Jackson (1983) emphasizes three
characteristics of schools; that children are there for a long time, that the
settings are uniform and that it is compulsory. The students are expected to
learn and obey some basic rules within the first years so they must develop
some strategies to deal with these rules. At school students learn patience and
“to accept the plans and policies of higher authorities, even when their
rationale is unexplained and their meaning unclear” (Jackson,1983: 59). In
other words, there are unwritten rules in school that the students are expected
to obey.
The messages that can be inferred
from the way the school is run and the ways the teacher exercises power in the
classroom form the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum is mentioned as one
of the barriers to gender equity. Because most of the time there are different
and discriminatory set of rules for girls and boys.
Assigning tasks in line with
household division of labour to boys and girls or establishing different
dressing codes or creating groups based on sex and thus segregating boys and
girls all give messages to students. Physical education classes, in which the
sexes are separated can set an example to such kind of practice. The policies
of assigning more funds and facilities to activities more popular among boys
and ignoring activities for girls are also common practices. Although they are
not stated directly, the students infer the underlying messages and comply with
them. Most of the time these are also the expectations of the society from
individuals of different genders. Dreeben sees the hidden curriculum as “shaped
by the invisible hand of the social system” (1983: 67).
Vallance calls the “nonacademic
but educationally significant consequences of schooling that occur
systematically but are not made explicit at any level of the public rationales
for education”, the hidden curriculum (1983: 11). For her, it is not a new
phenomenon as the schools in America had the objective of transmitting
traditional culture and creating a homogeneous society from the beginning. The
schools have been teaching ‘for docility’, operating to reinforce an inflexible
class structure. Apple and King (1983) agree with Vallance on that hidden
curriculum and its intentions are not new and it had the aim of homogenization
but changed in time with the influence of functionalism and modernism. Today,
the effects of hidden curriculum can be observed in the importance of skills
emphasized for girls and boys. Stromquist, (1990) claims that the formal schooling
does not transmit values to contradict the gender roles of women.
The students can also infer
messages by simply looking at the division of labour among teachers at school.
If the members of the same sex fill all the administrative positions, this will
lead to an association of power and authority to that sex in students’ minds.
Other than their sex, the ideology of the teachers and administrators are also
important. The ideology of the teachers and principal are translated into an
atmosphere in which the students are expected to behave in certain ways. This
way the students are exposed to a certain gender ideology for years. That is
why the hidden curriculum is important. It is impossible not to agree with
Kohlberg since “the need to make the hidden curriculum an atmosphere of
justice, and to make this hidden curriculum explicit in intellectual and verbal
discussions of justice and morality, is becoming more and more urgent” (1983:
76).
Weiner (2004), has determined the
ways in which education feminists have worked as political, critical, and
practical. First, education feminists have tried to change the conditions and
life prospects of girls and women in the political arena. Second, they have
provided a critique of forming and receiving knowledge, which will be further
elaborated in the methodology chapter. Third, they have struggled to form more
egalitarian and ethical forms of practice to increase female participation in
every field. These three are deeply connected to each other and the last way is
the focus of this thesis.
In line with Weiner, this study
argues that there are no blanket prescriptions that can be proposed to solve
the gender inequality problems in the education system. Cultural, social, and
historical settings are all important factors in determining ways to cope with
sexism and other kinds of oppression such as racism, homophobia, and
ethnocentrism in local settings.
As it has been presented in the
previous chapter feminism does not provide a unified perspective for education.
Therefore, it is a challenging task to form a feminist pedagogy that will take
into account the entire feminist concerns. However, based on the issues
presented some basic principals for a critical feminist pedagogy will be
derived.
·
It needs to have focus on ethics as central
principle both in curriculum design and practice. The issues of equality are
not only important for the formation of a more democratic society per se but
also it is a responsibility of the individual to the society.
·
It needs to work to achieve a multi-voiced
classroom in which the learners feel safe to be and to express themselves. As a micro world it will model the relations
among individuals who realize the differences of individuals and practice
equality.
· Traditional gendered expectations from
individuals are not normalized and reproduced but challenged by looking for the
reasons in relations of domination.
· The subject positions of learners are
acknowledged by involving them in decision-making procedures as much as
possible and by informing them about aims of instruction. This way the school
will become transparent and open to change.
·
The students are empowered to analyze the world
and their own positions.
·
Critical thinking skills are incorporated into
the curriculum instead of memorization and rote learning to reach the universal
truth
·
Sexism in language needs to be avoided and the
ways to avoid it need to be taught.
·
In case sexist material needs to be used it
should not go uncriticized.
·
The allocation of the resources and facilities
need to be equitable for each group and sex at school. The hidden curriculum
needs to give the messages of equality and democracy.
0 Comments