CHALLENGING GENDER ROLE STEREOTYPES IN ‘PIGGY BOOK’: A VISUAL LITERACY APPROACH ON FAMILY ROLE EQUALITY

In this study, we explore the diverse ways that children can think and learn in terms of images they encounter in Antony Browne's 'Piggy book', along with the related implications for learning and teaching, through an interdisciplinary inquiry-based approach of a picturebook that conveys both textual and visual messages about gender role equality within the family.The article presents a reading of how both textual and visual representations define the different gender roles that the members of a family have or should have.Household chores are portrayed as feminine, nevertheless, during the narration, a shift in this definition and in the family dynamics is implied.An expansion and complementarity between the visual and the textual mode impact gender role equality implications that this picturebook offers.The way in which the visual narrative frames and defines the male character's appearance and behaviour in terms of gender role equality is analyzed.In supporting teachers' attempts on approaching gender equality within family dynamics in kindergarten settings, the article presents an interdisciplinary teaching proposal by using 'Piggy book' as a means for encouraging discussion and promoting the notion of gender role equality.The contribution of the current work is that it raises discussion on and proposes approaches of gender role equality within family relations.The interdisciplinary teaching proposal could inspire teachers to engage kindergarten children in developing their own understandings of what constitutes a feminine and a masculine household role.Furthermore, children would be challenged to shape their own definitions of equality in gender roles within the family, while attempting to answer the question 'Does gender role equality start at home?'.