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Feminist Views on the Role of Education

Last updated 26 Nov 2019

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Feminist sociologists have large areas of agreement with functionalists and Marxists in so far as they see the education system as transmitting a particular set of norms and values into the pupils. However, instead of seeing these as either a neutral value consensus or the values of the ruling class and capitalism, feminists see the education system as transmitting patriarchal values.

For example, Heaton and Lawson (1996) argued that the hidden curriculum taught patriarchal values in schools. They noted traditional family structures in textbooks (along with many other gender stereotypes, subjects aimed towards specific genders, gender divisions in PE and sport and the gender division of labour in schools (predominantly female teachers and male managers).

Liberal feminists would point out these remaining issues of patriarchy in education while also acknowledging significant strides towards equality in the education system. In the 1940s and 50s, under the tripartite system, boys had a lower pass rate for the 11+ than girls (essentially institutionally failing girls in order to ensure more boys can succeed) and some subjects being specifically for one gender or the other used to be institutional rather than based on apparent preference. Today, once subjects become optional, there are quite clear gender preferences for one subject or another, but all subjects are open to all pupils. Perhaps the biggest change, since the 1980s, is that girls now outperform boys in education so if the system is a patriarchal one, designed to favour boys, it is singularly failing. However, Michelle Stanworth (1983), for instance, noted that there will still higher expectations of boys and teachers would be more likely to recommend boys apply for higher education than girls at the same academic level.

Radical feminists argue that the education system is still fundamentally patriarchal and continues to marginalise and oppress women. It does this through some of the processes already noted (reinforcing patriarchal ideology through the formal and hidden curriculum and normalising the marginalisation and oppression of women so that by the time girls leave school they see it as normal and natural rather than as patriarchal oppression). Radical feminist research has also looked at sexual harassment in education and how it is not treated as seriously as other forms of bullying (e.g. Kat Banyard, 2011).

Black and difference feminists point out how not all girls have the same experience in education and that minority-ethnic girls are often victims of specific stereotyping and assumptions. For example, teachers might assume that Muslim girls have different aspirations in relation to career and family from their peers. There have been studies of the specific school experiences of black girls, which we will consider in more detail in future sections.

Where feminists acknowledge that there has been a great deal of improvement for girls in education, they would point to feminism itself as being one of the main reasons for this. Sue Sharpe (1996) found that London schoolgirls in the 1970s had completely different priorities and aspirations from similar girls in 1996. She found that while in the 1970s girls’ priorities were marriage and family, in the 1990s this had switched dramatically to career. While there are a number of potential reasons for this, legislative changes such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act and the 1976 Sex Discrimination Act are likely to have played their part, hence supporting a liberal feminist perspective).

What all feminists agree on is that the education system does work as an agent of secondary socialisation which teaches girls and boys what are seen as universal norms and values and gender scripts that are actually those of contemporary patriarchy and that girls and boys learning these values prevents social change and challenges to patriarchy.

Evaluating feminist views on the role of education

Two features of contemporary education, at least in the UK, which critics of feminist views on education often point out are: 1) education is an increasingly female-dominated sector (most teachers are women, an increasing number of managers are women because they are drawn from the available teachers) and 2) the education system is increasingly resulting in female success and male underperformance. If this is a system designed to ensure men are in the top positions in society and women are marginalised into a domestic role, then it would appear to be failing. The education system is sending more and more girls into higher education (Michelle Stanworth’s research on this is now out of date).

However, while there is clearly some truth in these criticisms, it is still clear that there is a glass ceiling and a gender pay gap so the education system might be creating lots of highly-qualified girls, they are still losing out to their male peers when it comes to top jobs and higher incomes. They are also still more likely to take time off for child-rearing, work part time and to carry out the majority of housework tasks. Feminists point out that the education system largely normalises this (alongside other agents of socialisation such as the family and the media) and so even highly-qualified women often accept this as inevitable or normal. At the same time men are socialised to also consider this normal.

  • Hidden curriculum
  • Radical Feminism

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A Guide to Feminist Pedagogy

A Guide to Feminist Pedagogy

  • [framework for this guide]
  • Rooted in Epistemology
  • Construction of Knowledge
  • The Role of Experience & Emotions
  • Critical View of Power & Authority
  • The Complexity of Identity
  • The Importance of Community
  • Course Design
  • Learning Environment
  • A Few Examples
  • Works Cited
  • How We Wrote It

Introduction to This Guide

Feminist pedagogy is not a toolbox, a collection of strategies, a list of practices, or a specific classroom arrangement.  It is an overarching philosophy—a theory of teaching and learning that integrates feminist values with related theories and research on teaching and learning.

It begins with our beliefs and motivations:   why do we teach? why do students learn? what are the goals of learning? We know that the consequences of our motives for teaching and learning are significant: Keith Trigwell and Mike Prosser have shown that the instructor’s intentions in teaching (“why the person adopts a particular strategy”) have a greater impact on student learning than the instructor’s actual strategies for teaching (“what the person does”) (78). Their research has shown that approaches to teaching that are purposefully focused on the students and aimed at changing conceptual frameworks lead to deeper learning practices than teacher-centered, information-driven approaches (Trigwell 98). The implications are that the instructor’s fundamental beliefs and values about teaching, learning, and knowledge-making matter .

In this guide, we explain some of the fundamental beliefs, values, and intentions behind feminist pedagogy to inform a deliberate application in specific classrooms –any and all classrooms, as feminist pedagogy can inform any disciplinary context. (For a more focused exploration of feminist pedagogy specifically within the women’s studies classroom, see Holly Hassel and Nerissa Nelson’s “A Signature Feminist Pedagogy: Connection and Transformation in Women’s Studies.”)

This guide is not a primer on feminism, though, so we begin having assumed the following:

We live within a patriarchy, a term which we define—following the work of Allan Johnson—as a society that’s structure is “male-dominated, male-centered, and male-identified” (5). For more, read Allan Johnson’s Gender Knot , particularly chapter one, “Where are we?” and   chapter two, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us.” Differences exist “between and among groups” of people based on lived experiences that are informed by the complex interactions between “history, culture, power, and ideology” (McLaren 43). For more, read Peter McLaren’s taxonomy of approaches to difference . The concept of “woman” does not exist in isolation from other identities. Rather, identity is “intersectional,” a term that recognizes the interlocking and inextricable relationship between different aspects of identity and systems of oppression. For more, read Kimberlé Crenshaw’s “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.”  

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How This Guide Was Written

-- See how composition process matched our subject matter.

-- Learn about the eight authors of this guide.

Guide Co-authors:

March , 2015

Raquelle Bostow Sherry Brewer Nancy Chick Ben Galina

Allison McGrath Kirsten Mendoza Kristen Navarro Lis Valle-Ruiz

<-- About the authors <-- How we wrote this guide on behalf of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching

Feminist Theory

Jo Ann Arinder

Feminist theory falls under the umbrella of critical theory, which in general have the purpose of destabilizing systems of power and oppression. Feminist theory will be discussed here as a theory with a lower case ‘t’, however this is not meant to imply that it is not a Theory or cannot be used as one, only to acknowledge that for some it may be a sub-genre of Critical Theory, while for others it stands alone. According to Egbert and Sanden (2020), some scholars see critical paradigms as extensions of the interpretivist, but there is also an emphasis on oppression and lived experience grounded in subjectivist epistemology.

The purpose of using a feminist lens is to enable the discovery of how people interact within systems and possibly offer solutions to confront and eradicate oppressive systems and structures. Feminist theory considers the lived experience of any person/people, not just women, with an emphasis on oppression.  While there may not be a consensus on where feminist theory fits as a theory or paradigm, disruption of oppression is a core tenant of feminist work. As hooks (2000) states, “Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. I liked this definition because it does not imply that men were the enemy” (p. viii).

Previous Studies

Marxism and socialism are key components in the heritage.of feminist theory. The origins of feminist theory can be found in the 18th century with growth in the 1970s’ and 1980s’ equality movements. According to Burton (2014), feminist theory has its roots in Marxism but specifically looks to Engles’ (1884) work as one possible starting point. Burton (2014) notes that, “Origin of the Family and commentaries on it were central texts to the feminist movement in its early years because of the felt need to understand the origins and subsequent development of the subordination of the female sex” (p. 2). Work in feminist theory, including research regarding gender equality, is ongoing.

Gender equality continues to be an issue today, and research into gender equality in education is still moving feminist theory forward. For example, Pincock’s (2017) study discusses the impact of repressive norms on the education of girls in Tanzania. The author states that, “…considerations of what empowerment looks like in relation to one’s sexuality are particularly important in relation to schooling for teenage girls as a route to expanding their agency” (p. 909). This consideration can be extended to any oppressed group within an educational setting and is not an area of inquiry relegated to the oppression of only female students. For example, non-binary students face oppression within educational systems and even male students can face barriers, and students are often still led towards what are considered “gender appropriate” studies. This creates a system of oppression that requires active work to disrupt.

Looking at representation in the literature used in education is another area of inquiry in feminist research. For example, Earles (2017) focused on physical educational settings to explore relationships “between gendered literary characters and stories and the normative and marginal responses produced by children” (p. 369). In this research, Earles found evidence to support that a contradiction between the literature and children’s lived experiences exists. The author suggests that educators can help to continue the reduction of oppressive gender norms through careful selection of literature and spaces to allow learners opportunities for appropriate discussions about these inconsistencies.

In another study, Mackie (1999) explored incorporating feminist theory into evaluation research. Mackie was evaluating curriculum created for English language learners that recognized the dual realities of some students, also known as the intersectionality of identity, and concluded that this recognition empowered students. Mackie noted that valuing experience and identity created a potential for change on an individual and community level and “Feminist and other types of critical teaching and research provide needed balance to TESL and applied linguistics” (p. 571).Further, Bierema and Cseh (2003) used a feminist research framework to examine previously ignored structural inequalities that affect the lives of women working in the field of human resources.

Model of Feminist Theory

Figure 1 presents a model of feminist theory that begins with the belief that systems exist that oppress and work against individuals. The model then shows that oppression is based on intersecting identities that can create discrimination and exclusion. The model indicates the idea that, through knowledge and action, oppressive systems can be disrupted to support change and understanding.

Model of Feminist Theory

The core concepts in feminist theory are sex, gender, race, discrimination, equality, difference, and choice. There are systems and structures in place that work against individuals based on these qualities and against equality and equity. Research in critical paradigms requires the belief that, through the exploration of these existing conditions in the current social order, truths can be revealed. More important, however, this exploration can simultaneously build awareness of oppressive systems and create spaces for diverse voices to speak for themselves (Egbert & Sanden, 2019).

Constructs 

Feminism is concerned with the constructs of intersectionality, dimensions of social life, social inequality, and social transformation. Through feminist research, lasting contributions have been made to understanding the complexities and changes in the gendered division of labor. Men and women should be politically, economically, and socially equal and this theory does not subscribe to differences or similarities between men, nor does it refer to excluding men or only furthering women’s causes. Feminist theory works to support change and understanding through acknowledging and disrupting power and oppression.

Proposition 

Feminist theory proposes that when power and oppression are acknowledged and disrupted, understanding, advocacy, and change can occur.

Using the Model

There are many potential ways to utilize this model in research and practice. First, teachers and students can consider what systems of power exist in their classroom, school, or district. They can question how these systems are working to create discrimination and exclusion. By considering existing social structures, they can acknowledge barriers and issues inherit to the system. Once these issues are acknowledged, they can be disrupted so that change and understanding can begin. This may manifest, for example, as considering how past colonialism has oppressed learners of English as a second or foreign language.

The use of feminist theory in the classroom can ensure that the classroom is created, in advance, to consider barriers to learning faced by learners due to sex, gender, difference, race, or ability. This can help to reduce oppression created by systemic issues. In the case of the English language classroom, learners may be facing oppression based on their native language or country of origin. Facing these barriers in and out of the classroom can affect learners’ access to education. Considering these barriers in planning and including efforts to mitigate the issues and barriers faced by learners is a use of feminist theory.

Feminist research is interested in disrupting systems of oppression or barriers created from these systems with a goal of creating change. All research can include feminist theory when the research adds to efforts to work against and advocate to eliminate the power and oppression that exists within systems or structures that, in particular, oppress women. An examination of education in general could be useful since education is a field typically dominated by women; however, women are not often in leadership roles in the field. In the same way, using feminist theory for an examination into the lack of people of color and male teachers represented in education might also be useful. Action research is another area that can use feminist theory. Action research is often conducted in the pursuit of establishing changes that are discovered during a project. Feminism and action research are both concerned with creating change, which makes them a natural pairing.

