¶ … Feminist Epistemology Are Consistent Within the Values of My Professional Discipline Education as a profession is intensely self-reflective. There is a constant need to ask 'what is the purpose of learning' and 'what makes an individual educated in our society.' Currently, the nation is wrestling with this question in the era of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Schools are being judged as 'successes' and failures based upon predetermined standards. But this is not a new debate. Ever since Plato people have debated what individuals are teachable and the role of the state in educating young people. Critical theory helps to contextualize the debate about the nature of human intelligence and what constitutes an acceptable canon of knowledge. For example, during the 19th century for upper-class boys, knowing Greek and Latin rather than technical disciplines was prized. Today, the sciences are given priority in judging educational excellence, such as the sciences along with a familiarity with certain kinds of...

Visual learners, kinesthetic learners, and others might not be equally valued by the school system as more verbally or mathematically-oriented students. Acknowledging the socially-constructed nature of the prioritization of certain types of knowledge is a more compassionate and useful way of looking at learning, given that it does not stigmatize or devalue students who may fit less well into a particular 'system.' Even today, throughout the world, different societies prioritize different social qualities within their learning environments. Some may value creativity, others obedience, still others rote mastery.
Critical theory's emphasis on the situated nature of…