The Feminist Classroom [Hardcover]

Frances A. Maher (Author), Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994

Drawing on interviews and on-site observations, the authors take the reader into the classrooms of seventeen feminist college professors at six colleges and universities. In showing how integrating feminist and multicultural content revitalizes the classroom, this book portrays innovative teaching in action.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Noting that the demographics of American universities have shifted to include a culturally diverse student body, Maher, associate professor of education at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and Tetreault, dean of the School of Human Development and Community Service at California State, here call for a more democratic and self-scrutinizing method of teaching, based on the pedagogical innovations they observed in classrooms across the country committed to a feminist curriculum. Through interviews with professors and students at schools ranging from state universities to private colleges, the authors show how new teaching methods, such as the introduction of more course material on women and more personalized class discussions, can foster a more productive and inclusive learning environment. Most important, they assert, is an awareness that the classroom is not ideologically neutral but "a place embedded in a web of social relations." The authors demonstrate that feminist pedagogy, in its sensitivity to the subordinate social position of women, can be used as a springboard for teachers' heightened awareness of the positions of other marginalized groups. At once provocative and evenhanded, this welcome study throws new light on the ways in which cultural politics influence learning both inside and outside the academy.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Maher and Tetreault were high school teachers during the 1960s and 1970s. In this book, they focus on feminist teachers and the undergraduate experiences of those who traditionally have not had a voice in education. The authors clearly present their beliefs in the introductory chapters, demonstrating how feminist and multicultural programs can invigorate the classroom. They then organize their material into four themes: mastery, voice, authority, and positionality. Finally, the authors synthesize their detailed research and speculate on the evolving nature of American education. Throughout, they make extensive use of six institutions of higher education for their observations. Anyone interested in feminist pedagogy and theory will find this book enlightening. For academic and large public libraries.
Nancy E. Zuwiyya, Binghamton City Sch. Dist., N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465033024
• ISBN-13: 978-0465033027
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,830,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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