But seriously, being a feminist means a lot to me. Although, I can't just stop there because I am also a teacher. So I must combine these two notions of being a feminist and a teacher and what better way to facilitate these two then by engaging in Communication Activism Pedagogy.
Enck (2014) notes that "from a feminist perspective, the classroom is one of the few spaces where taken-for-granted notions of privilege and power can be productively challenged, and where hopes of social justice and can be voiced." I can only hope to create a classroom environment that serves the purpose of knowledge and social justice for my students.
I want my students in the present and future to be passionate about a social issue and learn how to be an activist and make a difference in the world. As a teacher, I want to challenge my students to think differently than what they have been accustomed to. By no means do I want to force feminism on my students, but I do want to encourage them to be open-minded about a feminist standpoint and how that standpoint can benefit all students, not just women.
Feminists are not solely concerned with the social construction of knowledge, but rather the creation of knowledge. I think it is important for students and teachers to want to create knowledge. After all, that is why we are in this cycle of learning and teaching, right? I argue that instructors and students should seek to find the injustices in their community so they can advocate against them. As instructors, we should all want our students to seek knowledge and truth. I'm not arguing that feminism is the only way to obtain knowledge or truth but it would be a good starting point. If students just so happen to appreciate the feminist perspective and adopt it as their own while being activists for their communities then I encourage that as well. #pedamorgy #stayinyourlain
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your refelxivity about your own personal standpoint. As instructors we can easily forget that our students may not understand our views or feel as passionate as we are, especially about feminism. There are so many stereotypes and problematic portrayals of feminists out there that some students may not fully understand true feminism. I absolutely agree we need to approach topics like this from a spirit of education rather than a spirit of I'm right and you are wrong.