CURRICULUM BECOMES OUR WAY OF CONTRADICTING BIOLOGY AND CULTURE - AN OUTLINE OF SOME DILEMMAS FOR NON-SEXIST EDUCATION

Abstract

This article is a reflection on some general propositions concerning the process of schooling and on the nature and scope of the movement in Australia for non-sexist education. The first section of the article considers the arguments about schooling as reproducer of the social and cultural form. Here it is argued that, since schooling does not simply reproduce but is a conscious interruption in the transmission of cultural identity, there is some potential for reformist intervention. It is shown also that school does not automatically reflect or respect the biological attributes of pupils and that the treatment of girls has involved values which go beyond an acknowledgment of their attribute..