Kolektif bir pratik olarak otoritenin sorgulanması: Türkiye’de farklı eğitim kademelerinde feminist pedagojinin ikilemleri

Abstract

Bu makale, Türkiye’de feminist eğitimcilerin otoriteyi sabit bir konumdan ziyade ilişkisel ve duygusal olarak yüklü bir pratik olarak nasıl müzakere ettiklerini incelemektedir. Atölye çalışmaları, konferans tartışmaları, toplantı kayıtları ve kolektif yazım süreçlerini içeren bir yıllık işbirlikçi bir çalışmaya dayanarak, otoritenin farklı eğitim düzeyleri ve kurumsal bağlamlar boyunca nasıl dirençle karşılandığını, yeniden kurulduğunu ve zaman zaman istemeden yeniden üretildiğini incelemek üzere kolektif otoetnografi yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Makalede, feminist pedagojinin ses, katılım ve bakım vurgusunun otoriteyi ortadan kaldırmadığı; aksine, otoriterliğe kaymadan eşitsiz konuşma rejimlerine müdahale etmeyi, sınıf içi güvenliği sürdürmeyi ve sorumluluğu paylaşmayı gerektiren sürekli bir sınır müzakeresi talep ettiği savunulmaktadır. Farklı şehirlerde ve eğitim kademelerinde çalışan beş eğitimcinin öz-anlatıları üç iç içe geçmiş gerilimi görünür kılmaktadır: yapısal kısıtlar altında kadın eğitimcilerden “melek” bakım vericiler olmalarının beklenmesi; yumuşaklığın hem dönüştürücü bir pedagojik kaynak hem de toplumsal cinsiyetlendirilmiş duygulanımsal sömürü alanı olarak taşıdığı ikirciklilik; ve bakımın sürdürülebilirliğini mümkün kılan koşulları korurken otoriteyi yaratıcı bir yazarlık olarak kurma ihtiyacı. Bu çelişkileri azaltmak ya da onları yok saymak yerine, onları ortaya döküp derinlemesine tartışmayı seçen makale, neoliberal-otoriter eğitim rejimleri bağlamında feminist pedagojide otoriteyi anlamaya yönelik konumlanmış bir çerçeve sunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Feminist pedagoji
• otorite
• bakım etiği
• radikal yumuşaklık
• sınır müzakeresi

A collective questioning of authority: Contradictions of feminist pedagogy across educational levels in Türkiye

Abstract

This article examines how feminist educators in Türkiye negotiate authority as a relational and emotionally charged practice rather than a fixed position. Drawing on a year-long collaborative process—including workshops, conference discussions, meeting records, and collective writing—we employ collective autoethnography to explore how authority is resisted, reworked, and at times inadvertently reproduced across different educational levels and institutional contexts. We argue that feminist pedagogy’s commitment to voice, participation, and care does not eliminate authority; rather, it requires continuous boundary work to intervene in unequal speaking regimes, sustain classroom safety, and distribute responsibility without reproducing authoritarianism. The self-narratives of us—as five educators working in different cities and educational levels—reveal three intertwined tensions: the moral expectation that women educators act as “angelic” caregivers under structural constraints; the ambivalence of softness as both a transformative pedagogical resource and a site of gendered affective exploitation; and the challenge of crafting authority as creative authorship while protecting the conditions that make care sustainable. Rather than eliminating these contradictions or ignoring them, in this article we choose to bring them to light and discuss them in depth, offering a framework for understanding authority in feminist pedagogy within the context of neoliberal-authoritarian education regimes.

Keywords

• Feminist pedagogy
• authority
• ethics of care
• radical softness
• boundary work

References

1. Adams, Tony E., Stacy Holman Jones and Carolyn Ellis. 2021. Handbook of Autoethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
2. Ahmed, Sara. 2014. “Selfcare as Warfare.” Feminist Killjoys, August 25, 2014. https://feministkilljoys.com/2014/08/25/selfcare-as-warfare/.
3. Aykaç, G. 2024. “The Possibility of Radical Resources and Participation in Architectural Education: Autobiographical Spatial Narratives.” Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research 18 (4): 813–827. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-05-2023-0130.
4. Baba, Habibe Burcu. 2007. Teacher Candidates as the Agents of Change for a More Gender Equal Society. Master’s Thesis, Middle East Technical University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Ankara.
5. Bıçakçı, Barış. 2003. “Aramızdaki En Kısa Mesafe (The Shortest Distance Between Us).” In Aramızdaki En Kısa Mesafe, 95–97. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
6. Bimm, Molly, and Michelle Feldman. 2020. “Towards a Femme Pedagogy, or Making Space for Trauma in the Classroom.” MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture. https://maifeminism.com/towards-a-femme-pedagogy-or-making-space-for-trauma-in-the-classroom/.
7. Bizzell, Patricia. 1991. “Power, Authority and Critical Pedagogy.” Journal of Basic Writing. 10 (2): 54-70.
8. Briskin, Linda, and Rebecca P. Coulter. 1992. “Introduction: Feminist Pedagogy: Challenging the Normative.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de l’Éducation 17 (3): 247–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/1495295.

