This lesson plan is also available as a Word file here.

Chapter 6: Lesson Plan 1: Gender, Sexuality and Education - Historical Perspectives

Course Level: Undergraduate and Graduate Education Studies

Estimated Time: 2-3 hours

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Trace the evolution of gender roles and educational access from colonial times through the mid-20th century
Analyze how race and class intersected with gender to shape educational opportunities
Compare and contrast different ideologies of womanhood (cult of true womanhood, race uplift, sentimental womanhood)
Evaluate the factors that led women into the teaching profession and the consequences of feminization of teaching
Examine the connections between women's education and broader social reform movements
Apply intersectional analysis to understand how racism and sexism shaped educational access differently for White women and women of color

Lesson Structure

Segment 1: Introduction and Colonial Foundations (25 minutes)

Mini-Lecture: Colonial Gender Systems (12 minutes)

Key Points:

Indigenous Systems - The Iroquois Example (3 min)

Relative sexual equality
Women's involvement in governance, voting, religious activities
Treated with respect
Contrast with European systems

White Colonial Women (4 min)

Significant gender inequities despite economic importance
Domestic production and social roles
Educational role in family-based learning
Inferior positions in power hierarchy
By early 1700s: Four school types emerging

Dame schools (taught by women, for small children)
Reading/writing schools (some women teachers, some girls)
Latin grammar schools (male-dominated)
Colleges (exclusively male)

Enslaved African Women (5 min)

Forced labor and reproduction
Slave owners appropriated reproductive lives
Education outlawed, punishable by death
Secret pursuit of literacy: The "fugitive project"
Susie King Taylor example: Kitchen classrooms, books wrapped in paper
Widely held belief in importance of education despite risks

Visual Aid: Create three-column chart comparing educational access and opportunities across these three groups

Primary Source Analysis (3 minutes)

Document: Excerpt from Susie King Taylor's memoir

"We went every day about 9 o'clock, with our books wrapped in paper to prevent the police or white persons from seeing them. We went in, one at a time, through the gate, into the yard to the kitchen, which was the schoolroom... After the lessons were over... we would go out of the gate one by one."

Quick Discussion (10 min):

What does this reveal about the risks involved?
What does it tell us about the determination to pursue education?

Segment 2: Industrial Revolution and Competing Ideologies (35 minutes)

Jigsaw Activity: Three Ideologies of Womanhood (20 minutes)

Setup: Divide class into expert groups (4-5 students each)

Group A: Cult of True Womanhood (White Women, 1820-1860)

Focus: Domestic, submissive, pliable, pious
"Frail white hand" upholding moral pillars
Anyone tampering with these virtues deemed "enemy of God"
Shaped education of upper/middle-class White women
Task: Analyze how this ideology both elevated and constrained White women

Group B: Race Uplift (Black Women)

Focus: Education as tool for race improvement
Expected to advance their race economically, educationally, socially
Lives never characterized by submissiveness and fragility
Encountered both racism and sexism
After Civil War: Teaching freed people
Task: Explain how this differed from "true womanhood" and what it demanded of Black women

Group C: Sentimental Womanhood (Teaching Profession)

Focus: Women as naturally maternal, affectionate, moral
Man governed by head; woman by heart
Maternal instinct as answer to industrialization's problems
Women would civilize society through teaching
Task: Identify how this ideology served both progressive and conservative purposes

Group D: Economic Realities (The Real Story)

Focus: Wage data and exploitation
Samuel Slater's factory wages (by age and gender)
Teacher pay gap: Men $32.22/month vs. Women $12.78/month
Labor market exploitation examples
Task: Contrast ideological justifications with economic motivations

Jigsaw Process:

Expert groups study assigned topic (8 min)
Regroup into mixed teams with one expert from each group (10 min)
Each expert teaches their topic (2-3 min each)
Mixed groups discuss: How did these ideologies work together to shape women's entry into teaching?

Whole Class Discussion (15 minutes)

Central Questions:

How did these different ideologies serve the interests of those in power?

Chart responses: Who benefited? How?

Why were women paid so much less than men for teaching?

Connect to ideology: "Spiritual rewards" (Mary Lyon)
Connect to economics: Cheaper labor for expanding school systems
Connect to labor market: Men leaving for industrial opportunities

How did race shape women's experiences of these ideologies differently?

White women: Elevated but constrained by "true womanhood"
Black women: Burdened with "race uplift" while facing racism and sexism
Both groups: Channeled into limited occupational options

Critical Reflection Prompt: Mary Lyon argued that teaching was sacred and teachers should be paid no more than ministers or missionaries. The chapter notes this "may have contributed to the poor economic status of the teaching profession." Do you agree? What are the implications for today's teachers?

