EDES 506
Searching Issues of Pedagogy in Practice:
Race, Gender and Culture
Wed. 5-8 p.m. Education South 382
Instructors
Ingrid Johnston,
Secondary Education Office: 445 Education
South
Julia Ellis, Elementary Education
Office 538 Education South
Phone: 492-5639 (O) 492-4273
ext. 238 (O)
e-mail: ingrid.johnston@ualberta.ca julia.ellis@ualberta.ca
Course Overview
This course will draw upon a wide range of conceptual frameworks to consider issues of race, gender and culture within a variety of locations. Based on the work of feminist, postcolonial and critical theorists, and the analyses of various contemporary curriculum theorists, we will explore research issues relevant to questions of race, gender and culture and consider how such research and theory can contribute to the practice of a pluralistic and inclusive pedagogy. In particular, we will consider dilemmas of feminist theory and pedagogy and intersections of gender with race, class and culture, questions of identity, subjectivity and representation, and practical strategies for developing a pluralistic pedagogy in a number of sites of practice.
Course Themes
Texts and Fees
There are no required texts for the course. We have selected a variety of articles and activities to develop the objectives of the course and have placed some supplementary materials on reserve in the Coutts library. There is a photocopying fee to cover the cost of duplicating handouts. You are also asked to rent and view the Disney film Pocahontas or Pocahontas II by January 19th.
Policy Information
Grading: This course follows the university guidelines for graduate course grading on a nine-point scale. The absolute system will be used in grading.
Inclusive Language: This course supports Faculty policy of using non-discriminatory language that works to create a classroom atmosphere in which students’ experiences and views are treated with equal respect and value in relation to their gender, racial background, sexual orientation and ethnic background.
ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION
Commonplace Book 45%
You will be required to keep a Commonplace Book throughout the class. If you read Ondaatje’s book, The English Patient, or saw the movie, you will remember that the patient used Herodotus’s The Histories as a book in which he wrote, pasted in and collected artifacts. For the purposes of this course, the Commonplace Book comprises a gathering place for the exploration and interpretation of identity issues and questions, thoughts and ideas generated during the course. The book can vary in format and can include comments, quotations, literary pieces, personal writing, journal and newspaper items, responses to course readings and reflections on personal histories and cultural practices. We will include class time for writing ideas and responses in your Commonplace Book and will be asking you to share occasional excerpts from your writing in class.
Your Commonplace Book should show evidence of thoughtful reflections on the themes and ideas developed throughout the course, blended with your personal insights and understandings on particular issues of interest related to race, gender, culture and pedagogy.
The Commonplace Book is to be handed in mid-way through the course (March 1st) for feedback from us, and again at the end of class for evaluation.
We are expecting that in the second half of the course, your work in the commonplace book will evolve into what constitutes a project or paper as you identify recurring or salient issues, themes or questions from the first half and deepen your work with these in the second half. Marks will be assigned on the basis of depth of insight into class themes and issues, variety of responses, quality of writing and appropriate format and presentation.
Introducing a Reading 25%
You will be asked to select one course reading to introduce during class. You are expected to offer a reflective reading of the text which highlights key ideas, makes connections with other ideas and writings and includes a personal response to the text. You are also asked to generate two or three questions for class discussions. You will have up to 40 minutes of class time for this activity: 10 minutes for your introduction and the remainder for class discussion. This activity will be modeled by Julia and Ingrid early in the course.
Group Presentation and Handout 30%
You will develop a one-hour class presentation with a number of your peers on a topic of interest related to course themes. Be creative in your presentation style and include an interactive component that engages all members of class. Each group should create a two-to-four page handout that offers evidence of research and reflection on the theme.
Evaluation of the presentation will be based on content, organization, appropriateness of examples and illustrations, evidence of thoughtful critique, engagement with audience, oral abilities and presentation style. (20%)
Evaluation of the handout will be based on organization, evidence of research and reflection on the topic and format style. (10%)
Core and Suggested Readings:
* indicates core readings
*Ang, Ien. (1994). On not speaking Chinese: Postmodern ethnicity and the politics of diaspora. New Formation, 24, Winter.
*Arnot, Madeleine. Male Hegemony, Social Class, and Women’s Education. In Lynda Stone (Ed.) The Education Feminism Reader. (pp. 84-104). NY: Routledge.
Britzman, Deborah. (1998). Queer pedagogy. Lost Subjects, Contested Objects. State University of New York Press.
*Britzman, Deborah, Kevin Santiago-Valles et al. (1993). Slips that Show and Tell: Fashioning Multiculture as a Problem of Representation. In Cameron McCarthy and Warren Crichlow (Eds.) Race, Identity and Representation in Education. (pp. 188-200). NY: Routledge.
*Brown, Julie. (1992). Theory or practice - what exactly is feminist pedagogy? The Journal of General Education, 41, 51-63.
Butler, Judith (1990). Gender trouble, feminist theory, and psychoanalytic discourse. In Linda Nicholson (Ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism (pp. 324-340). NY: Routledge.
