Feminist Philosophy of Education

Over the last three decades feminism has influenced many philosophers of education. The kind of questions that constitute the contemporary feminist philosophy of education research agendas are diverse and range from interests aligned with a variety of fields and theoretical orientations of feminisms, for example: liberal, poststructural and multicultural. However, most share an emphasis toward both the intellectual and political dimensions of a just education. Broad areas of study at the intersections of feminism and education include; gender, class, race, sexuality, human rights, identity, subjectivity, the body, sexuality, the family, knowledge and power, with significant lines if enquiry challenging the foundations of traditional educational research, policy and practice and its reliance on; an objective knower, its a-historic presumptions and its exclusion of emotion. Feminist philosophers of education work across varied educational spaces including; early childhood, mass education, tertiary, university and vocational education and informal and community education and address concerns relating to epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, normativity and methodology. 

Nel Noddings ongoing work Noddings 1995, Noddings 2007 particularly the seminal text 'Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education Noddings 1984 illustrates feminist contributions ethics and moral education. Reclaiming a Conversation: The Ideal of the Educated Woman Martin 1985 argument for a ‘gender sensitive ideal’ through an historical engagement with philosophy of education.