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This course is for men and women who care about education and issues of gender. 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. Those who opt to do service projects 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. 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. Noddings, N. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. Berkeley: University of California Press. This classic examines a new definition of "caring" and the ways that gender can influence the caring-cared for relationship in schools and elsewhere. It presents a model for moral education in schools and provides a provocative basis for planning a career and life. 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 Orenstein's content and the presentation. Pipher, M. (1994). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls. New York: Ballantine Books. This book has provoked many community discussion circles about adolescent development and the many roles that community members and institutions can play in the lives of girls. It has specific chapters on many of the issues that we will be directly addressing. Pollack, W. (1998). Real boys: Rescuing our sons from the myths of boyhood. New York: Random House. In response to Pipher's work above, this book takes on similar issues with adolescent boys. The roles of schools and other institutions in shaping boys' views of themselves and their worlds is a central topic. IF NEEDED: Tierney, W & E. Bensimon. (1996). Promotion and Tenure: Community and Socialization in Academe. New York: SUNY Presss. Adolescents are not the only ones being socialized in to gendered hierarchies. Professionals, teachers, academics, and policy makers also need to work within higher education systems and lead schools where gender matters. This book will be of particular interest to those who wish to work in higher education settings. Additional readings will be available through the Reserve List at Hillman Library.
The course has two converging streams. First, students must be active seminar participants. This is a graduate level seminar. We will be doing a lot in our weekly class times, including going on fieldtrips, working in small groups, surfing the web, and perhaps 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, concise 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. Second, at the same time that students are engaged in
reading, reflecting, discussing, and writing for the course, they may be
involved in an individually-designed service learning program. More information
about the service learning component of the course can be found at the
course's Service Learning website: http://www.pitt.edu/~mporter/service3.html.
We will discuss ways that students may link to a service project. Several
service and research support projects are also available through the instructor.
These include: 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.
All of the Women's Studies courses strive to "understand and represent women in their real social diversity, which includes their differences in race, age, sexuality, culture, religion, and other factors. Dealing with these differences makes courses more responsible both socially and intellectually, and it also responds to Women's Studies students' legitimate expectation that there will be attention to social diversity in their coursework" (from guidelines for WS teaching policy adopted Spring, 1999). 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 course components are weighted as follows:
Leadership of Class Sessions 20 % Three Papers 40 %
The course has sequential units that are tentatively scheduled for the following dates: 1/5
1/12
1/19
1/26
2/2
2/9 or16
2/23
23/1
33/15
3/22
3/29
4/5
4/12
4/19
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Why
does this course explicitly incorporate diverse perspectives and international
content?