The “Nuts and Dolts” of Teacher Images in Children’s Picture Storybooks: A Content Analysis, by Sarah Jo Sandefur and Leeann Moore, is an ethnographic content analysis that carefully examines how teachers are portrayed in children storybooks within the United States. One of the main purposes of the study was evidently to probe the impact of stereotypes and clichés of teacher representations, in children storybooks, on the actual institution of teaching. According to the study, children storybooks are plagued with contradictory depictions of teachers and schools. The authors highlighted the fact that teachers are portrayed in these storybooks as insensitive, foolish or inefficient. This portrayal of teachers is a phenomenon that has been examined by several other researchers and has yielded similar results over the years. As such, Sandefur and Leeann conducted their research based on the hypothesis that; a propensity of images painting teachers in an unflattering light may in fact have broader consequences on cultural perceptions of teachers and educational institutions. Accordingly, the representations of teachers in these storybooks are absorbed in to the collective consciousness of society and shape expectations and behaviors of both teachers and students. The second objective of the study is to make teachers aware of the varying portrayal of teachers being represented. This is evident by the authors’ statement that teachers cannot effectuate positive change in their profession until they are aware of the internal and external influences that define and shape the educational system.
In this ethnographic content analysis, Sandefur and Leeann examine 96 images of teachers represented in 62 picture storybooks from 1965 to 2000. Throughout the analysis, the researchers noted the portrayal of two types of teachers; traditional and non-traditional. The traditional