ABSTRACT
If, as Carolyn Shrewsbury has suggested, “feminist pedagogy begins with a vision of what education might be like but frequently is not” (8), what vi sion of the feminist classroom will practitioners take forward to the new century? Recent changes in the landscape of higher education have prompted me to tease out this question and to consider how feminist edu cators can respond creatively and effectively to a world of learning seem ingly turned on its head by shifting institutional priorities, shrinking funding, and new technologies. Given the speed and drama of many of these changes, dedicated practitioners might be justified in questioning what space, if any, remains for feminist innovation or vision in institutions now dominated by the discourses of economic rationalism and the market place. But is the news all bad for feminist educators? Or can we locate in this moment an opportunity for the reinvigoration of our pedagogic prac tice and our programs? What follows are some speculative thoughts on how we might grapple with this level of upheaval, thoughts that essentially trace a double path. On the one hand I am keen to discover how, in the face of growing political and economic challenges to the principles and practice upon which they were based, we can preserve the valuable in sights feminist practitioners have offered into the teaching and learning experience. After all, the case for continuing the quiet revolution we have started in our classrooms has seldom been stronger. At the same time, I’m curious to explore whether the same political and economic challenges we enumerate with such anxiety might actually provide a much needed occa sion for us to rethink and perhaps even remake our understanding of fem inist education, our roles as feminist educators, and our concept of a feminist classroom. In short, how might wrestling with the contradictions
of the current educational environment help us in refurbishing our vision of a feminist education?
