EDUCATION 61: GENDER AND EDUCATION
Fall 1998 Lisa Smulyan
Friday 2:00-5:00 p.m. Office Hours:
Tuesday 9:00-11:00 a.m.
Pearson 216
+ not in binder; book or journal on reserve
++ both in binder and book/journal on reserve
no notation = in binder
Week I: (September 4) Introduction : Voices of Students and Teachers
"When a subject is highly controversial - and any question about sex is that - one cannot hope to tell the truth. One can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold."
Virginia Woolfe
A Room of One's Own, 1929, p. 4.
"What does a woman need to know? Does she not, as a self-conscious self-defining human being, need a knowledge of her own history, her much politicised biology, an awareness of the creative work of women of the past, the skills and crafts and techniques and powers exercised by women in different times and cultures, a knowledge of women's rebellions and organised movements against our oppression and how they have been routed or diminished. Without such knowledge women live and have lived without a context, vulnerable to the projections of male fantasy, male prescriptions for us, estranged from our own experience because our education has not reflected or echoed it. I would suggest that not biology, but ignorance of ourselves, has been the key to our powerlessness."
Adrienne Rich
"Taking Women's Studies Seriously"
On Lies, Secrets & Silences, p. 240.
Reading:
One of the following (all available in the bookstore):
+Freedman, Samuel. (1990) Small Victories. Harper Collins.
+Cary, Lorene. (1991) Black Ice. McKay.
+Keiser, Garrett (1988, 1996) No Place But Here. University Press of New England.
+Qoyawayma, Polinagaysi (1964) No Turning Back. University of New Mexico Press.
+Hayre, Ruth (1997) Tell Them We are Rising. John Wiley and Sons.
Week II: (September 11) The Social Construction of Gender in Schools: Part I
ÒTwo seniors, Kyle and Michelle, arrive at their high school English class fifteen minutes late. The teacher stares at them as they enter the room. ÔKyle, do you need a special invitation? Is it too much to ask that you get here on time? Never mind. Sit down and see me after class. (Pause; voice softens) And Michelle, IÕm disappointed in you.ÕÓ
From Sadker and Sadker, Failing At Fairness
ÒOn one wall hangs a large picture of all the presidents. Another poster, about the signing of the Constitution, features a roomful of white men in colonial garb. There is a battle scene in front of the room, again all male. We recommend that the students count the figures; they find more than three hundred males but only eleven women. Pocahontas, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth are on display as ÔMulticultural Heroes.Õ The remaining eight are on a current events bulletin board where a newspaper clipping shows women becoming more involved in politics. The students are surprised. They had not been aware of the disparity.Ó
From Sadker and Sadker, Failing At Fairness
Readings:
++Davies, Bronwyn (1989) "Becoming male or female," in Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales. Australia: Allen and Unwin.
+Weiler, K. (1988) Women Teaching for Change. Bergin and Garvey Publishers. Chapters 1 and 2.
Deyhle, D. and Margonis, F. (1995) "Navajo mothers and daughters: Schools, jobs and the family." Anthropology and Education Quarterly 26(2), 135-167.
++Connell, R. W. (1996) ÒTeaching the boys: New research on masculinity and gender strategies for schools.Ó Teachers College Record, 98(2) pp. 206-235.
++Thorne, B. (1992) ÒGirls and boys togetherÉbut mostly apart: Gender arrangements in elementary schools, Ò in J. Wrigley (ed) Education and Gender Equality. London: Falmer Press. Pp. 115-130.
Week III: (September 18) The Social Construction of Gender in Schools:
Part II
ÒIn 1992 our school district scheduled ÔBoysÕ Night OutÕ with a program featuring speeches by a player from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix Basketball Team. I called the school to ask if this was really only for boys, and the responses was ÔNo girls will be turned away if they are really interested in basketball.Õ I was also informed that girls had their own night out Ð featuring makeup, hair and fashions.Ó
From Sadker and Sadker, Failing At Fairness
Readings
+Bowker, A. (1993) Sisters in the Blood. WEEA Publishing Center. Chapters 6-16.
+Eder, D. (1995) School Talk. NJ: Rutgers University Press. Chapters 2-9
+Sewell, T. (1997) Black Masculinities and Schooling. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books Ltd. Chapters 2-6.
Read through your classmatesÕ autobiographies, available by noon in EMC on ED61 shelf.
