Poststructural Feminist Pedagogies: The Possibilities and Limitations of Feminist Emancipatory Adult Learning Theory and Practice

Abstract

This paper compares, contrasts, and examines the theoretical underpinnings of three strands of feminist pedagogy—the psychological models; the structural models; and poststructural feminist pedagogies-as they relate to critical pedagogy and the wider adult learning literature around four major themes: (1) the construction of knowledge; (2) voice; (3) authority; and (4) positionality. It is argued that poststructural feminist pedagogies which foreground the importance of the positionality of the instructor offer continued direction to the development of feminist emancipatory adult education theory and practice.