Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: This article analyses university pedagogy by contrasting mainstream pedagogy and feminist pedagogical thought. The data consist of two textbooks, and we investigate what kinds of teaching, learning and knowledge the textbooks construct and what kinds of student and teacher positions they suggest. The inquiry shows that learning in the textbooks is seen as a strictly defined, hierarchical process and that ideal teaching stresses methods over content. The power of knowledge is not discussed, nor are gender, sexuality and other differences. Academics are seen as professional teachers who master teaching methods, and students are framed as customers. An assumed human sameness, marketisation of education, emphasis on vocational benefit and ‘pathos of the new’ were found to be themes guiding mainstream pedagogy. We suggest that feminist pedagogy can offer an alternative approach, one enabling a critical analysis of the power of knowledge and an awareness of differences among students.
Source: Gender and Education
Authors: Päivi Naskali, Seija Keskitalo-Foley
Institution: University of Lapland
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2608718038