Transcript Women’s Ways of Knowing - University of California

Women’s Ways of
Knowing
Tacy Costanzo
November 2004
The Development of Self, Voice,
and Mind
 By
Mary Belenky, Blythe Clinchy,
Nancy Goldberger, Jill Tarule
 Women did not fit into traditional
development theory
– which was based on research done
predominately on white men of privilege
Theory Basis
 Built
on William Perry’s Theory of
Intellectual Development
 Also Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
 And Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s
Moral Development
Research Methods
 135
young women from various
social, ethnic, economic, educational
backgrounds
 Extensive interviews on self-image,
morality, learning style, life
experiences
 Themes emerged from their stories
 Epistemological patterns noted
 Five perspectives described
Five Epistemological
Perspectives
 Silence
 Received
Knowledge
 Subjective Knowledge
 Procedural Knowledge
 Constructed Knowledge
Silence
 All
authority over knowledge exists
outside one’s self
 Disconnection between the known
and the knower
 Only broken by validation of the
individual
 Characterized by low self esteem,
lack of self worth
Received Knowledge
 Knowledge
is dualistic, either right or
wrong, black or white
 There is only one correct answer to
each question
 The recipient, not the creator of
knowledge
 Requires external validation to
believe in self
Subjective Knowledge
 The
truth finally resides within
 The power of knowing is internal
 Analyzing the past to understand the
future
 A new voice, barely a whisper, begins
to speak
Procedural Knowledge
 Ability
to objectively express and
receive knowledge (two kinds)
– Separate knowledge is analytical and
reasonable, critical thinking
– Connected knowing is based on intuition
and ‘gut feeling’
 Begins
integrating separate and
connected knowing into a single
voice
Constructed Knowledge
Assimilate and integrate objective and
subjective knowledge
 All knowledge is constructed, one becomes
part of their own knowledge
 Believe in another’s beliefs, while not
adopting them
 Hear another’s voice without losing their
own voice
 Making a space for one’s self where her
voice will always be heard

Major Findings
Women think differently than men
 Women need to know that they are
already smart in order to learn
 Women acquire knowledge more readily
through experience than instruction
 Validation of self by a women’s community
fuels further development and fosters
learning
 Women feel their way into learning and
make sense of their world from the inside
out

Theory to Practice
 Teach
the teachers
– Understand students’ development level
 Let
them try their wings
– Support the journey of self discovery
 Engage
the students in the process
of their own education
– Facilitate ‘active’ learning environments
Future Research
Larger, more diverse population
 Strive to eliminate gender & cultural bias
 Explore new research methodologies
 Be open-minded to see and hear what
hasn’t been seen or heard before
 Longitudinal studies on perspective shifts

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