Can Education Change Society? Curriculum, Feminist pedagogy and Adult Education

Resumo

In this article I reflect on the question posed by Michael Apple (2013), Can education change society? I argue that pedagogy and curriculum are inextricably linked, and feminist pedagogy has highlighted that traditional pedagogy and curricula leave a void that is filled with conventional and/or neo-liberal social agendas. I argue that critical and feminist curriculum development confronts these agendas, by highlighting the role that the hidden curriculum plays in education as a social institution and proposing alternative lens for critical reflexivity as the underpinning principle in curriculum development. I draw on my own experience of education in Ireland and connect with both Irish and international perspectives on curriculum and ideology. I presented the argument that feminist pedagogy and adult education are incompatible with set curricula, particularly when the set curricula are underpinned by social discourse that valorises meritocracy and inequality. The profound changes in the 20th century through campaigning and  activism demonstrates that it is possible to change society, and education has a part to play in it.