Gendered curriculum transformation: The teaching of gender issues of high school's civics and society teachers

The purpose of this study was to analyze the gender differences between male and female Civics and Society teachers in their curriculum transformation of gender issues as presented by textbooks. The participants of this study were two Civics and Society Teachers-One male and one Female-As well as their students who were senior high school students in northern Taiwan. This study is a case study which utilized participant observations, interviews and document analysis to collect data. Results showed that the male teacher and the female teacher each had different interpretations of gender issues because of their different individual gender experiences. The male teacher believed that the textbook was biased towards women's rights. In response to this perceived bias he searched for and utilized different approaches that were not provided by the Gender-Imbalanced textbook. The female teacher agreed with most of the textbook supplied content and she attempted to uncover and criticize gender discrimination. The male teacher emphasized the influences social structure has on gender experience, while the female teacher interpreted gender issues from the perspective of biological sex. This is a kind of gendered curriculum transformation. In addition, both teachers neglected to focus on the social construction of gender meaning because of their limited gender experiences. There was also a gap between the teachers' implemented curriculum and the formal curriculum.