Transforming Student Literacies: Three Feminists(Re)Teach Reading, Writing, and Speaking

• Published in: Feminist teacher 2004-01, Vol.15 (1), p.48-65
• Main Authors: GERALD, AMY SPANGLER, MCEVOY, KATHLEEN, WHITFIELD, PAMELA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Basic writing; College Students; Communication Skills; Critical Thinking; Females; Feminism; Higher Education; Literary criticism; Pedagogy; Reading Skills; Role of Education; Student Attitudes; Teachers; Teaching; Thinking Skills; Writing assignments; Writing instruction; Writing processes; Writing Skills; Written composition
• ISSN: 0882-4843; 1934-6034

In her 1974 essay "Toward a Woman-Centered University" Adrienne Rich notes that, contrary to popular belief, American universities are not bastions of free thought but patriarchal institutions that reinforce negative aspects of society, such as aggressive competition, domination, hierarchies of power, and gender inequity. Thirty years later Rich's concerns are still relevant and even more urgent because of the tremendous rhetorical force of the patriarchal status quo and the influence of the corporate mentality that stresses training over critical thinking. Today, Rich's call for a woman-centered university is answered by using tenets of feminist pedagogy to open students' minds, teaching them to be resisting readers, critical writers, and empowered speakers. These skills enable students to do more than memorize unquestioned information; students become the kind of critical thinkers and rhetors who excel across disciplines inside and outside the academy. The authors of this paper are three young, female, feminist teachers interested in building inclusive, active learning communities. They believe that this article adheres to the feminist tenet of praxis in that, while it is firmly grounded in feminist theory, it also shows what feminist pedagogy actually looks like in the classroom. Their form of feminist pedagogy encourages inclusion, collaboration, sensitivity, and personal empowerment, and rejects oppression in any form. This article discusses authority issues, assignments, and student responses that give a glimpse of how feminist pedagogy can work well in the context of reading, writing, speaking, and the development of critical thinking. (Contains 11 endnotes.)