Segment 3: Women's Entry into Teaching and Higher Education (30 minutes)

Interactive Timeline Activity (15 minutes)

Small Group Task (Groups of 3-4):

Create a visual timeline (1750-1900) showing:

Key institutional founding dates
Important figures and their contributions
Changes in women's access to education
Intersection of race and gender

Key Events/Figures to Include:

Institutional Developments:

1821: Emma Hart Willard founds Troy Female Seminary
1823: Catherine Beecher founds Hartford Female Seminary
1833: Oberlin College admits women coeducationally
1837: Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary
1865+: Private women's colleges (Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr)
1869: Fanny Jackson Coppin becomes first Black woman to lead institution of higher learning
By 1900: 59% of secondary enrollments are girls

Philosophical Shifts:

Benjamin Franklin: Women should learn languages, business, science
Benjamin Rush: Women need education in principles of liberty, government
Emma Hart Willard: Women make good teachers (patience, softness, persuasion)
Catherine Beecher: Women as social redeemers
Mary Lyon: Teaching as sacred activity

Statistical Changes:

1843: Horace Mann reports 131 more male teachers, 691 more female teachers (5-year period)
By 1890: Women hold predominant role in elementary teaching
Eventually: Women occupy 2 out of 3 teaching positions

Comparative Analysis Discussion (10 minutes)

Present Data Set:

White Women's Progress:

Access to higher education expanding
Entering teaching in large numbers
By 1900: Majority of secondary students

Black Women's Experiences:

Before Civil War: Most educated Black people became teachers
Mary Peake, Milla Granson: Opening schools
Fanny Jackson Coppin: Leadership in higher education AND social services
In higher education: Black men greatly outnumbered Black women
Faced both racism and sexism
1920: Only 0.5% of Black doctors were women

Discussion Questions:

What accounts for these different trajectories?
How did Black women combine education with social activism in ways White women pioneers did not?
What does Fanny Jackson Coppin's combination of educational leadership with offering trades classes, housing, and nurse's training tell us about the different expectations placed on Black women educators?

Case Study: Fanny Jackson Coppin (5 minutes)

Quick Read and Discuss:

Present Coppin's accomplishments:

First Black woman to lead institution of higher learning (1869)
Exemplified "racial uplift" philosophy
Offered classes in trades to working adults
Specifically supported women who migrated north
Offered housing and nurse's training to indigent women

Reflection Question: How does Coppin's work illustrate the intersection of race, gender, and class in education? How was her role different from that of White women educational pioneers like Willard or Lyon?

Break (10 minutes)

Segment 4: Women's Rights Movements and Intersectional Struggles (30 minutes)

Mini-Lecture: The Suffrage Movement and Its Complications (12 minutes)

Part 1: Early Coalition (4 min)

Pre-1860: Many working for women's suffrage also worked for abolition
Coalition of advocates for both causes
Shared understanding of oppression

Part 2: The Split (5 min)

1860: 15th Amendment grants all men right to vote, but not women
Different reactions:

Black women suffragists (Sojourner Truth, Mary Ann Shadd Cary): Disappointed but continued work
Some White suffragists: Especially upset that men of Color had rights White women didn't

1869: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony distance from Black suffrage

Abandon Equal Rights Association
Form National Woman Suffrage Association

White suffragists worried supporting Black women would weaken their own chances
Black women often denied admission to "mainstream" events, harassed

Part 3: Separate Organizing (3 min)

1896: National Association of Colored Women (NACW) formed
First President: Mary Church Terrell
Focus: "Social uplift," education, temperance, health, prison reform
By early 20th century: Tens of thousands engaged in Black women's clubs
Different priorities: More pressing problems in South (disenfranchisement, violence)

Visual Aid: Venn diagram showing overlapping and separate concerns of White and Black women's movements

Primary Source Analysis: The Combahee River Collective Statement (8 minutes)

Context Setting (2 min):

Jump forward to 1973
National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) founded
Why? Alienation from both White feminist organizations AND Black male-dominated political groups
One chapter writes the Combahee River Collective Statement

Read and Analyze (6 min):

Key Quote:

"...struggle together with Black men against racism, while we also struggle with Black men about sexism."

Small Group Discussion (3 min):

What does this statement reveal about the complexity of Black women's position?
How does this connect to earlier splits in the suffrage movement?
Why was it necessary for Black women to form separate organizations?

Whole Class Debrief (3 min):

Connect historical pattern from 1869 to 1973
How did White women's feminism continue to marginalize women of color?
What does "intersectionality" mean in this context?

