"Don't Hate Me Because I'm Virtual": Feminist Pedagogy in the Online Classroom Author(s): NANCY CHICK and HOLLY HASSEL Source: Feminist Teacher, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2009), pp. 195-215 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40546100 Accessed: 01-12-2016 15:44 UTC
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms "Don't Hate Me Because Pm Virtual": Feminist Pedagogy in the Online Classroom
NANCY CHICK AND HOLLY HASSEL
"Feminist education- the feminist classroom- is and should be a place where there is a sense of struggle, where there is visible acknowledgment of the union of theory and prac- tice, where we work together as teachers and students to overcome the estrangement and alienation that have become so much the norm in the contemporary university." -bell hooks
The decade-long debate about the value ing DE, or the cyber-savvy. The chances of distance education (DE)- specifically are high that more and more of us across online teaching- may become a moot one. rank, discipline, campus type, and level of The Chronicle of Higher Education recently technical ability will venture into the vir- reported on a 2004 study, revealing that, tual classroom. "By the end of 2005, Eduventures expects As these chances increase, so do the more than 1.2 million students to be tak- objections about online classes: they ing such courses, making up about 7 per- exploit already overwhelmed faculty and cent of the 17 million students enrolled at adjunct instructors; they encourage a degree-granting institutions" (Carnevale, consumer model of education, with their "Online"). An even more recent study by accompanying marketing as "flexible" the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation reports and "convenient"; the increased amount that 89 percent of the over one thousand of reading and writing leads to instructor responding institutions offer face-to-face burnout; they are merely correspondence (F2F) instruction; 55 percent of them offer courses masquerading as intellectually online courses (Allen and Seaman 5). rigorous, college-level education; online Overall online enrollment increased from students are disengaged and even more 1.98 million students in 2003 to 2.35 mil- "estranged and alienated" than hooks's lion in 2004 (Allan and Seaman 4). With on-campus students; the courses lack numbers of such magnitude, it's hard the sense of community made possible to ignore the fact that online teaching by face-to-face classrooms; etc. Many of is becoming a reality for more and more these critiques, however, are not borne instructors at institutions traditionally out by research. For example, the Sloan offering face-to-face instruction. In times Foundation study reveals that at 74 per- of budget crises and calls for efficiency cent of public colleges, online courses and expansion into new student popu- are taught by core faculty, as opposed lations, discussions of online teaching to only 61 percent for their face-to-face are no longer just for the pioneers in the courses- indicating that it is permanent, medium, new faculty pressured into teach- not temporary, instructors who are taking
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© 2OO9 BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFTHE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms up the work of online teaching. Addition- are our combined experiences in teach- ally, one of the criteria for engagement in ing English and women's studies courses the National Survey for Student Engage- using a variety of course platforms- ment is the amount of reading and writing Desire2l_earn, Blackboard, WebCT, Pro- students do for their courses- a gauge of metheus, and LearningSpace. Nancy engagement supported by the students' even started out writing her own code for reflections on their courses in Richard J. courses delivered on simple HTML pages Light's Making the Most of College. Many and discussion boards without password online classes by nature require plenty of protection or the other conveniences both, in addition to the reading and writ- offered by these course management ing assignments shared with their face-to- systems. She's been teaching Introduction face counterparts. to Literature online every semester, includ- Given the growth in online educa- ing summers, since Fall 2000 and taught tion and the range of courses now being freshman composition online between offered in computer-mediated environ- Fall 1996 and Spring 1998. Holly has been ments, it is our contention as feminist teaching Introduction to Women's Studies teacher-scholars that the translation of online for eleven semesters. Our shared feminist pedagogy to these educational experiences in bringing feminist pedagogy venues is critical. If we don't clearly, pub- to the online setting have disabused us licly, and repeatedly define feminist peda- of the stereotypes about online courses gogy1 and discuss its benefits beyond cur- and convinced us that feminist pedagogy rent practitioners, many of our advances and the cyber-classroom can and should will either be limited to those already be productively paired. We focus not on if doing the work or credited to advocates of but how feminist pedagogy can be applied the more generic modes of active learning. broadly, to varying degrees, so that any In these circumstances, feminist pedagogy course can become virtually feminist.2 will remain a concept understood only by feminist educators, misunderstood by our Going Virtual: colleagues, and invisible to our students. Feminist Pedagogy Online Furthermore, failing to outline the many "I entered the classroom with the conviction that ways feminist pedagogy is applicable to online environments will ensure that it was crucial for me and every other student to be an active participant, not a passive consumer . . . myths and misconceptions about online education as the practice of freedom . . . educa- teaching flourish and that only the worst tion that connects the will to know with the will to versions of online pedagogy persist. We become. Learning is a place where paradise can argue here that feminist pedagogy isn't be created. " just applicable to many different disci- -bell hooks plines; it's also applicable to nontradi- tional learning environments. We are If the principles of feminist pedagogy can particularly interested in how online envi- revise classroom spaces, learning activi- ronments can become sites of feminist ties, and modes of communication and pedagogy. knowledge construction in our F2F classes, Informing our recommendations on then imagine their potential for the often feminist pedagogy in the online setting quiet, distant, lonely, impersonal non-
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms spaces of online classes, where learning philosophies and values rather than on too easily slips into the one-way transfer of the limitations of the technology or on information in virtual independent study or how we can operate under traditional and correspondence courses. The potential is inappropriately gendered approaches great, particularly because online classes to technology. Our present concern is to are often full of characteristics antitheti- emphasize the importance of building the cal to our ideal feminist classroom. In our pedagogical framework and then bring research on the limited materials that the technology into that framework. Too address this issue, we've often seen the often instructors deferto the technology question phrased as such: can technology and even instructional technology staff "support and enhance the feminist class- because they're experts in the technol- room?" (Pramaggiore 164) or "How conge- ogy, but we're the experts in both the nial are these kinds of technologies to the content and the pedagogy, and a course kind of participatory, collaborative learning starts there, not with the machinery. that is the hallmark of the feminist class- Pedagogical practices can and should room?" (Rose 115-16). Not only are these drive the structure of the course, and the articles about hybrid classes or using tech- principles of feminist pedagogy should be nology to enhance F2F classes (modes very present from the beginning, rather than different from fully online courses), but add-ons at the end. also the basic question is quite different Important elements of course design from ours. What' s been asked in the past is can be deliberately structured to embed can we- and if so, how can we- use tech- feminist values in an online learning envi- nology to enhance or "deliver" a course ronment. None of our strategies is unique informed by feminist pedagogy. or bound solely to the online environment, Here we might hearken back to those since feminist pedagogy is independent governing metaphors for teaching. Answer- from the tools; our goal in this article ing this question as thus framed invites us is instead to demonstrate how feminist to examine more closely the ubiquitous practices, values, and pedagogies in F2F "delivery" metaphor used in discussions of environments can be translated effectively online learning and the ways it reinforces to the online environment. Because of this a masculinist approach (whether to learn- intent, we offer our suggestions through ing or to childbirth) with a "product" to be three overarching categories as a frame- "delivered" at the end of each. If feminist work for defining and illustrating feminist pedagogy is to challenge the notion that pedagogy in the online environment: class knowledge is to be delivered like a pack- dynamics and environment, definition of age, it must do so in all settings- face to knowledge, and habits of mind. face or virtual. This framing of Pramag- giore's and Rose's questions also puts the Dynamics and Environment emphasis on how to use the technology, but we don't want the technology to dictate The literature on feminist pedagogy is our pedagogy. fairly coherent in describing the dynamics Instead, we should ask how we can and environment of a feminist classroom, and our own definition dovetails with the bring feminist pedagogy to the online environment, focusing on our teaching prevailing conceptions. Feminist peda-
