GENDER CULTURE FORMATION AS THE BASIS FOR REALIZING INDIVIDUAL POTENTIAL OF DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The article highlights the questions concerning formation of high school students’ gender culture at general secondary schools. The problem of forming high school students’ gender culture on the basis of understanding gender and gender equality is caused by the urgent need to overcome gender stereotypes and discrimination of men and women in the present-day Ukrainian society. At the theoretical level the authors substantiate the need to organise high school students’ educational activity on the basis of fundamental principles of the gender-­oriented approach whose implementation provides the creation of conditions necessary for the development of high school students individual potential, skills for constructive inter-­gender interaction and influences the formation of high school students’ gender culture effectively. Authors discuss various approaches to understanding the essence of the notion of “gender” and provide their own definition. Gender is defined as a complex formation which affects a person’s understanding of his/her role and behaviour within the social and cultural norms and rules of a particular society which govern the constructive interaction between its members. The principles of forming high school students’ culture are determined, namely, the principle of accessibility of all types and forms of educational services; the principle of considering gender differences and individual peculiarities of high school students; the principle of creating equal conditions for maximizing high school students’ potential and identifying their needs; the principle of choosing individual educational trajectory.