Pre-existing beliefs about what feminism means can make including it in classroom practice or research challenging. Understanding that feminism is about reducing oppression for everyone and sharing that definition can reduce this challenge. hooks (2000) said that, “A male who has divested of male privilege, who has embraced feminist politics, is a worthy comrade in struggle, in no way a threat to feminism, whereas a female who remains wedded to sexist thinking and behavior infiltrating feminist movement is a dangerous threat”(p. 12). As Angela Davis noted during a speech at Western Washington University in 2017, “Everything is a feminist issue.” Feminist theory is about questioning existing structures and whether they are creating barriers for anyone. An interest in the reduction of barriers is feminist. Anyone can believe in the need to eliminate oppression and work as teachers or researchers to actively to disrupt systems of oppression.

Bierema, L. L., & Cseh, M. (2003). Evaluating AHRD research using a feminist research framework.  Human Resource Development Quarterly ,  14 (1), 5–26.

Burton, C. (2014).   Subordination: Feminism and social theory . Routledge.

Earles, J. (2017). Reading gender: A feminist, queer approach to children’s literature and children’s discursive agency.  Gender and Education, 29 (3), 369–388.

Egbert, J., & Sanden, S. (2019).  Foundations of education research: Understanding theoretical components . Taylor & Francis.

Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics . South End Press.

Mackie, A. (1999). Possibilities for feminism in ESL education and research.  TESOL  Quarterly, 33 (3), 566-573.

Pincock, K. (2018). School, sexuality and problematic girlhoods: Reframing ‘empowerment’ discourse.  Third World Quarterly, 39 (5), 906-919.

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  • 16.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Education
  • Introduction
  • 1.1 What Is Sociology?
  • 1.2 The History of Sociology
  • 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology
  • 1.4 Why Study Sociology?
  • Section Summary
  • Section Quiz
  • Short Answer
  • Further Research
  • 2.1 Approaches to Sociological Research
  • 2.2 Research Methods
  • 2.3 Ethical Concerns
  • 3.1 What Is Culture?
  • 3.2 Elements of Culture
  • 3.3 High, Low, Pop, Sub, Counter-culture and Cultural Change
  • 3.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Culture
  • 4.1 Types of Societies
  • 4.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Society
  • 4.3 Social Constructions of Reality
  • 5.1 Theories of Self-Development
  • 5.2 Why Socialization Matters
  • 5.3 Agents of Socialization
  • 5.4 Socialization Across the Life Course
  • 6.1 Types of Groups
  • 6.2 Group Size and Structure
  • 6.3 Formal Organizations
  • 7.1 Deviance and Control
  • 7.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance and Crime
  • 7.3 Crime and the Law
  • 8.1 Technology Today
  • 8.2 Media and Technology in Society
  • 8.3 Global Implications of Media and Technology
  • 8.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology
  • 9.1 What Is Social Stratification?
  • 9.2 Social Stratification and Mobility in the United States
  • 9.3 Global Stratification and Inequality
  • 9.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Social Stratification
  • 10.1 Global Stratification and Classification
  • 10.2 Global Wealth and Poverty
  • 10.3 Theoretical Perspectives on Global Stratification
  • 11.1 Racial, Ethnic, and Minority Groups
  • 11.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity
  • 11.3 Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism
  • 11.4 Intergroup Relationships
  • 11.5 Race and Ethnicity in the United States
  • 12.1 Sex, Gender, Identity, and Expression
  • 12.2 Gender and Gender Inequality
  • 12.3 Sexuality
  • 13.1 Who Are the Elderly? Aging in Society
  • 13.2 The Process of Aging
  • 13.3 Challenges Facing the Elderly
  • 13.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Aging
  • 14.1 What Is Marriage? What Is a Family?
  • 14.2 Variations in Family Life
  • 14.3 Challenges Families Face
  • 15.1 The Sociological Approach to Religion
  • 15.2 World Religions
  • 15.3 Religion in the United States
  • 16.1 Education around the World
  • 16.3 Issues in Education
  • 17.1 Power and Authority
  • 17.2 Forms of Government
  • 17.3 Politics in the United States
  • 17.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Government and Power
  • Introduction to Work and the Economy
  • 18.1 Economic Systems
  • 18.2 Globalization and the Economy
  • 18.3 Work in the United States
  • 19.1 The Social Construction of Health
  • 19.2 Global Health
  • 19.3 Health in the United States
  • 19.4 Comparative Health and Medicine
  • 19.5 Theoretical Perspectives on Health and Medicine
  • 20.1 Demography and Population
  • 20.2 Urbanization
  • 20.3 The Environment and Society
  • Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change
  • 21.1 Collective Behavior
  • 21.2 Social Movements
  • 21.3 Social Change

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

  • Define manifest and latent functions of education
  • Explain and discuss how functionalism, conflict theory, feminism, and interactionism view issues of education

While it is clear that education plays an integral role in individuals’ lives as well as society as a whole, sociologists view that role from many diverse points of view. Functionalists believe that education equips people to perform different functional roles in society. Conflict theorists view education as a means of widening the gap in social inequality. Feminist theorists point to evidence that sexism in education continues to prevent women from achieving a full measure of social equality. Symbolic interactionists study the dynamics of the classroom, the interactions between students and teachers, and how those affect everyday life. In this section, you will learn about each of these perspectives.

Functionalism

Functionalists view education as one of the more important social institutions in a society. They contend that education contributes two kinds of functions: manifest (or primary) functions, which are the intended and visible functions of education; and latent (or secondary) functions, which are the hidden and unintended functions.

Manifest Functions

There are several major manifest functions associated with education. The first is socialization. Beginning in preschool and kindergarten, students are taught to practice various societal roles. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who established the academic discipline of sociology, characterized schools as “socialization agencies that teach children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles” (Durkheim 1898). Indeed, it seems that schools have taken on this responsibility in full.

This socialization also involves learning the rules and norms of the society as a whole. In the early days of compulsory education, students learned the dominant culture. Today, since the culture of the United States is increasingly diverse, students may learn a variety of cultural norms, not only that of the dominant culture.

School systems in the United States also transmit the core values of the nation through manifest functions like social control. One of the roles of schools is to teach students conformity to law and respect for authority. Obviously, such respect, given to teachers and administrators, will help a student navigate the school environment. This function also prepares students to enter the workplace and the world at large, where they will continue to be subject to people who have authority over them. Fulfillment of this function rests primarily with classroom teachers and instructors who are with students all day.

Education also provides one of the major methods used by people for upward social mobility. This function is referred to as social placement . College and graduate schools are viewed as vehicles for moving students closer to the careers that will give them the financial freedom and security they seek. As a result, college students are often more motivated to study areas that they believe will be advantageous on the social ladder. A student might value business courses over a class in Victorian poetry because she sees business class as a stronger vehicle for financial success.

Latent Functions

Education also fulfills latent functions. As you well know, much goes on in a school that has little to do with formal education. For example, you might notice an attractive fellow student when he gives a particularly interesting answer in class—catching up with him and making a date speaks to the latent function of courtship fulfilled by exposure to a peer group in the educational setting.

The educational setting introduces students to social networks that might last for years and can help people find jobs after their schooling is complete. Of course, with social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn, these networks are easier than ever to maintain. Another latent function is the ability to work with others in small groups, a skill that is transferable to a workplace and that might not be learned in a homeschool setting.

The educational system, especially as experienced on university campuses, has traditionally provided a place for students to learn about various social issues. There is ample opportunity for social and political advocacy, as well as the ability to develop tolerance to the many views represented on campus. In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement swept across college campuses all over the United States, leading to demonstrations in which diverse groups of students were unified with the purpose of changing the political climate of the country.

Functionalists recognize other ways that schools educate and enculturate students. One of the most important U.S. values students in the United States learn is that of individualism—the valuing of the individual over the value of groups or society as a whole. In countries such as Japan and China, where the good of the group is valued over the rights of the individual, students do not learn as they do in the United States that the highest rewards go to the “best” individual in academics as well as athletics. One of the roles of schools in the United States is fostering self-esteem; conversely, schools in Japan focus on fostering social esteem—the honoring of the group over the individual.

In the United States, schools also fill the role of preparing students for competition in life. Obviously, athletics foster a competitive nature, but even in the classroom students compete against one another academically. Schools also fill the role of teaching patriotism. Students recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning and take history classes where they learn about national heroes and the nation’s past.

Another role of schools, according to functionalist theory, is that of sorting , or classifying students based on academic merit or potential. The most capable students are identified early in schools through testing and classroom achievements. Such students are placed in accelerated programs in anticipation of successful college attendance.

Functionalists also contend that school, particularly in recent years, is taking over some of the functions that were traditionally undertaken by family. Society relies on schools to teach about human sexuality as well as basic skills such as budgeting and job applications—topics that at one time were addressed by the family.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theorists do not believe that public schools reduce social inequality. Rather, they believe that the educational system reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Where functionalists see education as serving a beneficial role, conflict theorists view it more negatively. To them, educational systems preserve the status quo and push people of lower status into obedience.

The fulfillment of one’s education is closely linked to social class. Students of low socioeconomic status are generally not afforded the same opportunities as students of higher status, no matter how great their academic ability or desire to learn. Picture a student from a working-class home who wants to do well in school. On a Monday, he’s assigned a paper that’s due Friday. Monday evening, he has to babysit his younger sister while his divorced mother works. Tuesday and Wednesday, he works stocking shelves after school until 10:00 p.m. By Thursday, the only day he might have available to work on that assignment, he’s so exhausted he can’t bring himself to start the paper. His mother, though she’d like to help him, is so tired herself that she isn’t able to give him the encouragement or support he needs. And since English is her second language, she has difficulty with some of his educational materials. They also lack a computer and printer at home, which most of his classmates have, so they have to rely on the public library or school system for access to technology. As this story shows, many students from working-class families have to contend with helping out at home, contributing financially to the family, poor study environments and a lack of support from their families. This is a difficult match with education systems that adhere to a traditional curriculum that is more easily understood and completed by students of higher social classes.

Such a situation leads to social class reproduction, extensively studied by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. He researched how cultural capital , or cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency that helps us navigate a culture, alters the experiences and opportunities available to French students from different social classes. Members of the upper and middle classes have more cultural capital than do families of lower-class status. As a result, the educational system maintains a cycle in which the dominant culture’s values are rewarded. Instruction and tests cater to the dominant culture and leave others struggling to identify with values and competencies outside their social class. For example, there has been a great deal of discussion over what standardized tests such as the SAT truly measure. Many argue that the tests group students by cultural ability rather than by natural intelligence.

The cycle of rewarding those who possess cultural capital is found in formal educational curricula as well as in the hidden curriculum , which refers to the type of nonacademic knowledge that students learn through informal learning and cultural transmission. This hidden curriculum reinforces the positions of those with higher cultural capital and serves to bestow status unequally.

Conflict theorists point to tracking , a formalized sorting system that places students on “tracks” (advanced versus low achievers) that perpetuate inequalities. While educators may believe that students do better in tracked classes because they are with students of similar ability and may have access to more individual attention from teachers, conflict theorists feel that tracking leads to self-fulfilling prophecies in which students live up (or down) to teacher and societal expectations (Education Week 2004).

To conflict theorists, schools play the role of training working-class students to accept and retain their position as lower members of society. They argue that this role is fulfilled through the disparity of resources available to students in richer and poorer neighborhoods as well as through testing (Lauen and Tyson 2008).

IQ tests have been attacked for being biased—for testing cultural knowledge rather than actual intelligence. For example, a test item may ask students what instruments belong in an orchestra. To correctly answer this question requires certain cultural knowledge—knowledge most often held by more affluent people who typically have more exposure to orchestral music. Though experts in testing claim that bias has been eliminated from tests, conflict theorists maintain that this is impossible. These tests, to conflict theorists, are another way in which education does not provide opportunities, but instead maintains an established configuration of power.

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory aims to understand the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education, as well as their societal repercussions. Like many other institutions of society, educational systems are characterized by unequal treatment and opportunity for women. Almost two-thirds of the world’s 862 million illiterate people are women, and the illiteracy rate among women is expected to increase in many regions, especially in several African and Asian countries (UNESCO 2005; World Bank 2007).

Women in the United States have been relatively late, historically speaking, to be granted entry to the public university system. In fact, it wasn’t until the establishment of Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1972 that discriminating on the basis of sex in U.S. education programs became illegal. In the United States, there is also a post-education gender disparity between what male and female college graduates earn. A study released in May 2011 showed that, among men and women who graduated from college between 2006 and 2010, men out-earned women by an average of more than $5,000 each year. First-year job earnings for men averaged $33,150; for women the average was $28,000 (Godofsky, Zukin, and van Horn 2011). Similar trends are seen among salaries of professionals in virtually all industries.

When women face limited opportunities for education, their capacity to achieve equal rights, including financial independence, are limited. Feminist theory seeks to promote women’s rights to equal education (and its resultant benefits) across the world.

