Female Teachers

Käthe Kollwitz, one of the most prominent female artists in Germany, spend almost ten years working as a teacher in two renowned art schools. Even though she was insecure about her teaching assignments, her work as a teacher especially empowered her female students. Two documents from the Archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin that provide the evidence of Kollwitz’s teaching will function as a starting point to approach this topic of female empowerment through teaching.

"... following the discovery of an award-winning Piano Trio by French composer Jeanne Barbillion (1895–1992) in a ‘help-yourself’ cardboard box of old scores, Eva M. Maschke (chapter 13) painstakingly pieces together information about this little-known composer, laying the foundations for a much-needed reassessment of Barbillion’s contribution to French musical life." (Rhiannon Mathias, Editor’s introduction, p.3).

Abstract:
In his 2001 monograph about French cello sonatas, Stephen Sensbach recommended Jeanne Barbillion’s cello sonata for its modern idiom and its effective cello part. With the exception of Sensbach’s appraisal, Barbillion’s oeuvre is among the numerous neglected oeuvres of female composers and almost entirely forgotten today. She spent her whole musical life in Paris and was active at the Schola cantorum, where she studied both piano and violin and also obtained a degree in composition with Vincent d’ Indy. Later she was a teacher at the same institution. While focusing on chamber music, Barbillion also wrote some orchestral pieces and a Chorale et pastorale en rondeau for ondes martenot, organ and strings. Apart from bringing the life’s work of a composer, performer and academic teacher back to memory, this chapter draws special attention to one particular work, Barbillion’s Piano Trio of 1926, for which she was awarded the Prix Marmontel from the Société des Compositeurs.

The current study investigated the activities and practices used by three female EFL teachers during the coronavirus pandemic between March 2020 till February 2021. The study also explored the difficulties and obstacles faced by the three teachers during that period. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative approach utilizing a case study design was employed using three tools: teachers' written reflections, content analysis of teachers' posts on the social media, and a focus group meeting via Zoom. The significance of the study emerges from its objectives to contribute to EFL teachers' professional development during the emergency cases. Results revealed that the three teachers were able to cope with the new situation by adopting new methods of content delivery and new forms of communication as well. These teachers used online technologies such as Facebook, YouTube, and Microsoft Teams to communicate with their students and the parents as well. However, some challenges emerged, including the financial situation of the families and its impact on students' access to internet connection and family affordability. Under these conditions, teacher training programs are in demand for using appropriate technologies that engage the students and attract their attention.

Irenaeus' testimony about the Carpocratians (Haer. 1.25.6)  mentions the female teacher Marcellina, who came to Rome under Anicetus (157-68 C.E.), and supposedly "destroyed multitudes." In this respect alone, being a socially mobile, independent female teacher, she is remarkable. Her "school" (or perhaps salon) used images as part of their group rituals, images of Christ as well as those of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle. This article explores why Irenaeus' remark about Marcellina does not appear in Hippolytus or Tertullian, both of whom would normally be eager to disparage renegade female teachers.  It concludes that the material about Marcellina made its way into some version of a syntagma-like work or a later edition of Irenaeus' work circulating in Rome, not available to Hippolytus or Tertullian. But Celsus, writing well before Hipploytus and Tertullian, independently confirms her existence. As such, the information about Marcellina may be considered relatively reliable, originating as it does in the Roman milieu, not simply in the generalizing remarks of Irenaeus, criticizing a heretic in far-away Egypt. It is Marcellina's group that "calls itself 'gnostic,'" (not necessarily that of Carpocrates) and that venerates images. She thus deserves a more prominent place in the history of Christian iconography than she has received thus far. It is also likely that she and members of her group are responsible for bringing the writings of Carpocrates to Rome. As a result, they were a school-like group that incorporated both texts and visual images into their practices.

El nombre de Teresa Carreño ha resonado en el mundo desde el día de su nacimiento en Caracas el 22 de diciembre de 1853 en el corazón de una familia profundamente musical. Teresa Carreño fue una de las pianistas más exitosas del siglo XIX y XX, presentándose en toda Europa, Estados Unidos, Cuba, Venezuela, Australasia y Sudáfrica durante una carrera en la que ganó la admiración de los músicos más destacados de su tiempo. Celebraron su talento compositores de la talla de Gounod, Rossini, Bizet, Liszt, Berlioz, Brahms, los jóvenes pianistas como Claudio Arrau y Sergei Rachmaninoff, por nombrar solo algunos. Tocó conciertos con la Filarmónica de Berlín con los directores Arthur Nikisch, August Scharrer y Hans von Bülow. También bajo la batuta del famoso compositor y director, Gustav Mahler. Muchas veces interpretó el Concierto en la menor para piano y orquesta de Edward Grieg dirigida por el propio compositor. Se dice que él le hizo el siguiente comentario después de oírla tocar por primera vez: "Señora, no sabía que mi música era tan hermosa". Actuó varias veces en los conciertos de los "Proms" de Londres fundados por Henry Wood quien en una entrada en su diario dice sobre la pianista venezolana: "Es difícil expresar adecuadamente lo que todos los músicos sentían acerca de esta gran mujer que parecía una reina entre los pianistas, y tocaba como una diosa. En el instante en que subía al escenario, su dignidad sostenía a su audiencia que la miraba fijamente con atención mientras ella arreglaba la larga cola de su vestido. Su vigor masculino, su cantabile y su maravillosa precisión en la ejecución de pasajes de octavas emocionaban a todos los oyentes".

Development of teaching competencies has always considered the most prolif ic dimension in teaching education. It assists teachers in teaching and in preparing to adopt more functional orientation practices benef icial towards teaching practice. This study aimed to investigate the antecedents of teachers' teaching practices. Primary data through survey was collected from 377 female elementary school teachers from private sector schools based in Karachi. Smart PLS was used for data analysis. Findings of this study revealed a signif icant relationship among organizational factors, teachers' professional development and teachers' teaching practices. This paper contributes to existing knowledge by reporting new empirical evidences from female elementary school teachers. Hence, this research provides practitioners and policy makers with better insights into some practices that could improve teaching practices.