Autobiography due Thursday, September 17 by 10 a.m.
Week IV: (September 25) Historical perspectives on the education of women
"I do not know the reason, but just as a saddle is not suitable for an ox, so learning is unsuitable for a woman."
Erasmus
"All of the pursuits of men are the pursuits of women also, but in all of them a woman is inferior to a man."
Socrates, Republic
"Women need to know nothing more of the cosmos than is necessary to make the appearance of the heavens on a beautiful evening a stimulating sight to them. ... Even if a woman excels in arduous learning and painstaking thinking, they will exterminate the merits of her sex."
Immanuel Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and the Sublime
"Man has quite enough in this life to find out his own individual calling, without being forced to decide where every woman belongs . . ."
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
"That it should be necessary, at this late stage in the senility of the human race to argue that women have a fine and fluent intelligence is surely eloquent proof of the defective observation, incurable prejudice and general imbecility of their lords and masters."
H. L. Mencken
In Defense of Women
Historical perspectives:
+Solomon, Barbara. (1985). In the Company of Educated Women. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chpts. 1-5, pp. 1-77.
+Martin, Theodora, P. (1987) The Sound of Our Own Voices. Boston: Beacon Press. Chapters 2-4, pp. 14-84. Chapter 5 is optional and interesting!
Read one or two of the following historical perspectives and be prepared to present them in class:
++Martin, Jane Roland. (1981). "Sophie and Emile: A case study of sex bias in the history of educational thought." Harvard Educational Review, 51(3), pp. 357-372.
Clarke, Edward H. "Co-education." In Medicine and Society in America. .
+Woolf, Virginia. (1963). Three Guineas. Chapter 1, Harcourt Brace.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Chpt. XII: "On National Education."
Read one or two of the five choices below:
++Thomas, M. Carey. (1965) "Education for women and for men," and "The Bryn Mawr Woman," In B. Cross, ed. The Educated Woman in America, (pp. 139-154). NY: Teachers College Press.
++Willard, Emma. (1981). "Sketch of a female seminary," In Kersey, Classics in the Education of Girls and Women, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
++Lyon, Mary. (1981). "Principles and design of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary," In Kersey, Classics in the Education of Girls and Women, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
++Beecher, Catherine. (1965). "The education of female teachers." In Cross, The Educated Woman in America, (pp.67-75). NY: Teachers College Press.
Ihle, E. (1990) ÒBlack women's education in the south: The dual burden of sex and race.Ó In Antler and Biklen (eds) Changing Education. SUNY Press. pp. 69-80
Movie in class: Women of Summer.
Week V: (October 2) Gender and Achievement
"I think the class should work together; no one should go ahead. People boast, 'I'm on this page' but I think it would be nicer if they could work together 'cause then everyone could keep up."
Student (in G. Weiner, Just a Bunch of Girls, p. 62)
ÒI have a teacher I respect so much because he is smart. When he asks a question, he challenges my mind. I thought he would respect my intelligence, too, but he calls me the class ÔmodelÕ and says things like, ÔWhat music are listening to? Is there a short circuit up there?Õ ItÕs like heÕs trying to make me think IÕm an airhead.Ó
From Sadker and Sadker, Failing At Fairness
Reading
The classics:
++Sassen, Georgia. (February 1980). "Success Anxiety in Women: A Constructivist Interpretation of its Source and Significance." Harvard Educational Review, 50(1). pp. 13-24.
Dweck, Carol S. (1978). William Davidson, Sharon Nelson, and Bradley Enna. "Sex Differences in Learned Helplessness." Developmental Psychology. 14(3). pp. 268-276.
Current perspectives (read 3):
++Scott-Jones, Diane and Clark, Maxine L. (March 1986). "The School Experiences of Black Girls: The Interaction of Gender, Race and Socioeconomic Status," Phi Delta Kappan, 67 (7). pp. 520-526.
Harris, Susan, Nixon, John, and Ruddick, Jean (1993) "School work, homework, and gender," Gender and Education 5(1). pp. 3-15.
++Fennema, E. and Leder, G. (eds) (1990) Mathematics and Gender. NY: Teachers College Press. Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-26.
+Murphy, P. and Gipps, C. (1996) Equity in the Classroom: Towards Effective Pedagogy for Girls and Boys. London: Falmer Press. Chapters 5, 9, and 10.