Sociology in the Real World

Grade inflation: when is an a really a c.

In 2019, news emerged of a criminal conspiracy regarding wealthy and, in some cases, celebrity parents who illegally secured college admission for their children. Over 50 people were implicated in the scandal, including employees from prestigious universities; several people were sentenced to prison. Their activity included manipulating test scores, falsifying students’ academic or athletic credentials, and acquiring testing accommodations through dishonest claims of having a disability.

One of the questions that emerged at the time was how the students at the subject of these efforts could succeed at these challenging and elite colleges. Meaning, if they couldn’t get in without cheating, they probably wouldn’t do well. Wouldn’t their lack of preparation quickly become clear?

Many people would say no. First, many of the students involved (the children of the conspirators) had no knowledge or no involvement of the fraud; those students may have been admitted anyway. But there may be another safeguard for underprepared students at certain universities: grade inflation.

Grade inflation generally refers to a practice of awarding students higher grades than they have earned. It reflects the observation that the relationship between letter grades and the achievements they reflect has been changing over time. Put simply, what used to be considered C-level, or average, now often earns a student a B, or even an A.

Some, including administrators at elite universities, argue that grade inflation does not exist, or that there are other factors at play, or even that it has benefits such as increased funding and elimination of inequality (Boleslavsky 2014). But the evidence reveals a stark change. Based on data compiled from a wide array of four-year colleges and universities, a widely cited study revealed that the number of A grades has been increasing by several percentage points per decade, and that A’s were the most common grade awarded (Jaschik 2016). In an anecdotal case, a Harvard dean acknowledged that the median grade there was an A-, and the most common was also an A. Williams College found that the number of A+ grades had grown from 212 instances in 2009-10 to 426 instances in 2017-18 (Berlinsky-Schine 2020). Princeton University took steps to reduce inflation by limiting the number of A’s that could be issued, though it then reversed course (Greason 2020).

Why is this happening? Some cite the alleged shift toward a culture that rewards effort instead of product, i.e., the amount of work a student puts in raises the grade, even if the resulting product is poor quality. Another oft-cited contributor is the pressure for instructors to earn positive course evaluations from their students. Finally, many colleges may accept a level of grade inflation because it works. Analysis and formal experiments involving graduate school admissions and hiring practices showed that students with higher grades are more likely to be selected for a job or a grad school. And those higher-grade applicants are still preferred even if decision-maker knows that the applicant’s college may be inflating grades (Swift 2013). In other words, people with high GPA at a school with a higher average GPA are preferred over people who have a high GPA at a school with a lower average GPA.

Ironically, grade inflation is not simply a college issue. Many of the same college faculty and administrators who encounter or engage in some level of grade inflation may lament that it is also occurring at high schools (Murphy 2017).

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism sees education as one way that labeling theory is seen in action. A symbolic interactionist might say that this labeling has a direct correlation to those who are in power and those who are labeled. For example, low standardized test scores or poor performance in a particular class often lead to a student who is labeled as a low achiever. Such labels are difficult to “shake off,” which can create a self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton 1968).

In his book High School Confidential , Jeremy Iversen details his experience as a Stanford graduate posing as a student at a California high school. One of the problems he identifies in his research is that of teachers applying labels that students are never able to lose. One teacher told him, without knowing he was a bright graduate of a top university, that he would never amount to anything (Iversen 2006). Iversen obviously didn’t take this teacher’s false assessment to heart. But when an actual seventeen-year-old student hears this from a person with authority over her, it’s no wonder that the student might begin to “live down to” that label.

The labeling with which symbolic interactionists concern themselves extends to the very degrees that symbolize completion of education. Credentialism embodies the emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications. These certificates or degrees serve as a symbol of what a person has achieved, and allows the labeling of that individual.

Indeed, as these examples show, labeling theory can significantly impact a student’s schooling. This is easily seen in the educational setting, as teachers and more powerful social groups within the school dole out labels that are adopted by the entire school population.

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12.14: Reading: Feminist Theory on Education

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Feminist Theory

Eight women in dresses, caps, and gowns, standing on the steps of a college in a black in white photograph.

Feminist theory aims to understand the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education, as well as their societal repercussions. Like many other institutions of society, educational systems are characterized by unequal treatment and opportunity for women. Almost two-thirds of the world’s 862 million illiterate people are women, and the illiteracy rate among women is expected to increase in many regions, especially in several African and Asian countries (UNESCO 2005; World Bank 2007).

Women in the United States have been relatively late, historically speaking, to be granted entry to the public university system. In fact, it wasn’t until the establishment of Title IX of the Education Amendments in 1972 that discriminating on the basis of sex in U.S. education programs became illegal. In the United States, there is also a post-education gender disparity between what male and female college graduates earn. A study released in May 2011 showed that, among men and women who graduated from college between 2006 and 2010, men out-earned women by an average of more than $5,000 each year. First-year job earnings for men averaged $33,150; for women the average was $28,000 (Godofsky, Zukin, and van Horn 2011). Similar trends are seen among salaries of professionals in virtually all industries.

When women face limited opportunities for education, their capacity to achieve equal rights, including financial independence, are limited. Feminist theory seeks to promote women’s rights to equal education (and its resultant benefits) across the world.

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The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory

The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory

The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory

Lisa Disch is Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Michigan.

Mary Hawkesworth, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University.

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The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory provides an overview of the analytical frameworks and theoretical concepts feminist theorists have developed to challenge established knowledge. Leading feminist theorists, from around the globe, provide in-depth explorations of a diverse array of subject areas, capturing a plurality of approaches. The Handbook raises new questions, brings new evidence, and poses significant challenges across the spectrum of academic disciplines, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of feminist theory. The chapters offer innovative analyses of the central topics in social and political science (e.g. civilization, development, divisions of labor, economies, institutions, markets, migration, militarization, prisons, policy, politics, representation, the state/nation, the transnational, violence); cultural studies and the humanities (e.g. affect, agency, experience, identity, intersectionality, jurisprudence, narrative, performativity, popular culture, posthumanism, religion, representation, standpoint, temporality, visual culture); and discourses in medicine and science (e.g. cyborgs, health, intersexuality, nature, pregnancy, reproduction, science studies, sex/gender, sexuality, transsexuality) and contemporary critical theory that have been transformed through feminist theorization (e.g. biopolitics, coloniality, diaspora, the microphysics of power, norms/normalization, postcoloniality, race/racialization, subjectivity/subjectivation). The Handbook identifies the limitations of key epistemic assumptions that inform traditional scholarship and shows how theorizing from women’s and men’s lives has profound effects on the conceptualization of central categories, whether the field of analysis is aesthetics, biology, cultural studies, development, economics, film studies, health, history, literature, politics, religion, science studies, sexualities, violence, or war.

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The Feminist Perspective on Education (UK Focus)

Liberal Feminists celebrate the progress made so far in improving girls’ achievement. They essentially believe that the ‘Future is now Female’ and now that girls are outperforming boys in education, it is only a matter of time until more women move into politics and higher paid, managerial roles at work.

Radical Feminists , however, argue that Patriarchy still works through school to reinforce traditional gender norms and to disadvantage girls – Add in details to the notes below.

Some Radical Feminist Sociologists see concern over boys’ relative underachievement as a ‘moral panic’. Boys have still been improving their achievement in the last thirty years, just not as fast as girls. The Feminist argument is that the focus on education at the moment on ‘raising boys achievement’ reflects a male dominated system panicking at the fact that old patriarchal power relations are starting to break down.

Despite improvements in girl’s education – subject choices still remain heavily gendered, and girls do not seem to be ‘breaking the glass ceiling’.

Feminists would also draw on the above research which suggests that traditional gender norms are reinforced in schools, to the disadvantage of girls.

Recent research suggests that despite girls doing well at school – girls are increasingly subject to sexist bullying, something which is becoming worse with the ‘normalisation of pornography’. Read the extract from Kat Banyard over page for more details and consider how common such incidents are today. Read the extract provided for details

While girls are discouraged from using their bodies on the sports field, they often find their bodies at the centre of another unwelcome kind of activity. Chloe was one of the many women and girls I heard from during the course of my research into violence at school. ‘I had boys groping my en masse. It wasn’t just at break times – in class as well. Sometimes they used to hold me down and take it turns, it was universally accepted. Teachers pretended they didn’t notice. I would regularly hang out in the toilets at break time. I felt pretty violated; it made me hate my body.’ Having now left school, Chloe can pinpoint exactly when the sexual harassment began. ‘When my breasts grew. I went from an A to an E cup when I was fourteen.’ It became a regular feature of her school day, mostly happening when the boys were in groups. ‘People would randomly scream ‘’slut’’. One boy told me that he has a fantasy that he wanted to tie me up and viciously rape me. He was a bit of an outcast. But when he said that all the boys were high-fiving him. He got serious street-cred for saying it.’’ Classrooms are training grounds for boys aspiring to be ‘real men’ and girls like Jena and Chloe are paying the price. Humiliating and degrading girls serves to highlight just how masculine boys really are. And so, sexist bullying and sexual harassment are an integral part of daily school life for many girls.

Hayley described to me how some of the boys at her secondary school were using new technologies to harass girls. ‘They try and take pictures with their camera phones up you skirt while you’re sitting at your desk. Nobody knows what to say. They wouldn’t want to provoke an argument.’ Boys also access internet pornography on school computers. Hayley said, ‘in year seven and eight it’s quite common. Even the boys you wouldn’t expect you see getting told off by teachers for it.’ Similarly Sarah remembers pornography being commonplace at her school; ‘Every student was asked to bring in newspaper articles. Many boys saw this as a great opportunity to bring in newspapers such as the Sun, Star, Sport etc and make a point of looking at, sharing and showing the countless page-three-style images. Sarah was ‘extremely upset on a number of occasions when boys who sat near me in class would push these pages in front of me and make comments. Most of the time all the forms of harassment went completely unchallenged; I don’t think (the teachers) ever paid any attention to sexual harassment.’

The consequences for girls who are sexually harassed or assaulted at school can be devastating. Depression and loss of self-esteem are common. If girls experience repeated sexual harassment they are significantly more likely to attempt suicide. In fact the trauma symptoms reported by adolescent girls subject to sexual harassment have been found to be similar to those descried by rape victims. Yet despite the fact that sexual harassment is shown to have a more damaging impact on victims than other forms of school bullying, teachers are less likely to intervene in incidences of the former. Why? The sexual harassment of girls is viewed as ‘normal’ behaviour for the boys. And it is precisely this naturalising of the act, this insidious complacency it elicits, which has enabled sexist bullying and harassment to flourish in classrooms across the world.

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Feminist theory and the study of gender and education

  • Published: December 1987
  • Volume 33 , pages 419–435, ( 1987 )

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  • Sandra Acker  

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This paper considers the three main Western feminist theoretical frameworks — liberal, socialist and radical — and their educational applications. Examples of studies using each approach are discussed. Liberal feminists writing about education use concepts of equal opportunities, socialization, sex roles and discrimination. Their strategies involve altering socialization practices, changing attitudes and making use of relevant legislation. Critics of the liberal school point to conceptual limitations and the liberal reluctance to confront power and patriarchy. Socialist feminists analyze the role of the school in the perpetuation of gender divisions under capitalism. Major concepts are socio-cultural reproduction and to a lesser extent acceptance of and resistance to gender-based patterns of behaviour. So far socialist-feminist educational writing is mainly theoretical rather than practical and has therefore been criticized for its over-determinism and insufficient empiric foundation. Radical feminists in education have concentrated mainly on the male monopolization of knowledge and culture and on sexual politics in schools. Strategies involve putting women's and girls' concerns first, through separate-sex groups when necessary. Critics argue that radical feminism tends towards biological reductionism, description rather than explanation and also contains methodological weaknesses. Mutual criticism of perspectives seems less destructive in educational writing than in some other categories of feminist scholarship. All the theoretical frameworks are subject to the same pressures including the oppressive power of structures, the resilience of individuals, and the tension between universality (how women are the same) and diversity (how women differ on attributes like class and race).

