ERIC Number: EJ768755
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Sep
Pages: 13
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1071-4413
EISSN: N/A
The Teachable Moment: Feminist Pedagogy and the Neoliberal Classroom
Feigenbaum, Anna
Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v29 n4 p337-349 Sep 2007
Canadian scholar Elizabeth Brule argues in her 2004 essay, "Going to the Market," that the corporatization of the university has led to the construction of students as rational, economic decision makers. As Brule argues, "The only choices considered rational, however, are those that increase one's employment opportunities within the strict confines of the labour market." Brule further cites this construction as the cause for students' disengagement with critical pedagogy. The corporatization of the university, she suggests, makes it increasingly difficult for educators to foster feminist and anti-racist perspectives. Competition, self-sufficiency and strident individualism--which are both the symptoms and disease of neoliberalism--appear entirely at odds with the overthrow of power relations. Trapped within a neoliberal agenda, students come to disavow any connection with radical critique. In this article, the author argues that this corporatization of the university limits and restricts possibilities for teaching critical theory. Discussing the notion of a "teachable moment," the author engages in what Jane Gallop calls anecdotal theory, examining the conditions and context of two of her own encounters with students. The author works through these two teachable moments in order to better locate the effects that the increasing corporatization of the university has on students, as well as teachers. (Contains 27 notes.)
Descriptors: Critical Theory, Employment Opportunities, Labor Market, Feminism, Marxian Analysis, Womens Studies, Popular Education, Teacher Effectiveness, Teaching Conditions, School Culture, Economic Impact, Context Effect, Case Studies, Teaching Experience
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A