9. Bryson, Beth, and Victoria A. Bennet-Anyikwa. 2003. “The Teaching and Learning Experience: Deconstructing and Creating Space Using a Feminist Pedagogy.” Race, Gender & Class 10 (2): 131–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41675079.
10. Buffington, Nancy. 1993. “When Teachers Aren’t Nice: bell hooks and Feminist Pedagogy.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. 44th San Diego CA, March 31- April 3, 1993.
11. Davis, Barbara H. 1981. “Teaching the Feminist Minority.” Women’s Studies Quarterly. New York: City University of New York (CUNY), Archives and Special Collections. https://academicworks.cuny.edu.
12. Eldemir, Pınar, and Tebessüm Yılmaz. 2021. “Duygudaşlıktan Yoldaşlığa: İşte Bu Bizim Hikâyemiz.” (From Empathy to Sisterhood: Well This is Our Story). Feminist Tahayyül (Feminist Imagination) 2 (1): 38–65.
13. Ellis, Carolyn, Tony E. Adams, and Arthur P. Bochner. 2011. “Autoethnography: An Overview.” Forum: Qualitative Social Research 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1589.
14. Erdoğan, Gözde. 2023. Feminist Pedagoji Üzerine Bir Tartışma: Okul Öncesi Eğitim Örneği. (A Discussion on Feminist Pedagogy: A Sample from Preschool Education). Yüksek lisans tezi (Master’s Thesis), Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul.
15. Esen, Yıldız. 2022. “Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Eğitim Dersinin Yansımaları: Feminist Pedagoji Çerçevesinde Bir Değerlendirme.” (Reflections of Gender and Education Course: An Evaluation Within Feminist Pedagogy) In Fevziye Sayılan’a Armağan, (A Tribute to Fevziye Sayılan) edited by Meltem Uysal, Ahmet Yıldız, Şule E. Bağcı, and Nilüfer Korkmaz, 369–400. Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Yayınları.
16. Feigenbaum, Anna. 2007. “The Teachable Moment: Feminist Pedagogy and the Neoliberal Classroom.” Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies 29 (4): 337–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714410701291145.
17. Freire, Paulo. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.
18. Garber, Elizabeth. 2003. “Teaching about Gender Issues in the Art Education Classroom: Myra Sadker Day.” Studies in Art Education 45 (1): 56–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1321108.
19. Gün, Songül, Yasemin Erdoğan Öztürk, Duygu Altınoluk, Zeynep Alica, and Gülşah Aykaç. 2025a. “Feminist Pedagoji Atölyesi Üzerine: İlköğretimden Üniversiteye Bir Özgürleşme İmkânı.” Eleştirel Pedagoji 78: 162-178.
20. Gün, Songül, Duygu Altınoluk, Yasemin Erdoğan Öztürk, Zeynep Alica, and Gülşah Aykaç. 2025b. “İlköğretimden Üniversiteye Bir Özgürleşme İmkânı: Feminist Pedagoji.” Onsekizinci Ulusal Sosyal Bilimler Kongresi, Ankara, Türkiye. 24 - 26 September 2025.
21. Güvenç Çetinkol, Şükran. 2008. Türkiye’de Eğitime Farklı Bir Bakış Açısı: Feminist Pedagoji. (A Different Perspective Towards Education in Turkey: Feminist Pedagogy). Yüksek lisans tezi (Master’s Thesis), İstanbul Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kadın Çalışmaları Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul.
22. hooks, bell. 1989. Talking back, thinking feminist, thinking black. Boston, MA: South End Press.
23. hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.
24. hooks, bell. 1994. Sınırları Aşmayı Öğretmek. (Teaching To Transgress) Translated edition. İstanbul: NotaBene.
25. hooks, bell. 2010. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge.
26. Houston, Barbara. 1990. “Review: Caring and Exploitation.” Hypatia 5 (1), (Spring): 115–119. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3809915.
27. Horwath, Ilona, and Christian Diabl. 2020. “Liberating or Indoctrinating? Surveying Students’ Perceptions of a Women’s and Gender Studies Requirement.” Gender and Education 32 (8): 1109–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1608355
28. Karacabey, Süreyya. 2017. “Senin Annen Bir Melek Değildi Yavrum.” (Your Mum Was Not an Angel, My Child). In Gündelik Hayata Direnmek, (Resisting Everyday Life) edited by Canan A. Okur, Elif B. Yavuz, Cenk Bingöl, and Nurcan Henden, 87–90. Ankara: Epos Yayınları.
29. Karakurt, Dilşad. 2024. Feminist Pedagogy Effects and Experiences in Gender and Women’s Studies: The Case of Middle East Technical University.
30. Master’s Thesis, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
31. Keskin, Birhan. 2016. Fakir Kene. (Poor Tick). İstanbul: Metis Yayınları.