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Artikel werden die hauptsächlich im Westen vertretenen feministischen Ansätze und deren Anwendungen im Erziehungssystem untersucht, d.h. der liberale, der sozialistische und der radikale Feminismus. Beispiele aus Studien, die jeweils einem dieser Ansätze folgen, werden angeführt. In liberalfeministischen Schriften zur Erziehung werden Konzepte wie Chancengleichheit, Sozialisation, Geschlechterrollen und Diskriminierung erörtert. Deren Strategien besagen, daß Sozialisationspraktiken zu ändern, Haltungen abzuwandeln und diesbezügliche Gesetze anzuwenden sind. Kritik an der liberalen Schule macht aufmerksam auf die begrifflichen Einengungen und auf den Widerwillen, Macht und Patriarchat zu konfrontieren. Sozialistische Feministinnen untersuchen die Rolle der Schule beim Reproduzieren geschlechtsspezifischer Aufteilungen im Kapitalismus. Kernbegriffe sind sozio-kulturelles Reproduzieren und in geringerem Maße Anpassung und Widerstand im Hinblick auf geschlechtsspezifische Verhaltensformen. Sozialistisch-feministisch begründete pädagogische Schriften blieben bis jetzt eher theoretisch als praktisch orientiert und deswegen werden sie wegen ihrer Überdetermination und ihrer unzureichenden empirischen Basis kritisiert. Radikale Feministinnen haben sich hauptsächlich auf das Männermonopol von Wissen und Kultur sowie sexualpolitische Einstellungen im Schulalltag konzentriert. Ihre Strategien zielen darauf ab, die Bedürfnisse der Mädchen und Frauen an erster Stelle zu sehen, und wenn nötig, dies durch Trennung der Geschlechter in Gruppen zu erreichen. Kritiker behaupten, daß der radikale Feminismus zu biologischem Reduktionismus sowie zur Beschreibung eher als Erklärung neigt und methodologische Schwächen aufweist. Wechselseitige Kritik an den Perspektiven scheint in den erziehungswissenschaftlichen Schriften weniger destruktiv als in einigen anderen kategorien der feministischen Forschung zu sein. Sämtlichen theoretischen Ansätzen sind Zwänge einschließlich der oppressiven Gewalt der Strukturen, der Widerstandskraft einzelner sowie der Spannung zwischen Universalität (inwieweit sich Frauen gleichen) und der Unterschiedlichkeit (inwieweit sich Frauen durch Merkmale wie Klasse und Rasse unterscheiden) gemeinsam.

Cet article examine les trois grandes théories féministes occidentales — le féminisme libéral, socialiste et radical — et leurs applications éducatives. On analyse quelques études se basant sur chacune de ces approches. Les textes des féministes libérales portant sur l'éducation emploient les concepts d'égalité des chances, de socialisation, de rôle et de discrimination des sexes. Leurs stratégies englobent une modification des pratiques de socialisation, un changement d'attitudes et l'usage d'une législation. Les critiques de ce courant libéral mettent en évidence les restrictions conceptuelles et les hésitations à affronter le pouvoir et le patriarchat. Les féministes socialistes analysent le rôle de l'école dans la reproduction de la distinction des sexes dans le système capitaliste. Les concepts majeurs concernent la reproduction socio-culturelle et, à un degré moindre, les codes et la résistance des sexes. Les textes des féministes socialistes relatifs à l'éducation restent encore de nos jours plutôt théoriques que pratiques. Ils ont été critiqués pour leur surdéterminisme et leur manque de connaissances fondamentales en matière de recherche pédagogique. Les féministes radicales se sont principalement concentrées, dans le domaine de l'éducation, sur la monopolisation par l'homme du savoir et de la culture, sur la politique sexuelle de la vie de tous les jours dans les écoles. Leurs stratégies consistent tout d'abord à faire valoir les intérêts des femmes et des filles grâce à l'établissement de groupes séparés de garçons et de filles s'il le faut. Selon les critiques, le féminisme radical tend vers un réductionisme biologique, une description plutôt qu'une explication et une faiblesse méthodologique. La critique mutuelle entre ces différentes perspectives semble moins destructive dans les textes relatifs à l'éducation que dans d'autres catégories de sciences féministes. Toutes ces théories partagent certains dilemmes, incluant l'accent relatif qui doit être placé sur le pouvoir oppressif des structures et la souplesse des individus, et sur la tension entre l'universalité (ce en quoi les femmes sont les mêmes) et la diversité (ce qui fait qu'elles diffèrent selon des caractéristiques telles leur classe sociale et leur race).

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Acker, S. Feminist theory and the study of gender and education. Int Rev Educ 33 , 419–435 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00615157

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  • Published: 22 November 2021

Feminist trends in distance and hybrid higher education: a scoping review

  • Rocío Jiménez-Cortés   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-5805 1 &
  • Luisa Aires 2  

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume  18 , Article number:  60 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Higher distance education models can be described from the theoretical and practical foundation of feminist pedagogy. The objective of this work is to know what feminist approaches are identified in the pedagogical models adopted by distance and hybrid education at the University and what curricular characteristics they have. The scoping review is carried out on a total of 126 journals bringing together 60 indexed, 30 specialized in gender and 6 in education. The final sample is made up of 10 papers that meet the established inclusion criteria. The review method is based on three phases of collection, description, and analysis with different tasks and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) protocol is followed. The results obtained from mixed methodology applied show three perspectives that set trends in distance and hybrid higher education models from feminist approaches: (a) feminist-pragmatist, (b) eco-dialogical feminist and (c) intersectional-technofeminist. These trends show the application of feminist principles to curriculum design and their implementation in distance and hybrid higher education.

Introduction

There is little scientific literature that addresses distance education in intersection with feminist pedagogy (Koseoglu, 2020 ). The scientific literature (Koseoglu et al., 2020 ; Migueliz et al., 2020 ) points to the need to develop more studies from a critical perspective that help to overcome this gap in knowledge, helping to deepen the theoretical and practical interactions between feminist perspectives and distance education models. These interactions between both fields of knowledge have been classified as “conflictive relationships” (Aneja, 2017 , p. 851). According to Herman and Kirkup ( 2017 ) we would contend that feminist pedagogy as generally understood has a particular historical location and new theoretical approaches need to be developed to take account of modern technology-mediated learning environments as well as new practices of learning design.

The scientific literature has pointed out limitations in the incorporation of traditional feminist pedagogy into distance education, but it also points out that it can open new opportunities for equality (Patterson, 2009 ). Murray et al. ( 2013 ) suggest that feminist pedagogy can mitigate inequalities related to conventional gender structures by constituting the basis for the design of learning and approaching distance training from a constructivist perspective centered on the learner.

For Lambert ( 2019 ) one of the main issues of concern for higher education institutions is to expand and guarantee the equitable participation of students in online distance education, but research has yet to develop conceptual models that guide the development of the plan of studies. According to Lambert ( 2019 ), studies often develop recommendations synthesized from interviews with staff and students and offer information on what higher education institutions can do to be more supportive and equitable in online participation. However, while the recommendations can help universities plan and structure their services in a better way, they are not finely grained enough to guide the design of curriculum (Lambert, 2019 , p. 162). An example is the study of Nyaruwata ( 2018 ). In this study feminist theory was chosen to help the researcher understand how dual mode enhances equal access to higher education. Specifically, feminist theory helped to understand how the provision of conventional and online distance learning modes of learning increased access to higher education.

In this sense, feminist pedagogy can be an opportunity. Chick and Hassel ( 2019 , p. 198) explain that if we do not make an effort to show what feminist pedagogy consists of and the benefits it brings, “it will remain a concept understood only by feminist educators, misunderstood by our colleagues, and invisible to our students. Furthermore, failing to outline the many ways feminist pedagogy is applicable to online environments will ensure that myths and misconceptions about online teaching flourish and that only the worst versions of online pedagogy persist”.

Online, hybrid and HyFlex models in higher education

Distance education (DE) and hybrid education has evolved alongside social, educational, and technological changes. In the last decades and, above all, in digital acceleration times that we live in, distance education models had acquired multiple facets and had become more complex.

In distance and hybrid education, pedagogy and technology play a critical role. And the “distance”, more than geographical, is psychological, social, and cultural-historical (Herman & Kirkup, 2017 ). The overcoming of distance, through mediated technological practices founded in pedagogical principles, led to the development of a wide range of educational possibilities.

In line with Bates ( 2020 ), it is crucial differentiating criteria that distinguish online distance education from blended education and, within the scope of blended education, differentiating hybrid and HyFlex education. If online distance education models, a form of distance learning, privilege time and space flexibility, assure learning autonomy via the Internet, blended learning models can range from the digitization of in-person learning contexts to the design of new courses that promote flexible learning, recombining in-person and online modes of learning.

Within the blended models, we highlight the hybrid and HyFlex models. The HyFlex models provide students the opportunity to combine different learning models, according to their personal agenda (Bates, 2020 ). For He et al. ( 2015 ) the most important challenges to HyFlex design and implementation is ensuring that online students can be (and are encouraged to be) engaged in interactive learning experiences that lead to the achievement of important learning outcomes. For Beatty ( 2019 ) HyFlex courses are characterised by a mixture of online and face-to-face learning components. In particular, students are allowed to choose to complete any part of the course in online and/or face-to-face mode.

For Herman et al. ( 2019 ) in examining flexibility, they found very little evidence of programmes that were able to support student choice in flexibility of the blend, something that has been hailed as a potential benefit for blended learning. There is also evidence that the use of blended learning can be used to support programmes of learning targeted at women.

From critical digital pedagogy to feminist digital pedagogy

Critical digital pedagogy is an emerging concept in education (Bontly et al., 2017 ). For these authors critical digital pedagogy is the intersection of critical cultural pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy, and digital pedagogy. According to Rodríguez and Denoyelles ( 2014 ) the objectives of critical digital pedagogy are: (a) to make the environments more dialogical, inclusive, and student-centered, (b) to make online learning experiences more adapted to the student, c) to make the students can express in a richer way what they have learned autonomously. These goals are common to feminist pedagogy.

However, other objectives and characteristics identify feminist digital pedagogy. For Aneja ( 2017 , p. 852), the main objective of feminist pedagogy that shows more resistance on the digital plane is “to establish personal contact, and its lack of space for validation of individual, subjective experiences which may emerge in synchronous, participatory classroom discussions”. For Cox et al ( 2021 ), radical compassion for their students is practiced from feminist pedagogy, doing everything possible to alleviate the burdens of their students, promote their safety and well-being.

There are authors who insist such as Chick and Hassel ( 2009 ) and Rodríguez and Denoyelles ( 2014 ) that the embodiment of feminist pedagogy within the digital realm is indispensable and that we must critically consider how the technology selected mediates the experiences of learners. A selection of pedagogical principles enables this challenge to be addressed. The key pedagogical principles that guide the structure of courses or training actions from critical digital pedagogy are: (a) breaking of the hierarchy (teachers and students jointly establish the study plan) (Hutchinson, 2021 ; Rodríguez & Denoyelles, 2014 ), (b) participatory learning (focused on interests and goals of the students) (Rodríguez & Denoyelles, 2014 ), the curriculum represents women’s interests, needs (Koseoglu, 2020 ), (c) social construction of knowledge, which implies developing a sense of community and working in networks and support teams (Rodríguez & Denoyelles, 2014 ), the curriculum provide social connectedness and opportunities for networking (Koseoglu, 2020 ), (d) centering emotion, (implies emotional attention not only cognitive of the students and the development of the pedagogy of care) (Hutchinson, 2021 ), (e) the curriculum is based on “established bodies of knowledge that reflect a female point of view” and ways of delivery (Koseoglu, 2020 ) and the curriculum is designed for the imaginary self-directed and independent learner (Koseoglu, 2020 ).

There are specific studies that suggest that there should not be a "one size fits all" model for blended learning and that further research is required so that distance education models can be adapted to the specific needs of groups of students (Herman et al., 2019 ).

Challenges for distance and hybrid higher education from a feminist digital pedagogy

Rethinking Transactional Distance Theory. For Moore ( 1997 , p. 22) the transactional distance (DTT), is "a psychological and communications space to be crossed, a space of potential misunderstanding". Bolliger and Halupa ( 2018 , p. 209) collect the criticism of Kang and Gyorke (2008, cit. in Bolliger & Halupa, 2018 ), about Moore's DTT that does not address the critical social characteristics of students. These authors introduce the idea derived from Leontiev and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of "sociocultural position" to revise the traditional Transactional Distance Theory that is controversial for feminist pedagogy. According to their considerations, technology serves as the artifact that mediates transactions between students, as well as with the teacher in online learning. In addition, culture and history are critical components that provide the foundation for the way students interact in online courses. Herman and Kirkup ( 2017 , p. 784) argue that:

The solution to the problems of transactional distance is not always to create the opportunity for more interaction between people if that interaction brings unequal power with it. The stress on the importance of group learning in some distance learning models can imply that students perhaps have a greater obligation for the learning of fellow students than they have for themselves and their own comfort, and it can ignore the gendered or other power dynamics, even within an online learning environment.

Various authors such as Aneja ( 2017 ) argue that feminist contributions have already reviewed transactional distance and that it is overcome by the fact that physical and virtual distance are intertwined and merged into a single interaction experience sustained.

