Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind 10th Anniversary Edition

Despite the progress of the women’s movement, many women still feel silenced in their families and schools. This moving and insightful bestseller, based on in-depth interviews with 135 women, explains why they feel this way. Updated with a new preface exploring how the authors’ collaboration and research developed, this tenth anniversary edition addresses many of the questions that the authors have been asked repeatedly in the years since __Women’s Ways of Knowing__ was originally published. This Volume Offers New And Useful Understandings Of The Epistemology (methods And Basis) Of The Development Of Women's Knowledge. From Interviews With 135 Women (mostly Privileged College Students), The Authors Determine Five Learning Perspectives That Characterize Women's Way Of Knowing. The Authors Looked For Patterns In The Responses They Received, And Were Able To Draw Together A Concept Of How Women Deal With Knowledge. The Authors Identified Five Different Ways Of Knowing That Women Utilize. The First One Addressed Is Given The Name Of Silence. By Silence The Authors Do Not Mean An Absence Of Speech, But Rather A State Of Being Intellectually Voiceless. They Do Not See Themselves As Beings Capable Of Receiving Or Retaining Knowledge, And Are Therefore Subject To The Control Of Those Around Them.^ The Second Way Of Knowing Discussed Is Termed Received Knowledge. Received Knowers Believe Themselves Able To Learn From Others, And Even To Pass On What They Have Learned, But They Do Not See Themselves As Capable Of Independent, Original Thought. The Authors Identify Both Silent Women And Received Knowers As Dualists. They See Things In Terms Of Black And White, Right And Wrong, And One Of The Two Is Always Seen As Superior To The Other. Subjective Knowers Do Realize That They Have The Ability To Formulate Knowledge For Themselves, And Rely On A Strong Inner Voice With Which They Develop Their Thoughts. They Believe All Knowledge To Be Subjective, And Every Person's Opinion To Be Equally Valid, Though Applicable Only To That Person. They Recognize That There Are Shades Of Gray And That One Answer To A Problem May Not Be Better Than Another.^ Procedural Knowers, Which Might Also Be Called Objective Knowers, Base Their Development Of Knowledge Solely On Objective, Scientific Procedures. They Distrust As Fallible Any Sort Of Gut Instinct That The Subjective Knowers Rely So Heavily On. Procedural Knowers Are Also Multiplists, However, In That They Recognize That There May Be More Than One Right Answer In A Particular Situation. This Way Of Knowing Is Identified As More Masculine, And That Which Tends To Be Advocated In Traditional Educational Institutions. The Last Way Of Knowing Is Referred To As Constructed Knowing. These Women See All Knowledge As Contextual, And Rely On Both Subjective And Objective Methods To Arrive At Truth. Despite The Progress Of The Women's Movement, Many Women Still Feel Silenced In Their Families And Schools. Based On In-depth Interviews With 135 Women, This Volume Explains Why They Feel This Way. Introduction: To The Other Side Of Silence -- 1. The Ways Of Knowing. Silence -- Received Knowledge : Listening To The Voices Of Others -- Subjective Knowledge : The Inner Voice -- Subjective Knowledge : The Quest For Self -- Procedural Knowledge : The Voice Of Reason -- Procedural Knowledge : Separate And Connected Knowing -- Constructed Knowledge : Integrating The Voices -- 2. Development In Context : Families And Schools. Family Life And The Politics Of Talk -- Toward An Education For Women -- Connected Teaching -- Appendix A: Interview Schedule -- Appendix B: Educational Dialectics. Mary Field Belenky ... [et Al. ; With A New Preface By The Authors]. Originally Published: 1986. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [239]-247) And Index. PREFACE TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION ix PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xxv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxvii Introduction: To the Other Side of Silence 3 PART I - THE WAYS OF KNOWING 21 1 Silence 23 2 Received Knowledge: Listening to the Voices of Others 35 3 Subjective Knowledge: The Inner Voice 52 4 Subjective Knowledge: The Quest for SeJf 76 5 Procedural Knowledge: The Voice of Reason 87 6 Procedural Knowledge: Separate and Connected Knowing 100 7 Constructed Knowledge: Integrating the Voices 131 PART II - DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEXT: FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS 153 8 Family Life and the Politics of Talk 155 9 Toward an Education for Women 190 10 Connected Teaching 214 Appendix A : Interview Schedule 231 Appendix B : Educational Dialectics 237 REFERENCES 239 INDEX 249 Based on in-depth interviews with 135 women, explains why many, despite the progress of the women's movement, still feel silenced in their families and schools. Despite the progress of the women's movement, many women still feel silenced in their families and schools. This moving and insightful bestseller, based on in-depth interviews with 135 women, explains why they feel this way. Updated with a new preface exploring how the authors' collaboration and research developed, this tenth anniversary edition addresses many of the questions that the authors have been asked repeatedly in the years since Women's Ways of Knowing was originally published Drawn from the voices of women of varied backgrounds, Women's Ways of Knowing reveals the unique perspectives from which women view reality and draw conclusions about truth, knowledge, and authority. An intellectual and political Our Bodies, Ourselves, this book has had significant impact on debates about learning and gender, and will continue to have resonance throughout the fields of education and psychology for years to come