Gender Representation in Yoruba Children’s Songs: A Study of Primary Schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State

Children's songs constitute a foundational layer of cultural socialisation, embedding values, gender roles, and social expectations in young learners from an early age. This study analyses gender representation in Yoruba children's songs used in primary schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South West Nigeria. The study adopts a content analysis design, examining a purposively selected corpus of 80 Yoruba children's songs drawn from school songbooks, oral classroom recordings, and interviews with primary school teachers. Data were analysed using feminist critical discourse analysis to identify recurring themes, gender-specific language, and representations of masculinity and femininity. Existing literature on gender and African children's literature has focused predominantly on written texts, with limited attention to orally transmitted songs in school contexts. This study therefore fills a methodological and contextual gap. The research investigates whether Yoruba children's songs reinforce patriarchal gender norms or whether they also encode values of female strength, communal responsibility, and gender equity. The study further examines how teachers' interpretations and pedagogical choices influence gendered readings of these songs in classroom practice. Findings are expected to reveal that traditional gender stereotypes are predominant in the song corpus, with limited examples of gender-progressive content. Recommendations will address curriculum revision and teacher training to promote gender-sensitive use of Yoruba cultural materials in early childhood education. Keywords: gender representation, Yoruba children's songs, primary education, Abeokuta, content analysis.