This investigation examined the treatment of South Africa in five widely adopted American elementary social studies textbooks series. Content analysis revealed differential treatment in primary and intermediate grade textbooks. Categories that emerged from constant comparative analysis of data suggest that, accss all primary grade textbooks there was no attention given to SouthAfrica, and only scant attention to Africa. For intermediate grades, categories included Geographic Description, Political History, and South Africa of Today. Findings suggest that first through sixth grade textbooks provide an incomplete picture of SouthAfrica and may unintentionally perpetuate misinformation, misconceptions and stereotypes.
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