Activity: Mapping Social Reform Connections (10 minutes)

Partner Activity:

Create a concept map showing connections between:

Women's education
Teaching profession
Temperance movement
Women's suffrage
Settlement house movement
Labor organizing

Key Figures to Connect:

Jane Addams: Hull House
Crystal Eastman: Pacifism, voting rights, ACLU
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Motherly instinct to social problems
Susan B. Anthony: Teacher turned reformer
Carrie Chapman Catt: School superintendent turned suffrage leader

Guiding Question: How did women's entry into teaching and higher education prepare them for broader social reform efforts?

Share Out (3 min):

2-3 pairs share their maps
Identify patterns: Education → Employment → Reform Work → Political Rights

Segment 5: 20th Century Changes and Continuities (20 minutes)

Lecture-Discussion: The Long Struggle (10 minutes)

Major Developments:

Achievements by 1920 (2 min)

18th Amendment: Prohibition
19th Amendment: Women's suffrage
Faltering after WWI: Desire to return to "normalcy"

Mid-20th Century (3 min)

1920s: Frivolous flapper image
Great Depression: Women worked hard despite stereotypes
Labor unions gained recognition but women still paid less
WWII: Women into labor force
Post-war: Return to domesticity and consumption

Second Wave Feminism (5 min)

1950s: Sex symbol image (Marilyn Monroe)
Studies found professional ranks didn't admit enough women
Schools "programmed" girls for traditional roles
1966: National Organization of Women (NOW) formed
Women's liberation movement
BUT: Mostly represented White women's concerns
Audre Lorde to Mary Daly: "...a joint clarification of some of the differences which lie between us as a black and a white woman"

Reflection Activity: Historical Legacies (5 minutes)

Written Response (3 min):

Choose ONE of the following:

A. Which historical ideology about women and education do you think has the most lasting impact on schools today? Explain with specific examples.

B. The chapter shows how racism and sexism intersected to shape different experiences for White women and women of color. Identify one historical moment where this intersection was particularly significant and explain its long-term consequences.

C. Women entered teaching in large numbers but were paid significantly less than men. What factors contributed to this, and how might these factors still influence the teaching profession today?

Pair-Share (2 min):

Share responses with partner
Identify common themes

Segment 6: Synthesis and Contemporary Connections (15 minutes)

Gallery Walk: Historical Themes (10 minutes)

Setup: Post chart papers around room with the following themes:

Ideology vs. Reality
Economic Exploitation Disguised as Moral Elevation
Intersectionality: Race, Class, and Gender
Education as Pathway to Reform
Separate Organizing: When and Why?

Activity (7 min):

Small groups rotate to each station
Add sticky notes with:

Historical examples of the theme
Questions the theme raises
Connections to today

Debrief (3 min):

Each group briefly reports on one station
Instructor highlights patterns across themes

Closing Discussion: Bridging to Contemporary Issues (5 minutes)

Facilitated Discussion:

Questions:

The chapter shows teaching became feminized largely because women were cheap labor. How might this history help explain contemporary issues like teacher pay and respect for the profession?
We saw how different ideologies of womanhood (true womanhood, race uplift, sentimental womanhood) shaped women's educational experiences. What ideologies about gender shape education today?
The suffrage movement split along racial lines, and Black women had to form separate organizations. What contemporary parallels exist in education or other movements?
As we move to studying contemporary conditions in the next class, what historical patterns should we watch for? What has genuinely changed, and what might be continuity disguised as progress?

Closing: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Written Response - Choose ONE:

Option A: Most Significant Development Identify the historical development from today's lesson that you believe had the most significant long-term impact on gender and education. Explain your reasoning with specific evidence.

Option B: Intersectional Analysis Choose one historical figure or movement discussed today. Analyze how race, class, and gender intersected to shape that person's or movement's experiences and goals.

Option C: Historical Questions What question about the history of gender and education are you left with after today's class? What would you need to know to answer it?

Option D: Bridge to Contemporary Identify one historical pattern from today's lesson that you predict we'll see continuing in some form when we study contemporary conditions. Explain your prediction.

Extensions

Connect to Next Class:

Reading: Contemporary Conditions section
Preview question: "How do the historical ideologies and patterns we studied today continue to shape contemporary education and gender roles?"

Assessment Options:

Research Project: Investigate a local women's college, normal school, or female educational pioneer. Present findings in 5-minute presentation.
Primary Source Analysis: Find an additional primary source from 1750-1950 related to women and education. Write 2-page analysis connecting it to chapter themes.
Comparative Timeline: Create expanded timeline comparing educational access for White women, Black women, and Indigenous women across the period studied.