Combining Problem Based Learning and Activism in a Feminist Classroom

Scholar-activists share a desire to expose students to research on societal injustices and to the activism working to address injustices. Many of us were drawn to our disciplines because we desire to have our feet in both camps: studying and active engagement in changing society. As a sociologist who also teaches in a women's studies program, I encourage students to critically reflect on the role of gender within social institutions and how activists work to create change in those contexts. Popular texts for the introductory course support this endeavor by exploring feminism as a response to structural inequality and incorporating activism in the 'story' of feminist analyses. Nevertheless, I have found that frequently students are inspired by these discussions yet feel stunted in their own ability to move from analysis to action. Being lulled into debilitating mind-traps of perceiving a world inundated with problems where we lack the power to envision solutions and create positive social change is a dangerous place that I argue can be addressed by adopting the problem-based learning approach with an activist component. In this article I reflect on the incorporation of what I call a "Group Action Project" which is based on the PBL approach in an undergraduate introductory women's studies course. This combination of collaborative learning and activism was used to facilitate the study of gender inequality on campus and to inspire the class to address the problem through activism.I begin with a review of the literature regarding pedagogical approaches including feminist, experiential and problem-based learning to develop a framework for examining the project we undertook in this course. I provide the context and description of the project students in the class were involved in, a study of sexual harassment, including written responses about their involvement in the project. Responses from students reveal that this project left them feeling empowered, in part because it gave them the primary responsibility for what was learned and how, while the additional activist component contributed deeply to their overall sense of efficacy and understanding of the social problem and our campus. Finally, I conclude with considerations for instructors contemplating adopting this type of problem-based learning project in their class.PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHESLearning can be liberating and completely transformative, but how can we create the conditions for this growth in the classroom? Many wish to embrace a critical pedagogical approach inspired by the notion that the classroom can be "the most radical space of possibility in the academy" (hooks 1994, 5; see also Freire 1970; Kenway and Modra 1992; Luke and Gore 1992). This method recognizes that students and instructors learning together and from each other fosters solidarity and collective levels of reflection and has the potential to create a space for developing political consciousness (Crawley, Willman, Clark, and Walsh 2009; Stem 1994; Larson 2005; Markowitz 2005; Weiler 1995; Hoffman and Stake1998; Chick and Hassel 2009). Feminist pedagogy is "teaching that engages students in political discussion of gender injustice with the goal of seeking to understand and challenge oppressive power relations" (Fisher 2001 quoted in Naples 2002: 15-6). Moreover, it seeks to decenter the role of the professor while elevating the experiences and the ability of all of the participants as co-creators of knowledge (Stake 2006; Maher and Tetrault 2001; Chick and Hassel 2009, Champeau and Shaw 2001).Feminist teachers recognize that students enter the classroom with knowledge and a body of experience, influenced largely by each person's standpoint (Collins 1990; Mohanty 1995). Students are typically encouraged to reflect on gender relations in their own lives and communities and recognize how their social location could affect their awareness and subsequent understanding of a social problem. …