Abstract

This study examined 17 science textbooks for grades 7-9 through a mixed-method approach that combined quantitative and qualitative analysis. We analyzed visuals, textual and discursive elements to explore how diversity is represented and whether these materials reinforce or challenge colonial narratives. Grounded in decolonial and post-colonial approaches, feminist science and technology studies and othering, the research applied Content Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to identify issues of representation and colonial discourses.
Our focus was on how social groups, places and historical times are positioned in the textbooks. Prior studies has emphasized that textbooks function as colonial artifacts, often embedding hidden messages that privilege Western science while marginalizing women, Indigenous peoples, and visible minorities. This research contributes to these debates by demonstrating how textbooks may act as mechanisms of exclusion, shaping perceptions of who produces legitimate knowledge.
Findings show that across images, texts, and discourse, biased representations are reproduced. In images, visible minorities appear statistically overrepresented, yet intersections of gender, race, and role reveal that prominent scientists are almost exclusively White and male. Textual analysis confirms that most scientists highlighted are contemporary, but predominantly European and North American men. Discourse analysis further uncovers colonial logics, including binary oppositions that elevate Western science while erasing or subordinating alternative knowledges.
By exposing these mechanisms of exclusion and authority, this study underscores how science textbooks reproduce social hierarchies. It advocates for efforts to decolonize science education and advance social justice by promoting inclusive and pluralistic understanding of knowledge construction.