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms gogy produces a classroom environment completely relinquish power when grades of mutual respect where both teacher and are involved? Do students have a sense of all students take active, responsible, and authority and power? Do they take leader- shared roles in the learning process. This ship roles, or is the instructor the solitary dynamic is achieved through classroom leader in the classroom? Is there a sense relationships that don't hide or gloss of democracy in some activities, assign- over the differences in experience and ments, or projects? perspective within a community of learn- Attention to these dynamics means ers. Within this community, students care attention to the communicative envi- about others' learning and well-being as ronment of the online classroom. The well as their own, and they feel free to silences of cyberspace and the frequently use their sites of authority- where they solitary nature of online learning mean already stand and what they already that in many online classes there are know- to help contribute to the knowl- rarely discussions other than what's edge of the course. assigned, no debates, no laughter, no This environment is developed through groups sitting together and having heated careful attention to the specific dynamics or engaged conversations about any- in a class, namely the roles and relation- thing.3 Instead, both instructor and stu- ships of and between all members of a dents may log on, post an assignment, classroom community. For instance, femi- and log off- a virtual commuter campus nist pedagogy is deliberate about how stu- at its worst. Despite these worst expec- dents relate to each other. Do they com- tations and uses, however, we see the municate with each other regularly? What potential for something better. happens if someone has a different opin- One seemingly small element of the ion? Do they collaborate? Do they learn online environment that can support the from each other and not just the instruc- dynamics of feminist pedagogy is the use tor? How do the gender, race, and class of student home pages. Most course man- of each student affect the class dynamics agement systems provide built-in pages and learning? Feminist pedagogy is also for such profiles, or they can be used to deliberate about the student-instructor link to web pages students create on their relationship. How does the instructor own. Using either or both tools in the relate to the students? Is she the abso- course can dispel the impression of vir- lute authority? How are high expectations tual learning as cold, impersonal, distant, communicated and upheld? Do students and even intimidating. First, home pages trust the instructor? How do the gender, can help students feel a part of the class race, and class of the instructor affect the and connected to each other. Rather than class dynamics and learning? How aware celebrate the anonymity of being online, is everyone of these dynamics? Through we encourage instructors to go beyond attention to these relationships and roles the résumé-style request for name, major, in the classroom, feminist pedagogy job, location (always interesting in online spotlights how power and authority are courses), and hobbies. Asking students played out in the classroom. Do students to upload a picture, for example, obvi- have a voice? Is power shared to some ously puts a face with the name, but it extent- even though it's impossible to can also vividly illustrate the diversity of
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms the classroom in terms of age, gender, groupmates. Often, online students learn race, and ethnicity. Students who feel more about their classmates than those in uncomfortable displaying a self-portrait, F2F classes, and we've also found that we however, can substitute any picture that get to know many of our OL students more reveals something about themselves. Our than our F2F ones. By requiring students students have posted pictures of a flower, to browse through the home pages peri- a beloved boat, a newborn baby, a favor- odically, we remind our students that they ite outdoor location, a cartoon, and other are involved with students from diverse ¡mages from popular media. Although regional, social, ethnic, ideological, per- these pictures don't show what the stu- sonal, and cultural backgrounds. The more dents look like, they do give an impres- attention students pay to the specific sion of the students beyond words. Also, identities of their classmates, the more requesting a passage entitled "About Me" they resist normalizing the identities of provides an open-ended invitation for their classmates under invisible assump- comfortable levels of self-identification. tions of whiteness, maleness, and other This passage can even be an audio file identities that may be challenged online. from students with digital audio record- Once our students start to recognize and ers, adding another layer of specificity to remember their classmates' commonali- their identities. As the course progresses, ties and differences, a sense of specific, instructors can then provide examples, situated community is underway. analogies, and activities that are relevant In addition to connecting students to to students' specific backgrounds and each other, home pages can also be used interests, increasing their sense of belong- to take early assessments of their pre- ing in the course and their connection to conceptions and expectations. Asking the content and each other, while also questions such as "What do you think is highlighting similarities and differences in the role of the instructor in this course?", experience in the classroom. "What do you think is your role in this During the first week, assigning stu- course?", "What do you think is the role dents the task of reading their peers' of your classmates in this course?", and home pages can serve as the icebreaker "What is your ¡deal classroom activity?" and class introduction standard in F2F can tell instructors much about students' instruction and begin to build community. classroom experiences and provide a The activity can be simple: students can starting point for practicing and discuss- identify the most interesting fact about ing feminist pedagogy. If they're appropri- each classmate, one way each home page ate to the content of the course, questions helped humanize the classmate, and/or such as "Are you or is anyone in your what they would like to ask the classmate family a feminist? Why or why not?" and based on the materials on the home page. "What is a feminist?" provide important Then, posting or emailing this brief list of information about students' attitudes. evaluations to the entire class shows the Later in the semester, having students students that their classmates are getting revisit these responses can highlight the to know them. Later, as students work with popular perceptions about gender issues others in groups, instructors can remind and show them how far they've come them to revisit the home pages of their since the first day. They can also introduce
