Bell Hooks Teaching To Transgress Summary

There is a serious crisis in our education system, more than ever before in the recent history of this nation students are not wanting to learn and teachers are not wanting to teach. Educators are failing to open their minds beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable concerning teaching practices in our society and creating new ways for sharing knowledge. Through her book Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks adds her voice towards a solution to rethinking the norms of teaching practices by targeting both teachers as well as students. Hook provides experiences from when she was a student and a teacher to illustrate to the audience how to educate as the practice of freedom provides better results than those of the “traditional” practices of teaching

Hooks compares the types of classrooms that she has been in as a student, from the engaged pedagogy to the traditional classroom. She begins the text by recalling her experiences at Booker T. Washington and how much she loved learning there, stating, “my teachers made sure they ‘knew’ us. They knew our parents, our economic status, where we worshipped, what our homes were like, and how we were treated in the family(17).” The situation detailed by Hooks here illustrates a teacher-student relationship classroom that has “transgressed” the boundaries of traditional teaching practices. The audience can see that the author is happy with this learning experience which translates to why she is also excited about learning, establishing the relationship between the teaching method and student productivity outcome. Then as she details her higher-level education in college Hooks states “The vast majority of our professors

Hooks provides her personal experiences through the lens of a teacher who has experienced both learning environments, one where norms of teaching practices are transgressed and kept the same. When explaining the concept behind transgressing the assembly-line approach to learning, Hooks states “To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin(20).” This is a call for action on the part of teachers to do more than simply teach their students, instead, teachers should highlight the importance of creating a safe and inclusive learning environment as it is crucial for fostering an environment of learning where self-expression is valued. When students see that teachers put in the effort to care about them, that creates an environment where the students are comfortable with their teachers and thus more open to learning. On the other hand, Hooks details a class that she has taught that failed on the communal level, stating “More than any other class I had taught, this one compelled me to abandon the sense that the professor could, by sheer strength of will and desire, make the classroom an exciting, learning community(19).” New pedagogical processes like the element of excitement in the class environment can be viewed as