CTL Spring 17

Teaching to Transgress:

A Critical (Theoretical) Inquiry into (Practical) Possibilities

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom(1994) by bell hooks is a collection of essays on education, race, feminism, and transformative learning. A writer, teacher, and cultural critic, bell hooks argues for a progressive, holistic education—an “engaged pedagogy.” Born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952, hooks grew up in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She received her PhD in English literature from the University of California-Santa Cruz, and has published over 75 books and scholarly articleson patriarchy, feminist consciousness, community creation, cultural representations, and politics.

Quotes and Discussion Questions

FromTeaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks(Routledge, 1994)

“Today, as I witness the rise in white supremacy, the growing social and economic apartheid that separates white and black, the haves and the have-nots, men and women, I have placed alongside the struggle to end racism a commitment to ending sexism and sexist oppression, to eradicating systems of class exploitation. Aware that we are living in a culture of domination, I ask myself now, as I did more than twenty years ago, what values and habits of being reflect my/our commitment to freedom.” (26-27)

How have you seen a “culture of domination” play out in the classroom?

What seems to be the dominant culture in CNM students’ lives?

“Making the classroom a democratic setting where everyone feels a responsibility to contribute is a central goal of transformative pedagogy. Throughout my teaching career, white professors have often voiced concern to me about nonwhite students who do not talk. As the classroom becomes more diverse, teachers are faced with the way the politics of domination are often reproduced in the educational setting. For example, white male students continue to be the most vocal in our classes. Students of color and some white women express fear that they will be judges as intellectually inadequate by these peers. I have taught brilliant students of color, many of them seniors, who have skillfully managed never to speak in classroom settings. Some express the feeling that they are less likely to suffer any kind of assault if they simply do not assert their subjectivity. They have told me that many professors never showed any interest in hearing their voices. Accepting the decentering of the West globally, embracing multiculturalism, compels educators to focus attention on the issue of voice. Who speaks? Who listens? And why?” (39-40)

Who speaks? Who listens? And why?

What role, if any, does the instructor play in changing this?

“Neither Friere’s work nor feminist pedagogy examined the notion of pleasure in the classroom. The idea that learning should be exciting, sometimes even ‘fun,’ was the subject of critical discussion by educators writing about pedagogical practices in grade schools, and sometimes even high schools. But there seemed to be no interest among either traditional or radical educators in discussing the role of excitement in higher education.” (7)

“The quest for knowledge that allows us to unite theory and practice is one such passion. To the extent that professors bring this passion, which has to be fundamentally rooted in a love for ideas we are able to inspire, the classroom becomes a dynamic place where transformations in social relations are concretely actualized and the false dichotomy between the world outside and the inside world of academia disappears.” (195)

“To restore passion in the classroom or to excite it in classrooms where it has never been, professors must find again the place of eros within ourselves and together allow the mind and body to feel and know desire.” (199)

“My commitment to engaged pedagogy is an expression of political activism.” (203)

When have you felt pleasure or excitement in the classroom?

What do you think it would take to feel pleasure or excitement in the classroom?

Examples of First-Week Activities

From Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults by Stephen D. Brookfield (Jossey-Bass 2013) (see supplemental document on CTL website for complete description of activities):

Developing Bottom-Up Ground Rules

  • “[An] exercise designed to help groups in different communities, organizations, and movements research their own previous experiences as discussion participants in order to generate their own conversation road map.” Participants are asked to reflect independently on qualities of good and bad discussions they have participated in. Then responses are shared in small groups. Small groups decide on a few rules for discussion which are shared with the large group. The large group then decides on which set of rules to follow going forward. (69-70)

An Alternative Way of Introducing Learners: The Power Bus

Before the first meeting begins, chairs are clustered together to form “buses.” As they enter the room, participants are asked to sit on the bus which represents their own experience. Brookfield writes:

I altered this exercise to represent the experiences of and struggles with power and ideology that brought people to the workshop. One approach is to have buses that correspond to dominant ideologies. Here the signs are Capitalism, White Supremacy, Militarism, Patriarchy, Classism, Heterosexism, and Ableism. As participants enter they sit in the bus that represents the ideology they most struggle against or the one they wish to learn more about. Another way is to label the buses with different kinds of power dynamics. Some of these represent common experiences of feeling abused by the exercise of power, such as Covert Surveillance, When Words Contradict Actions, Caught by Hegemony, and When Deviance Is Punished. Others represent more positive experiences, such as Empowered to Act, Power Used Transparently, Realizing Collective Power, or Responsible Power. I have found it relatively easy to link experiences from different buses when people talk about the journeys that brought them to this moment in their lives. (162-63)

From EdChange.org:

  • Define “respect” in small groups: What does it mean for you to show respect, and what does it mean for you to be shown respect?

Who Am I poems:

  • Ask participants to take ten to fifteen minutes to write a poem called "Who I Am." Instruct them that the only rule is that each line should begin with the words "I am..." Leave it open to their interpretation as much as possible, but suggest that they can, if they wish, include statements about where they're from regionally, ethnically, religiously, and so on; memories from different points in their lives; interests and hobbies; mottos or credos; favorite phrases; family traditions and customs; and whatever else defines who they are. Be sure to let them know that they will be sharing their poems.