Learning to See Power: Teaching Privilege Through Feminist Pedagogy
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Authors
Kianna Carpenter
Issue Date
2026
Type
Language
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Abstract
Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) classrooms play a critical role in shaping how students understand themselves in relation to systems of power, identity, and inequality. As students become members of society, it becomes increasingly important for them to recognize their conscious and unconscious impacts on others through structures of inherent privilege. This paper argues that WGS pedagogy must move beyond naming systems of privilege to intentionally teaching students how to recognize, interrogate, and ethically mobilize their own privileges in ways that promote equity and collective well-being.
Drawing on feminist pedagogy and social justice education, this presentation examines the necessity of teaching privilege as a relational and lived experience rather than an abstract concept. Through classroom-based educational techniques and reflective exercises, I demonstrate how students can be guided through moments of discomfort, resistance, and critical self-reflection. Pedagogical tools such as the Power Wheel, Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches, and structured individual reflection activities are analyzed as effective strategies for making systems of privilege visible and discussable within the WGS classroom.
Ultimately, intentional, scaffolded approaches to teaching privilege not only foster critical consciousness but also equip students with ethical frameworks for using their positionality to support social responsibility, solidarity, and transformative social change.