A Study On Hidden Curriculum Of The Dongxiang Nationality Primary And Secondary Schools From The Gender Perspective

The development of girls education of ethnic minority groups in poverty-stricken areas in Northwest China has being lagged behind for a long period, which is one of "bottlenecks" restricting the realization of balanced development of education and educational fair in our country. At present, along the implementation of free compulsory education policy and the increased state funding for education in West areas, the economical difficulty restricting the development of girls education of ethnic minority groups in poverty-stricken areas in Northwest China has been resolved. However, the girls education in these areas still faces a very serious situation. Under such situation, this study sets the Dongxiang nationality as an example, which is the ethnic minority only existing in Gansu Province, as well as one of the ethnic minorities who has the most serious problem in girls education. This study has a deep excavation of the cause that affecting the development of girls education in this race. After conducting site inspections for many times, the researchers found that the local culture of gender inequality between men and women is the root cause that restricting the girls education in this ethnic minority. Such culture of gender inequality in schools has existed as the form of the hidden curriculum, what's more , such culture also has a far-reaching impact on individual concepts of gender and gender acts in schools, as well as the process of gender socialization.In view of this, the researchers limit this study in hidden curriculums in school. Under the guidance of the hidden curriculum theory and the gender theory, the researcher use the paradigm of anthropological field work and the describing way of ethnographic research, through specific methods, such as interviews, observation and physical analysis, they have conducted a comprehensive and in-depth analysis on the specific information and on the impact on the gender individuals in schools. And then, they have explored the formation mechanism and the development models of the hidden curriculum of gender philosophy in schools. And on this basis, they have discussed the effective ways of exerting the active role of hidden curriculums.During the field research the researchers have discovered that all levels of hidden curriculums in the two case schools, especially in the interaction of gender groups in the two schools, in the various types of texts in schools and in the school environment, which contain a lot of gender information.Among the interaction of gender groups at schools, as the same-sex interaction have more times, more extensive areas and more diverse ways, there would be fewer times, narrower field and duller ways in the heterosexual interaction. As the male interaction has more times, more extensive areas and more diverse ways, there would be fewer times, narrower field and duller ways in the female interaction. In addition, in the female interaction, interactive content is often about study, however, in the male interaction, interactive content has nothing to do mostly with the study. At the interaction between opposite sex among the students, the majority of interactive contents are about the study. In the interaction among all gender groups at the schools, the status of male teachers are the highest, and the girls have lowest status are.At all types of texts at schools, there are a lot of gender information. First of all, in the textbooks, the authors of the texts, the figures in the texts and the illustrations as well as the vast majority of the named persons are male; men often appear in public areas, while women are usually in the private areas; male play very extensive roles in society and the roles appeared mainly at social profession, however, women played relatively few roles in society and the roles appeared mainly at home. Secondly, in the texts of the school rules and regulations, some contents are lack of humane care for women and the considerations of local women's disadvantaged situation, moreover, they also confirm women's social identity as vulnerable groups at the system levels. Thirdly, in the texts of students'homework, the boys are always self-centered, admire the authority and power and worship of men; on the contrary, more often girls think about the need and feelings of others, respect knowledge, truth, goodness and beauty, and show the admiration and sympathy for women.In the school environment, on the physical environment, the layout of student activity and living facilities reflect the attention to the needs of boys and the ignorance of girls; campus layout shows men's contribution to society and men's social status; arrangements of student seats keeps to the principle of boys are " separated " from girls; arrangements of student dormitories also takes the measure of boys are " isolated " from girls. In the speak of the invisible environment, in the view of the roles played by all the groups in schools, they are always male who assume the essential job duties and play important roles; in the view of academic achievement, the girls are much better than boys; in the view of the gender concepts of school members, all the gender groups have the awareness of gender stereotypes or gender bias in different degrees.The research result shows that the hidden curriculums of the two case schools not only convey the concepts of gender stereotypes and gender bias, such as " Men's work centers around outside, women's work centers around the home ", " Man is superior to woman ", " man is stronger than woman.", "male is dominance ", but also take some measures to the "patriarchal" sex discrimination and sex difference in the behavioral dimensions. As collecting these gender information ,we would form a "male-centered" school gender philosophy, very subtle form of this gender philosophy has a strong psychological hint on the gender groups and individuals at schools, thus it affect the procession of gender socialization. Specifically, such a gender philosophy shows and highlights the men's position in the school, creates men's prestige in the school, and makes the behavior of men show strong self-confidence and sense of superiority. But at the same time, the gender philosophy results a very disadvantaged impact on women at schools, leading to their low self-esteem, silence, low-key and passive behaviors.In the view of the source and cause of gender information in hidden curriculums in primary and secondary schools of the Dongxiang nationality, the gender information in hidden curriculums in primary and secondary schools of the Dongxiang nationality is not only the result of the various gender sectors'intertwining, interaction and mutual integration, but also the combined effects of society, communities, families, and national gender culture.The differences at some aspects of gender information in the two case schools tell us that the concept of gender in hidden curriculums is not static, but developing. In the clash of mainstream culture and non-mainstream culture, in the competition of dominant curriculum and hidden curriculum and in the confrontation of gender individuals, the gender concept of hidden curriculums will continue to change and develop.The differences between the two case schools also show that school hidden curriculums are not static, but dynamic. As long as the best use of the situation, the hidden curriculums not only can be used to improve the disadvantaged school situation of girls in Dongxiang, but also can offer the service to the realization of gender equality in education; in the long run, under the right guidance and nurturing, the school hidden curriculum can offer the service to the development of school, the development of community as well as the overall development of the Dongxiang nationality.