Essays on feminism, theory, and education are offered in this anthology, which examines the roles of women as active agents of change, as conservators actively resisting change, or as objects of change. Seventeen chapters focus on the relationship between gender and the politics of knowledge, analyze varied situational contexts of women's educational activities, and (all but two) present empirical work. Part 1 discusses issues in educating women students for the future, with a focus on gender differences in learning styles and approaches to knowledge. The second part on mothers, teachers, children, and change examines kindergarten in turn-of-the century America, women's clubs as a vehicle of informal education, and black women's education in the south. Part 3 examines informal contexts of women's education in a review of the erosion of women's knowledge and control over the birthing experience, the move to women's control of their bodies and health, and class and gender consciousness. Three studies on patterns of women's lives after college are presented in the fourth part. Part 5 discusses feminist teaching in theory and practice, specifically, teaching about sexual preference and teaching as a tool for social change in the areas of sex equity, schooling, and work. Part 6 examines issues in gender, professionalism, and social change in essays on the effects of reform on teaching and teachers, black women's interpersonal support in relation to institutional change, visions and competencies, and the need for a new culture in higher education. References accompany each chapter. (LMI)