Historically, in the UK and other European countries, the figures of the learner and the scholar have been associated with being care-free (i.e. with having no primary responsibility for dependents). These days, universities have considerably diversified, both in terms of their workforce and of their student population. Students with caring responsibilities now represent a significant presence in academia. According to the Student Income and Expenditure Survey, 8% of full-time students and 36% of part-time students who are English-domiciled are parents (Johnson et al., 2009). The National Union for Students established that, altogether, a third of Further Education and Higher Education students in England and Wales care for a dependent (NUS, 2009). Continue reading “Care, the elephant in the (class)room?”
Physics Education: It’s Different for Girls?
Back in the late eighties I was one of two girls out of thirty pupils in my 5th form Physics class. While girls were happy to take up the Biology and Modern Language options, in my Physics class I languished- ignored by the boys that did not care to pair up for experiments with lens and pendulums with these odd girls that had bizarrely chosen this apparently most ‘male’ of subjects. Sadly, my experience in the Physics lab mirrored that of the sports playing field. Last to be picked, my teenage love of hockey and Physics soon waned. It seems little has unfortunately changed in the intervening decades. Continue reading “Physics Education: It’s Different for Girls?”
Bad Animals Sitting Sweetly: Some Thoughts on Naughtiness, Gender and What We Learn in School
Let it be known that my six-year-old daughter is a child rife with frolicsome mischief.
The experience of parenting said child fostered my interest in naughty youngsters, the connections between misbehavior and personhood and how all children—especially girls– are socialized in schools. Thus socialized through behavior management practices, many are taught to equate obedience with learning and conformity with personhood. Recently I came across two different pieces in the mainstream media that piqued my interest along these lines: The first was Bill Lichtenstein’s September 9th New York Times reflection on the all-too-common strategies for ‘managing students in US schools and the second was a BBC interview with Michael Kenny, the first male graduate of Norland College. Continue reading “Bad Animals Sitting Sweetly: Some Thoughts on Naughtiness, Gender and What We Learn in School”
In My Own Words: A Feminist Narrative
In the second of her autobiographical interviews with feminist academics, Carol Taylor talks to Valerie Hey. Currently Professor of Education at the University of Sussex, Valerie is well known for her theoretical and practical commitment to exploring the entanglements of class, gender and feminist politics, and for her subtle analyses of the constitution of subjectivity. Here, Valerie reflects on her career, muses on education in Con-Lib times, and speaks of the enduring importance of feminism.
In memoriam: Shulamith Firestone
On 28th August, Shulamith Firestone was found dead in her Manhattan apartment at the age of 67. Firestone’s 1970 book, The Dialectic of Sex, is a carefully argued and inspiring call for a feminist revolution that still feels ahead of its time 42 years later. I’d just finished rereading it when I heard the news of Firestone’s death via the Guardian’s obituary of her and as a tribute I have collected here some of the parts of that work that I found the most provocative and powerful in the hope that others will be moved to read or reread this classic of feminist theory. Firestone is perhaps best known for her call for women to take ownership of the means of reproduction, and so take advantage of advances in medical technologies to free themselves from their oppression. However, her work is far more wide-ranging than its represented as in the many textbook accounts. Here I look at what she had to say about schooling and about sexuality. The page numbers are taken from the 1979 Women’s Press edition.
Another August, another A level results day
On the 16th August I was taken back to my own A level results day and also to the day of A level results for the twenty-one young women I interviewed for my PhD research. These young women collected their A level results in August 2006 and as one might expect, it was a mixed bag of joy, surprise and disappointment. Of the twenty-one, fifteen took up places at university that year. Some had to retake, others decided to defer their university place, or to reject it altogether. Continue reading “Another August, another A level results day”
The Muddy-Booted Boys: The Lads’ Redneck American Cousins
It was the first day of school, and we were standing on the bleachers in the gymnasium, waiting for the seniors to make their ceremonial entrance. I stood there with the ninth graders, craning my neck, trying to get a glimpse of the new senior class as they lined up in the hallway. We show our respect by standing during the seniors’ entrance; they usually reward us by putting on a show while walking to their seats. Continue reading “The Muddy-Booted Boys: The Lads’ Redneck American Cousins”
Arab Women Teachers – sharing their hopes and standing together
On 17 July 2012, fifty women teacher trade unionists from 11 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen) met in Amaan, Jordan. They were meeting to decide whether they wanted to launch a regional women network under the auspices of Education International, a global trade union federation covering 30 million workers. They decided that they did. Continue reading “Arab Women Teachers – sharing their hopes and standing together”
October 11th: International Day of the Girl Child
The UN has declared that October the 11th 2012 will mark the very first International Day of the Girl Child. Continue reading “October 11th: International Day of the Girl Child”