Avoid reinforcement and polarization of existing gender roles

International literature has indicated that distance education can be a way of empowering women (Afolayan, 2015 ; Amin et al., 2020 ; Anbalagan, 2018 ). However, as Lazou and Bainbridge ( 2019 ) indicates, although there is a promising trend regarding the number of women enrolling in higher education online, there are four important variables identified and analyzed as challenges that are disempowering them, namely: (a) the conflict of roles; (b) investment of time; (c) domestic affairs and relationships; and (d) the design of the learning and tutoring structure. The work of Lazou and Bainbridge ( 2019 ) concludes that these barriers can be overcome to the extent that a feminist pedagogy is the basis for designing learning and for offering support and encouragement through a constructivist approach centered on the student.

Research still requires progress to identify what factors limit women from distance education (Murray et al., 2013 ). Distance university studies can be a claim for women due to its flexibility, and that is, its training offer can be interpreted as an opportunity for women. However, as indicated by Murray et al. ( 2013 ) distance education facilitates personal development and allows greater choice, but also perpetuates conventional gender structures by facilitating women to remain in the private sphere. And in this sense, it is necessary to review if a feminist pedagogy can be “an accomplice of the relegation of women” to the home (Murray et al., 2013 , p. 344) due to the offer of distance education. For Aneja ( 2017 ) offline inequities (such as gender, race, and class) may remain not neutralized in the virtual world, drawing attention to the need for permanent vigilance from the ethics of care and care pedagogies.

Hyflex models in higher education and challenges for feminist digital pedagogy

The global pandemic has forced many teachers to practice the HyFlex models. Among them, feminist educators have experimented with the development of feminist pedagogical principles in these teaching models (Moorhouse & Tiet, 2021 ). One of the main challenges is to incorporate flexibility into the design. In a systematic review of the blended learning literature, Boelens et al. ( 2017 ) suggest that this is a key challenge in designing blended learning. That is, how to incorporate flexibility. When examining flexibility, they found very little evidence of programs that were able to support students' choice in combination with flexibility, something that has been hailed as a potential benefit for blended learning. Flexibility has risks when choice leads to inequities. For Binnewies, and Wang ( 2019 ) it implies how to ensure that online students are not at a disadvantage with respect to opportunities for interaction and knowledge acquisition.

For these authors, despite the benefits of greater flexibility especially for adult learning, HyFlex comes with another unique challenge, in addition to those inherent in individual online and face-to-face instruction. First, students should have the same learning opportunities in any mode and should not be disadvantaged by choosing one mode over the other. Specifically, students must have equitable access to learning resources, tools to complete learning tasks, and learning support. We lack comparative studies from a gender perspective regarding the benefits for men and women of HyFlex models. However, the HyFlex models could represent a solution to the need for feminist pedagogy of face-to-face contact for the construction of knowledge in a dialogic way compared to an exclusively online modality. This aspect is the one that has been most resistant for digital feminist pedagogy (Aneja, 2017 ).

Materiality of the platforms from a culturally critical approach

Digital technologies and teaching and learning platforms used in higher education can limit the feminist response and reproduce dominant structures and discourses that reinscribe power relations along the axes of gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and class (De Hertogh, et al., 2019 ). For these authors, study centered in materiality of platforms can and will lead to nuanced conversations, major breakups, and productive interventions.

Shivers et al. ( 2019 ) emphasize the interconnectedness of technological practices and gender, race, class, and sexuality, as well as their co-constitution and conformation with each other. These authors constantly examine the intersections of identities related to race and culture, in their work to build technologies and platforms that reflect the communicative strengths and practices of linguistically and ethnically diverse communities.

Objective and research questions

Our research is specifically concerned with conducting a scoping review of scientific contributions that address this intersection between feminist pedagogy and distance education to delimit trends and theoretical-practical approaches that allow providing keys for the design of the curriculum in distance and hybrids educational models. The results will allow progress in the emerging critical digital pedagogy from a feminist approach. Therefore, the following research questions are posed:

What feminist perspectives are identified in the cases of distance and hybrid higher education?

What are the curricular characteristics of these distance and hybrid education models?

These questions are the object of interest in this work and to address them we undertake a scoping review of scientific literature that analyzes specific cases in the international context.

The objective of this work is to know what feminist approaches are identified in the pedagogical models adopted by distance and hybrid education at the University and what curricular characteristics they have.

The study presents a scoping review of case studies published in the last 5 years (2015–2020) that show online and hybrid teaching practices at their intersection with feminist pedagogy.

We indicate the number of sources of evidence examined evaluated for eligibility, and included in the review, with reasons for exclusions at each stage, using a flow diagram following the guide adapted from Trico et al. ( 2018 ) for scoping review (PRISMA-ScR) and based on recommendations of Peters et al., ( 2020a , 2020b , p. 2125) for scoping review. The flow chart is made in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses) guidelines (Moher et al., 2009 ). For Peters et al. ( 2020b ) the flowchart should clearly detail the review decision process, stating the search results, elimination of duplicate citations, source selection, full retrieval, and additions from a third search and presentation of final abstract.

Search strategy and selection procedure

According to Peters et al., ( 2020a , 2020b ) additional sources should be detailed, such as manual searching for specific journals, including journal names and years searched. Searching for a scoping review can be quite iterative as reviewers become more familiar with the evidence base. Taking these considerations into account three review phases are carried out: (a) a total of 60 journals indexed with the SCOPUS are reviewed in the fields of “gender studies” (18 journals) and “e-learning” (42 journals), thus as 6 feminist journals with peer review not indexed in SCOPUS but of special relevance to the topic (the focus and scope criteria are followed for their selection, discarding those that are generalist or that deal with fields such as philosophy or economics); (b) the database ERIC is reviewed, due to their exclusively educational nature.

According to Peters et al., ( 2020a , 2020b ) additional keywords and sources, and potentially useful search terms, can be discovered and incorporated into the search strategy. The combined search terms used "feminist" AND “pedagogy” AND "digital" and "higher education" and "case study".

The inclusion criteria imply that the contributions include illustrations and/or case studies, are specifically developed in Higher Education and analyze courses, programs or subjects raised from online or hybrid models. Empirical research works from a gender perspective and with results disaggregated by sex, which highlight differences between men and women in higher education practices, are discarded (see more exclusion criteria in Fig.  1 ). The selection is carried out following a method in three stages, leaving the sample made up of 10 papers.

figure 1

Review PRISMA flow chart (modified after Moher et al., 2009 , p. 8) and based on recommendations for Peters et al., ( 2020a , 2020b , p. 2125) for scoping review

The search strategy has been carried out exhaustively following an adaptation of Appendix 11.1 JBI template source of evidence details, characteristics, and results extraction instrument (Peters et al., 2020b ) (Table 1 ).

Data extraction process and analytical procedure

The method used to guide this scoping review forms a structure of three sequential stages aimed at the collection, description and analysis of feminist trends and approaches in open and distance education, through a series of specific tasks that are described in Fig.  2 . The collection phase includes four tasks that complete the sampling of key cases from the scientific literature, the description phase involves three tasks through which the approach of each case is deepened thematically and finally the analysis allows apply a series of techniques to treat the information and cover the research objective.

figure 2

Stages and specific tasks

Cases characteristics

Following the improved recommendations of Levac et al., ( 2010 , pp. 4–8) a numerical summary and a qualitative thematic analysis are incorporated.

The specific analytical procedures involve a qualitative exploratory analysis using the MAXQDA v.2021 software and a hierarchical cluster analysis, cross tables and analyzes based on the contingency coefficient with SPSS v.26. Qualitative and quantitative processes are combined in a sequential design.

The exploratory study with MAXQDA makes it possible to establish and determine the emerging category system by first applying a thematic analysis that combines inductive and deductive processes. To do this, the analysis that allows the word cloud to be extracted from all the documents is applied, it proceeds with segment autocoding and the debugging and elimination of superfluous words. Second, the MAXDICTIO tool is used for each document looking for combinations of words (classificatory expressions) resulting in the delimitation of key constructs. This process allows to develop the system until reaching the theoretical saturation. Emerging hypotheses related to emerging codes and their relationships are contrasted using visual tools such as the code relationship matrix. Based on this procedure, a definitive system of categories is established that is used as an observational grid for each document (Table 2 ).

The refined category system is applied as an observational grid to each case. In this way, the measurement of the constructs (feminist principles and sense of student’s participation) is made operational on a Likert-type scale with a notation system indicating 1. The trait is not observed, or it is observed in a minimal way, 2. It is observed of moderate form, 3. It is observed in a high and explicit way. A hierarchical cluster analysis is performed (after a collinearity study) following Ward's method, and the Euclidean distance (Vilà-Baños et al., 2014 ), as well as comparison of means for group description and cluster validation with one-way ANOVA and calculation of eta squared for effect size. Cluster graph is generated through factorial analysis (identifying 2 factors with varimax rotation). As the correlation matrix is not defined positive, this means that its determinant is 0, with which there is collinearity between the variables considered, which does not make it necessary to check the sphericity of the variables (by means of the Bartlett test), nor the calculation of the KMO coefficient.

Results and discussion

Question one: what feminist perspectives are identified in the cases of distance and hybrid higher education.

The application of cluster analysis generates three feminist approaches in distance higher education.

Feminist approaches in distance higher education, finding three well differentiated groups. While the cases in group 1 focus on empowerment (M = 2.75, F = 0.700, p = 0.528, η 2  = 0.167) and participation as an opportunity to Access (M = 1.75, F = 1.718, p = . 247, η 2  = 0.329); those in group 2 focus on two feminist principles such as voices (M = 3, F = 8167, p = 0.015, η 2  = 0.700) and dialogue and community (M = 3, F = 7.827, p = . 016, η 2  = 0.691), and the students' sense of participation as a means of transformation and empowerment (M = 2.75, F = 0.457, p = 0.651, η 2  = 0.115); in group 3 the body (M = 3, F = 6.300, P = 0.027, η 2  = 0.643), the lives (M = 3, F = 2.100, p = 0.193, η 2  = 0.375), intersectionality (M = 3, F = 38.033, p = 0.000, η 2  = 0.916) and participation as a form of expression of diverse and embodied experience (M = 3, F = 24.500, p = 0.001, η 2  = 0.875). The ANOVA test shows that the differences found are significant in the five variables involved and, in the others, an intermediate effect size is observed and high (according to Cohen´s criteria). Its practical significance is maintained given the sample size, the object of study of maximum specificity and the type of review study. Table 3 shows the sample results split into three clusters Table 3 . Results split into three clusters, exploratory ANOVA and effect size.

The interpretation of the most characteristic features of each approach allows us to name the clusters. Cluster 1, named as Feminist-pragmatist perspective , includes cases 1, 2, 6 and 9. The cluster 2 named as Eco-dialogical feminist perspective includes cases 3, 7, 8 and 10. And the cluster 3 named Intersectional-technofeminist perspective includes cases 4 and 5 (see Fig.  3 ). These theoretical perspectives are included in two tendencies that characterize the models of higher education at a distance.

figure 3

Cluster dispersion and cases

Trend 1 (factor 1) aimed at offering an embodied online learning experience and trend 2 (factor 2) aimed at empowering women as an opportunity to access distance education (see Table 4 ). These two trends explain 67.34% of the variance.

Cluster 1: feminist-pragmatist perspective

This perspective highlights the usefulness of distance education for women due to its flexible nature and focuses on the empowerment opportunity provided by distance education models. The opportunity to access higher education at a distance becomes the main value and meaning of participation in these training models, especially in very specific countries and cultural contexts. Nyaruwata ( 2018 ) presents the successes and challenges faced in implementing the dual-mode strategy in higher education in the context of feminist theory. Her work focuses on a case study design at Women's University in Africa.

However, most dual-mode universities have not stressed the need to expand access to HE by women; as a result, in most of these universities, specifics the majority of the students are still men. Thus, development of most dual-mode institutions is not influenced by feminist theory, which advocates gender equality at all levels of life (Case 6, p. 197)

This perspective includes cases (1, 2, 6 and 9) (mainly hybrid models) oriented to a distance education model focused on the search for empowerment. In case 1, the bases of the didactic methodologies that contribute to creating an empowered learning space are observed, as well as the foundation of case 2.

The synonymous nature of feminist pedagogy with the networked learning ideologies that focuses on the connections, relationships and collaborations makes it ideal for creating an empowered learning space that was required for the workshop (Case 1, p. 246). Feminist principles in e-learning are needed to take account of power relations between learners and students, empower users (Case 2, p. 42).

In general, there is a clearly determined interest in international politics to democratize distance education and make it accessible to certain vulnerable groups. For example, this is expressed by Aneja ( 2017 ) when referring to the master's program in India, Women's & Gender Studies (MAWGS), the need for which is justified in the democratization mandate of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in general and by Specific institutional needs to obey policies for the empowerment of women and for breaking digital gaps.

