Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research discussion

How does this book shape your thinking about what we should teach?

I want to read this book.

Oh, that's your question.
We should be conscious that we live in a sexist and heterosexist society that permeates the DNA of what we do. As educators we should be striving to be aware about not only what we are teaching but the words and cultural references that we use to convey ideas.

Being a feminist as an educator means teaching children of all genders that people do not have to act according to their gender binary. It's important to support this using books that challenge stereotypical gender roles.

Here is Chimamanda speaking about the book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3um...

That was fantastic. Thanks for sending it through.

I love this choice. I would also add some classics to the feminist conversation, such as:
The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood
Speak by Anderson
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Rebecca Walker (I think daughter of Alice) also has published some great books from a feminist perspective! I loved "to be real."
Finally, I think an international feminist perspective is great, such as this---another one of my favorites was "Do They Hear You When You Cry?" which documents a journey of a woman seeking asylum in the US from FGM.
Even though I am passionate about all the topics listed, I'm joining the Creativity group because it is most with my current research.

I will use this book as I think it will broaden my perspective the most. I'm very familiar with being reliant on what mother nature has to offer as I learned a variety of trades from an avid outdoorsman growing up. Additionally, I have had very minimal interaction with women in my professional career over the past 14 years. I look forward to answer the question based off the content of the book.

Rhonda wrote: "How does this book shape your thinking about what we should teach?"

First, thank you for including a text by a Black female author. In addition to the clarion call for everyone to join the feminist pack, I think this text also empowers educators to (re)examine their bias (especially against women) and beliefs regarding social issues (i.e., race, gender, wealth). When designing a curriculum, unit, lesson, or even a class presentation, we should consider whose voices and perspectives we present; whose voices and perspectives we ignore/leave out; and whose voices and perspectives we (intentionally or not) distort? The answers to these questions have a lasting impact on our students, who by the way, exhibit superior social intelligence. Students--especially students on the margins of society--can detect bias well before we're willing to admit for ourselves that it exists. I am excited to unpack this priceless piece of literature with you all.

I would also add to Jaymie's list (if I may) Year of the Elephant: A Moroccan Woman's Journey Toward Independence.

Rhonda wrote: "How does this book shape your thinking about what we should teach?"

Gender inequality is prevalent in our classrooms : from the tasks we assign in class to the books we read in literature circles and read alouds. Many of the books children read implicitly teach students about what is appropriate for boys and what is appropriate for girls. The gender roles are clearly defined. In a society where education is slowly transitioning from the traditional to a more contemporary one, teachers should prepare students for a society that the once clearly defined lines of gender roles are becoming blurred. I believe we have to begin to center our discussions around gender roles in different cultures and in today’s society, whether or not these gender roles are fair or unfair, and while encouraging and fostering tolerance and acceptance, also teaching self perception, self worth, and expression. There must be implicitly and explicitly taught lessons about gender equality not just in what we say but also in what we do.

I am going this group... Can you tell me what we are doing? Thanks guys!

Lindsey wrote: "I am going this group... Can you tell me what we are doing? Thanks guys!"

Did anybody get back to you? If not you should be reading the book and finishing it by Wednesday.

I think it would be helpful for us to think about the text in relation to sexism as well.

She brings so much relevant thought to mind - specifically referencing the equality, the business world, leadership/management, and marriage just to name a few. Very astounding to hear her "valet" parking incident or not being able to go alone to clubs or bars as she saw fit without a man by her side. The equality piece correlates with how we should get away from predefined gender roles in the classroom, not tampering out aspirations/hopes/dreams, conveying that anyone can go as far as they desire so long as they have the drive and competence. Moving onto the business world, she was spot on identifying that the higher you go, there are fewer women. Thankfully, this has curtailed somewhat over the past decade (referencing company hierarchy charts, case studies with Fortune 100/500 Companies have female CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and sitting board members) and why journalism jumped on it while it was happening to record the groundbreaking tides of change. Of note, when she discussed leadership/management, she was sure to highlight the fact that all mentioned attributes/characteristics are not tied to emotion whatsoever (pointing out the fight that most carry when stating females are not equipped to operate under substantial pressure or make tough decisions without emotion getting into the way or negatively impacting the overall outcome). Lastly, for now, very good discussion talking about how the verbiage of marriage is really catering to ownership versus partnership and then goes on to discuss the "cleaning" gene. Very inspiring thoughts to ponder and she seems spot on in her claims of how to navigate the path towards change. As with any major transition, have to outline specific strategic goals or benchmarks and how/when you are forecasting them to occur while ensuring the stakeholders remain adequately invested (that's the management/business background coming out in me)...

Thank you Enrique!!

Be ready to share the insights, ethics, opportunities, and actions your book calls for Contemporary Learning and/or an interdisciplinary problem outlined in your book on Monday, June 20th.

Rob wrote: "She brings so much relevant thought to mind - specifically referencing the equality, the business world, leadership/management, and marriage just to name a few. Very astounding to hear her "valet" ..."

What strategies or benchmarks would you recommend to advance feminism?

Tamar wrote: "Rhonda wrote: "How does this book shape your thinking about what we should teach?"

First, thank you for including a text by a Black female author. In addition to the clarion call for everyone to j..."

First, I love everything Tamar shares, especially your presentation last semester, and look forward to learning with you again during this short summer session. Second, what other Black female authors would you recommend learning more about?

Enrique wrote: "Oh, that's your question.
We should be conscious that we live in a sexist and heterosexist society that permeates the DNA of what we do. As educators we should be striving to be aware about not on..."

Yes! How can we teach young children about the dangers of heteronormativity?

The book and Ted talk encourage me to teach my students (which this year are 100% boys) more about women and male privilege. Also, I love the way the book is peppered with references to Nigerian culture as well as the way her personality shines through in the Ted Talk. She is a beautiful and inspiring woman.

