like Modernism and Social Realism are strongly represented, and there is a definite preponderance of male Latin American literary works from the twentieth century. Last but not least, despite the Ministry of Education's inclusion policies, the dramatic genre is absent and women writers are marginalized.