ENGL 2900

1. ENGL 2900 Feminist Pedagogy

2. Definition • A feminist approach in composition that focuses on questions of difference and dominance in written language.

3. Focus • “emphasize[s] that males and females differ in their developmental processes and in their interactions with others” • involves reading texts written by women, and taking care to understand those texts are not simply appropriations of texts written by men

4. History • Developed in the 1970s as a part of the civil rights movements of the 1960s. • Part of the “second wave” of feminism. • Response to the patriarchal and androcentric nature of western culture in which power structures, including the written word, are controlled implicitly and explicitly by men.

5. Practical Application • A feminist instructor will take into account the implicit differences between male and female writers and teach appropriately. • Feminist instructors try to create a supportive classroom environment and validate student’s experiences from both the male and female perspectives.

6. Practical Application • Productive feminist pedagogy should avoid favoring or focusing on an androcentric direction of teaching while avoiding critiquing the androcentric viewpoint.

7. Advantages • Encourages a differing perspective from mainstream culture. • Encourages broader understanding that improves social cohesion in the classroom. • Teaches students to question and evaluate the world around them, especially implicit cultural attitudes they may have taken for granted.

8. Criticism • Potential to alienate members of the classroom. • Extremely narrow perspective. • Discourages respect for tradition.

9. Response to Criticism • Was never intended to be the sole pedagogy for the classroom experience. • Alienation occurs when the focus is on criticizing perspectives. Proper feminist pedagogy is about broadening experiences and bridging understanding. • The female perspective is a part of tradition; it has simply been ignored.