Feminist pedagogy

Feminist pedagogy is a pedagogical framework grounded in feminist theory. It embraces a set of epistemological assumptions, teaching strategies, approaches to content, classroom practices, and teacher-student relationships.[1] Feminist pedagogy, along with other critical and progressive pedagogies considers knowledge to be socially constructed. Knowledge, understood to be non-objective and non-universal, is shaped by the possession of specific identities and the subjective experiences and perceptions that are a product of that identity (Johnson-Bailey and Lee). Classrooms that employ feminist pedagogy use the various and diverse experiences located within the space as opportunities to cultivate learning. Using “experiences as basis for learning, demystifies canonical knowledge and exposes the role of gender, race and class in configuring power relations” (McClure). Feminist pedagogy addresses the power imbalances present in many westernized educational institutions and works toward de-centering that power. Within most traditional educational settings, the dominant power structure situates instructors as superior to students. Feminist pedagogy rejects this normative classroom dynamic, seeking to foster more democratic spaces functioning with the understanding that both teachers and students are subjects, not objects (McClure). Students are encouraged to reject normativity positions of passivity to enter into the role of active knowers and facilitators of learning. Within feminist pedagogy “self-knowledge on the part of the student that is not typically encouraged in the traditional academic” setting is confirmed and validated (Sandell). Central to Feminist Pedagogy is the understanding of a “symbiotic system of knowledge; a relationship between teacher and student in which both parties simultaneously learn from one another rather than a hierarchical passing of knowledge from teacher to student”. Under feminist pedagogy students are encouraged to develop critical thinking and analysis skills to deconstruct and challenge the “oppressive characteristics of a society that has traditionally served the politically conservative and economic privileged” (Johnson-Bailey and Lee).

The theoretical foundation of feminist pedagogy is grounded in critical theories of learning and teaching such as Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Feminist pedagogy is an engaged process facilitated by concrete classroom goals in which members learn to respect each other's differences, accomplish mutual goals, and help each other reach individual goals. This process facilitates participatory learning, validation of personal experience, encouragement of social understanding and activism, and the development of critical thinking and open-minds.[4]It identifies the practical applications of feminist theory, while promoting the importance of social change, specifically within the institutional hierarchy found in academia. Feminist Pedagogy is employed most frequently in Women’s Studies classes, which aim to transform [students] from objects to subjects of inquiry.[3] However, the use of feminist pedagogy is not restricted only to Women's Studies courses.

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