Feminist pedagogy strives to make classrooms more hospitable to women by drawing on examples from their lives, acknowledging the broad range of their accomplishments, and treating their life experiences as normal. Focus on women/gender is key to feminist pedagogy. It also promotes an awareness of how gender relations of unequal power are inscribed in speech patterns and interactions so that these can be identified and interrupted in the classroom. It seeks to change the classroom culture and climate, broadening students' understanding rather than creating defensive reactions, and sensitizing students to the classroom dynamics that favor one group over another. This focus on gender sets feminist pedagogy apart from other efforts to transform education in a more democratic direction.

Authority can arise from a variety of sources. Teachers traditionally are viewed as having authority by virtue of their expertise in a particular field. As they impart, as best they can, the ultimate truths of their discipline, a hierarchical relationship arises between them and their students. In contrast, feminist scholarship, acknowledges the authority possessed by others (such as students) and views knowledge as constructed and culture-bound, rather than an ultimate truth. From this perspective, different classroom dynamics naturally arise. Authority shifts to students when they can interact and ask questions, where their feedback is actively sought and incorporated, and where the faculty work to make themselves less intimidating and more approachable. Faculty give up some of their authority through techniques such as collaborative learning and peer teaching. In turn, students gain multiple mechanisms to learn and engage the material. Authority also is reflected in the arrangement of our teaching spaces. A professor standing back behind a podium clearly conveys a different message than one in close proximity to the students.

Position. A person is always positioned within and across different contexts.  For example, any chemist is positioned within the tradition of chemistry, which is characterized by questions, methods and methodologies. Positions are always relational - a person positioned at the margins (i.e., as a female) only is marginal with respect to the center. A person's position is also multiple and negotiated (i.e., being both a parent and a scientist). Never outside of a tradition, our perspectives are always shaped by social, cultural and historical contexts.

In academia, faculty position themselves in disciplines which in turn are in departments. Disciplinary lines are so woven into the culture of academia that their centrality may be invisible and unchallenged. The authors of The Feminist Classroom argue this lack of awareness is no accident: "Positional understandings are discouraged or blocked in academic environments". As long as disciplines are the established ways of structuring and transmitting scientific knowledge, those who conceive of knowledge differently occupy lesser positions. Areas such as women's studies or science education may become positioned at the margins of traditional disciplines. A re-examination of our disciplinary boxes and how they affect the learning process is a part of feminist analysis.

Position matters in the classroom. The specific knowledge that emerges through questions and interactions will vary depending on the positions of those engaged in the learning process. As we teach, feminist pedagogy calls us to a metaknowledge of our position and to recognize that our students may have, or may come from a different position. Those who teach need to seek a fluidity of position that shifts easily to meet the needs of different situations. In The Feminist Classroom, the authors comment, "In all classrooms, positionalities are at work. ... If the classroom setting can help students to understand the workings of positional dynamics in their lives, ... then they can begin to challenge them and create change".

Empowerment of students is crucial. They need to become stronger learners, tap their own resources, and utilize their own strengths.  Feminist pedagogy de-emphasizes the role of the teacher as mentor, encouraging students to become their own mentors. Empowering student is thus similar to promoting active student learning. Students will miss opportunities to become independent learners if science is taught only as a set of truths.  Science needs to be taught as a process - one where the experiments and data can be examined critically. Students need to contend with the changing nature of scientific knowledge and how it shapes our understanding of the world.

Voice.     Feminist pedagogy calls students to find and/or fashion their voice in the classroom. They need to emerge into the public space, speak for themselves and bring their own questions to the material. Their view of the world is legitimate and their perspective matters. Students find their voice most naturally when the material they are studying is relevant and connected to their lives. For example, if  the concept of "isotopes" is taught in the context of diagnosis and treatment of cancer, students may be able to contribute from their personal experiences.

Non-neutrality of education. Education is not culture-free, nor are scientific disciplines. One of the authors has observed that part of the culture of chemistry is to assert that it has no culture, that is, chemists pride themselves on being culture-free and objective. It is impossible to establish a culture free laboratory, because each working group is composed of people. The same can be said of the class room.  It is imperative that all the learners in the classroom recognize the pervasive effects of climate in the specific disciplines.

*(from a paper in press, Feminist Pedagogy: Useful Ideas for Teaching Chemistry, by Catherine Hurt Middlecamp, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Banu Subramanium, University of Arizona, Tempe.)