Browsing by Author "Saharinen, Elli"

The aim of this thesis was to examine feminism in the work of feminist classroom teachers, and the tensions associated with this work through the perspectives that enable and support feminist agency, and those that constrain and inhibit it. I interpret the data in the light of theory, presenting feminism and feminist pedagogy from their historical perspective. I will also briefly examine the societal and political nature of Finnish primary schooling and teaching and examine the concept of agency in the context of education. Feminist classroom pedagogy has not been studied much in Finland, and feminist pedagogy is mostly examined in a university context. However, there is a lot of research on gender-sensitive and gender conscious education in the context of primary schools, for example. This thesis is a qualitative and feminist study. The data was generated by interviewing three feminist classroom teachers using semi-structured individual interviews. The analysis of the data combined content analysis and influences from discourse analysis, a combination which I call discursive content analysis. I analyzed two discourses from the speech of feminist classroom teachers, which I labeled with the terms feminism as an omnipresence and feminism as actions. I also interpreted the tensions associated with feminist classroom teaching, which I located in the work community, in the structures of the primary school, and in the resources. I also paid attention to the words used in teachers' discourse to subvert or question society. In particular, the role of the work community was seen as a major factor supporting feminist classroom teaching, while, for example, a lack of resources was seen as limiting it.