Let’s start with some business: There have been some great comments about teaching feminism in schools, and I’d love to respond to every one (I started to, but it became too time consuming and, being the good teacher I am, I like it when you respond to each other rather than when I bust in and break up the conversation). Keep it up, though, seriously! This is becoming a really fascinating series; who knew people were so jazzed about feminism in schools?!
There are a few things I’m seeing in the comments, though, that I want to address. There seem to be two seperate arguments going on: 1) Feminism should be incorporated in core curriculum classes (English, history, etc.), and 2) Women’s Studies classes should be offered in high school. While both of these are manifestations of feminism in school, and both arguments are similar and have similar rationale behind them, I do believe they are seperate arguments.
First of all, Women’s Studies classes, as we’ve all been saying, if present in a high school setting, would be elective classes. Students would have to choose to take these classes, and those that choose to take them probably don’t have to. Meaning they probably already have an interest in women’s rights and, therefore, don’t need to be “taught” to be progressive young adults. We can argue till we’re blue in the face that Women’s Studies classes should be required, but the fact of the matter is that will probably never happen. There are too many testing and funding issues for that to happen right now.
Core classes, however, are classes that students must take in order to graduate. In the interest of full disclosure, for those of you who don’t know, I am a high school English teacher, so I’ve been leaning toward ways to incorporate feminism into English classes. In fact, when I first started writing this series, I said “Why Feminism Should Be Taught In School,” but I meant “Why Feminism Should Be Taught In English.” It’s not that I don’t think other possibilities are just as important; it’s simply that I didn’t see them until your outstanding comments. It is impossible for me to talk about teaching without talking about teaching English, though, so that’s where I’m coming from.
However, I will argue that teaching feminism in a core class such as English or history may be more beneficial and influential to students. They must take these classes, so you are sure to reach a wider audience – perhaps an audience that wouldn’t normally be interested in women’s issues. Also, there is the added benefit of being able to teach multiple perspectives within these classes (the lit crit terms: Author Centered, Historical, Reader Response, Psychological, Formalist, “Otherness” Theory, etc.) which encourages studenst to look at everything from multiple perspectives. It also gives them resources to “walk a mile in their shoes,” to use an old cliché and become more tolerant, enlightened, and progressive members of society.
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I think that teaching Women’s Studies as a matter of course, either as a separate class or having regular core classes taught in a feminist way (ie including more women in English and History curriculum) can only do good. I’ve heard of some colleges that require Intro to WS as mandatory to all incoming freshmen. We’re taught traditional history as it is: the Holocaust, slavery, and other injustices to races and peoples around the world, so why shouldn’t it be mandatory to understand the history of women? We may have “come along way, baby,” but it can so easily be taken all away. And historically, it has. It’s SO important that this be taught in schools, and it is overlooked so much that it’s worrying. Even now, only a handful of universities offer graduate study in WS, and only TWELVE offer a PhD. I was discouraged from completing a major or minor in WS at the undergrad level because I “didn’t need it.” Minimizing WS as a course of study is to minimize feminism in this world.
[Reply]
Comment by Amanda — August 27, 2009 @ 9:53 am
I completely agree with you, and I hope I was not minimizing the importance of WS courses. I do believe they should be offered at EVERY level. I guess I was just taking a more “practical” view (probably the same view that discouraged you from a WS major/minor… shame on me!) that, with the struggling economy, high-stakes testing, etc. it seems more cost-effective and doable (right now, hopefully that will change) to teach feminism within core curriculum classes. Even with WS classes, feminism should be taught in core classes, too! Double whammy!
[Reply]
Comment by Ashley — August 27, 2009 @ 11:33 am