The role of ‘Other Women’ in current educational transformations

Abstract

The INCLUD‐ED project’s case studies of successful schools in Europe reveal that there are advantages involved in opening schools to all kinds of women as far as educational and social inclusion is concerned. ‘Other Women’ – those whose voices have traditionally been silenced in academic settings – help in crucial ways to improve education when they have the chance to participate in multiple spaces and activities in the school. By participating in decision‐making bodies, in classrooms and in family education, amongst other activities, the ‘Other Women’ enhance students’ learning, improve living together and break down cultural and gender stereotypes. All these findings point to the need to open schools to all women to advance processes of educational transformation.

Keywords:

• ‘Other Women’
• educational inequalities
• gender
• transformation
• feminism

Notes

1. For more information see the following websites: http://www.facepa.org and http://www.dromkotar.org

2. As explained in the article by Gatt, Ojala and Soler in this special issue, the Learning Communities is a project of educational and social transformation which gathers a series of successful educational actions, which lead to the transformation of schools and their surroundings. The project is based on the theory of dialogic learning (Flecha 2000) and is being implemented in schools in Spain, Brazil and Chile.