Getting Involved: Inspiring Teenagers to Embrace Community Service through Contextualized Learning

Community service for teenagers is the exact time to combine theory and action: its the perfect opportunity to integrate social studies (civics education) with language arts instruction (reflection narrative essay) and assessment. Guided by requirements to teach the responsibilities of citizenship (civic duty, community engagement as a cornerstone to purpose of government…) and my own […]

Civic Education and Conscientization: Fostering Engaged Citizens

Civic education lends itself perfectly to the fusion of theory and practice in the context of informed and engaged citizenship. When approaching the community service requirements for my school, I drew inspiration from Paulo Freire’s concept of ‘conscientization’ to shape the way my students and I approached their civic education.

What is the Definition of a Feminist? or – How to Teach About Feminism

What is the definition of a feminist, or of feminism itself? How much do these definitions matter when we talk about the politics of representation? And to what extent does this matter when discussing or teaching about feminism? One would hope a whole hell of a lot.  When I was creating the curriculum to build […]

Gender as a Social Construct: What Sociology Tells Us About Gender Roles

To teach gender equality in the classroom, why not go straight for the jugular and unpack the language of gender being used today… but with the help of sociology!  I wish there had been the option of the Crash Course series when I was a student. Or YouTube….. Or Google.  Alas. Thankfully, now students do not […]

Building Blocks for a Feminist Classroom

For feminist teachers who want to put theory to action, here are “building blocks” of strategies I have used over the years to guide how I set up and establish my classroom environment throughout the school year. I have not been able to do everything perfectly, nor have I been able to achieve everything to […]