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms a level of metacognition in the course tion, followed by her or his own response. from the beginning, so that students are (We post a first-day question about the thinking about what they're learning, how students' favorite movie, book, concert, they're learning, and with whom they're CD, video game, recipe, tool, gift, or out- learning. door activity they've encountered recently, Another basic way to build community expanding the list as new technologies, and encourage student authority and gadgets, and fads emerge.) This site voice online is to create spaces where allows students to meet and interact with interaction is dynamic, ongoing, and each other and with us from day one, even student-led. We create two discussion before the class digs into the course con- forums at the top of the discussion page tent. As the semester progresses, activity to accomplish these goals. The first is in The Hallway may wax and wane; if the "Ask the Class," where anyone can post sense of community is waning as well, it questions, answers, or comments about can be revived by posting a movie recom- the course, readings, or assignments. mendation, holiday plans, requests for In many early online classes, a teacher- weather reports from the students' various centered forum called "Raise Your Hand" locations, or any informal or non-academic replicated the dynamic of a student raising comments one might make to students her hand and the authoritative instructor in a hallway on campus. As a result of calling on her and answering the ques- these ongoing interactions, relationships tions. We replaced that forum with "Ask develop and often spill over into email the Class," a student-centered forum in exchanges, even well after the course has which students and instructors can pose ended. questions, express confusion, and ask for The online learning environment advice or study tips, and other students itself can also take us a step closer to a are expected to respond. This forum, now feminist class environment because of more widespread in online classes, grants the familiar benefit of inclusion, espe- students the meaningful role of helping cially as we enroll students who- if not their classmates, encouraging them to for online courses- would not be able relate to each other as peers and collabo- to pursue higher education. If, as Mary rators, rather than competitors. This is a Bricker-Jenkins and Nancy Hooyman small but significant step toward shared assert, diversity and inclusion are key leadership in the classroom. values of the feminist classroom, then the The second forum is "The Hallway," a very structure of the online classroom pro- virtual environment that simulates the vides it. We all hear that more students hallway on campus where students can will participate in online discussions than talk to each other and us about anything. F2F ones as the shy students discover the It facilitates the informal, personal, non- relative anonymity and absence of a stage academic connections that fill the com- online. This more welcoming environment munity's need for more personal connec- is an important shift in discussion dynam- tions, for letting off steam, and for fully ics, a great advantage of online discus- personalizing the learning environment. sions, and a central principle of feminist The instructor can begin the discussion pedagogy. Additionally, online technol- by posting an ice-breaking, bonding ques- ogy extends the college classroom to a
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms "demographically diverse student popula- form of cultural currency that, previous to tion," including full-time workers, "home- distance education, they would have been bound or rural" students, and many stay- denied. at-home mothers, who account for at least half of our online students (Rose 115).4 Definition of Knowledge In our online program at the University of Wisconsin Colleges, 72 percent of online Deliberate, reflective attention to the students are women, and this program classroom dynamics and environment is isn't atypical. According to a 2000 Depart- key to the cultivation of a feminist class- ment of Education study, single mothers, room, but the forms, kinds, and construc- married women, and married women with tion of knowledge that occupy a classroom children are most likely to be at the other operating under feminist pedagogy are end of the miles and wires of distance also crucial. In addition to what occurs education (Carnevale, "Distance" A33). in the classroom, a coherent pedagogy theorizes what occurs within the learners' Further, the ratio of adult to traditional- age students is higher in online courses minds by articulating what "knowledge" than in face-to-face classes, in some means and how it's achieved. Feminist cases as high as 4 to 1. For instance, in pedagogy operates under the assumption our online program, 80 percent of online that knowledge is constructed. Recreat- students are at least twenty-three years ing the engaged and interactive class old. These numbers suggest that online dynamics of a F2F classroom informed by courses often exceed the diversity of their feminist pedagogy is just one part of creat- F2F counterparts in this major goal of ing the "virtually feminist" online course; feminist pedagogy. translating the notion of knowledge as constructed is also essential. What we believe is important to acknowledge, however, is a kind of irony In the F2F classroom, feminist educa- about the democratizing power of the tors interrogate their own assumptions online course: a large proportion of our about learning and knowledge: are con- students are women, especially women cepts represented as black and white, or with children. Although online learning are complexity and ambiguity key charac- is pedagogically inclusive in terms of the teristics? How is learning structured: do current enrollment, it is the socially dis- students learn individualistically, competi- empowered and often isolated groups that tively, cooperatively, orcollaboratively?6 are availing themselves in the greatest Do assignments and activities encourage numbers of the online learning environ- students merely to regurgitate informa- ment. Nontraditional female students who tion the instructor, the textbook, and other are primarily responsible for childcare find traditional authority figures, or is meaning the virtual classroom a convenient method developed through synthesizing authority, of furthering their education while still peer input, and one's own experiences? attending to their family responsibilities.5 Are students challenged to be uncom- We believe this speaks to the empower- fortable and explore something new? Is course content connected to students' ing possibilities of virtual education: some lives and the world outside the textbook groups who have been marginalized by educational institutions can now access a and the classroom? Are students expected
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms to think outside the classroom walls? Are ingly uncovers knowledge from the inani- students encouraged to make their own mate, passive student. Another metaphor meanings and connections?7 suggesting a problematic expectation of The conception of knowledge and learn- knowledge and learning sets up students ing under feminist pedagogy contrasts as information processors, reflecting the sharply with more traditional modes of view that knowledge is static, mere data, education. The apparently solitary qual- "input and output," something merely to ity of online learning can lead to a dis- be recognized, committed to memory, and engaged group of students- or, more spit back out (Solomon and Solomon 19). precisely, a bunch of discrete, discon- To learn is to process facts, data, num- nected students who expect the learning bers, letters, terminology, sentences, pas- to be one way at a time, as the common sages, theories, and concepts. "delivery" metaphor for online learning These metaphors leave out the sense illustrates: the textbook and the instruc- of wisdom, knowledge, and understand- tor deliver information to them in lectures ing that go beyond processing data- an and assigned readings, then the students omission that feminist pedagogy and deliver information back to the instructor some of the more recent movements in through an exam or essay, and then the teaching and learning have sought to cor- instructor delivers a grade to them. Then it rect, including active learning, collabora- starts over again. That sounds to us like a tive learning, and "backwards" course correspondence course modeled after the design (Barkley, Cross, and Major; Wiggins banking/pouring/information-processing and McTighe; Fink). Additionally, these metaphors of education, and that's not metaphors omit the importance of student what we're looking for in online learning experience, authority, and interaction so and certainly not in feminist pedagogy.8 central to feminist educators. Of course, Among the most familiar are the meta- in the last twenty years, other pedago- phors of passivity suggesting that stu- gies have also challenged the traditional dents are "empty vessels, sponges, and definitions of knowledge and learning, raw materials" and educators are con- most notably Paulo Freire's liberation tainers full of liquid knowledge, ready to pedagogy. His work, The Pedagogy of the be poured, as "the "Japanese word for Oppressed, calls for "Knowledge [that] teacher means roughly 'he who pours'" emerges only through invention and re- (Solomon and Solomon 19). Other, more invention, through the restless, impatient, romantic metaphors compare teachers to continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings sculptors, miners, and other creators who pursue in the world, with the world, and penetrate with pick ax, drill, chisel, rasp, with each other" (53), a vision that- like file, and other sharp, phallic tools that a more feminist model- recognizes the forge knowledge for students. These meta- interplay among knowledge, experience, phors are a little more generous to the and collaboration. In doing so, he argues student since the teacher is simply remov- against what he calls the "banking" model ing the irrelevant material, the excess of learning in which "knowledge is a gift clay, or the junk rock from the student's bestowed by those who consider them- raw material. However, the teacher is the selves knowledgeable upon those whom true artist, the creator, the one who know- they consider to know nothing" (53). In