*Delpit, Lisa. (1994). Education in a multicultural society. Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. NY: The New Press.
Dill, Bonnie and Thornton Iris. (1994). Race, class, and gender: Prospects for an all-inclusive sisterhood. In Lynda Stone (Ed.) The Education Feminism Reader. (pp.42-56). NY: Routledge.
Dubois, E.C. et al. (1985).Women’s oppression: Understanding the dimensions. Feminist Scholarship. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press,
Ellsworth, Elizabeth. (1989). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59, 3, 297-324.
*Evans, Mary. (1991). Culture and class. A Good School: Life at a Girls’ Grammar School in the 1960’s. London: Women’s Press.
Gaskell, Jane and John Willinsky, (Eds.). (1995). Gender In/forms Curriculum: From Enrichment to Transformation. NY: Teachers’ College Press.
*Giroux, Henry. (1996). Animating youth: The Disneyfication of children’s culture. Fugitive Cultures: Race, Violence and Youth. New York: Routledge.
Hartsock, Nancy (1990). Foucault on power: A theory for women? In Linda Nicholson (Ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism (pp. 157-175). NY: Routledge.
*Johnston, Ingrid. (1996). The Last "Post"? Postcolonialism and Literary Education. In
Re-mapping Literary Worlds: Postcolonial Pedagogy in Practice. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Edmonton: University of Alberta.
Kenway, Jane and Helen Modra. (1992). Feminist Pedagogy and Emancipatory Possibilities. In Carmen Luke and Jennifer Gore (Eds.) Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy. (pp. 139-166). NY: Routledge,
*Lown, Judy. (1992). Feminist perspectives. Issues in Women’s Studies. The Open University.
*Luke, Carmen. (1992). Feminist Politics in Radical Pedagogy. In Carmen Luke and Jennifer Gore (Eds.) Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy. (pp.25-53). NY: Routledge,
*Martin, Jane Roland. (1986). Redefining the Educated Person: Rethinking the Significance of Gender. Educational Researcher, June/July.
Maher, Frances. (1985). Classroom Pedagogy and the new scholarship on women. In Margo Culler and Catherine Portuges (Eds.) Gendered Subjects. (pp. 29-48). Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
*Middleton, Sue. (1993). Becoming a feminist teacher. In Educating Feminists: Life histories and pedagogy (pp.81-101). NY: Teachers College Press.
*Oakley, Ann (1997). A brief history of gender. In A. Oakley & Juliet Mitchell (Eds.) Who’s Afraid of Feminism?: Seeing through the Backlash. (pp. 29-55). NY: The New Press.
*Quinn, Barbara. (1998). Theoretical Counterpoints. In Counterpoint: A Discursive Analysis of Canadian Native Educational Discourse. (pp. 40-50). Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Edmonton: University of Alberta.
Salvio, Paula. (1998). On using the literacy portfolio to prepare teachers for ‘wilful world traveling.’ In William Pinar (Ed.) Curriculum: Towards New Identities,. NY: Garland.
*Scaltas, Patricia Ward. (1992). Do Feminist Ethics Counter Feminist Aims? In Eve Browning Cole and Susan Coultrap-McQuin, (Eds.) Explorations in Feminist Ethics: Theory and Practice. (pp. 15-26). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
*Schilb, John. (1985). Pedagogy of the oppressors? In Margo Culler and Catherine Portuges (Eds.) Gendered Subjects. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
*Singer, Sonya, E. (1999). Hide-and-Seek: Stories from the Lives of Six Lesbian Teachers. In Allan R. Neilsen, (Ed.) Daily Meaning: Counternarratives of Teachers’ Work (pp. 135-153). Point Roberts, WA: Bendall Books..
*Smith, David Geoffrey. (2000). A Few Modest Prophecies: The WTO, Globalization and the Future of Public Education. Forthcoming in Canadian Social Studies.
*Spring, Joel. (1998). Education and White Love: The Foundation and Language of the Global Economy. In Joel Spring, Education and the Rise of the Global Economy, (pp. 1-36). NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
*Vanovik, Evan. Boys will be Men. In Chatelaine, (pp.55-58). August, 1999,
*Walkerdine, Valerie. Progressive Pedagogy and Political Struggle. In Carmen Luke and Jennifer Gore (Eds.) Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy. (pp. 15-24). NY: Routledge.
Walkerdine, Valerie (1994). Femininity as performance. In Lynda Stone (Ed.) The Education Feminism Reader. (pp.57-69). NY: Routledge.
Yuval-Davis, Nira (1997). Women ethnicity and empowerment. In A. Oakley & Juliet Mitchell (Eds.) Who’s Afraid of Feminism?: Seeing through the Backlash (pp.777-98). NY: The New Press.
Young, Iris (1990). The ideal of community & the politics of difference. In Linda Nicholson (Ed.) Feminism/Postmodernism (pp. 300-323). NY: Routledge.