By: Laura Drugan

Feminists Critiques of Philosophy Epistemology Philosophy of Social Science Ethics Care and Education

Educating for a “productive” and “reproductive” life Mathematics and Science, Public Leadership Historically male dominant Care, Compassion, and Connection Historically female dominant Barriers that excluded females from an education leading to a “productive” lifestyle have long vanished, so let’s seize the opportunity Educators and care givers need to encourage females to embrace math and science learning Females can inspire females – below are some compelling videos highlighting females working in math and science fields Learning associated with Care, Compassion, and Connection does not end with female domestic responsibilities School curriculum can be organized around themes of caring (caring for self, caring for loved ones, caring for strangers, caring for animals and nature, caring for ideas)

Beliefs and debate surrounding credibility of knowledge “Standpoint” epistemology: belief that a certain privilege is acquired by those who experience oppression Women and gender, poor and poverty, blacks and race, etc. Some feminist (including black feminist) put stake in knowledge based on personal experiences Educators need to discuss the “credibility” of knowledge and information with their students Help students understand what sources are credible for certain types of information (for example, the wikipedia debate) Through knowledge and passion, help students see credibility in teachers

Feminists most important contribution to social science educational research Do not substitute “one right way” for another Qualitative research is not more right than quantitative Narrative is no more right than paradigmatic Rightness of a research method must be judged by both the purposes of the participants and its effects Was there a solid purpose and were the results useful and acceptable This statement should be the filter educators use for all lesson plans and classroom projects Students need to understand the objective and find ways to purposefully use this new knowledge or information

The ethic of care dismisses the old distinction between “is” and “ought” as a pseudo problem “I ought to care because…” Natural caring: respond spontaneously to another’s plight I know what it is liked to be cared for… Ethical caring: does have to be summoned “I ought but I don’t want to” I have to turn to memories of caring In a classroom setting, the teacher needs create an environment filled with natural and ethical caring Student may not have the right modeling at home

Moral education from the care perspective has four major components Modeling Dialogue PracticeConfirmation Educators have to show what it means to care in their own behavior Demonstrate caring in their relationships with students Caring must be genuine Educators have to talk about caring with their students Students need help in interpreting behavior of adults “engrossment” Educators can use dialogue to evaluate their attempts to care Conversation must be two way Students need practice in caring and reflect on that practice Community service and cooperative work is a good way to practice Student need to practice with adult models Affirming and encouraging the best in others