Human Values in Textbooks: A Case Study of General Zia and Post-2010 Democratic Regimes
Qamar Abbas
International Islamic University Islamabad
Abstract
The study is qualitative in nature using the content analysis method of research. The core objective of the study has been to gauge and compare the values in the textbooks during two eras; viz, General Zia-ul-Haq (1978-1988) and Post-2010 democratic regimes. For this purpose, the textbooks of two different time periods have been selected – primary level (grade I to V) English (as a subject) textbooks published by the Punjab Textbook Board during General Zia-ul-Haq regime and the same level English textbooks published by the Punjab Textbook Board during post-2010 democratic regimes. The human values such as tolerance, patience, empathy, honesty, justice, equity, and humanism have been divided into some categories with further subcategories as indicators to match with the content of textbooks. The collected data revealed that neither the textbooks during the Zia-ul-Haq period nor the textbooks of post-2010 regimes promoted these values in the students, as they ought to be. A minor percentage of human values have been found in the textbooks of both eras.
