Aging Education In Elementary Textbooks

Abstract

The aim of this study is the examination of primary school textbooks as to how they cover the issues of elderly people and aging education. The study is a qualitative one wherein the method of document analysis has been used. A total of twelve primary school textbooks have been examined /analyzed within the scope of this study. For evaluation, a measurement system consisting of 8 themes and their constituent subthemes has been implemented. At the end of the study it has been concluded that primary school textbooks do not cover the subject of elderly people and aging education adequately and that the books contain negative representations of the elderly. It is thereby concluded that in order to ameliorate the attitudes of the students towards elderly people (and in order to cultivate in them an acceptance of their own aging), it is necessary to incorporate elderly people and aging education in primary schools and textbooks. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.