Images of the “Other” in English Textbooks for High School Education

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to analyze the ways in which the “other” is portrayed and formalized in compulsory schooling in an institutionalized manner. The research methodology used is qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the teaching material. Certain attitudes towards “other” cultures among societal groups are often the result of their conception of alterity, of their identity and the relation between them. These representations have become a culture on its own right, giving birth to a categorization of people within the same society and of peoples of the world. This paper will attempt to reveal the way this dichotomy between the “self” and the “other” operates and will analyze the way alterity is managed in the textbooks.