School Curriculum, Critical Race Theory, and Teacher Censorship

Divergent Representations of Africa: A Qualitative Analysis of Georgia Social Studies Textbooks

The Georgia Department of Education has clearly defined standards for learning about Africa in the seventh grade. However, there exists great variation in how textbooks present this material and address these standards. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, we assess the presentation of Africa in three widely used Georgia social studies textbooks. We document and analyze coverage of Africa across Georgia’s seventh grade world studies learning domains. Our research demonstrates: 1) that, despite widespread calls for decolonization of education and strengthening of multicultural education, Euro-American perspectives on Africa are still prevalent; 2) textbooks vary widely on how they choose to address the social studies standards for Africa; and 3) negative stereotypes of Africa and its peoples continue to be reaffirmed, to the detriment of Georgia students. Lastly, our research also contributes to larger conversations on the utility of content analysis as a methodology for understanding educational practices.

Read more: Brown, B.A., Amber Reed. (2023) Divergent Representations of Africa: A Qualitative Analysis of Georgia Social Studies Textbooks. Volume 20, Issue 2 Georgia Educational Researcher. 

Funding: National Science Foundation. Award Abstract # 2222427: Interdisciplinary Research on New Immigration and Curricula Development

Additional Projects

Images of Africa in Georgia Social Studies Textbooks: A Visual Analysis

Teaching Africa Under Censorship: Black Educators’ Pedagogical Responses in Social Studies Classrooms