Fordham, S. (1997) ÒThose loud black girls: (Black) women, silence and gender Ôpassing in the academy,Ó in M. Seller and L. Weis, (eds) Beyond Black and White: New Faces and Voices in U.S. Schools. Albany: SUNY Press. Pp. 81-114.
Gaskell, J. (1985) ÒCourse enrollment in the high school: The perspective of working class females.Ó Sociology of Education, 58. pp. 48-59.
Project proposal due October 2nd in class.
Week VI: (October 9) Classroom Interaction
"On the whole you can generally say that the boys are far more capable of learning, nicer to teach."
"Although girls tend to be good at most things, in the end you'll find it's a boy who's going to be your most brilliant pupil."
Teacher in study by K. Clarricoates, 1978: "Dinosaurs in the Classroom"
Readings
Treichler and Kramarae. (Spring 1983). "Women's Talk in the Ivory Tower," Communication Quarterly, 31(2). pp. 118-131.
+Sadker, M. and Sadker, D. (1994) Failing at Fairness. NY: McMillan. Chapter 3.
++Grant, Linda (1992) "Race and the schooling of young girls,Ó in J. Wrigley (ed.) Education and Gender Equality. London: Falmer. Pp. 91-114.
+Streitmatter, Janice (1994) Toward Gender Equity in the Classroom. Albany: SUNY Press. Chapter 5, pp. 125-157.
Week VII: (October 23) Curriculum Materials and Methods
"Pioneers, women, and children crossed the frontier."
U.S. History Text
Readings
Sleeter, Christine and Grant, Carl (1991) "Race, class, gender and disability in current textbooks," in Apple and Christian Smith (eds) The Politics of the Textbook. London: Routledge, Chapman and Hall. pp. 78-110
+Streitmatter, Janice (1994) Toward Gender Equity in the Classroom. Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 63-123.
+Gaskell, J. and Willensky, J. (1995) Gender In/forms Curriculum. NY: Teachers College Press. Chapter 8 for everyone. Choose from chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11 12.
++Athaneses, S. (1996) " A gay-themed lesson in an ethnic literature curriculum: Tenth graders responses to 'Dear Anita.'" Harvard Educational Review 66(2) pp. 23-256.
++Rosser, S. (1997) Re-Engineering Female Friendly Science. NY: Teachers College Press. Introduction, pp. 1-18.
Comparative book review due October 23rrd.
Week VIII: (October 30) Gender and Teaching: Teachers' Lives and Careers
"It is true that sentimental reasons are often given for the almost exclusive employment of women in the common schools; but the effective reason is economy... If women had not been considerable cheaper than men they would not have replaced nine-tenths of the men in American public schools."
Charles Elliot, President of Harvard
University, 1869
ÒThe problem [of having students keep journals] is compounded when I find myself inadvertently descending from editor to advice columnist. A girl writes in her journal: ÔWhat do you do with a boyfriend whoÕs only interested in your top?Õ Between the puritan in me that would say, ÔPlease donÕt ask me that,Õ and the cynic that would say, ÕThe top may lead to less trouble than the bottom,Õ the paternal English teacher writes: IÕd be sure to remember that I was more than a ÔtopÕ and IÕd insist that others remember the same thingÕ É another case, perhaps a prototypical case, of the troubled female opening her heart to the man of heart, and diploma and tie, a situation with which our culture is already sick unto death.Ó
G. Keiser, No Place But Here
Readings
Historical:
++Foster, Michelle (1993) "Resisting racism: Personal testimonies of African American teachers. In L. Weiss and M. Fine (eds.) Beyond Silenced Voices. Albany: SUNY Press. pp. 273-288.
Weiler, K. (1989. "Women's history and the history of women teachers." Journal of Education. 171 (3). pp. 9-30.
Current
++Biklen, S. (1995) School Work. NY: Teachers College Press. Chapter 2.
+King, J. (1998) Uncommon Caring: Learning From Men Who Teach Young Children. NY: Teachers College Press. Chapters 1, 3, 4-8, 11-13.
+Weiler, K. (1988) Women Teaching for Change. Bergin and Garvey Publishers. Chapters 4 (optional), 5, and 6.
++Rensenbrink, C. (1996) "What difference does it make? The story of a lesbian teacher. Harvard Educational Review, 66(2). pp. 257-270.
Optional
+Hoffman, Nancy. (1981). Woman's "True" Profession. Feminist Press. Read the Introduction of each part and one of the selections listed in each part.