Natalie wrote: "Rob wrote: "She brings so much relevant thought to mind - specifically referencing the equality, the business world, leadership/management, and marriage just to name a few. Very astounding to hear ..."

An immediate starting point that comes to by mind would be changing organizational dynamics to become purely results based and getting rid of bullshit bias, in appropriate settings (i.e. when you get to organizations that require it or to a certain level that requires nothing but success or very minimal room for error). Effective companies have tangible, measurable results (unfortunately, sometimes they are not wrapped or pocketed into some of the characteristics of what a goal really is - which drives organizations or people to failure) that could serve as the foundation of measuring whether a man or woman is effectively serving in the position sufficiently. Another discussion would be how to get past the bias of pay during the hiring process; however, I would venture to guess that the deviations in pay between women and men would be slightly different from the public perception in Fortune 100/500 companies - just a thought, will look to see if anything remotely supports that claim haha

Results based is great in business, but can be tricky in education. Rewarding teachers for higher achievement scores provides no incentive to work with high-need populations and punishes the teachers that do so. Would love to share some of my research on that issue with you or the class, if interested.

Natalie wrote: "Enrique wrote: "Oh, that's your question.
We should be conscious that we live in a sexist and heterosexist society that permeates the DNA of what we do. As educators we should be striving to be aw..."

I think it challenges social norms in a big way. It really begins with challenging "what we know" and how we know it. It also involves challenging things we think are normal - cultural norms. If we live with the world view that boys do somethings and girls do other things, those ideas have to be challenged. Relating that to Chimamanda, she is making the same argument about challenging Nigerian (and ultimately global) norms about gender roles...I'll say more below

Some of our colleagues had a discussion about the author’s perspective over the weekend. I think that there is something different about the way that she talks about feminism than feminists in the US context. The idea of wearing lipstick and heals suggests an acceptance to some gender impositions that Chimamanda is comfortable with. Other feminist might point to the uncomfortable-ness of heals (and in many way the impractical-ness) as evidence that they are anti-feminist. And why would women need to put on lipstick and for whom?
What I’m saying is that I find some contradictions with western feminist thought. Chimamanda does not seem to suggest that there is a contradiction per se, but rather that these are things that she likes to do as a woman. But what does it mean to like something as a woman?
Yes as all styles, they are constructs developed by someone. I would like her to discuss these dichotomies. I would even link these ideas to headscarves and how Muslim women define feminism. There are a lot of good ideas about western feminism vs Muslim women in The Year of the Elephant that I posted before. Chimamanda might juxtapose feminism in the Nigerian context and western feminism. Are there differences?

Hi friends:

Just a reminder to add your comments to the google doc. If you did not receive an invitation to edit, please let me know.

Enrique

In my opinion, gender is another form of currency that can be cashed in for power, knowledge, respect, among other things.

Historically, maleness has yielded higher returns; meanwhile, there have been unduly harsh taxes attached to femaleness. This injustice is so ingrained in our daily lives and activities that we hardly (if ever) question the consequences, leading to a gradual inflation of the "male currency". We're all paying the price of this injustice, because in the end inflation always leads to currency depreciation!

Currency is a perfect metaphor for gender inequity because like gender, the essential features of a paper bill are very similar- meaning the difference between a $1 bill and a $100 bill is non-essential. The only difference between the two bills is the worth that we attribute to each. In this case, the $100 bill has a higher value than that of the $1 bill. Similarly, the biological and physical differences that exist between men and women are nonessential; yet, we attribute so much value to a man's strength, sex organ, etc..

The most dangerous part of arbitrarily assigning more value to boys and men is that after awhile boys/men begin to internalize those qualities as innate ability, rather than seeing those qualities as the product of hard work, determination, passion, and relentless effort. In the end, boys who don't measure up or fail to meet society's expectations (i.e., poor urban Black boys) fall by the wayside, and adopt a hypermasculine identity that rebels against the conventions of traditional masculinity- hypermasculinity becomes the worst of two evils.

Based on your reading in your book, what should 21st century learners be learning? Is there suggestions in your book for "Life worthy" topics? How are the suggested topics "beyond" what we are doing in schools now?

An ethical and respectful mind should be prerequisites for contemporary teaching and learning across all domains. According to Gardner (as cited in Perkins, 2014), the ethical and respectful mind emphasizes empathy, civility and compassion for diverse groups of people.

There is significant overlap between Gardner's Five Minds and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's feminist call to action. Adichie implored educators to upend conventional gender norms and to help our young people "unlearn the lessons of gender" that have rendered women less capable than men. This will require a cultural and ideological shift away from traditional classroom practices that ignore or silence the female experience as irrational or subjective. It also asks that we reexamine our teaching styles and lesson activities that inadvertently position girls as inferior to boys, or worst, position girls as competitors to one another rather than comrades and collaborators.

In the past, I have been guilty of using teaching practices that compromise the dignity and self-determination of my female students to enhance the learning experiences of my male students. One example of this was when I used to group smart attractive female students with delinquent male students. I used this strategy as a way to incentivize learning and encourage active participation among my most disengaged male students.

After reading Adichie's book, I am ashamed to admit that I subjected my female students to the male gaze- this grouping strategy forced my female students to play the role of an object whose sole purpose was to be visually appealing to the male senses in an effort to keep her male peers engaged and motivated to learn.

Natalie wrote: "Tamar wrote: "Rhonda wrote: "How does this book shape your thinking about what we should teach?"

First, thank you for including a text by a Black female author. In addition to the clarion call for..."

Natalie, I've enjoyed learning with and from you. In response to your question about books written by Black feminists, I'll gather some titles that I've read and share those with you soon.