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Such transitions can intensify existing barriers or produce collateral acquisition of new oppressive constraints within professional life.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/teaching-in-the-institutional-cage-metaphor-and-collateral-oppression/599640/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/teaching-in-the-institutional-cage-metaphor-and-collateral-oppression/599640.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"jayni","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What do Frye and Collins’ theories contribute to the paper’s central argument?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Frye’s cage metaphor frames oppression as restrictive structures, while Collins’ intersecting oppressions explains how multiple oppressive forces overlap and shape individual experiences.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How does the paper describe the cage metaphor changing over time?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"The cage remains in a state of flux as individuals transition into voluntary social groups, meaning new forms of constraint can emerge or intensify.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What kinds of institutional practices does the author describe as oppressive in schooling?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The author highlights drill-and-kill approaches, test preparation, scripted programs, incessant assessments, and curricular overload that reduce meaningful teaching and learning.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},599640,1792160883,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},3985747859343,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","| | Teaching in the Institutional Cage: Metaphor and Collateral Oppression |\n| --- | --- |\n\nBecky L. Noël Smith, Independent Scholar  \nAbstract  \nThis analysis is a philosophical exploration of Marilyn Frye’s metaphor of the cage and Patricia Hill Collins’ theory of intersecting oppressions. It argues that social structures and forms of oppressive knowledge make up the individual wires on each person’s cage and that these work to confine individuals, particularly those in the schooling institution. The cage, however, remains in a state of flux as individuals transition into voluntary social groups (like the teaching profession). Thus, voluntary transitions into the profession can create scenarios where people experience either the intensification of existing barriers or the collateral acquisition of new oppressive wires.  \nKeywords: moral oppression, intersectionality, collateral oppression, total institutions  \nIntroduction: Reflecting on My Time in the Institution  \n…injustices may not be perceived as injustices, even by those who suffer them, until somebody invents a previously unplayed role. Only if somebody has a dream, and a voice to describe that dream, does what looked like nature begin to look like culture, what looked like fate begin to look like a moral abomination. For until then only the language of the oppressor is available, and most oppressors have had the wit to teach the oppressed a language in which the oppressed will sound crazy—even to themselves—if they describe themselves as oppressed.  \n—Richard Rorty, Feminism and Pragmatism: The Tanner Lectures on  \nHuman Values (1990, p. 4, original emphasis)  \nI devoted four years of my life to a Title I, public elementary school. The bonds I developed with my peers, the parents, and my students ensured that the people in my school became ‘my community’ even though my home was an hour from campus. I taught third grade for a couple years, and then I became the school’s technology teacher. The latter post allowed me to experience a teacher-to-teacher social dynamic that contrasted with my previous, and sometimes isolating, dynamic in the grade-level classroom. The gain of adult interaction that accompanied the tech position came with the loss of the close, heart-warming bonds that developed throughout a year of working with my students. One position was not necessarily better than the other; they were just different.  \nThe technology position allocated most of my time to troubleshooting the problems of my peers. I quickly realized that my effectiveness began with a diligence in listening to and un-  \nderstanding the difficulties the staff faced. The process required research, creativity, and persistence in the quest to devise and test possible solutions; it was a perpetual, learning-to-fix-it cycle. But I thrived on the challenge, and I derived energy from the resolutions that followed the exhaustion of collaboratively wading through problems with my peers.  \nMany of us worked rather late as we wrangled with the chaos of the profession, and most technological difficulties were addressed once the children had vacated for the day. In the isolation of the computer lab or in the stillness of a child-free classroom, my colleagues would privilege me with access to their perspectives on many things. Conversations about their issues with technology often evolved into issues with our profession in general. Many people expressed an intense frustration at the constant onslaught of changes and meaninglessness that continually dragged them farther and farther away from simply being able to teach. In fact, the veteran teachers were especially effective in illuminating the uselessness of the technological changes that flowed from the district, through me, and onto them. I took their suggestions and concerns to heart and acknowledged the tendency of my department to complicate their work. And their critiques helped me to become very deliberate and creative in my attempts to buffer th","cbCaioqRCHrkYWoE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioqRCHrkYWoE","pdf",328283,17,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction: Reflecting on My Time in the Institution","[{\"question\":\"What do Frye and Collins’ theories contribute to the paper’s central argument?\",\"answer\":\"Frye’s cage metaphor frames oppression as restrictive structures, while Collins’ intersecting oppressions explains how multiple oppressive forces overlap and shape individual experiences.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper describe the cage metaphor changing over time?\",\"answer\":\"The cage remains in a state of flux as individuals transition into voluntary social groups, meaning new forms of constraint can emerge or intensify.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of institutional practices does the author describe as oppressive in schooling?\",\"answer\":\"The author highlights drill-and-kill approaches, test preparation, scripted programs, incessant assessments, and curricular overload that reduce meaningful teaching and learning.\"}]","Teaching in the Institutional Cage - Metaphor and Collateral Oppression | PDF",1792089165,43]