Cluster 2: eco-dialogical feminist perspective

This perspective includes cases 3, 7, 8 and 10 (mainly online models) and is aimed both at empowerment and at generating in students a diverse and embodied experience linked to their experiences. The feminist principles that characterize distance higher education models are voices, dialogue, and the creation of community. This is how Mathews ( 2019 ) explains it:

The author empowered students by analyzing processes and experiences such as applying for jobs, professionalization, and workplace expectations, using as many authentic situations as possible to illustrate concepts (Case 3, p. 201).

From this perspective, distance higher education focuses on the experiences of students and tries to create an open learning community where mutual exchange and empathy are valued. Students must not only take responsibility for their own learning progress, but also support each other in jointly creating the content and context of learning. It is a model that is open to the community:

Specific examples of assignments, strategies, and communications that reinforced principles outlined above emphasized active learning, diversity, and respect. The first assignment of the course asked students to record a short video introducing themselves, with the instructor’s own video as an example. This promoted the ability to see one another and to establish community (Case 3, p. 201)

Contact with others constitutes a basic tool for the collective work of ideas and the generation of knowledge as a continuous and dynamic process. This perspective requires distance education models to confront voices and requires collaboration in carrying out work in university classrooms. This is how Chung ( 2016 ) explains it:

Each student voices an individual opinion, depending on whether she is a housewife with children, a wife in a two-income household, a childcare instructor, a daycare center director, a civil servant and so on. However, hearing each other’s opinions gives students practice in arriving at a consensus (Case 10, p. 380)

This dialogic feminist perspective seeks to raise awareness about social inequalities, including gender discrimination:

After hearing lectures on “motherhood ideology” and “patriarchal family ideology” it is not infrequent for students to present contradictory opinions, as seen in such comments such as “I gained a new appreciation for my mother’s sacrifices” an “Our society is based on the extended family, and we’ve always lived according to nature. (Case 10, p. 381)

The models that incorporate this perspective focus on the collaborative construction of knowledge and use specific resources in virtual spaces that are usually used to generate confrontational discourses and debates. Student participation is key to learning. Interaction and dialogue start from one's own experience and is reconstructed in contact with other voices through intertwined dialogues as ways of promoting collaborative knowledge and stimulating participation (Aneja, 2017 ).

Community engagement is observed in the collaboration of professionals, experts, or entities from the environment in virtual spaces. In such a way that they act as training resources and as elements for dialogue, support, and interaction in the process of active construction of learning. The distance higher education proposals that use social networks and asynchronous forums offer opportunities to students due to their flexibility and possibilities for interaction and collaborative dynamics (Murray et al., 2013 ). In this sense, from this perspective the theory of transactional distance is reconceptualized where culture and history are critical components that provide the foundation for the way students interact in online courses. Specifically, from this perspective, online models of distance education would be concerned with being sensitive to the "sociocultural position" (Bolliger & Halupa, 2018 ).

Cluster 3: intersectional technofeminist perspective

The cases that are grouped in this perspective are 4 and 5 (an online model and another hybrid). Both are characterized by conceiving distance education aimed at living an embodied experience based on personal experiences, authentic situations, and particular positions.

Feminist pedagogy from this perspective highlights three principles: body, lives, and intersectionality.

Hertogh et al. ( 2019 ) discuss the application of a feminist lens and a feminist ethic to the study of technologies and objects. For these authors, this also means questioning the gender implications embedded within the materiality of those objects, and therefore the materiality of such proposed studies and theoretical frameworks. This perspective is related to techno-feminism as a theoretical framework that academics can use to critique the socio-technological problems that contribute to oppression and inequality and initiate creative and activist possibilities for the breakdown of these oppressive structures. This translates into distance higher education proposals based on the pedagogy of care. Thus, in case 4, Hutchinson and Novotny ( 2018 , p. 113) argue that “a feminist surveillance as care pedagogy teaches professional writing students a user-centered design practice that supports consent and user agency, and resists ubiquitous, non-consensual surveillance of user’s bodies.”

This framework offers an explicitly feminist approach to addressing the current collection of bodily data in wearable health technologies. (…) The critique portion of the framework actively interrogates the rhetorical interplay between what a mobile health app hosted on a wearable technology promises and what it does when it collects information off the body. (Case 4, p. 113)

Shivers et al. ( 2019 ) argue that Wajcman ( 2004 ) offered techno-feminism as an approach to understand the ways in which technology generates and is a consequence of gender relations. This implies that applying a feminist perspective changes our understanding of what technology is, which means expanding the concept to include not only artifacts but also the cultures and practices associated with technologies. From this perspective the affective, the material and the semiotic are intertwined, the feminist materialist critique assumes (Staunæs & Brogger, 2020 ). These aspects are observed in distance higher education practices where participation as a form of expression of diverse and embodied experience: To later advocate for more critical approaches to wearables, students must first feel how their bodies are involved in digital spaces. (Case 4, p. 118).

For Clinnin and Manthey ( 2019 ), techno-feminists examine how incarnated and culturally situated rhetorical subjects produce, circulate, and give meaning to discursive texts, with special emphasis on intersectional identity. The fact that the theoretical frameworks underlying distance education account for diverse identities will provide a new way of rethinking differences and proposing critical interventions in distance higher education. This techno-feminist approach with intersectional analytics has become a flourishing subfield of posthumanism (De Hertogh et al., 2019 ) and that we see reflected in the proposals for distance higher education. As Shivers et al. ( 2019 ) by placing intersectional feminism at the core of the framework of experiences, an awareness is generated about the interactions that community members experience between the use of language, cultural practices, positions of power and the use of technology.

Question 2: what are the curricular characteristics of these distance and hybrid education models?

The curricular characteristics of the analyzed cases are defined based on three categories identified in the qualitative analysis: (a) the role of feminist educators, (b) the sense of content and materials, and (c) the methodological strategies.

The role of feminist educators

In relation to the role of feminist educators, feminist pedagogy (also the feminist pedagogy online) lacks rigid roles of power or hierarchy between the instructor and the students. Educators adopt the role of facilitators of experiences, reflections, and ways of thinking as the main resources for learning. The hierarchy break is observed more highly in online models (50%) compared to hybrid models (25%). However, the differences are not significant (C.C. = 0.298, p = 0.615).

The feminist educators have a speech characterized by creating a sense of community. For Vivakaran and Maraimalai ( 2019 ) the Distributed Open Collaborative Courses (DOCC) can be considered as a recent initiative to bring the ideologies of feminist pedagogy in the virtual sphere. The synonymous nature of feminist pedagogy with networked learning ideologies that focuses on connections, relationships, and collaborations makes it ideal for creating an empowered learning space that especially characterizes online models (83.3%) compared to hybrid models (25%). However, these differences are not significant (C.C. = 0.522, p = 0.153). For Cox et al. ( 2021 ) the feminist digital pedagogies foster accessible and inclusive online environments, create interpersonal connections, and embrace the innovative possibilities that technology affords. For these authors, the educators practice radical care and compassion for their students, doing everything they can to ease their students’ burdens, promote their safety and well-being, and help them survive the semester.

Also, the provision of routes for participants to receive other specialized help is a more characteristic feature of online models (50%) compared to hybrid models (25%). However, these differences are not significant (C.C. = 0.277, p = 0.659). In these models, teachers look for people with experiences that allow them to offer students a diverse perspective on the content. In addition, they fulfill the function of acting as references for training. This is how case 9 shows it:

‘Visiting experts’ from industry were invited to question and answer sessions in an asynchronous online forum. This all demonstrates that role models can be successfully presented at a distance through texts, audio, and video and that engaging synchronously and face-to-face with them is not a necessary requirement. (Case 9, p. 789).

It is characteristic that feminist educators incorporate social networks such as LinkedIn to provide a sense of community and specialized advice to students:

It could indicate a shortcoming of the platform used for communication (LinkedIn), and points to the need for an alternative mechanism for participants to share the expertise, opinions and perspectives they develop during the project and beyond (Case 2, p. 56)

The development of skills in the creation of networks, security, and trust, can be observed both in online models (50%) and in hybrid models (50%). About security, studies such as the one by Kyoto and Mwangi ( 2009 ) question the possibility of creating a secure online space. These authors wonder about the forms of creation and who has the power and authority to create it. On the contrary, the flexible adaptation of the learning environment to meet needs is observed more in the hybrid models analyzed (50%) compared to the online models (16.7%). However, these differences are not significant (C.C. = 0.378, p = 0.435).

The sense of content and materials

Feminist praxis reinforces the idea of social engagement. The training contents are based on personal experience but seek to explore larger structural problems. This process that leads to contextualize life experiences in the context of major structural problems is controversial for students. Although in specific models in feminist content this aspect is more present. As seen in case 7:

Many of the MAWGS courses provoke critical engagements with received knowledge systems, ‘eye-openers’ in the words of one learner (…) At the level of content, normative institutions, such as marriage, family, and motherhood, are interrogated from a cross-cultural, feminist perspective (Case 7, p. 861)

In case 5 analyzed, it is observed that Ringrose ( 2018 ) uses digital platforms like Twitter to investigate power, privilege, and positionality. For Couture and Ladenson ( 2017 ), the concepts involved in gender studies, and more specifically those of intersectionality and the understanding of structural problems related to privilege and oppression, are especially controversial for first-year students.

Different approaches are appreciated in the cases and models analyzed.

Distance education models use content and materials that have the power of personal transformation. Content and reference materials with the power of transformation promote reflection on different facets of life. In this sense, the case 9 shows the characteristics of these materials with very different formats:

The ‘Return to SET’ course materials included stories of nine women returners, and illustrated their experiences using audio clips and photos, covering practical as well as psychological/emotional issues that they had encountered. (Case 9, p. 789).

This transformative characteristic of content and materials is highly observed in 80% of the cases analyzed that correspond to online models compared to 20% of the cases that correspond to hybrid models. However, the differences are not significant (C.C. 0.378, p = 0.197).

In these distance education models sensitive to feminist pedagogy; the contents and materials are co-produced. Collective collaboration in its elaboration is a characteristic of feminist pedagogy in distance higher education. In this sense, we observe in case 5 that refers to an online model how students collaboratively create digital content:

Maria's course modeled care when students acted as caregivers for the larger community, teaching their peers about surveillance as care through a series of co-created products, including digital health safety workshops and web content. (Case 5, p. 118)

However, in the cases analyzed, the co-creation of content in the hybrid education models (66.7%) is observed to a high degree compared to the online education models (33.3%). However, these differences are not significant (C.C. 0.336, p = 0.260).

The methodological strategies

In the different cases analyzed, the use of diverse methodological strategies such as asynchronous forums, synchronous forums, social media, brainstorming, collaborative idealizations, selfies, and problem solving is identified. The methodological strategies are aimed at developing self-regulation skills in students to help them take control of their learning process, promoting self-directed learning and supporting reflection and metacognition. Only from reflection on lives does consciousness develop. This aspect is key for the methodological strategies in the different models of distance higher education as indicated by Chung ( 2016 ) (Case 10):

Open the door to the possibility of other lives and lead to awakening for change. As seen in the following examples, selected from comments posted on the student bulletin board, the course often leads students to reflect on their lives, make new commitments, and gain new understanding about themselves (Case 10, p. 380)

The cases analyzed show a methodological engagement to the epistemologies of doing, as observed in case 8:

Whatever the technology, if we focus these explorations through an engagement with epistemologies of doing, class, access, literacy, and multiple cultures of entry, the next moments in learning through digital technologies. (Case 8, p. 137).

The development of novel methodological strategies such as the use of selfies for the creation of meanings and the use of the body and personal representation as an emerging form of social exchange in distance higher education (Gajjala et al., 2017 ).

Limitations

Among the limitations that we can highlight, it is possible that not all the relevant studies have been identified, since the scoping reviews do not pretend to be as exhaustive or complete. It may be that the review may have missed some relevant studies. This limitation can be attributed to database selection (i.e. searching other databases may have identified additional relevant studies), exclusion of gray literature from the search, time limitations, or exclusion of studies published in a language other than English.

Publication bias can especially occur. Publication bias occurs when results of published studies are systematically different from results of unpublished studies.

Conclusions

This scoping review shows feminist trends in distance education and suggests progress in reconciling both areas. Feminist pedagogy makes its way into higher education through online and hybrid models and can create a space for reflection and research around the possibilities of HyFlex models.

