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Journals / Fe Dergi / 2026 / Cilt: 18 Sayı: 1

A collective questioning of authority: Contradictions of feminist pedagogy across educational levels in Türkiye

Kolektif bir pratik olarak otoritenin sorgulanması: Türkiye’de farklı eğitim kademelerinde feminist pedagojinin ikilemleri

Songül Gün(EGE UNIVERSITY, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, WOMEN'S STUDIES (MASTER))0009-0005-0195-3772
Duygu Altınoluk(KILIS 7 ARALIK UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-3347-2632
Gülşah Aykaç Üngür(MARMARA UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-6003-2704
Yasemin Erdoğan Öztürk(KARABUK UNIVERSITY)0000-0001-5033-0436
Zeynep Alica(Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, İstanbul)0000-0001-8333-3836
Journal
Fe Dergi
Pages
66–80
Publication Date
2026-06-18
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Rather than eliminating these contradictions or ignoring them, in this article we choose to bring them to light and discuss them in depth, offering a framework for understanding authority in feminist pedagogy within the context of neoliberal-authoritarian education regimes.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article examines how feminist educators in Türkiye negotiate authority as a relational and emotionally charged practice rather than a fixed position.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Drawing on a year-long collaborative process—including workshops, conference discussions, meeting records, and collective writing—we employ collective autoethnography to explore how authority is resisted, reworked, and at times inadvertently reproduced across different educational levels and institutional contexts.
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Conclusion & Impact:Rather than eliminating these contradictions or ignoring them, in this article we choose to bring them to light and discuss them in depth, offering a framework for understanding authority in feminist pedagogy within the context of neoliberal-authoritarian education regimes.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Feminist pedagoji · otorite · bakım etiği

Abstract

This article examines how feminist educators in Türkiye negotiate authority as a relational and emotionally charged practice rather than a fixed position. Drawing on a year-long collaborative process—including workshops, conference discussions, meeting records, and collective writing—we employ collective autoethnography to explore how authority is resisted, reworked, and at times inadvertently reproduced across different educational levels and institutional contexts. We argue that feminist pedagogy’s commitment to voice, participation, and care does not eliminate authority; rather, it requires continuous boundary work to intervene in unequal speaking regimes, sustain classroom safety, and distribute responsibility without reproducing authoritarianism. The self-narratives of us—as five educators working in different cities and educational levels—reveal three intertwined tensions: the moral expectation that women educators act as “angelic” caregivers under structural constraints; the ambivalence of softness as both a transformative pedagogical resource and a site of gendered affective exploitation; and the challenge of crafting authority as creative authorship while protecting the conditions that make care sustainable. Rather than eliminating these contradictions or ignoring them, in this article we choose to bring them to light and discuss them in depth, offering a framework for understanding authority in feminist pedagogy within the context of neoliberal-authoritarian education regimes.

Özet

Bu makale, Türkiye’de feminist eğitimcilerin otoriteyi sabit bir konumdan ziyade ilişkisel ve duygusal olarak yüklü bir pratik olarak nasıl müzakere ettiklerini incelemektedir. Atölye çalışmaları, konferans tartışmaları, toplantı kayıtları ve kolektif yazım süreçlerini içeren bir yıllık işbirlikçi bir çalışmaya dayanarak, otoritenin farklı eğitim düzeyleri ve kurumsal bağlamlar boyunca nasıl dirençle karşılandığını, yeniden kurulduğunu ve zaman zaman istemeden yeniden üretildiğini incelemek üzere kolektif otoetnografi yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Makalede, feminist pedagojinin ses, katılım ve bakım vurgusunun otoriteyi ortadan kaldırmadığı; aksine, otoriterliğe kaymadan eşitsiz konuşma rejimlerine müdahale etmeyi, sınıf içi güvenliği sürdürmeyi ve sorumluluğu paylaşmayı gerektiren sürekli bir sınır müzakeresi talep ettiği savunulmaktadır. Farklı şehirlerde ve eğitim kademelerinde çalışan beş eğitimcinin öz-anlatıları üç iç içe geçmiş gerilimi görünür kılmaktadır: yapısal kısıtlar altında kadın eğitimcilerden “melek” bakım vericiler olmalarının beklenmesi; yumuşaklığın hem dönüştürücü bir pedagojik kaynak hem de toplumsal cinsiyetlendirilmiş duygulanımsal sömürü alanı olarak taşıdığı ikirciklilik; ve bakımın sürdürülebilirliğini mümkün kılan koşulları korurken otoriteyi yaratıcı bir yazarlık olarak kurma ihtiyacı. Bu çelişkileri azaltmak ya da onları yok saymak yerine, onları ortaya döküp derinlemesine tartışmayı seçen makale, neoliberal-otoriter eğitim rejimleri bağlamında feminist pedagojide otoriteyi anlamaya yönelik konumlanmış bir çerçeve sunmaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Gün, S., Altınoluk, D., Üngür, G. A., Öztürk, Y. E., Alica, Z. (2026). A collective questioning of authority: Contradictions of feminist pedagogy across educational levels in Türkiye. Fe Dergi, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 1, 66–80. https://doi.org/10.46655/federgi.1856045

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