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms this metaphor, students are empty bank and "Hallway" discussion areas as a key accounts, broke, impoverished, power- mode of exchange (both personal and less, and ready to be filled by the teacher's intellectual) sets the stage for subsequent money, generosity, "gifts" of knowledge.9 governing pedagogical values, includ- Perhaps these problematic metaphors ing shared authority and communal con- of teaching and learning are why some struction of knowledge. Susan Stanford feminist educators embrace the explicitly Freidman argued early in scholarly discus- gendered metaphor of the midwife who sion of feminist pedagogy that "we must facilitates the birth of what's already grow- reaffirm our commitment to dissolving ing inside. The vessel in the student is not the kind of authority that leads to stu- empty and awaiting the teacher; instead, dents' passivity and lack of independent it's generative, already developing, com- thought" (208). For many classes, regular ing from a prior experience. The relation- discussions are prime areas for infusing ship between the midwife and the birthing feminist pedagogical practices and culti- mother is not hierarchical, and the meta- vating student agency and participation in phor affords agency to both participants, this collaborative construction of knowl- perhaps even more to the mother since she edge. In many traditional classrooms and is the one who births, the one who holds even "traditional" online classes, the the knowledge that needs to be guided absence of feminist pedagogy is perhaps out. That knowledge is also not static; it is most obvious through the linear mode of growing, forming, evolving, unfolding, and information transfer, from expert instructor will continue to do so after the work of the to novice student. Some online instruc- midwife is done and the relationship has tors spend hours writing or recording their ended. Finally, the process of learning is online lectures well before the semester like the birthing process, hard work borne even begins, sometimes a requirement of sweat and discomfort- labor, sometimes for the technology gurus in charge of the as painful as it is illuminating and powerful. course management platform. Although (The "delivery" of the midwife metaphor is lecturing in and of itself in the classroom thus very different from the "delivery" of is not pedagogically unsound, the typical the mail metaphor.) As these metaphors lecture does not enact feminist pedagogy; reveal, what "knowledge" means to an edu- reliance on lectures recreates online a cator and to a pedagogical paradigm has dynamic of the teacher as the center of an impact on everything else: the teacher's knowledge and the students as absorb- role, the students' roles, how learning hap- ers ofthat knowledge. Instead, we can pens, what occurs in the classroom, and empower our students as learners and the goals for the end of the course. instill in them a sense of responsibility Thus, recreating the engaged and inter- to their classmates as well. Rather than active class dynamics of a F2F classroom "monopolizing]" the class as "the single informed by feminist pedagogy is just one authoritative source," we propose that part of creating the "virtually feminist" instructors should "subvert the techno- online course; translating this notion of logical imperative to lecture" as often as knowledge as constructed is also essen- is appropriate, rely on the textbook or tial. Establishing early and ongoing pres- other websites to introduce the key con- ence and activity in the "Ask the Class" cepts, and count on discussion among
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms the students to be the primary construc- tionally, assigning students meaningful tor of knowledge in the course (Rose 118; roles in discussion further motivates them Pramaggiore 168). in various types of authority. In smaller Clarifying the roles of student and group discussions in which students first instructor can prevent the discussion from discuss different topics and then later becoming a series of dialogues between report on their conversation to the entire the instructor and individual students or class, the role of group reporter should a modified lecture. We see discussion rotate to share the responsibility of rep- as a collaborative activity with students resenting a group to the rest of the class. at the center and the instructor as part Moderators or facilitators can keep their ofthat discussion- sometimes guiding, groupmates on task and ask questions most often listening (or reading)- while to keep the discussion going, while also students work together to make meaning. helping maintain netiquette. When stu- Shrewsbury's clarification that "Empow- dents share these leadership roles, they ering pedagogy does not dissolve the take on greater responsibility to the class- authority or power of the instructor" is room community, to their own learning, useful here. The instructor's role "does and to the course. move from power as domination to power In addition to translating traditional, as creative energy," and "the teacher's small-group discussions to the online knowledge and experience is recognized environment, other discussion strategies and is used with the students to increase can be developed for or adapted to the the legitimate power of all" (11). The goal online environment to cultivate shared is for learning, meaning, and knowledge leadership and authority, as well as a col- to emerge from the synergy created by laborative construction of knowledge. The discussion, not the instructor's delivery of fishbowl discussion, a strategy introduced that knowledge. If the instructor is consis- briefly in a variety of sources (McKeachie; tently present in the discussion, students Barkley, Cross, and Major), can facilitate will withdraw from their own sense of feminist values in the cyber-classroom. authority and back off from independent The fishbowl redefines the roles of every- thinking (as in many F2F discussions) one in the classroom by putting the because this persistent participation student voice at the center, literally and suggests that they're incapable of or not figuratively. A handful of students are expected to do it alone. assigned to the discussion board (in the What does such an online discussion F2F version, they sit at the center of the look like? Instructors can post a discus- room), and the comments of those stu- sion question and then allow students dents (not those of the instructor or the to take over, or students can even be rest of the class) make up the entire activ- assigned as the discussion starters them- ity, while everyone else actively observes selves. Rather than acting as the sole the discussion. The discussion topic can source of the wisdom and guidance in the be whatever is appropriate: a reading or course, instructors should respond, fill in readings, an assignment, a unit, or some- gaps, and correct misconceptions after the thing students decide themselves. Unlike students have had the time, space, and the traditional fishbowl, which is essen- expectation to do so on their own. Addi- tially a closed circle that silences observ-
