In this chapter I aim to provide a review and critique of Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind (Belenky et al., 1986). 1 The ideas that this book have given rise to are especially relevant to this thesis. I first read this book within a few years of its initial publication. Its ideas had resonance for me and gave me the tools to describe my own learning history. Furthermore, I believe it shaped my emergent 'living theory' of what developmental education required, in turn, influencing the design of the MAPOD, in respect of an approach to learning based on a community of learners. During my inquiry, I have read this book many times, developing with each reading a deeper understanding of the text, helping me clarify over time how I could improve my practice. I begin with an introduction and overview of the study that forms the basis of this book, and then develop a more fulsome account of the five epistemological perspectives that shape the order of presentation of this book. In doing so, I aim to help the reader who may be unfamiliar with this work to gain an appreciation and understanding of how it has influenced my research. I develop my account by explaining how these perspectives resonated for me, and by providing a glimpse of how they helped me understand and know myself better as a learner. In addition, I indicate where they have influenced my thinking and living theory as a professional educator. By placing myself as knower within the text, I hope to show how the reading of this book and its subsequent review and critique was for me, not an activity of detached intellectual curiosity, used 1 Hereinafter in this chapter referred to as WWK. 103 to produce a traditional literature review, but rather a process of engagement with ideas in which I as a knower was intimately connected and attached to that which was also known to and communicated by others. The reading of this book began a relationship with those ideas that the authors brought into the public domain, leading to a personal and organisational learning trajectory of transformation. Finally, I will address issues of critique, drawing out in particular some of the key criticisms brought to light in the work of Goldberger et al. (1996).

We present a model of education, called “connected education,” designed to be appropriate for women, and derived from interviews with 135 women, varying widely in age, social and ethnic background, and educational institution. We explore four features of the model: (a) explicit confirmation for modes of thinking and kinds of knowledge that women value; (b) opportunities to explore the particularities of firsthand experience, before moving to conceptualization of that experience; (c) support for women's efforts to define their own educational tasks and develop their own individual styles of work; and (d) arrangements for egalitarian, collaborative construction of knowledge among teachers and students.

One hundred and thirty-five women from all walks of life—some enrolled in colleges, others in programs to enhance parenting skills—were interviewed to trace women's natural epistemologies or their ways of thinking about thinking and about themselves as knowers. We describe five different ways of knowing that women use to make sense out of their experience in the world. We also examine the descriptions that the women gave of the patterns of communication in their families. The politics of talk in family life provides insight into the different kinds of environments which promote and inhibit intellectual development. Examining the politics of talk also provides insight into the role that maternal practice and maternal thinking play in promoting human development.

This study contributes to the literature on parent involvement by examining predictors of educational leadership interests of parents of English learners (ELs). Using a sample of 129 parents of ELs who represented diverse ethnic backgrounds, the researchers examined parent leadership interests with survey research. Parent leadership interests were significantly predicted by expectations for children's educational success, encouragement from teachers, and parents’ own level of education. Specifically, parents with lower educational expectations for their children, who were encouraged to be involved by their children's teachers, and with higher levels of formal education were more likely to express leadership interests. These data have implications for how schools could extend outreach efforts to encourage participation of parents who may see themselves as less effective leaders.

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