The Liberating Relevance of Feminist Pedagogy

Basic feminist principles applied to education have resulted in new theories of feminist pedagogy and the development of alternative teaching models. Feminist pedagogy addresses the need for social change and focuses on educating the oppressed through strategies for empowering the self, building community, and ultimately developing leadership. In so far as art has low value in school and society, art teachers, art students, and the discipline of art itself are in need of empowering strategies offered by feminist pedagogy. On the premise that feminism can ameliorate the marginal statuses of women, art, and education, this paper explores feminist pedagogy's liberating relevance to the theory and practice of contemporary art education.