The influence of feminist pedagogy as a critical digital pedagogy in distance and hybrid education models is shown in the identification of three perspectives: (a) a Feminist-pragmatist perspective that seeks the empowerment of women and considers access as an opportunity in relation to democratizing guidelines distance higher education. This perspective is akin to hybrid models; (b) an Eco-dialogical feminist perspective , which points to the need for critical construction of knowledge through dialogue in virtual environments and which addresses the challenge of revising the traditional theory of transactional distance. Contact with others constitutes a fundamental tool for the collective work of ideas and the generation of knowledge as a continuous and dynamic process. The adoption of this perspective in distance education implies the revision of the transactional distance theory from the introduction of the concept of “sociocultural position”. And (c) an Intersectional technofeminist perspective concerned with the techno-pedagogical design of technological platforms and applications, the possibilities of digital technologies from a critical analysis of the materiality of the objects involved in distance education and sexed bodies in virtual environments learning from the intersectional character (gender, race, class …) of the learner. From this perspective, distance education models address the challenge of the materiality of the platforms that limit uses, and place conditions apply a culturally critical approach to how such data implies bodies and their cultural histories.

This scoping review makes it possible to characterize the feminist pedagogy in distance and hybrid higher education. In this sense, it shows the adaptation of the roles of feminist educators in online and hybrid models and the efforts to implement the curriculum from feminist principles, taking experience as the main content and working from the traditional breakdown of hierarchies of power in the classrooms.

The bases of collaborative learning for the co-construction of knowledge with others, the creation of a sense of community and the reference to experts in the classroom opens new channels in distance and hybrid higher education from the personal lives to the social and political world from different feminist approaches.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

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We thank the LE@D—Laboratory of Distance Education and E-Learning, (University Aberta, Portugal) and the University of Seville (Spain) for the opportunity to work together.

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Jiménez-Cortés, R., Aires, L. Feminist trends in distance and hybrid higher education: a scoping review. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 18 , 60 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00297-4

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feminist theory of education

Radical Feminism: Definition, Theory & Examples

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

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Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical reordering of society in order to eliminate patriarchy, which it sees as fundamental to the oppression of women. It analyses the role of the sex and gender systems in the systemic oppression of women and argues that the eradication of patriarchy is necessary to liberate women.

Radical Feminism 1

Key Takeaways

  • Radical feminists believe that men are the enemy and that marriage and family are the key institutions that allow patriarchy to exist.
  • For radical feminists in order for equality to be achieved patriarchy needs to be overturned. They argue that the family needs to be abolished and a system of gender separatism needs to be instituted for this to happen.
  • Sommerville argues that radical feminists fail to see the improvements that have been made to women’s experiences of the family. With better access to divorce and control over their fertility women are no longer trapped by family. She also argues that separatism is unobtainable due to heterosexual attraction.

What Is Radical Feminism?

Radical feminism is a branch of feminism that seeks to dismantle the traditional patriarchal power and gender roles that keep women oppressed.

Radical feminists believe that the cause of gender inequality is based on men’s need or desire to control women. The definition of the word ‘radical’ means ‘of or relating to the root’.

Radical feminists thus see patriarchy as the root cause of inequality between men and women and they seek to up-root this. They aim to address the root causes of oppression through systemic change and activism, rather than through legislative or economic change.

Radical feminism requires a global change of the system. Radical feminists theorize new ways to think and apprehend the relationships between men and women so that women can be liberated.

Radical feminism sees women as a collective group that has been and is still being oppressed by men. Its intent is focused on being women-centered, with women’s experiences and interests being at the forefront of the theory and practice. It is argued by some to be the only theory by and for women (Rowland & Klein, 1996).

What Are The Principles Of Radical Feminism?

Below are some of the key areas of focus which are essential to understanding radical feminism:

Patriarchal institutions

Radical feminists believe that there are existing political, social, and other institutions that are inherently tied to the patriarchy.

This can include government laws and legislature which restricts what women can do with their bodies, and the church, which has long restricted women to the maternal role, and rejects the idea of non-reproductive sexuality.

Traditional marriage is also defined as a patriarchal institution according to radical feminists since it makes women part of men’s private property.

Even today, marriage can be seen as an institution perpetuating inequalities through unpaid domestic work, most of which is still done by women.

Control over women’s bodies

According to radical feminists, patriarchal systems attempt to gain control over women’s bodies. Patriarchal institutions control the laws of reproduction where they determine whether women have the right to an abortion and contraception.

Thus, women have less autonomy over their own bodies. Kathleen Barry stated in her book Female Sexual Slavery (1979) that women in marriage are seen to be ‘owned’ by their husband.

She also suggested that women’s bodies are used in advertising and pornography alike for the male use.

Women are objectified

From a radical feminist standpoint, the patriarchy, societal sexism, sexual violence, and sex work all contribute to the objectification of women.

They accuse pornography of objectifying and degrading women, displaying unequal male-female power relations. With prostitution, radical feminists argue that it trivializes rape in return for payment and that prostitutes are sexually exploited.

The struggle against pornography has come to occupy such a central position in the radical feminist critique of male supremacist relations of power.

Campaigns against this are intended to tell women how men are willingly being trained to view and objectify them (Thompson, 2001).

Violence against women

Radical feminists believe that women experience violence by men physically and sexually, but also through prostitution and pornography.

They believe that violence is a way for men to gain control, dominate, and perpetuate women’s subordination. According to radical feminists, violence against women is not down to a few perpetrators, but it is a wider, societal problem.

They claim there is a rape culture that is enabled and encouraged by a patriarchal society.

Transgender disagreement

There is disagreement about transgender identity in the radical feminist community. While some radical feminists support the rights of transgender people, some are against the existence of transgender individuals, especially transgender women.

Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERF) are members of the radical feminist community who do not acknowledge that transgender women are real women and often want to exclude them from ‘women-only’ groups.

For this reason, TERFs often reduce gender down to biological sex differences and do not support the rights of all those who identify as being a woman.

What Are The Goals Of Radical Feminism?

Structural change.

Radical feminists aim to dismantle the entire system of patriarchy, rather than adjust the existing system through legal or social efforts, which they claim does not go far enough.

They desire this structural change since they argue that women’s oppression is systemic, meaning it is produced by how society functions and is found in all institutions.

They believe that institutions including the government and religion are centered historically in patriarchal power and thus need to be dismantled.

They also criticize motherhood, marriage, the nuclear family , and sexuality, questioning how much culture is based on patriarchal assumptions. They would like to see changes in how these other institutions function.

Bodily autonomy

Radical feminists emphasize the theme of the body, specifically on the reappropriation of the body by women, as well as on the freedom of choice. They want to reclaim their bodies and choose to be able to do what they want with their bodies.

They have argued for reproductive rights for women which would give them the freedom to make choices about whether they want to give birth.

This also includes having access to safe abortions, birth control, and getting sterilized if this is what a woman wants to do.

End violence against women

Radical feminists aim to shed light on the disproportionate amount of violence that women face at the hands of men. They argue that rape and sexual abuse are an expression of patriarchal power and must be stopped.

Through dismantling the patriarchy and having justice for victims of violence on the basis of sex, radical feminists believe there will be less instances of this violence.

Many also argue that pornography and other types of sex work are harmful and encourage violence and domination of men over women and should be stopped. They believe that sex work falls under the patriarchal oppression of women and is exploitative, although some radical feminists disagree with this position.

Women-centered strategies

A main part of radical feminism is that they want strategies to be put in place to help women. This can include the creation of shelters for abused women and better sex education to raise awareness of consent.

Many radical feminists strive for establishing women-centered social institutions and women-only organizations so that women are separated from men who may cause them harm.

For instance, they may be against having gender neutral public bathrooms as this increases women’s risk of being abused by a man.

This is also where TERFs can be critical of transgender people as they do not want them in women-only spaces since they do not see a transwoman as a woman.

The History Of Radical Feminism

Radical feminism mainly developed during the second wave of feminism from the 1960s onwards, primarily in Western countries. It is influenced by left-wing social movements such as the civil rights movement.

It is thought to have been constructed in opposition to other feminist movements at the time: Liberal and Marxist feminism. Liberal feminism only demanded equal rights within the system of society and is criticized for not going far enough to make actual change.

Marxist feminism , on the other hand, confined itself to an economic analysis of women’s oppression and believed that women’s liberation comes from abolishing capitalism.

Although becoming popularized in the 1960’s there are believed to be radical feminists decades before this time.

For example, some of the actions of the women in the women’s suffrage movement in the early 20th century can be considered radical.

Likewise, a 1911 radical feminist review in England titled The Free Woman published weekly writings about revolutionary ideas about women, marriage, politics, prostitution, sexual relations, and issues concerning women’s oppression and strategies for ending it.

It was eventually banned by booksellers and many suffragists at the time objected to it because of its critical position on the right to vote as the single issue which would ensure women’s equality (Rowland & Klein, 1996).

Radical feminism as a movement is thought to have emerged in 1968 as a response to deeper understandings of women’s oppression (Atkinson, 2014). The early years of second wave feminism were marked by the efforts of young radical feminists to establish an identity for their growing movement.

They argued that women needed to engage in a revolutionary movement which goes beyond liberal and Marxist movements.

A significant radical feminist group which emerged around this time is the New York Radical Women group, founded by Shulamith Firestone and Pam Allen.

They attempted to spread the message that ‘sisterhood is powerful’. A well-known protest of this group occurred during the Miss America Pageant in 1968.

Hundreds of women marched with signs proclaiming that the pageant was a ‘cattle auction’. During the live broadcast of this event, the women displayed a banner that read ‘Women’s Liberation’, which brought a great deal of public awareness of the radical feminist movement.

A noteworthy writing prior to this time which may have been influential to the movement is Simone de Beauvoir’s 1949 book titled The Second Sex .

In this book, she understands women’s oppression by analyzing the particular institutions which define women’s lives, such as marriage, family, and motherhood.

Another influential writing is Betty Friedan’s 1963 book titled The Feminine Mystique which addresses women’s dissatisfaction with societal standards and expectations.

Her book gave a voice to women’s frustrations with their limited gender roles and helped to spark widespread activism for gender equality.

Strengths And Criticisms Of Radical Feminism

Radical feminism is thought to expand on earlier branches of feminism since it seeks to understand and dismantle the roots of women’s oppression. It is considered stronger than liberal feminism which only seeks to make changes within the already established system, which is considered not enough to make actual change.

Radical feminism has also been responsible for many of the advances made during the second wave of feminism . This is particularly true when it comes to women’s choice over their bodies and violence against women.

Due to the activism of radical feminists, sexual violence such as rape and domestic violence are now considered crimes in most Western countries.

It has also been recognized that violence against women is not a series of isolated cases, but rather a societal phenomenon. Radical feminists have thus increased awareness of this issue.

A prominent criticism of radical feminism is the transphobia associated with TERFs. Many people who relate to a lot of the original ideas of radical feminism may have stopped identifying as a radical feminist due to its association with TERFs.

It is not only transphobic but is part of a wider movement which encompasses its feminist stance to partner with conservatives, with a goal to endanger and get rid of transgender people.

While radical feminism may have been progressive during its peak, the movement can be criticized for lacking an intersectional lens. It views gender as the most important axis of oppression and sees women as a homogenous group collectively oppressed by men.

It does not always take into consideration the different experiences of oppression suffered by women with disabilities, women of color, or migrant women for instance.

As with a lot of branches of feminism, radical feminism is often dominated by white women. Radical feminists are often criticized for their paradoxical views of bodily autonomy.

They promote freedom of choice when it comes to women and what they do with their bodies, but they do not support women who choose to engage in sex work. They argue that all sex workers are oppressed, without recognizing that a good number of them use this work to reappropriate their own bodies or even to play on male domination.

The critical view that radical feminists have about sex work has contributed to the further stigmatization of this industry and it contradicts their message of ‘my body, my choice’ and their opposition to conservative views of sexuality.

If they supported bodily autonomy, then they should be happy to see a woman choosing to engage in sex work, as long as this is what she is choosing to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there different types of radical feminists.

According to Rosemarie Tong (2003), there are two types of radical feminism: libertarian and cultural.Radical libertarian feminists assert that an exclusively feminine gender identity limits a woman’s development, so they encourage women to become androgynous, who embody both masculine and feminine characteristics.

Radical cultural feminists argue that women should be strictly female and feminine and should not try to be like men. However, not all radical feminists fit into one of these categories.

What are radical feminists’ views on crime?

Radical feminists recognize that there is a disproportionate amount of violence against women, including domestic abuse. In the 1970’s radical feminists labored to reform the public’s response to crimes such as rape and domestic violence.

Before the revision of policies and laws, rape victims were often blamed for their victimization. Due to the help of radical feminists, there is more justice for victims of gender-based violence.

What are radical feminists’ views on the family?

Adrienne Rich (1980) analyzed the compulsory nature of heterosexuality and claims that men fear that women could be indifferent to them and only allow them emotional and economic access on their own terms.

She suggests that the compulsory nature of heterosexual relationships allows men access to women as natural and their right. The family is considered to be an institution, which starts off with marriage and a legal contract where the reproduction of children naturally follows.