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ers, Nancy keeps an "empty chair" policy a theory, synthesizes a variety of sources, in the físhbowl, an entry point for observ- or accomplishes any other collaborative ers who wish to briefly join the discussion writing task. The wiki adds the possibil- to contribute, question, or challenge. This ity of integrating links to other pages, activity provides a space for a smaller multimedia representations in video or group of students to develop connections, still images and audio files, and the edit- interpretations, assertions, questions, and ing history for the document itself. In the opinions that haven't come up in previous process of documenting their knowledge discussions or that haven't been explored construction in the wiki and its history to their satisfaction. page, students negotiate meaning-making The discussion chain is another strat- with their classmates. Our students have egy that can bring feminist pedagogy's used wikis in small groups to plan their dynamics and definition of knowledge consciousness-raising projects and as to the online environment.10 In a discus- an entire class to develop a definition of sion thread initiated by the instructor women's studies. or a student, students read all previous Whatever the strategy, making complex postings, look for themes and patterns discussions- rather than readings, soli- in those postings, and then summarize tary assignments, and exams- the center- them before responding in a new way or piece of an online course is a key way to offering a different perspective on the empower students to use their own voices conversation. This strategy simulates "a and practice and refine a more feminist 'real' conversation in which people lis- approach to knowledge-construction. ten to each other, repeat back something Jeannie Ludlow has identified six tenets important that they hear others saying, of the feminist classroom: simultaneous then respond to that idea by pointing out collaboration and contention; situated differences and by adding new details knowledges; unresolved contradictions and insights" (Friederich). It also simu- and simultaneous truths; intersectional lates the collaborative construction of understanding of identity; accountability; knowledge in the feminist classroom as and interrogation of systems of power students build on everyone who came and privilege. Discussion that privileges before, making connections and striving student voices over the monolithic author- for different perspectives. ity of the instructor (especially tempting Discussion can also revolve around the in the faceless environment of an online use of a wiki or occur within a wiki itself. class) is just one of the strategies that can A wiki is a website designed for collab- foreground dialogue and achieve many orative authorship as users easily add, goals of the feminist classroom. Effective, delete, or edit content. Perhaps the most open-ended, higher-order discussion by well-known version is "Wikipedia," a col- its very nature is collaboration and conten- laboratively authored and edited online tion and necessarily entails recognizing encyclopedia to which any registered user contradictions and ambiguities that resist can contribute content. In its classroom definition, if the instructor makes this a application, students jointly develop a priority in the class. common document that defines a key None of this is new to feminist educa- course concept, interprets a text, applies tors, though, because it's what we do in
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms the F2F classrooms. Using these principles are many moral issues on both sides of of higher-level thinking and interaction the debate but no clear simple solutions," online, though, encourages students to and "This week was the most thought- learn more deeply and reflect on what provoking for me thus far. The abortion they're learning more thoughtfully than debate really had me thinking about both many F2F classes because online stu- sides of the issue, and from there, I estab- dents-when held to high expectations of lished a new understanding for the oppos- development, clarity, and integration of ing side of the debate, which I am very examples and evidence- literally compose pleased about."11 Although self-reporting their thoughts as they write out their con- from students about their increasing tol- tributions before they enter discussion. erance of diverse perspectives may not The asynchronous bulletin board dis- show whether they actually have grown in cussion function of many course platforms their ability to understand a debate from may, in some ways, be superior to the F2F multiple perspectives, it does suggest setting in its ability to cultivate students' that students have begun to recognize ability to grapple with complex ideas pre- the academic and personal value of civil cisely because they most compose their discourse. Further, this civil discourse was thoughts in writing before participating. facilitated by a discussion medium that For example, in courses with women's required students to engage in a multi- studies content, the tension between per- step process toward participation in it: spectives must in some ways remain unre- students must first read, reflect, and com- solved for students to fully grasp the con- pose before contributing, steps they may cepts of tolerance, ambiguity, difference, not always take in the immediacy of F2F and diversity. When we explore issues classroom discussion. as politically and emotionally charged If we conceive of class discussion as as same-sex marriage, abortion, racism, a place to uncover multiple perspectives sexuality, and women as sexual agents, on any given subject, this goal is eas- the primary goal is to foster lively, respect- ily achieved in "[dialogue aimed not at ful, and substantive dialogue that doesn't disproving another person's perspective, necessarily resolve but instead reinforce nor destroying the validity of another's the tensions inherent in these issues. The perspective, but at a mutual exploration" ideal outcome of a multi-layered discus- (Shrewsbury 9). In an online literature sion that welcomes and holds account- course, encouraging all students to offer able multiple perspectives in a course their interpretations on works of literature, governed by feminist pedagogy would be effectively supported by textual evidence recognition of the values of such multivo- and analysis, exceeds what most F2F liter- cality and an appreciation for such com- ature discussions can achieve. In women's plexity. In some cases, discussion does studies classes, students are equally chal- foster this outcome, such as the students lenged to maintain a tone of mutual explo- who reflected on a discussion of reproduc- ration by prompts that address intersec- tive choice: "The main thing I've learned tions of identities, privilege, feminisms, from the abortion discussions is just how and gender role socialization. As a result complex and interrelated the issues of of this approach to understanding, stu- abortion and women's rights are. There dents begin to recognize that knowledge
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms in these courses isn't about seeking "the a community and their acknowledgement right answer" (Shrewsbury 9).12 of multiple perspectives as they build Students' understanding of their "'situ- meaning. In fact, we want students to be atedness' in particular social class for- aware that they are learning within and mations, ethnicities, racial and sexual because of this community of learners. identities," region, and age group, among Certainly, they are learning from the text- other factors, also helps them learn about books and from us, but most significantly, difference and the complexity of learning they are learning from each other, and (Maher and Tetreault, qtd. in Rose 126). it's not good enough for instructors alone Recognition of difference can extend as to recognize that. Feminist pedagogy far as cultivating a respect for- and aware- requires that students appreciate this ness of- the ways that institutional and source of their knowledge as well. political contexts shape individual experi- We achieve this goal online through ence. Discussions of female gender role students' weekly or unit reviews, a writing socialization, for example, caused one assignment in which students summarize, women's studies student to remark, "One synthesize, and analyze an entire discus- thing that I realized is that part of being sion. In preparation, students read the true to ourselves is being true to a larger discussion- every posting, every reply. group. This means not harming others They then summarize the discussion, while you are trying to find your own way. using details from their classmates to note This larger group also can contain all of consensus, patterns of meaning, points human-kind, so it is important to 'not of disagreement, multiple perspectives, fail' human-hood." This comment echoes and what they learned. At the very least, Shrewsbury's emphasis on mutual explo- these reviews make sure that students are ration and the "difference and the com- "hearing," reflecting upon, and synthe- plexity of learning" addressed by Maher sizing all their classmates' comments, a and Tetreault. Even as this student sets for comprehensive version of the discussion herself the ambitious goal of commitment chain. More than just "hearing" or quickly both to self and humanity, she recognizes reading them, though, paraphrasing in the intellectual negotiation inherent in the detail requires active "listening." These process of education. reviews are indispensable in encouraging One danger with online discussions, students to reflect upon the intellectual however, is that the instructor may be the work they are doing. It empowers students only person actually reading the students' as learners and thinkers as they gain a postings, which then means the discus- stronger sense of their own and their sions aren't really discussions, and stu- classmates' authority. Ultimately, they dents haven't constructed any knowledge recognize how their learning is being con- at all. Because online discussions in larger structed, challenged, and revised by their classes can become overwhelming with so classmates' contributions. many different voices, using small dis- cussion groups is one way to ensure that Habits of Mind the students "hear" each other. There is an extra step we take, though, to deepen The development of "habits of mind" both students' sense of the classroom as is perhaps the most abstract and most
