Raising Consciousness of Gender Oppression through a Transformed Curriculum

Abstract Since South Africa’s transition to democracy, numerous policies have been enacted to address gender oppression. Taking its cue from the country’s constitution, these policies and acts, such as the Higher Education Act (1997), aim, in particular, to promote social justice by addressing gender imbalances in society. Likewise, the vision of Sol Plaatje University includes advancing social justice by addressing gender oppression. The prevalence of various types of violence against women suggests that South African women are still being oppressed; it also points to power imbalances within society that are aimed at maintaining the status quo. This paper seeks to explore the value of an education module at Sol Plaatje University to raise the consciousness of first-year education students about gender oppression. Data were generated through three reflective narratives, through which six students from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds were requested to reflect on and narrate their socialisation and their experience of the module. We used Harro’s (2000b) cycle of socialisation and Love’s (2000) cycle of liberation as lenses to make sense of the students’ experiences of gender and the module. Indications from the narratives are that this particular module has the potential to raise student teachers’ consciousness about gender oppression.