Part One: Introduction, pp. 2-17
Lucia Downing, pp. 27-36
Mary Swift, pp. 64-74
Part Two: Introduction, pp. 90-107
Maria S. Waterbury, pp. 113-125
Charlotte Forten, pp. 140-158
Laura Towne, pp. 170-183 (optional)
Part Three: Introduction, pp. 200-217
Nancy Hoffman, pp. 232-241
Marian Dogherty, 256-266
Amelia Allison, 267-273
Margaret Haley, 289-295
Week IX: (November 6) Gender and Administration
"So I'm learning how to be an administrator. I didn't want to be an administrator either, you know. I sort of got pushed, and it seemed the wrong thing not to do. You know what I mean? It seemed cowardly - and I didn't think they'd pick me. I was as surprised as anybody, and then I kind of thought, 'Well heavens, if they think I can, then I guess I can.'
It's a big three-ring circus that you have to master. And you have to have a balance of... three ingredients: the teacher's bliss, you know, as she engages learning, and the kids' interest, and...the child's development."
Elementary principal 1992
Readings:
+Shakeshaft, Charol (1989) Women in Educational Administration. CA: Sage Publications. Chapters 1-3, 6 and 7.
+Wolcott, H. (1973) The Man in the Principal's Office. Chapters 2, 5, and 6.
+Grogan, M. (1996) Voices of Women Aspiring to the Superintendency. Albany: SUNY Press. Chapters 1, 3-7.
Week X: (November 13) Gender in Academe: The College Experience
"The test-type superiority of women doctoral recipients can be explained in part by the relatively greater selectivity operating among them. All along the line, the selective factors at work to produce academic women are more stringent than those at work to produce academic men."
Jessie Bernard, 1964
Readings
Read the first two and choose two of the other readings:
+Holland, D. and Eisenhart, M. (1990) Educated in Romance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1, 3 & 4 (theoretical background); 5. Choose a couple of chapters from part 4 and a couple from part 5 to read. Read conclusion, chapt. 15.
"The Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for Women?" (1982). Project on the status and Education of Women, Association of American Colleges.
++hooks, bell. (1989) "black and female: reflections on graduate school," in Talking Back. Boston: South End Press. pp. 55-61.
Moses, Yolanda T. (1989) "Black women in academe: Issues and strategies." Association of American Colleges.
Smith, Patricia Clark (1993) "Grandma went to Smith, all right, but she went from 9 to 5: A memoir." In M. Tokarcyzyk and E. Fay (eds.) Working Class Women in the Academy. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. pp. 126-139.
++Lee, Stacey (1997) ÒThe road to college: Hmong American womenÕs pursuit of higher education.Ó Harvard Educational Review, 67(4), pp. 803-826.
Nieves-Squires, S. ( ) ÒHispanic
Women: Making their presence on campus less tenuousÓ Association of American
Colleges.
Week XI: (November 20) Gender in Academe: Faculty and Administration
ÒAcademic women commonly express the theme of impostor when talking about professional anxieties."
ÒIn educating we transmit a tradition in which women are silent, in which we are, at best, footnotes to the relevant facts. As teachers we represent a culture which has demanded, as the price of the privilege to represent, our conspiracy with a heritage that privileges only a few. ... Either we are locked out or we are plagiarists. The stories we tell are not our own."
Jo Ann Pagano, Exiles and Communities: Teaching in the Patriarchal Wilderness, 1990.
Readings:
+Aisenberg, Nadya and Harrington, Mona. (1988). Women of Academe, Amherst: U. of Massachusetts Press. Chpts. 4, 5 and 6, pp.64-135.
+Sarton, May (1961) The Small Room. NY: W.W. Norton.
Annas, Pam (1993) "Pass the cake: The politics of gender, class and text in the academic workplace," in M. Tokarcyzyk and E. Fay (eds.) Working Class Women in the Academy. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press pp. 165-178.
Searl, G. (1997) "Sailing against the wind: African American women, higher education, and power," in Lomotey, K. (ed) Sailing Against the Wind. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Optional:
hooks, bell. (1989) "being black at Yale," in Talking Back. Boston: South End Press.
Week XII: (December 4) Strategies for Change: Single Sex Schooling
"If there is any misleading concept, it is that of 'coeducation': that because women and men are sitting in the same classrooms, hearing the same lectures, reading the same books, performing the same laboratory experiments, they are receiving an equal education."
