Feminist Classrooms in Practice

Abstract

Feminist pedagogy is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that guides our choice of classroom practices (Shrewsbury, 1987). As such, it is used in different ways within and across disciplines. Feminist pedagogy offers a critical perspective on gender-related issues in everyday life and in the educational process and facilitates transformative teaching and learning situations characterised by alternative conceptions of power and power relations. This paper focuses primarily on the teaching and learning process, reflecting different aspects and elements of feminist pedagogy important in the context of the educational process itself. The key question in this regard is: what makes feminist classrooms feminist? The paper starts by defining feminist pedagogy, focusing on its transformative power. It goes on to highlight the importance of integrating feminist pedagogy throughout the entire education system. Examples of feminist classrooms on different education levels are given, starting with preschool education and continuing with primary and secondary education. A few of the practices presented were acquired in the literature review, but the majority of others, especially for the primary and secondary levels, was reported in a semi-structured interview with a teacher in training. In the conclusion, the need to include feminist pedagogy in teacher training programmes is stressed.