FEMINIST TEACHER VOLUME 19 NUMBER 3 2OJ
This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms central teaching and learning goal of any gogy will take with them an awareness of college-level course. As Sheridan Blau has intersectionality or what Shaw and Lee call argued, key habits of mind that students the "confluence" (62) or flowing together develop throughout their college experi- of various identities, and how this conflu- ence include (among others) writing con- ence shapes our social experiences. This fidently and non-formulaically; assessing ability to think critically about "subject authority of information; analyzing, synthe- positions" is a college-level intellectual sizing, and evaluating arguments; reading practice that feminist pedagogy cultivates. complex texts; and demonstrating initia- Another habit of mind developed tive and ownership over one's education through feminist pedagogy is the rec- (367). Because the online environment can ognition that all of the above- the class be temptingly translated by well-meaning dynamics and environment, the definition instructors into just another version of the of knowledge and mode of learning, and sage on the cyber-stage complete with the awareness of gender and power- virtual lectures and multiple-choice exams, instill a sense of responsibility to others it is especially crucial that online pedagogy beyond oneself and promote engaged and be crafted to offer students the opportunity informed citizenship. During the course, to engage in complex, higher-order think- students are encouraged to connect gen- ing about the content, practices, and val- eralizations, theories, histories, and fic- ues of the discipline. tions to the here and now, to oneself, and Clearly, educators always hope stu- to others. Soon, they begin to make these dents internalize disciplinary content and connections on their own, and by the end modes of thinking, but feminist pedagogy of the course- if not within the course hopes for even more in the development through consciousness-raising or com- of students' habits of mind. After a course munity projects- they act on these con- informed by feminist pedagogy, students nections. Maralee Mayberry and Margaret have, ideally, developed thinking patterns N. Rees claim that "at its core, feminist that carry over into their other courses, pedagogy is a commitment not only to their work, and their lives. Specifically, the development of cooperative, multi- students become keenly aware of how cultural, and interdisciplinary knowledge gender affects everything. Like any habit, that makes learning inviting and mean- it's cultivated during the course by exam- ingful to a diverse population but also to ining how authors, texts, characters, facts, the development of a critical conscious- theories, and histories are informed by ness empowered to apply learning to gender, as well as by race, class, and cul- social action and social transformation" ture, as part of multiple intersecting power (57). This action and transformation must structures. Bricker-Jenkins and Hooyman happen in the ways we think, know, and assert that feminist educators "will not understand, as well as in the ways we act. only strive to eliminate systems of oppres- Put simply, feminist pedagogy is based sion and exploitation, but will also affirm on the values of inclusion and embrac- the need for diversity by actively reach- ing multiple perspectives; as a result, the ing out to achieve it" (38), a priority we ideal classroom is diverse, and men- of all echo here. Students who have learned in kinds- are as present, active, and impor- a classroom informed by feminist peda- tant as women.
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Part of how feminist educators help rently enlisted in the military, a powerful students understand and build knowledge source for out-of-classroom connections. is by having students recognize connec- To further connect students' personal tions and make new ones. These can be experiences to the course content, instruc- connections among the units of learning, tors can easily encourage students to among students, between instructor and make such connections themselves. These students, or between the student and the moments can occur in formal assignments material. In this way, a feminist pedagogi- or even in low-stakes discussions. One cal approach fits in with some of most possibility would beto begin an optional central principles of liberal education. Bill discussion that some will respond to but Cronon's '"Only Connect* . . . The Goals of all will read and consider for their unit a Liberal Education" argues that "being review; instructors can prompt students to an educated person means being able to write about the work of literature, scien- see connections that allow one to make tific discovery, historical moment, social sense of the world and act within ¡tin science theory, etc., that has been most creative ways meaningful to them.13 The students who about gaining the power don'tand have the anything wisdom, to report may, while the generosity and the freedom reading their to classmates' con- responses, nect" (78). This connective become thinking eager to find then such a connection becomes a habit of mind thatthrough transcends the current course. Instructors the classroom walls. An importantcan then offer their level own answer, but only of connectedness is relating at the endcourse of the unit,con- so students' experi- tent to students' own lives, ences andbringing values drive thethe conversation. abstract, historical, or fictional On a smaller out but moreof theconsistent scale, ivory tower and into their the ownweekly backyards,or unit reviews can include a thus making the content prompt more that meaningful asks students to connect the to them. As Sheila Ruth recentinsists, lessons to"Today's their own lives. young scholars must be encouraged The "distance" in "distance to education" anchor their work in the meansworld instructors outside need to thebe deliberate classroom" (xiii). Facilitating about building such in opportunitiesconnec- for students tions is easier in OL classes than most F2F to make these connections. Virtual "field ones, especially if students have made or trips" to other websites make visiting rel- linked home pages to the course website. evant sites far easier than F2F classes. The Browsing through these home pages can possibilities are many: virtual museums, provide a range of possibilities for provid- census and other government sites with ing examples, analogies, graphics, and a wealth of data, living wage calculators, links to relevant websites that somehow reliable (or even unreliable) news sources, connect course content to the specific stu- digital libraries, and countless other sites dents in the class. For example, in addi- that take course material beyond the class- tion to the frequency of nontraditional, room can be the focus of assignments female students in online classes, a recent that encourage students to apply and, pattern in our online classes emerges with even more, make relevant what they're the numbers of veterans or students cur- learning in the course. Given the feminist pedagogical imperative that gender affects
FEMINIST TEACHER VOLUME I9 NUMBER 3 2O9