Adrienne Rich, 1978
Readings
+Separated by Sex: A Critical Look at Single Sex Education for Girls. (1998) American Association of University Women.
+Hopkins, R. (1997) Educating Black Males. Albany: SUNY Press. Preface, Chapters 1-4.
+Proweller, A. (1998) Constructing Female Identities. Albany: SUNY Press. Chapters 2 and 5.
++Rosser, S, (1997) Re-Engineering Female Friendly Science. NY: Teachers College Press. Chapter 3.
+Murphy, P. and Gipps, C. (1996) Equity in the Classroom. London: Falmer Press. Chapter.13.
Week XIII: (December 9) Strategy for Change: Interventions in schools and classrooms
"It is, in my view, impossible to move directly from the male-centered curriculum to what I have described as transformation of that curriculum into a changed and co-educational one - without passing through some form of women's studies."
Florence Howe, 1982
Reading
+Kenway, J. and Willis, S. (1998) Answering Back. London: Routledge. Chapters to be decided.
+Murphy, P. and Gipps, C. (1996) Equity in the Classroom. London: Falmer Press. Chapters 15 and 16.
++hooks, bell (1989) ÒToward a revolutionary feminist pedagogyÓ in Talking Back. Boston: South End Press.
Optional reading:
++Clewell, B., Anderson, B., and Thorpe, M. (1992) Breaking the Barriers. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Chapters 3 and 4
++Weiler, K. (1991) "Freire and a feminist pedagogy of difference" Harvard Educational Review, 61(4) pp. 449-474.
Taylor, Sandra (1993) "Transforming the texts: Towards a feminist classroom practice" in L. Christian-Smith (ed.) Texts of Desire. Lewes: Falmer Press. Chapter 8, pp. 126-144.
Final project write up due Wednesday December 14.
Assignments
1. Reading and participation: (10%) As you will note on the syllabus, there are several weeks when you will each be asked to read one or two case studies or readings and describe them to the class. This allows us to cover more ground and hear more views. Your report should be both descriptive (what is the case/reading about?) and analytical (what does this case/reading tell us about the topic being considered that week?).
2. Autobiography: (5%) One goal of this course is to integrate experience, theory, and research. To facilitate this process, your first written assignment is to write an educational autobiography. You may choose to write chronologically or thematically; either way, be sure to have some organizing ideas that allow you to develop a thesis and introduction and lead toward a conclusion. The paper should be more than just a story, although you do not have to use outside readings and discussion to analyze your experiences at this point. The paper should be approximately five pages long. It is due in the Education office Thursday morning, September 17th. All of the papers will be put in a binder in the EMC by Thursday noon. Please plan to read through them quickly before class on Friday.
3. Comparative book review (25%) Each of you will read two additional books on a topic of your choice (I will provide a list of possibilities) and write an essay in which you review the books. Your essay should include a brief summary of the key argument of each book, an analysis of how each argument fits into the frameworks examined in class (as appropriate), and a comparison of how these books approach the given topic. I am interested in hearing your voice here: how do these books inform your view of this topic? What questions did you have going in? What questions do you still have? What else would be important for these authors to consider? Due October 23rd.
4. School-based project: (30%) Each of you will work with one or two teachers at the Swarthmore Rutledge School (grades 1-5) who have indicated an interest in doing a project on gender in their classroom(s). (You may work individually or in pairs.) Teachers' interests include curriculum development, classroom interaction, student groups. You will meet with the teacher, design a project with the teacher, and present me with a proposal. I will meet with each of you and, whenever possible and/or necessary, the teacher to clarify the proposal. Proposals will be due the week of Oct. 2nd. The form and outcome of each project will differ. At some point in December, each of you will do a poster presentation of your project for the class (more on this later) and by Wednesday, December 14th you will hand in a report on your project that includes a description, all relevant materials, and an analysis/reflection piece on the project and its impact on the teacher and classroom.
(As a part of each project I would like everyone to observe at least two or three times in your teacher's classroom. You can use those observations as an opportunity to focus on some element of classroom interaction, curriculum and materials, or achievement related to ideas discussed in Weeks V, VI, and VII.)
5. Final (25%) The final will be a take home written exercise which will help you pull some aspects of the course together. Part of the final will involve reassessing your own educational autobiography.