Monday, November 5, 2012

How should a woman teach women's history?

As historians we are constantly faced with the problem of attempting to teach and instruct students without promoting our own personal biases.  Especially when we focus on subject matters that directly relate to our own personal interests and issues, we must be careful to stay as objective as possible (which can be incredibly hard at times!!!).  Today I am teaching about women's history to my survey level students and while writing the lecture I was contemplating how political I should allow myself to seem.  As a feminist and independent woman of the twenty-first century, I certainly have strong personal views on women's issues and tend to get over-excited when talking about the history of such movements.  However, I want students to come to their own conclusions about the subject without my undue influence.  That does not mean I will not give them clues as to my own opinions, but I would hate to devalue my arguments with unnecessary excitement and opinion.  Thus, when I am speaking about some of my early heroes today (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Margaret Fuller and Susan B. Anthony), I will refrain from personal bias and let the ladies speak for themselves, after all they have amazing stories to tell without my attitudes getting in the mix!