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This course examines the role that gender plays in our lives as young students, community members, educators, and policy makers. Gender is both the subject of study as well as an explicit dimension of our own reflections about how formal and informal educational experiences impact young men and women. Major topics include: changing trends of participation and success in schooling, early socialization, media and curricular bias and ex-/inclusion with a focus on computers, math, and science, coming of age and schooling, gender and the educational professions, feminist and anti-bias teaching, and cyberspace/local/international communities of support, activism and information. We will be exploring key issues in gender and education through various disciplinary lenses, learning to critically assess different forms of data, and integrating multiple ways of knowing into classroom discourse and projects. Service learning is an integral part of the course; students will have sustained opportunities to apply issues and ideas from class in real-life settings.
This course does not require prior formal coursework in either gender or education. Of course, all students will have had some prior school and life experiences that are relevant and important to our course. On the other hand, participants with substantial backgrounds in feminist or gender studies, education or related fields will find much to challenge them here too.
This course is one of the three "gender intensive" core courses offered as part of the Women's Studies in Education Certificate. We encourage you to round out your understanding of gender issues in education at all levels and in many settings by fulfilling the requirements of the Certificate.
The following are the primary materials for the course. They may be purchased at the Book Center or bought/borrowed/rented through other means. Most resources are also on reserve in Hillman Library. Weiler, K. (1988). Women teaching for change: Gender, class and power. Critical Studies in Education Series. New York: Bergin and Garvey Publishers. (This books critiques the role that gender plays in the lives of teachers and students, and in the dynamics of classrooms and educational institutions. Using critical theory and bringing in other approaches, she looks at the many ways that class, race, and gender interact to form patterns of domination, resistance, and power. Rather than being a depressing book that leaves readers hopeless, Weiler offers strategies for recognizing, overcoming, and transforming educational practice.) Orenstein, P. (1994). School girls: Young women, self-esteem, and the confidence gap. In Association with the American Association of University Women. New York: Anchor Books. (I selected this ethnography as a particularly good example of the myriad ways that issues of race, class, and gender intersect in the lives of adolescent girls in two diverse urban schools. After looking at the kinds of information available through other forms of data we will assess both OrensteinÕs content and the presentation. We will compare these ÒstoriesÓ with accounts that are emerging from data collected by the professor during recent fieldwork.) Mungo, Ray. (1994). Your autobiography: More than 300 questions to help you write your personal history. New York: Collier Books. (This recommended book provides a structure and provocative questions to help you reflect on key moments, experiences, and turning points in your life. Several chapters are directly relevant for the reflective exercises that we will be doing.) There is also an extensive reader for the course available through Copy Cat.
The course has two converging streams. First, students must be active seminar participants. We will be doing a lot in our weekly class times, including going on fieldtrips, working in small groups, surfing the web, and doing interactive theater. This is by nature a personal class- issues of privilege, pedagogy, and personal convictions will - and should- surface. Successful participation means regular attendance, reading, preparing, reflecting, and being willing to share openly and listen respectfully. Depending on the number of course members, students will have the chance to be a discussion leader for at least two sessions with partners who will rotate. Three short papers are required in addition to discussion participation and leadership. Communicating powerfully, provocatively, and convincingly is one of the main goals of the course. Learning to write succinctly is a terribly important skill. Further, many of the course members will probably be seeking jobs, entrance into further graduate study, internships, etc. where excellent , short writing samples are required. Given these aims, students may rewrite one of their papers with the aid of the instructor and at least two students readers. The paper may then be resubmitted for a new grade. At the same time that students are engaged in reading, reflecting, discussing, and writing for the course, they will be involved in an individually-designed service learning program. More information about the service learning component of the course can be found at the courseÕs Service Learning website: http://www.pitt.edu/~mporter/service3.html. Instead of doing service learning, students also have the option of working with the instructor on the ongoing NUD*IST analysis of teen mothers' school persistence, working on a web site that will benefit the larger gender studies in education community, creating a career-related portfolio of policy and pedagogical responses to the issues raised in class, or completing another instructor-approved project.
Although this course is organized around primary education in the United States and other English-speaking countries, we will bring in materials, examples, and life experiences from other national contexts. Sometimes students wonder why a course has purposeful and significant international elements. Amazing as it is, I hear students here say, "I'm from Western Pennsylvania, why do I need to know about Tanzania, China, Germany, or Australia?" Well, it should be obvious that we are all "international." Further, many, but not all, of the issues that affect us as gendered beings also affect others living in different educational, policy, and cultural contexts. Many of the ideas and solutions that are new here are old elsewhere - and vice versa. Interesting studies, provocative books, exciting programs, and creative strategies are being tried out all over the world, especially in areas where the formal, systematic education of girls is still hotly contested. It would be shame to miss out on these developments, and it would be a serious lapse in our education if we thought that everything worthwhile was done locally. We need to look to what else is going on, reach out to others, and connect with them if we are to create contexts for success for all of our boys and girls.
The assignments are due and are weighted as follows: Prospectus of the service learning project (due Sept. 18,10%) First 5-page paper (due Oct. 2, 10%) Second 5-page paper (due Oct. 23, 10%) Second presentation (due October 23 or 30 depending on course enrollment, 10% Third 5-page paper (due Nov. 6, 10%) Final report (due December 4 or 11, again depending on enrollment 20%) Discussion leadership (15%) Participation, attendance, preparation (15%)
The course has seven sequential units: - Introduction to the course and to service learning - Overview of the changing gender trends in access, participation, and experiences in schools - Early socialization - Media, books, and curricular bias and ex-/inclusion with a focus on computers, math, and science - Coming of age and schooling - Gender and the educational professions including feminist and anti-bias teaching - Cyberspace/local/international communities of support, activism, and information
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Why
international ?