Many radical feminists may engage in political lesbianism, refuse to marry, and remain child-free as a way to not feel tied down by patriarchal institutions.

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Another course, "Capitalism, Crime and Punishment in American History" said that it "encourages [students] to interrogate the relationship between and mutual evolution of White supremacy and capitalism."

MARXIST TEACHER WHO CALLED FOR 'FORCEFUL CULTURAL REVOLUTION' LANDS SEAT ON STATE LEGISLATURE

Another course combined discussions on "Marxism" with "architecture" – specifically offering a reading on "Cultural Marxism Modern architecture." The course provides students with an "understanding of modern architecture through multiple cultural and critical lenses ." 

"After all, modernity also indicates battling the preexistent colonialism, imperialism, neocolonialism, as well as institutionalized chauvinism of all kinds," the course description reads. 

A course on "Intersectionality in Bioethics" pays special attention to how "intersectional resistance movements …challenge systems of violence. In the process, students will examine intersectional engagements with critical race theory, feminism, Marxism… migrant justice …, and trans liberation movements."

CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL LEADERS PUSH CRT LESSONS THAT PRAISE MARXIST WHO LOOKED UP TO OSAMA BIN LADEN

Transgenderism is another closely-studied topic at Harvard. It has multiple courses dedicated to its study, such as "Trans Genres" and features many others discussing the intersectionality of transgenderism. 

Harvard's education department for prospective K-12 teachers elaborates on how one can bring queerness and transgenderism into schools. 

The description for " Queering Education " said there was a "‘hidden curriculum' of heteronormativity and cisnormativity, or the subtle practices in schools that privilege heterosexual, gendered identities and ways of being."

The course helps future teachers create classrooms that support "gender… identity development for U.S. children and adolescents." 

"By the end of the module, students should be able to… [t]alk comfortably about queer theory[,]… identify specific strategies that educators… use to support students in negotiating gender… norms, [and] identify tools that schools can use to… open up possibilities for complex gender and sexual identity development."

Other topics covered at Harvard include fetishes and other sexual proclivities. 

"Online Dating and the Transformation of Intimacy" discusses "dozens of genders," "sexualities," "platforms for threesomes," "S&M enthusiasts," and "gay men that like beards."

The course also teaches "[c]ritical frameworks for interpreting the material hardware… including queer theory, intersectionality, and critical race theory (CRT)." 

CRT, and critical theory more broadly, is a lens that views America, its laws and institutions as systemically oppressive and racist against minority groups. Critics widely regard it as anti-American, while its proponents claim it teaches an accurate depiction of U.S. society's past and present. 

Other courses at Harvard address spreading "queerness" in "Congregations, Communities" and "organization[s] one wishes to queer."

The course "Queering the World" teaches "methods for… subverting heterosexist paradigms and binary assumptions that perpetuate oppression." 

Some of the key issues addressed included, "What occurs when a congregation, community, or organization is queered?" and "Is it possible to Queer the organization one wishes to queer?"

Other academic courses Harvard students can access include focuses on queerness in video games. 

"Video Game Storytelling," for example, examined "an explicitly queer video game with an explicitly queer narrative." 

In terms of teaching students the classics, Harvard offers a postmodern twist. A class entitled "Sex, Gender and Shakespeare" studies the English playwright's "representations of… queerness."

Students will also learn queer erotica, according to the Shakespeare course description. 

"We will study poems about erotic and queer desire, plays that stage ideas about gender and gender fluidity, and film adaptations that bring modern perspectives to race and sexuality," the Harvard course said. 

"Throughout our course, we will ask: how are the forms of gender identity and sexual expression we encounter in seminar that aims to improve each student’s ability to discover and reason about evidence through the medium," the Shakespeare course states. 

A course entitled "The Dark Side of Big Data" claims that "search engines… reinforce racism," and covers "anti-Blackness" poetry and, once again, "queer video games."

Other classes offer information on ideologies, such as "Black Radical Tradition" and " Black Religion and Sexuality ."

Another course, "Black Radicalism," includes information on "Black Nationalism" and "Anti-Colonialism." 

Harvard also teaches students how to implement "social justice" relating to race in society. 

"Bold Bodies: Race in Feminist & Queer Performance" discusses how pop culture – TV, movies , etc. – can be utilized to push the needle on advancing "social justice through… subversive voices."

Social media can also be used for these revolutionary social justice aims and teaches students this in a class called "The Internet, Social Media, and Society." Using the "frameworks" of "queer theory" and CRT, students learn "tools for… disrupting and harnessing social media to effect social change" through various class assignments. 

Harvard's law school offers a course on "Black queer feminist" negotiation.

Specifically, a "Black queer feminist approach to negotiating power, space, and purpose rooted in surviving long histories of… violence and dispossession."

The key to the theory is to question the legitimacy of the institution during a legal negotiation. 

"Traditional negotiation theory often assumes, explicitly or implicitly, the legitimacy of the institutions or of the institutional agents with which we negotiate. Fugitive Negotiation refuses that premise, instead seeking to understand negotiation with/in the law as intimately related to the backdrops of colonialism, chattel slavery, and their afterlives."

Fox News Digital asked Harvard why a search of the words "patriot" and "patriotism" yielded scant results in its course catalog and did not immediately receive a response. 

Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government each year – over $600 million in 2021 – Harvard does not offer significant meaningful options for classes that study American patriotism, according to its course catalog. 

Searching for the keyword "oppression" yielded 87 results. "Critical race theory" yielded 34 results. "Racism" yielded 98 results. A search for "Marx" yielded 24 results. 

Searching for "patriot" and "patriotism" did not yield a major academic focus from the institution, according to the course catalog. 

Six courses came up for "patriotism" — two were from courses that discussed the U.S. "Patriot Act." The other four were duplicates of a single course. This course covered the topic of patriotism – as a general concept – in the context of the violence of war. 

In addition to the advanced scholarship on critical theory discussed above, Harvard affirms that what makes it so "special" is its commitment to "inclusion and belonging."

"Harvard has built a community comprising many backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values," it said. 

As part of this mission, Harvard provides a " land acknowledgment " to point out that the campus previously belonged to Native Americans. 

Its website states that "Harvard exists on the traditional and ancestral land of the Massachusetts, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. We pay respect to the people of the Massachusett Tribe, past and present, and honor the land itself which remains sacred to the Massachusett." 

Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report. 

Original article source: Welcome to Harvard, where you can spend $317,800 to learn about 'queering the world,' threesome dating apps

In a course entitled "Queering Education," Harvard's education department for prospective K-12 teaches how to one can bring queerness and transgenderism into schools.

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  1. Introduction to Feminist Theories Part 1

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  3. My thoughts on feminism and institutional education @JustPearlyThings

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  5. FEMINIST THEORY IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS- DIFFERENCE FEMINISM, LIBERAL FEMINISM, & POST MODERN

  6. Impact of Modernity on Gender

COMMENTS

  1. Feminist Theory and Its Use in Qualitative Research in Education

    Feminist theory rose in prominence in educational research during the 1980s and experienced a resurgence in popularity during the late 1990s−2010s. Standpoint epistemologies, intersectionality, and feminist poststructuralism are the most prevalent theories, but feminist researchers often work across feminist theoretical thought.

  2. Feminist Views on the Role of Education

    What all feminists agree on is that the education system does work as an agent of secondary socialisation which teaches girls and boys what are seen as universal norms and values and gender scripts that are actually those of contemporary patriarchy and that girls and boys learning these values prevents social change and challenges to patriarchy.

  3. A Guide to Feminist Pedagogy

    It is an overarching philosophy—a theory of teaching and learning that integrates feminist values with related theories and research on teaching and learning. It begins with our beliefs and motivations: why do we teach? why do students learn? what are the goals of learning?

  4. Integrating Feminist Theory, Pedagogy, and Praxis into Teacher Education

    In order for that empowerment to be realized, K-12 teachers must work strategically to resist the status quo, and, as David et al. (1997) pointed out, "feminist approaches are not only analytical but also strategic—concerned with social justice, social change, and reflexivity" (p. 92; see also Apple, 2012 ).

  5. Feminism and Philosophy of Education

    Educational Theory Feminist Scholar Feminist Philosopher Education Society Feminist Thought These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. Download reference work entry PDF Introduction

  6. Reading: Feminist Theory on Education

    Feminist theory aims to understand the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education, as well as their societal repercussions. Like many other institutions of society, educational systems are characterized by unequal treatment and opportunity for women.

  7. Feminist Theory in Education

    Feminist Theory in Education British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1994 137 REVIEW ESSAY Feminist Theory in Education JUNE PURVIS, University of Portsmouth Parents, Gender & Education Reform M. DAVID, 1993 Oxford, Polity Press Educating Feminists, Life Histories and Pedagogy S. MIDDLETON, 1993 New York, Teachers College Press

  8. Feminist Sociology of Education: Dynamics, Debates and Directions

    Abstract. Feminist sociology of education is one of the richest veins within the discipline today. Although its specific contribution is the analysis of gender relations in education, it has added substantially to an understanding of the broader relationship between education and society. Within the feminist project, history, structure and ...

  9. 27 Feminist Philosophy and Education

    Feminist Philosophy and Education | The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education | Oxford Academic 1. Women's Oppression 2. Women's Agency 3. Critiques and Applications in Philosophy of Education References Chapter 27 Feminist Philosophy and Education Get access Nel Noddings https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195312881.003.0028 Pages 508-523

  10. Feminist Theories and Education : Primer

    Feminist Theories and Education: Primer Leila E. Villaverde Peter Lang, 2008 - Education - 177 pages

  11. Feminist Theory

    Gender equality continues to be an issue today, and research into gender equality in education is still moving feminist theory forward. For example, Pincock's (2017) study discusses the impact of repressive norms on the education of girls in Tanzania.

  12. 16.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Education

    Feminist theorists point to evidence that sexism in education continues to prevent women from achieving a full measure of social equality. Symbolic interactionists study the dynamics of the classroom, the interactions between students and teachers, and how those affect everyday life. In this section, you will learn about each of these perspectives.

  13. 12.14: Reading: Feminist Theory on Education

    Feminist theory aims to understand the mechanisms and roots of gender inequality in education, as well as their societal repercussions. Like many other institutions of society, educational systems are characterized by unequal treatment and opportunity for women. Almost two-thirds of the world's 862 million illiterate people are women, and the ...

  14. Feminist Pedagogy

    Feminist pedagogy is an approach to education that brings to bear feminist theory, feminist activism, and women's experiences on educational content, the learning environment, the relationship between teacher and student, and the connection between the learning environment and the outside world.

  15. The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory

    Abstract. The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory provides an overview of the analytical frameworks and theoretical concepts feminist theorists have developed to challenge established knowledge. Leading feminist theorists, from around the globe, provide in-depth explorations of a diverse array of subject areas, capturing a plurality of approaches.

  16. The Feminist Perspective on Education (UK Focus)

    The Feminist argument is that the focus on education at the moment on 'raising boys achievement' reflects a male dominated system panicking at the fact that old patriarchal power relations are starting to break down.

  17. Feminist Theory in Sociology: Deinition, Types & Principles

    Feminist theory helps us understand gender differences in education, gender socialization, and how the education system may be easier for boys to navigate than girls. Many feminists believe education is an agent of secondary socialization that helps enforce patriarchy. Feminist theory aims to promote educational opportunities for girls.

  18. Using Feminist Theory as a Lens in Educational Research

    Abstract. This article is a blueprint for using feminist theory as a lens in educational research. Feminist theory explores how systems of power and oppression interact. The theory highlights ...

  19. Feminist theory and the study of gender and education

    Radical feminists in education have concentrated mainly on the male monopolization of knowledge and culture and on sexual politics in schools. Strategies involve putting women's and girls' concerns first, through separate-sex groups when necessary.

  20. Feminist trends in distance and hybrid higher education: a scoping

    Higher distance education models can be described from the theoretical and practical foundation of feminist pedagogy. The objective of this work is to know what feminist approaches are identified in the pedagogical models adopted by distance and hybrid education at the University and what curricular characteristics they have. The scoping review is carried out on a total of 126 journals ...

  21. Feminist Theory: Sage Journals

    Feminist Theory is an international peer reviewed journal that provides a forum for critical analysis and constructive debate within feminism. Feminist Theory is genuinely interdisciplinary and reflects the diversity of feminism, incorporating perspectives from … | View full journal description. This journal is a member of the Committee on ...

  22. (PDF) FEMINISM AND EDUCATION

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  23. Radical Feminism: Definition, Theory & Examples

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  24. Welcome to Harvard, where you can spend $317,800 to learn about ...

    Harvard University offers an array of courses on critical race theory, queer theory and feminism, but not as many on 'patriotism,' according to its course catalogue. ... Harvard's education ...