Rather than focusing on feminism as one dimension of curriculum, I will consider the interlocking dimensions of sex, gender, and sexual orientation at once. I should, however, point out that sex, gender, & sexual orientation exist in a larger matrix of domination, which includes additional layers of oppression, such as race & class (as I mention in another blog entry, Margaret L. Anderson provides an excellent overview of the matrix of domination in her 2005 article, Thinking About Women: A Quarter Century’s Views).
Historically, as well as presently, the way in which people are identified & positioned in terms of sex, gender, and sexual orientation influences their social and cultural capital. In the past, as today, this raises issues of inclusion/exclusion and privilege/disadvantage.
When considering sex, gender, & sexual orientation, a variety of questions arise, including: (1) What sort of social roles are associated with sex, gender, & sexual orientation? (2) How does society re/de/construct these roles? (3) How have these roles changed over the years? (4) What sort of social forces have contributed to these changes? (5) How do these roles enrich/constrict the freedom of individuals?
Curriculum reflects the values of society and in this way, curriculum contributes to the process of social construction. As we consider the relationship between sex, gender, & sexual orientation & curriculum, we might ask the following questions: (1) How does sex, gender, and sexual orientation take form in curriculum? (2) What sort of curriculum issues tied to sex, gender, & sexual orientation do we face today? (3) How does curriculum reproduce inequities in relation to sex, gender, & sexual orientation? (4) What sort of questions does Thornton raise when he talks about “the hidden curriculum everybody sees”? (5) What sort of things raise concerns for McIntosh & what makes her feel hopeful about the future?
· SILENCE ON GAYS & LESBIANS IN SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM (2003) – STEPHEN J. THORNTON – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #30)
· GENDER PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATING GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP (2005) – PEGGY MCINTOSH – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #32)
Critical pedagogy leads people to use/shape curriculum in a way that will transgress & strive to enrich equity. In this way, curriculum can be used to push beyond social inequities that link to sex, gender, sexual orientation, & other forms of domination. (1) How does society construct identity & curriculum … & how does curriculum then mirror & reproduce society? (2) How can we see this in mathematics education? (3) What would Kaiser & Rogers have to say to Mortimer Adler about standardization? (4) What do Kaiser & Rogers have to say about binary opposites & how do you feel about this (McIntosh touches on this same theme)?
· INTRODUCTION: EQUITY IN MATHEMATICS (from EQUITY IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: INFLUENCES OF FEMINISM & CULTURE)(1995) – GABRIELE KAISER & PAT ROGERS
Additional books/articles of the subject of sex, gender, & sexual orientation include:
· Sexism in School & Society (1973) – MYRA & DAVID SADKER
· Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics & Moral Education (1984) – NEL NODDINGS
· Bitter Milk (1988) – MADELEINE GRUMET
· Interrupting Patriarchy: Politics, Resistance, & Transformation in the Feminist Classroom (1990) – MAGDA LEWIS
· Interrupting Heteronormativity: Toward a Queer Curriculum Theory (1999) – DENNIS SUMARA & BRENT DAVIS
· Thinking About Women: A Quarter Century’s Views (2005) – MARGARET L. ANDERSON
· Sexual Fundamentalism & Performances of Masculinity: An Ethnographic Scene Study (2006) – KATHLEEN GALLAGHER
