Transforming the Curriculum

Transforming the Curriculum

For a school that transmits the values of gender and class equality, both the curriculum and the hidden curriculum need to be addressed. The curriculum refers to the actual branches of study covered in the classroom and it has written and clear objectives and assessment techniques. The hidden curriculum, on the other hand, is not written down and, as the name suggests, it is not explicit.

Curriculum is comprised of knowledge that a society wants to transfer to its following generations. The selection of this knowledge is political. In Apple’s words this field stages “the utterly complex struggles over who has the right to “name the world” (Apple, 2004: 179). Giroux (1991) asserts that curriculum should no longer be viewed as a sacred text and teachers should be able to make some adaptations on it. The curriculum should not only reflect positivist epistemology that is based on binary oppositions and the knowledge of daily life needs to take its place. Besides, social struggles need to be incorporated into the curriculum. Their omission presents a society based on consensus by distorting the complex power relations in the real world. 

In this part, first the textbooks as the basic materials covered in the school are elaborated from a gender perspective. Then, the discussions around the importance of using gender-neutral language are reflected and some examples of extra curricular activities are mentioned as a way to cope with sexism.

The teachers or ex-teachers write most textbooks. The textbooks to be covered are selected by the teachers, which also gives them the chance to affect the publishing houses and their policies by their demands. Above all, the way the material is handled in the classroom affects the way pupils perceive it and form their own interpretation. Whether the teacher is critical, approving, or blind to the relations based on gender and other types of subordination in the material is as important as the material itself.

One important area of concern is sex role stereotyping in course-books. Research reveals that the gender roles are set in those books. This might be because it is easy to receive attention by using stereotypes. Although it is not written directly that the men are breadwinners while the women are prone to secondary jobs (like teaching) or homemaking, gender stereotypes are transmitted (Streitmatter, 1994).  The household division of labour is clearly distributed between the sexes. Males initiate nearly all mixed dialogues and family photographs are presented with the name of the man in the center. Following the precautions taken to improve the situation of girls in education, an improvement has been observed in course-books in the West. Unfortunately, non-sexist course-books are not common. Other than the ready made material, like textbooks, the language of the teacher is very important since students are exposed to it for a long time.

Provided that the teacher has gender awareness, even the sexist language of textbooks can be used to sensitize the pupils on gender issues. Once the learners are equipped with necessary vocabulary and ways to avoid sexist language it can even be turned into a chance to practice their critical thinking skills.  (Baba, 2006: 178)

Feminists have been working to reveal the sexist uses of language and to enhance gender-neutral language since 1970s.  In 1980 Dale Spencer argued in “Man Made Language” that the subordination of women was structured in he/man language. Since then, the improvement especially in the written language has been striking but research shows that gender-neutral language is not taught in the classrooms. It is essential that the students are taught a language which does not discriminate against individuals or groups based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. To encourage the use of gender-neutral language many universities and institutions in the West brought their own guidelines. Some of the most commonly mentioned items are briefly accounted below.

Research in different age groups have revealed the use of man as generic brings to mind adult males only, not females or males and females together (Stanworth, 1985). This attitude suggests that all people are male unless it is told otherwise and present males as the only subjects in life. Besides, it leads to confusion in some contexts, as the words do not make it clear weather they refer to humanity or males only. Thus the use of words like human or people are encouraged.

Another form of sexism in language is the use of suffixes ‘–ess’ and ‘-ette’ since they specify the gender of a professional, which is not necessary and give the message that some jobs are more suitable for one gender. The title Ms. is favored  for women especially in occupational contexts since the use of the titles Miss and Mrs. unnecessarily reveal the marital status of women and describe them through their relations to men. Assuming that a group of people belongs to one sex only is considered as faulty as attributing certain traits and duties to one sex only.  Valuing men for their accomplishments and women only for their physical traits is seen equally destructive (Baba, 2006).

The points that are left blank by curriculum can be filled by supplying it with extra curricular activities to address sexism or gender typing.  Extra curricular activities can empower girls. One example was provided by Bell (1996) who describes some of the activities conducted in an urban elementary school to empower girls. The three-year project REACH, aimed at researching the ways to empower girls to be more conscious and assertive especially about the problems they face at school. The researchers formed two groups for girls according to their ages. The activities were based on the consciousness-raising model of the 1970s.  The groups held discussions about the problems they faced at the school and the girls were able to form solidarity despite their racial differences. The girls both enjoyed the weekly meetings and began to analyze the school culture against them. The discussion topics ranged from achievement and failure issues at school to the image of women in the media. Through role-playing technique they realized the contradictions at school and developed their assertiveness. The group also held sessions with professional women from masculine stereotyped jobs and provided the girls with various role models. In the end the girls took collective action and went to the local authorities to ask for funds for the girls club. Bell concludes that this model can help the empowerment of girls until the school cultures change to their advantage.

Another example for an extra curricular activity aimed at introducing schoolgirls with women from professions and masculine stereotyped jobs. Although it was costly, in 1987 a mobile road show toured Britain to present role models from professions and hosted over two thousand females (Delamont, 1990).  Providing the girls with the chances to meet women from different professions can also take the form of getting those women to visit the schools, which will not be costly.