By Emily Hodgdon
Throughout the month of March, Tyler Tallmadge, an English teacher at Mount View High School, fought to add to the curriculum and teach a class, appropriately titled, Women and Gender Studies. I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Tallmadge a few questions regarding the content of the class so as to spread information about what students could gain from taking it.
When asked what message he wanted potential students to take away from the course, Mr. Tallmadge reflected on the complexities of the individual student, rather than the class as a whole.
“Ideally, I want the message of the class to be the importance of each and every student’s individual voice. I see myself approaching this from a number of angles. A lot of students are interested, of course, in the feminine voice and how it’s controlled and silenced. Others are coming to the course hoping to hear queer voices. It’s really going to depend, I think, on each individual’s own experiences what they might take from this course. I hope that it helps students see how voices have been silenced in the past and how they continue to be silenced (or attempted silencing) in today’s society.” -Tyler Tallmadge
I asked Mr. Tallmadge about his inspiration for the class. He replied with a thought provoking process of the development of the course through his own experiences, even reflecting on how his current students have influenced the course and inspired him to move forward with this idea.
“This is actually something that I’ve been thinking about proposing for a while now. It began developing in my mind last year as something I’d be interested in teaching. I wasn’t sure what it would be or how it would shake out, but that’s what this year has been for.” Says Tallmadge.
“Essentially, the idea for the class comes from my own experiences as someone who has a background in the Women & Gender studies field. I’ve always enjoyed analyzing social constructions of gender identity and expression. As an English teacher, I’m particularly interested in how that is shown in literature (and other forms of media). It was this year in my Honors English 1 course wherein I really saw this class coming together beautifully. My students and I read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is entirely about the mistreatment and silencing of women. The conversations that came from that text alone really showed me that there was an interest in this type of class (so shout out to the Class of 2025 Honors English Students!). Their interest in this topic is really what gave me the go ahead to even begin developing the class. I wouldn’t have proposed this type of elective if I truly thought there was absolutely no student interest.”-Tyler Tallmadge
I was curious to hear how this course would play out as there has never been a course quite like it at Mount View, so Mr. Tallmadge shared his thoughts on the development of the course:
“This is what I’m so excited to see! I’m most excited to engage with the first batch of students taking this course. As I said at the English Department Elective meeting, I’m really open to mending my curriculum to match the interests of the students taking the course. I’m hoping they bring materials into the classroom that they’d want to talk about. In terms of developing, anything can happen in terms of content. In 5 years, let’s say there is a new film out that does some crazy stuff with the portrayal of gender…I’d totally try to incorporate that into my class. The field of Women & Gender studies allows for the topic itself to stay contemporary pretty much indefinitely…Or at least, I think it does!” relayed Tallmadge.
I was curious to see if Mr.Tallmadge had anything he wanted to say about the class that he hadn’t had the opportunity to share thus far, and he shared the following:
“Honestly, this is a hard question. I’m just really excited to dive into the class itself and see how it naturally develops. I guess if there is one thing I haven’t shared it might be this: I think that every teacher who proposes an elective course puts a part of themselves into constructing it. In some ways, these classes we develop are our “babies.” Or at least, the WGS elective is my baby…I’m really invested in following it into what it becomes. With general level classes, it’s really easy for kids to complain or question what they’re doing or why they’re doing. With an elective like this, students elect to be there and I hope they come in for the right reasons! I’m taking this class very seriously and I hope my students do as well,” Tallmadge shared.
From the information I’ve gathered from Mr. Tallmadge, the Women and Gender Studies course will be a student-influenced course with media examples, both modern and historical, that provide insight on gender roles and the portrayal of them. Moreover, the class will have a flexible curriculum that will encourage students to participate in discussions over societal implications of gender, how they may have changed, how they will continue to change, and how that presents itself within day-to-day life.