Review article
“Feminine Pedagogy” and Feminization of Teacher’s Profession as Factors of Hidden Curriculum
Renata Jukić
; Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Philosophy in Osijek
Abstract
It is an indisputable fact that in our schools (especially at lower levels of education) a signifi cant feminization of teacher’s profession is present. Many issues and dilemmas derive from this phenomenon: is there such a thing like “feminine” education, “feminine pedagogy”, or is this just a cultural stereotype, and if there is such a thing, what is the difference between it and “masculine” education, does it enrich or impoverish educational process but also the overall school culture? General identity crisis is typical of modern society and the issues of identifi cation and identity are closely related to stereotypes and prejudice. Profession shapes humans’ personal identity, which is, in
terms of teacher’s profession, burdened with gender stereotypes. A much broader social and cultural role than mere educational work belongs to school, school gives cultural legitimacy and identity. If teacher’s profession is publicly legitimated as feminine, school
actually (re)produces gender inequality related to reproduction of traditional value systems and segregation of profession. If we take into consideration thoughts on the concepts of a hidden curriculum, the overall school environment infl uences students’ values , attitudes, norms, and habits, as well as social learning unrelated to the current program. Overall school relationships often reproduce social relationships. Feminization of teacher’s profession and “feminine
pedagogy” as a factor of hidden curriculum can be viewed ambivalently: as a danger (if we start off with the hypothesis that women cannot be models of identifi cation for both boys and girls, and that they educate in a “softer” and more permissive way) or as an
advantage (if typical feminine phenomena are viewed in the context of development of students’ emotional intelligence). Dealing with such issues reveals a problem of feminization of teacher’s profession which
can exist only at the level of hypotheses liable to an empirical verifi cation.
Keywords
feminization; hidden curriculum; stereotypes; teacher’s profession; feminine pedagogy
Hrčak ID:
112417
URI
Publication date:
2.12.2013.
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