Gender consciousness in the classroom generates social justice and democracy outside it

Marta Cuesta

PhD sociology and

Ann-Katrin Witt

PhD Sociology

Halmstad University, Sweden

ISA Congress, Buenos Aires 2012

RC04

Sociology of education

 

In order to reflect about methods that can generate social justice and democratization, this article emphasises on practical implementations, connected to gender pedagogy. Gender pedagogy aims to overcome the myth of objectivity, and by questioning through teaching what is considered as common sense and ‘normal’.  Doing gender in the classroom entails thus, to act and reflect on breakthroughs, for example about an understanding of how gender codes influence everyday instances as well as working life. The collected data is based on narratives from alumni students who were asked to memorise and reflect on their gender studies and particularly about how useful this type of knowledge is in connection to their everyday and working life - as politician, lecturer, IT-manager, doctoral student etc. The aim of this article is to focus on how teachers support students to be gender confident and as a consequence of that, becoming gender actors outside the university, in working life. Some central questions are: how are gender issues represented and integrated in the different areas of studies; what can teachers do in order to generate equality in the classroom; in what way and how are students given possibilities to understand, internalize and discuss gender issues. Our experiences as lectors, especially in gender studies, play a central role.