Critical Feminist Pedagogy Research Articles

Knowledge and power in the global economy: politics and the rhetoric of school reform

Part 1 Terms of Debate: Global Economy, N. Chomsky Crisis, K.A. Barnhardt Choice, J. Spring Reform, T.S. Popkewitz Leadership, W. Pillow Accountability, D.A. Gabbard Discipline, F.M. Briscoe Classroom Management, W.E. Doll, Jr. Learning, E.B. Hilty Literacy, C. Lankshear Ideology, M.A. Weinstein Empowerment, H.A. Shapiro Inclusion, L. Ware Gifted Education, M. Sapon-Shevon Desegregation, M.J. Berlowitz and I. Watts Race, J.E. King Class, S. Tozer Gender, K.B. deMarrais. Part 2 Power and Knowledge: Curriculum, B. Davis and D. Sumara Arts Education, L. Villaverde Language Arts Education, A.A. Block Bilingual Education, R.E. Bahruth Cultural Literacy, D. Macedo Multicultural Education, E.R. Hollins Cultural Studies, C. Bartolovich Social Studies Education, E.W. Ross Moral Education, D.A. Purpel Service Learning, G. Perreault Environmental Education, C.A. Bowers Global Education, R. Good and M.S. Prakash Science Education, H. Parke and C.R. Coble Maths Education, M. McBride and K.R. Wayne Educational Computing, C.A. Bowers Educational Technology, E.F. Provenzo Technological Literacy, M. Beatham Media Literacy, D. Kmitta Vocational Education, J. Kincheloe Adult and Continuing Education, V.W. Mott. Part 3 Terms of Resistance: Critical Pedagogy, P. McLaren Postcolonialism, B.P. Gallegos Critical Race Theory, G.L. Billings Critical Feminist Pedagogy, J.F. Brady Biocentric Education, R. Good and M.S. Prakash Situated Cognition, D. Kirschner and J.A. Whitson Individualization, L.A. Sassone Dialogue, N.C. Burbules Public Franchise, J. Williams.

Young children's interpretations of gender from visual text and narrative

The field of critical feminist literacy recognises that readings of gender are influenced by texts, discourses, and textual practices. Some recent picture storybooks for young children have characters and narratives which break away from traditional gendered stereotypes. This article describes a text and some children's readings of a fictional animal story in which a bossy rooster is “tamed” by a female sheep dog. For the story to have a feminist impact, it is necessary for readers to locate their readings in discourses which recognise the femininity as well as the power of the sheep dog character. Some 7-year-old children read aspects of the picture storybook to construct gender and story in interesting and sometimes surprising ways. Semiotic and critical linguistic analysis is used to describe possible feminist textual semiotic effects of the picture storybook. Excerpts of some children's discussions of the picture storybook are also analysed to examine the processes and structures where meanings are produced from texts. The analyses focus on modality to trace the children's acceptance of “truth” or “credibility” in the text with respect to the construction of gender and the story's resolution. They highlight how textual practices of fiction and narrative act as political-cultural influences on text comprehension even for very young children. It is argued that for a critical feminist pedagogy, children not only need books with positive images of females, but they also need to learn the semiotic systems for interpreting narrative in less traditional ways.

Local Struggles: Women in the Home and Critical Feminist Pedagogy in Ireland

While writing this paper I am filled with the current reality of yesterday's possibilities. Ireland has just elected a new woman president, Mary Robinson, a labour party member who has consistently struggled for women's rights, for the unemployed, for the youth forced to immigrate from their home and for all the underrepresented in my country. The election of President Mary Robinson may or may not have a huge social impact, but it dramatizes the shift in ground of formal politics in Ireland. This development has come about, in part, through concrete political struggle, stemming from yesterday's dreams. These dreams were informed by critical education. Both the dreams and the practical developments were struggled over; they must still be struggled over in order that the changes are carried through to the point of bettering the lot of all people - in short, that they are or become radically democratic.