Teaching empowers both me and my students. As a feminist scholar and teacher, I can not disclaim the authority that a teacher has and should have; yet, this authority should be used with caution. Thus, creating a democratic and interactive learning environment continues to be a primary goal of my teaching. I have been striving to achieve this goal by designing class activities that promote interaction and collaboration among students, thus disrupting the boundaries and hierarchies often invisible due to differences in disciplines, class, race or gender. Teaching the writing process and incorporating technology effectively disrupt these classroom boundaries.
Teaching writing as a process builds students’ confidence in writing and helps them approach writing in tangible ways. Although a universal writing process does not exist, segmenting the writing process with effective invention, drafting, peer review, and revising activities lessens students’ pressure and fear, enabling them to produce better work. Encouraging dialogues in the invention stage motivates students to express and exchange thoughts, eventually generating topics and articulating arguments. Engaging in invention activities with other students and the instructor exposes students to differences, helping them become aware of how social and economic status affects people and their views of the world, thus directing them to critically analyze and interpret information. These activities promote active learning, guiding students to explore ideas and amplify their voices through the writing process, which are important components of feminist pedagogy. Therefore, as students engage in the writing process, they are empowered to become critical writers, readers, and thinkers who can actively transfer their knowledge to the outside world.