The hesitancy to teach through the lens of race, gender, and class is often rooted in the fear that classrooms will be plagued by emotions and passions that the teacher cannot control.hooks and Mohanty's encouragement to teach with a critical consciousness threatened their colleagues' passive acceptance of the one-minded 'traditional' model of teaching that the seminar leaders argued was latent with harmful biases. hooks and Mohanty's colleagues, especially the 'old guard,' were extremely disturbed by the pair's political transparency.The two believed that the majority of these colleagues would likely be open to offering education as a critical, liberatory practice. 1955) organized a group of seminars at Oberlin College for their colleagues.

hooks and colleague Chandra Mohanty (b.With this training there must also exist a space for teachers to voice their fears and concerns. hooks argues that educators must be trained to practically approach teaching in a way that promotes freedom.They must learn how to teach in a way that values multiple perspectives. Teachers must have the courage to embrace that there is no one way to teach a subject. Teaching in a multicultural environment poses a challenge for teachers who are accustomed to teaching from one perspective, that of the culturally dominant group. Multiculturalism is the recognition, acceptance, and preservation of diverse cultures and cultural identities.The majority of both nonwhite and white teachers have been brought up in classrooms that reflect one value system as universal truth as opposed to a system that allows for multiple perspectives. bell hooks argues that there are not enough practical discussions about how to teach in culturally diverse classrooms.'To educate is the practice of freedom,' writes bell hooks, 'is a way of teaching anyone can learn.' Teaching to Transgress is the record of one gifted teacher's struggle to make classrooms work. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise 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 a 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, education as the practice of freedom.

Teaching to transgress hooks