This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms everything, sending students to a website cussion prior to this unit.) Students were devoted to gender would accomplish mul- asked to develop a definition of feminist tiple goals at once. Specifically connecting pedagogy, illustrate it with examples course content to current issues of national from the current course, consider how the or local concern can make content mean- course had diverged from feminist peda- ingful and immediate to students' lives. gogical principles, and explore how the Drawing connections between the content online environment affects feminist and/or of the course and current events- a war, an traditional pedagogies. It wasn't surprising election, a controversial debate, a national that many of the small groups immediately human interest story, all of which can cited Nancy's visit as a guest facilitator be deepened through web links to news because it offered a new perspective and sites- grounds the subject matter in the illustrated the principle of shared leader- world outside of the classroom and off the ship. In this way, the form of the discus- computer screen. sion drew attention to and reinforced Inviting guest "speakers"- a hallmark of feminist pedagogy; asking students to many feminist classrooms because these discuss and write about it required them guests show that the subject matter isn't to provide an articulate understanding of isolated to the course but instead is part of principles of feminist pedagogy and apply a larger community- is also easier online. that understanding to present and future Negotiating schedules and locations is learning situations. no longer an issue in the online environ- Service-learning and action research ment. Having a guest write a lecture (or projects also work in the world of online record it as a digital file) to post online is instruction just as well as in F2F environ- an option, as is emailing some questions ments. Many women's studies courses, and posting the responses online or invit- for instance, have a capstone conscious- ing the speaker to participate in a chat ness-raising project in which students session or a threaded discussion. Given choose one of the themes ortopics from the current availability and affordability the course with the ultimate goal of rais- of digital audio and video equipment, it's ing public consciousness, especially far easier to record and post interviews or important in cultivating students' sense conversations with colleagues, commu- of responsibility to others.14 In the online nity members, or others not in the course. version, the project can take a variety of Nancy and Holly used guest facilitation shapes: a website, wiki, blog, discussion of a small-group discussion of feminist board, survey, online petition, Facebook pedagogy itself at the end of Holly's Intro- or MySpace page, or some other form. In duction to Women's Studies course. This Holly's course, students have produced technique proved especially effective in a wide range of projects- one student making visible principles and practices of conducted original research investigating feminist pedagogy, not only through the the percentage of women in management content of the discussion but also through positions in the transnational corporation the introduction of a guest facilitator and for which he was a manager, posting the the change in the use of the technology. results of his study on a simple webpage; (The class hadn't used small-group dis- a group of students put together a more
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms elaborate website documenting the ways Conclusions that women's issues manifested the femi- nist mantra "the personal is political"; two Such strategies for connecting course students created an interactive "relation- content to students' lives, the here and ship check-up" discussion board; a group now, current events, and "the real world"15 of students created a blog on women war- aren't meant to be just an intellectual riors throughout history. activity or an end in itself. Perhaps femi- Having students apply their learning to nist pedagogy's highest goal is that these social action enacts the notion of praxis connections will instill in students a sense (a dialectic between theory and practice) of responsibility beyond themselves and and the values of consciousness-raising to the wider communities, and that this or action research, important parts of the sense of responsibility or connectedness learning students do under feminist peda- will lead to social action, activism, and gogy that are sometimes elusive in online engaged citizenship. The Association courses. Bricker-Jenkins and Hooyman of American Colleges and Universities' conclude in "Feminist Pedagogy in Educa- "Statement on Liberal Learning" reminds tion for Social Change," "As conscious- us that "Liberal learning is not confined ness-raising is at the core of feminist the- to particular fields of study. What matters ory and method, it is an essential part of in liberal education is substantial con- an evolving, often implicit, theory of social tent, rigorous methodology and an active change which underpins feminist practice" engagement with the societal, ethical, (39). In the study by Stake and Hoffmann, and practical implications of our learn- four outcomes emerged as central to goals ing" (AACU). Virtually any university-level of the course identified by the faculty course requires that we as teachers find participating in the research and through pedagogical ways to make those "soci- examination of feminist theory: "creation etal, ethical, and practical implications" of participatory classroom communi- as central to the course as the intellectual ties, validation of personal experience, work itself. We argue that the virtual envi- encouragement of social understanding ronment holds great potential for such and activism, and development of critical implications, especially when negotiated thinking skills/open-mindedness" (79). As by feminist pedagogy. such, a final consciousness-raising project Online teaching and learning are to connect students to and get them active becoming part of the fabric of the main- within the virtual community seems natu- stream public and private university sys- ral and necessary, but in the ephemeral, tem. As such, more and more feminist placeless sites of the Internet, this prin- teachers are feeling the pressure to teach ciple may seem paradoxical. In practice, online and hybrid courses or even to inte- however, the action research projects are grate course management software into extremely effective in guiding students to their F2F classes. The strategies we've discover for themselves the course's rel- described above illustrate just a few of evance to themselves and to others and the many ways we can work "to overcome the need for them to care about it and do the estrangement and alienation that" something about it. bell hooks identified as "so much the
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms norm of the contemporary university." We dichotomy of feminist vs. traditional pedagogy. share hooks's hope that feminist educa- Teaching that's not specifically feminist isn't necessarily patriarchal, antifeminist, androcen- tion can bring about such change, even tric, or masculist. Some of it is, certainly, but to the extent that any course can become not all of it. virtually feminist. Rather than insisting on 3. Often those online discussions aren't the incompatibility of feminist pedagogy really discussions at all but instead boards with the cyber-classroom, we believe it is where individual assignments are sent into the critical to explore the ways that technol- apparent void: the instructor's grade book. ogy can not only accommodate feminist 4. There is one important exception to this praise for online technology: the gains in the teaching strategies but may be in other inclusion of students who wouldn't otherwise ways more compatible with some of the participate or even enroll in classes do not student-centered, collaborative, democra- extend to and in fact can exclude blind or visu- tized, and action-oriented approaches that ally impaired students, who are "cut off from" are characteristic of feminist teaching. the increasingly visual nature of the web (Kiser 30), though increasingly there is software to NOTES help visually-impaired students participate in online courses. Adjustments include special 1. There is ample scholarship defining femi- formatting, "robust ¡mage captions, and mini- nist pedagogy. Carolyn Shrewsbury, Jayne E. mal use of tables and special formatting to Stake and Frances L. Hoffmann, Rosemarie accommodate screen readers" (Hensch). Tong, Jeannie Ludlow, bell hooks, Maralee 5. The American Association of Univer- Mayberry and Margaret N. Rees, and many sity Women's 2001 report The Third Shift: others have developed a scholarly foundation Women Learning Online has explored in-depth for a philosophy of teaching informed by femi- nist theories and values. Our discussion here the implications of this added responsibil- ity for women, playing on sociologist Arlie brings together and builds on their groundwork Hochschild's notion of the "second shift," and expands it into the online environment, a or the added responsibility of housework to neglected area in the research. Although there working women's lives. The availability of is some work on feminist pedagogy and the distance learning, especially the flexibility of hybrid use of online learning (Pramaggiore, online education, means increased opportu- Whitehouse) and more on feminist pedagogy nity and social mobility for those female popu- in distance education courses (Rose, Hopkins), lations who may lack other access to higher there is a gap when it comes to fully online education; at the same time, as the AAUW courses, even though this mode of education is report documents the scope of women and becoming more and more widespread. online learning, it recognizes the challenges 2. While the term "virtually feminist" points of adding new responsibilities to women's to the use of feminist pedagogy in an online already crowded agendas (Kramarae). environment, we also acknowledge that the 6. Elizabeth F. Barkley, K. Patricia Cross, term alludes to the difficulty of achieving a 100 and Claire Howell Major clarify the differences percent feminist environment online where between cooperative and collaborative learning: some issues of authority are particularly dif- although they both emerged in response to too ficult to negotiate. However, the same could much competition in the classroom, coopera- also be said for the face-to-face classroom, so tive learning is typically used in K-12 settings perhaps all feminist classrooms are in fact "vir- when students work together in harmony to find tually feminist" in this sense. We believe that the right answer or solution, which the teacher expecting a feminist classroom to include no knows ahead of time, whereas collaborative traditional or nonfeminist pedagogy emerges learning is found in universities when students from black-and-white thinking and a false and the teacher work together to find an answer,
