Placing Feminist Education Within the Three Paradigms of Knowledge and Action*

Use of the three paradigms of knowledge and action (instrumental‐technical, interpretive, and critical‐emancipatory) to achieve the goals of feminist family education is explored. Each paradigm is described, including its underlying assumptions and when it is useful to use. Feminist methods in selected Family Relations articles between 1988–1999 are examined for their illustration of the three paradigms. Various challenges in using the interpretive and critical‐emancipatory paradigms also are discussed.