When hooks was in school, black girls were expected to marry, become a maid, or become a teacher-not become a tenured professor. Like most critical theory out there today, hooks's theory often has a tone of scolding self-righteousness, which is rarely persuasive. But one of the ironies of hooks's work is that as an alleged victim of racism, sexism, classism, and probably a bunch of other things, hooks comes across as a lecturer-a knower who is sometimes pleading, sometimes demanding that others rise to her level of righteous understanding about how everything in life is about unjust power plays. I appreciate parts of hooks's pedagogical theory, including an avoidance of an exclusive banking system of education, a desire for student engagement in the classroom, a desire for learning to be exciting, and the hope that classes will be places of student transformation. In other words, would a math professor have the same pedagogy? hooks seems to act as something of a therapist for students, who often come to her with issues regarding family, race, class, gender, etc. I wonder how much of hooks's pedagogical theory (e.g., requiring student participation) is shaped by her being an English teacher.
It was interesting for me to read this book after having heard much of this kind of thinking at Baylor.
"bell hooks" is the writing voice name of Gloria Watkins. "To educate as the practice of freedom," writes bell hooks, "is a way of teaching that any one can learn." Teaching to Transgress is the record of one gifted teacher's struggle to make classrooms work.Ģ.5 stars overall, but 4.5 stars for intentional accessibility (p. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise critical questions about eros and rage, grief and reconciliation, and the future of teaching itself.
Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for hooks, the teacher's most important goal.īell hooks speaks to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do about teachers who do not want to teach, and students who do not want to learn? How should we deal with racism and sexism in the classroom?įull of passion and politics, Teaching to Transgress combines practical knowledge of the classroom with a deeply felt connection to the world of emotions and feelings. In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks-writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual-writes about a new kind of education, educations as the practice of freedom.
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