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms explanation, or interpretation in a process that 11. We are not implying that placing discus- may involve dissent or disagreement (5-7). Addi- sion, student voice, and multiple perspec- tionally, they cite a report by D. W. Johnson, R. T. tives at the center of an online environment Johnson, and K. A. Smith further distinguishing always produces an enlightened tolerance "individualistic learning" in which "students for difference and difficulty. Discussions of focus only on improving their own achievement Suzanne Pharr's trenchant essay "Homopho- and ignore as irrelevant the efforts of others" bia: A Weapon of Sexism" often produce an (qtd. in Barkley, Cross, and Major 17). enlightened understanding of the ways that 7. Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe's Under- gay and lesbian-baiting serve to reinforce standing by Design is helpful in its careful gender norms; however, some students who unpacking of the deep learning we consider so bring a strong ideological- typically religious- essential to feminist pedagogy. Chapter Four, framework to the class struggle to gain footing "The Six Facets of Understanding," effectively in these discussions. For example, one stu- analyzes its elements or "facets." In the femi- dent couldn't even grapple with the concept of nist classroom, what Wiggins and McTighe call homophobia as it intersected with sexism, nor perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge are could he intellectually engage with the topic among the most important ways of knowing, or move past his understanding of gays and but certainly we can see strong cases being lesbians as sinners. His discussion contribu- made for the other facets as well. tions then made it difficult for students (and for 8. Apparently, that's not what students are the instructor) to find ways around his hateful looking for either. Aside from technology prob- rhetoric or to parlay it into a teaching and learn- lems, this model is one reason why online ing moment. Certainly, this was not an ideal courses have been plagued by high attrition discussion situation, but it was an extreme rates, typically higher in distance education that illustrates that online discussions aren't courses than they are in "live" classes (Moody; a simple panacea. In another case, a student Morgan and Tarn). Vicky Phillips, founder of a with a diagnosed and medicated mental illness consulting agency for distance educators, puts could not participate respectfully in discus- online attrition at 35 percent, compared with sion because of his tendency to personalize the average rate of 20 percent for students comments and become combative with other traditionally enrolled (qtd. in Annetta). With students, orto "flame" in online parlance; as a approximately 8 percent (and rising) of stu- result, only an extended private email discus- dents pursuing a college degree through online sion and threats of charges of nonacademic education, it seems especially important that misconduct for his disruptive behavior- and feminist teacher-scholars learn to teach effec- removal of his posting privileges to the course tively (and teach students to learn effectively) discussion board- solved the issue. in these rapidly multiplying cyber-classrooms 12. To illustrate, one student wrote at the (Carnevale, "Distance" A33). end of a literature assignment, "Not only do 9. Freire's metaphor of a bank, while per- my personal experiences change the way I view haps the best known, isn't alone in critiquing a different aspects of a story, but the experiences model of education that fails to integrate prin- of my classmates shape their perspectives as ciples of feminism. However, Freire's liberation well. When they define their point of view, it pedagogy must be distinguished from feminist offers me the opportunity to review the story pedagogy. Because both are concerned with again from their position, allowing me to learn uneven power structures in the classroom, his even more!" and another wrote, "A few inter- work is invoked in discussions of feminist ped- esting aspects of the story that I missed while agogy, but Freire's focus is on class dynamics, reading but noticed while reading everyone's not gender, so connecting his work to feminist excellent interpretations of the story really pedagogy is helpful, but limited (Tong 184). helped me in my understanding." Students tie 10. We are indebted to Joel Friederich for these differences in interpretation to their par- introducing us to this wonderful strategy. ticular experiences, validating the role of the
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This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms students' lives but carrying it to a somewhat What Is "College-Level" Writing? Ed. Pat- simplistic point, since the text is at least as sig- rick Sullivan and Howard Tinberg. Urbana, nificant as the students' personal experiences III.: National Council of Teachers of English, in interpretation. 2006. 13. Nancy has used this assignment for Bricker-Jenkins, Mary, and Nancy Hooyman. years, and some students write some wonder- "Feminist Pedagogy in Education for Social ful responses, following up with a discussion Change." Feminist Teacher 2.2 (1987): 36-42. about the possible roles of literature in our Burn, Shawn Meghan. Women Across Cul- busy lives. At the end of the semester, she then tures: A Global Perspective. 2d ed. New York: offers an annotated list of suggestions for fur- McGraw-Hill, 2005. ther reading that might connect to a variety of Carnevale, Dan. "Distance Education Attracts experiences. Older Women Who Have Families and Jobs, 14. For example, Women's Voices, Feminist Study Finds." The Chronicle of Higher Educa- Visions, by Susan Shaw and Janet Lee and tion 8 Nov. 2003: A33.
Women Across Cultures by Shawn Meghan Burn are two introductory readers that feature "Ideas Report Says." The Chronicle of Higher Educa- for Activism" and "Action Opportunities" for tion 8 July 2005: A29. students to pursue based on each chapter. Cronon, William. "'Only Connect' . . . The 15. We recognize that this term is problem- Goals of a Liberal Education." The American atic, especially in women's studies courses Scholar 76.4 (1998): 73-80. where the lines between the course content Fink, L. Dee. Creating Significant Learning Expe- and the community/nation/world are blurred riences: An Integrated Approach to Designing as that larger community becomes the center of College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, inquiry and action in the course. 2003. Freidman, Susan Stanford. "Authority in the REFERENCES Classroom: A Contradiction in Terms?" Gen- dered Subjects: The Dynamics of Feminist Allen, Elaine I., and Jeff Seaman. Growing By Teaching. Ed. Margo Culley and Catherine Degrees: Online Education in the United Portuges. Boston: Routledge, 1985. States, 2005. Needham, Mass.: The Sloan Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Consortium, 2005. 10 January 2006 214 FEMINIST PEDAGOGY IN THE ONLINE CLASSROOM This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Association of University Women Educational room." Teaching Introduction to Women's Foundation, 2001. Studies. Ed. Carolyn DiPalma and Barbara Light, Richard J. Making the Most of College: Scott Winkler. Westport, Conn.: Bergin and Students Speak Their Mind. Cambridge, Garvey Press, 1999. 163-73. Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001. Rose, Ellen Cronan. '"This Class Meets in Ludlow, Jeannie. "From Safe Space to Con- Cyberspace': Women's Studies via Distance tested Space in the Feminist Classroom." Education." The Feminist Teacher Anthology: Transformations 15.1 (2004): 40+. Gender- Pedagogies and Classroom Strategies. Ed. watch. ProQuest. University of Wisconsin- Gail E. Cohee et al. New York: Teachers Col- Marathon County Lib., Wausau, Wis. 5 June lege Press, 1998. 114-32. 2006 FEMINIST TEACHER VOLUME I9 NUMBER 3 215 This content downloaded from 128.193.18.55 on Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:44:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms