Chapt 4 Women's Learning Theory

1 Krishna K. Bista PSE 6670: Chapter 4 Dr. McNellis February 26, 2009 Q.1. Explain the sets of popular beliefs about women and learning. The notion of women as learners has been shaped differently in various socio-cultural settings. Some cultures and societies have placed women in a supreme position whereas the others have dominated them hierarchically. However, as Elisabeth R. Hayes (2001) pointed out, there are two interrelated sets of popular beliefs about women as learners—i) the significance of relationships ii) subjectivity, intuition and emotion. The first belief is based upon psychological feminist theory which argues that “a woman defines herself—and views her world—primarily in relationship to others” (Hayes, 2001 p.37). In other words, psychologists view that women’s learning differs from men’s learning in terms of its developmental sequences and in terms of underlying rituals. For instance, in family mothers expect their daughters to indentify and affiliate with them as women, and sons to separate and participate as men. Research has also shown that women prefer to learn in collaborative rather than competitive settings, and they perceive knowledge as set of connections. This kind of “connected learning”, as Hayes mentioned (2001), is called “women’s ways of acquiring new knowledge” (p. 37). This learning differs from maleoriented approach of learning. The second belief of women as learners is associated with women’s subjective, intuition and affective ways of learning. That means mostly a woman’s relationship is with caring, nurturing and responding to the needs of family members which are based on her

2 feeling and understanding. This belief has considered women as emotional and incapable, and has excluded them “from political participation, higher education, and the workplace outside the home” (Hayes, 2001 p.38). In short, whatever beliefs exist about women as learners in adult education, various social contexts such as formal education, home, community organizations, school and workplace provide opportunities for women to learn and shape their identities. Even in today society, when women pursue higher education they often find their schooling in conflict with family and home lives. The popular 1983 film Educating Rita, for an example, has brilliantly portrayed a conventional marriage that restricts Rita’s (the central character) learning. Rita eventually breaks out of the restrictive roles and learns to take responsibility for her own identity by pursuing English education.

References: Hayes, E. R. (2001). A New Look at Women’s Learning, In The New Update on Adult Learning Theory, Ed. Sharan, M. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, pp.35-42. Russell, W. (1983). Educating Rita. London: Acorn Pictures.

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2) What does recent research and theory show about how gender affects learning? The earlier research has focused on women as learners from the perspective of gender specific roles or their relationships with parents and other members of family. Recent studies have shown differences of men’s and women’s learning on the basis of their brain functions and their biological growth. The results have found that more parts of women’s brain s are active in certain cognitive tasks than in men’s brains. This has shown that women’s brains are a model of connectedness (Hayes, 2001). More recently, the dichotomy of masculinity and femininity has been explained as products of socially formed beliefs. This view of gender has changed the traditional concepts of women as learners. The recent study has valued that women’s learning is integrally connected to a particular social, historical and economic circumstances. Harding has stated (quoted in Hayes, 2001) that the system of gender relations give women and men different interests in learning even when they are in similar situations. Some theorists have suggested that women are keen in identifying and understanding feelings and perspectives of others though traditionally their positions are lower than men’s position in some cultures and religions. Gender relation may lead women and men to develop different ways of learning. Hayes (2001) examines women’s learning within various contexts. She argues that these variations such as home, school, workplace and so on, provide different and unique learning opportunities for women. The perspective of women as connected learners is equally valued in the present learning setting. Hayes (2001) believes that women are connected with/in the self and connected with others. Research on cognitive styles often characterizes women as global processors. Similarly, women as connected with others shows other dimensions of

5 learning in relation to their family members, neighbors and other relatives i.e. learning via interactions and relationships. Current studies have shown that adult educators use any information about women’s leaning on the basis of learners’ educational goals and purposes of learning. This learning has also focused on the learners’ personal development and promotion of social changes. Moreover, the concept of gender has merged into other social factors like race, class, ethnicity, culture, religion and has given a real platform for learning and understanding the dichotomy of men and women’s learning.

Reference: Hayes, E. R. (2001). A New Look at Women’s Learning, In The New Update on Adult Learning Theory, Ed. Sharan, M. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, pp.35-42.