Criteria evaluation for the Selection of Physical activity Images for School Textbooks that are Free of Stereotypes

This article presents a series of evaluation criteria for the selection of physical activity images for school textbooks that are free of stereotypes. School textbooks are purveyors of information that does not always maintain an unequivocal relationship with regards to the knowledge that is supposed to be imparted. The selection of textbook content should be consistent with the goals of the education system but research has shown that the visual content of textbooks does not generally achieve this aim. Images used in textbooks mask prejudices behind a facade of neutrality and they reproduce stereotypes of inequality that affect the most vulnerable societal collectives. Textbook evaluation criteria are based on the results of research that analysed stereotypes in Spanish secondary school textbooks and the perceptions of the secondary school students when shown a significant sample of the images. The evaluation criteria can be applied to the selection of textbook images for the different subject areas, taking into account the variables of sex, age, multiculturality, disability and the corporal typology of the people that are represented. The application of the system is exemplified with the selection of images for a hypothetical physical education textbook