Page 63 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 63
r. šribar ■ study in the virtual class: doings of feminist pedagogy ...
Something complementary to collegial comradeship and the most
fulfilling micro-democratisation in teachers happened in a group of stu-
dents with me as the teacher in the study subject Ethics and Morals in
Science. It has not been easy to make the study hours in the heavily-load-
ed lecture and seminar blocks vivid and interesting. The decision to do
auto-ethnographic inquiry into the research “object” which we chose to-
gether was crucial. The research on our perception of the “neo-liberali-
sation” of time and “time management” was multi-layered, the fieldwork
had the nature of an experiment, which was organised individually ac-
cording to subjective goals. When we reported on the results, quite inti-
mate impressions were shared, which connected us well beyond expecta-
tions. One student became very emotional because she realised that her
time had been spent in the neoliberal mode – her awareness being dis-
tracted away from the way the hours of her life had been spent. The emo-
tional tension was released partially in class and later on after the lecture
when she phoned me and explained her feelings in a private conversation.
She said with a weeping voice that she was depressed, but anyway had the
feeling that she had “gained a new insight, which might lead to greater re-
spect for life.”
While surveying the impact of Covid-19 and/or virtual teaching
and learning on feminist pedagogy as thematised in web publications and
journal articles, I have found various perspectives on the topic. The follow-
ing paragraphs consist of brief excerpts of reports, analyses and guidelines,
which I am able to illustrate with my own teaching practice examples.
Virtualisation of study in class is conceived as “the new normal”.
Experienced intertwinings of so-called private and professional life are re-
ported by the author as tiresome and confusing (Oikawa, 2020, para 1).
In class, it may be different, the intrusion of domestic scenes, e.g. the sud-
den appearance of a partner or a child in the room or a dog, attracts new
themes. In my case, what happened was a quick hug and kiss on the cheek
of a student by her women partner. It reminded me that I was obliged to
thematise gay and lesbian couples while discussing heteronormativity, and
the illustrative value of the mentioned “intrusion” was adding quality to
the lecture. As argued more than a decade ago by Nancy Chick and Holly
Hassel, “failing to outline the many ways feminist pedagogy is applica-
ble to online environments will ensure that myths and misconceptions
about online teaching flourish and that only the worst versions of online
pedagogy persist (Chick & Hassel, 2009, p. 196). Another reference is de-
rived from the technology and feminism sphere. “They call it ‘distance
learning,’ but it can be intimate, horizontal, distributed, online, in real life
learning” (Femtechnet, 2020, p. 1).
61
Something complementary to collegial comradeship and the most
fulfilling micro-democratisation in teachers happened in a group of stu-
dents with me as the teacher in the study subject Ethics and Morals in
Science. It has not been easy to make the study hours in the heavily-load-
ed lecture and seminar blocks vivid and interesting. The decision to do
auto-ethnographic inquiry into the research “object” which we chose to-
gether was crucial. The research on our perception of the “neo-liberali-
sation” of time and “time management” was multi-layered, the fieldwork
had the nature of an experiment, which was organised individually ac-
cording to subjective goals. When we reported on the results, quite inti-
mate impressions were shared, which connected us well beyond expecta-
tions. One student became very emotional because she realised that her
time had been spent in the neoliberal mode – her awareness being dis-
tracted away from the way the hours of her life had been spent. The emo-
tional tension was released partially in class and later on after the lecture
when she phoned me and explained her feelings in a private conversation.
She said with a weeping voice that she was depressed, but anyway had the
feeling that she had “gained a new insight, which might lead to greater re-
spect for life.”
While surveying the impact of Covid-19 and/or virtual teaching
and learning on feminist pedagogy as thematised in web publications and
journal articles, I have found various perspectives on the topic. The follow-
ing paragraphs consist of brief excerpts of reports, analyses and guidelines,
which I am able to illustrate with my own teaching practice examples.
Virtualisation of study in class is conceived as “the new normal”.
Experienced intertwinings of so-called private and professional life are re-
ported by the author as tiresome and confusing (Oikawa, 2020, para 1).
In class, it may be different, the intrusion of domestic scenes, e.g. the sud-
den appearance of a partner or a child in the room or a dog, attracts new
themes. In my case, what happened was a quick hug and kiss on the cheek
of a student by her women partner. It reminded me that I was obliged to
thematise gay and lesbian couples while discussing heteronormativity, and
the illustrative value of the mentioned “intrusion” was adding quality to
the lecture. As argued more than a decade ago by Nancy Chick and Holly
Hassel, “failing to outline the many ways feminist pedagogy is applica-
ble to online environments will ensure that myths and misconceptions
about online teaching flourish and that only the worst versions of online
pedagogy persist (Chick & Hassel, 2009, p. 196). Another reference is de-
rived from the technology and feminism sphere. “They call it ‘distance
learning,’ but it can be intimate, horizontal, distributed, online, in real life
learning” (Femtechnet, 2020, p. 1).
61
