Title: Beyond chalk and talk: a feminist-Austrian dialogue

Authors: Robert F. Garnett Jr.

Addresses: Department of Economics, Texas Christian University, USA

Abstract: Despite its limited efficacy, 'chalk and talk' remains the default pedagogy in undergraduate economics. Chalk and talk's persistence is partially a rhetorical problem, a failure to persuade economics educators that expert-centred pedagogies are philosophically inconsistent with assumptions and theories they hold dear as economists. In this article, I examine and contrast two counterexamples drawn from the literature of feminist pedagogy and the emerging discourse of Austrian pedagogy. Extending the de facto feminist-Austrian dialogue to the broader conversation of economics education, I argue that critical masses of mainstream and heterodox economists are already committed to (or could be persuaded to adopt) the ends and means of liberal education. The discovery of pedagogical confluences between ostensibly discordant schools of economic thought (feminist and Austrian, heterodox and mainstream) suggests that reflexive pedagogy - rendering explicit the theoretical precepts embedded in educational practices - may offer an effective way to foster pedagogical innovation.

Keywords: economics education; chalk and talk; reflexive pedagogy; feminist economics; feminist pedagogy; sage on stage; expert-centred; Friedrich Hayek; Austrian economics; Austrian pedagogy; liberal education; reflective judgement; critical thinking; higher education; feminism; pedagogical innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2015.072591

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2015 Vol.6 No.2, pp.151 - 164

Received: 14 Mar 2015
Accepted: 15 Jul 2015

Published online: 21 Oct 2015 *

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