Representation within higher education curricula: contextualising and advocating for feminist digital activism

Abstract

ABSTRACTCurricula do not fall onto the page fully formed, but are built around a series of choices made by educators. The curriculum establishes which knowledge is considered valid and which is not; the works of women and people of colour are typically underrepresented within curricula, and the issues affecting these groups are frequently neglected. This article examines three groups seeking to change this within higher education (Rhodes Must Fall, Why is My Curriculum White?, and Women Also Know Stuff) asking three questions: how can they be characterised? How do they operate? Why are they important? Drawing upon, and expanding, the work of Paolo Freire, this article argues that these groups utilise feminist principles and methods to demand a Pedagogy of the Oppressed. A feminist reading of the theory of representation, borrowed from analyses of legislative politics, helps us understand why higher education curricula should be more representative of society, allowing practitioners to advocate for change.