32. Le Guin, Ursula K. 1974. “Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?” In The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. New York: Putnam.
33. Lewis, M. 1992. “Interrupting Patriarchy: Politics, Resistance and Transformation in the Feminist Classroom.” In Feminisms and Critical Pedagogy, edited by C. Luke and J. Gore, 167–191. New York: Routledge.
34. Light, T. P., J. Nicholas, and R. Bondy, eds. 2015. Feminist Pedagogy in Higher Education: Critical Theory and Practice. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
35. Ludlow, Jeannie. 2004. “From Safe Space to Contested Space in the Feminist Classroom.” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy 15 (1): 40–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/trajincschped.15.1.0040.
36. Maher, A. F., and Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault. 1994. The Feminist Classroom. New York: Basic Books.
37. Manicom, Ann. 1992. “Feminist Pedagogy: Transformations, Standpoints, and Politics.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de l’Éducation A Collective Questioning of Authority: Contradictions of Feminist Pedagogy Across Educational Levels in Türkiye 17 (3): 365–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/1495301.
38. Martin, Jennifer L., Andrea E. Nickels, and Maria Sharp-Grier, eds. 2017. Feminist Pedagogy, Practice, and Activism. New York: Routledge.
39. Martin, J. L., and J. A. Beese. 2017. “Girls Talk Back: Changing School Culture through Feminist and Service-Learning Pedagogies.” In Feminist Pedagogy, Practice, and Activism, edited by J. L. Martin, A. E. Nickels, and M. Sharp-Grier, 5–34. New York: Routledge.
40. Martin, J. L. 2017. “And the Danger Went Away: Speculative Pedagogy in the Myth of the Post-Feminist.” In Feminist Pedagogy, Practice, and Activism, edited by J. L. Martin, A. E. Nickels, and M. Sharp-Grier, 5–34. New York: Routledge.
41. Mayo, Peter. 1999. Gramsci, Freire and Adult Education. London: Zed Books.
42. Meşe, İlknur. 2018. “Taşra Üniversitesinde Feminist Pedagoji: Ne Kadar Mümkün?” (Feminist Pedagogy in Provincial University: How Much Is Possible? Fe Dergi 10 (1): 66–78. https://doi.org/10.1501/Fe0001_0000000197.
43. Meşe, İlknur (Edt.). 2022.Feminist Failliğe Çağrı - Dersliklerde Feminist Pedagoji Deneyimleri. Ankara: Nika Yayınevi.
44. McLeod, Jane, Lyn Yates, and Khalid Halasa. 1994. “Voice, Difference and Feminist Pedagogy.” Curriculum Studies 2 (2): 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965975940020203.
45. Naskali, Päivi, and Sanna Keskitalo-Foley. 2019. “Mainstream University Pedagogy in Feminist Perspective.” Gender and Education 31 (1): 100–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2017.1315057
46. Oxford English Dictionary. 2026. authority. Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/ Entries?textTermText0=authority&textTermOpt0=Etymology.
47. Savaş Aşık, Melek. 2019. Geleneksel Eğitim Pedagojilerine Eleştirel Bir Yaklaşım: Feminist Pedagoji. (A Critical Approach Towards Traditional Pedagogies: Feminist Pedagogy). Yüksek lisans tezi (Master’s Thesis), İstanbul Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kadın Çalışmaları Anabilim Dalı, İstanbul.
48. Segal, Lynne. 2017. Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy. London: Verso Books.
49. Soini, Aleksi. 2025. “Autoethnography as a Tool of Researchers’ Identity Work Through Retrospective Care.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251404340.
50. Stromquist, Nelly P. 1995. “The Theoretical and Practical Bases for Empowerment.” In Women, Education and Empowerment: Pathways towards Autonomy, edited by Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo, 13–23. UIE Studies 5. Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Education.
51. Şimşek Aksin, Meltem. 2019. Queer ve Feminist Pedagojiler Temelinde Ankara’da Lise Öğretmenleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma. (A Research on High School Teachers Based on Queer and Feminist Pedagogies). Yüksek lisans tezi (Master’s Thesis), Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Sosyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Ankara.
52. Tuna, Emine. 2023. Feminist Pedagoji Bağlamında Sanat Eğitimi. (Art Education in the Context of Feminist Pedagogy). Yüksek lisans tezi (Master’s Thesis),Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Eskişehir.