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Teaching Community
Ten years ago, bell hooks astonished readers with Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom . Now comes Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope - a powerful, visionary work that will enrich our teaching and our lives. Combining critical thinking about education with autobiographical narratives, hooks invites readers to extend the discourse of race, gender, class and nationality beyond the classroom into everyday situations of learning. bell hooks writes candidly about her own experiences. Teaching, she explains, can happen anywhere, any time - not just in college classrooms but in churches, in bookstores, in homes where people get together to share ideas that affect their daily lives. In Teaching Community bell hooks seeks to theorize from the place of the positive, looking at what works. Writing about struggles to end racism and white supremacy, she makes the useful point that "No one is born a racist. Everyone makes a choice." Teaching Community tells us how we can choose to end racism and create a beloved community. hooks looks at many issues-among them, spirituality in the classroom, white people looking to end racism, and erotic relationships between professors and students. Spirit, struggle, service, love, the ideals of shared knowledge and shared learning - these values motivate progressive social change. Teachers of vision know that democratic education can never be confined to a classroom. Teaching - so often undervalued in our society -- can be a joyous and inclusive activity. bell hooks shows the way. "When teachers teach with love, combining care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust, we are often able to enter the classroom and go straight to the heart of the matter, which is knowing what to do on any given day to create the best climate for learning."
216 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2002
285 people are currently reading
12173 people want to read
About the author
bell hooks
162 books14.2k followersbell hooks (deliberately in lower-case; born Gloria Jean Watkins) was an African-American author, feminist, and social activist. Her writing focused on the interconnectivity of race, class, and gender and their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and domination. She published over thirty books and numerous scholarly and mainstream articles, appeared in several documentary films and participated in various public lectures. Primarily through a postmodern female perspective, she addressed race, class, and gender in education, art, history, sexuality, mass media and feminism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
August 9, 2022
exactly what I needed to read while managing both the excitement and dread of going back to school — excitement for learning & dread of institutions. I loved bell hooks’ writing about maintaining connection to self and to spirituality in education, remaining grounded in our senses and our personal experiences rather than denying our realities with false claims of objectivity, and education as a practice of freedom. I struggled a lot with the chapter ‘good sex’ and won’t get into why here now. Overall, this book left me feeling realistic yet hopeful.
November 24, 2009
A perplexing book-- if you look at it as a collection of essays, it makes more sense, but taken together it's a bizarre reading experience.
One of the reasons for this is that this is without a doubt the single most poorly copy-edited book I have ever read. It's hard to get through more than a few pages at a time without stumbling across a howler of a grammatical or sentence error that an editor has let stand. From time to time these errors are sneaky, but mostly they're glaring and obvious, interrupting the flow of the text and/or confusing the reader. That they were left the way they are is a sign of breathtaking incompetence on the part of the publisher-- and a little startling, considering that Routledge has a pretty good reputation as a reliable academic publisher.
Obviously, this publishing error doesn't say much about the content of the book even as it consistently attacks the reader's ability to take the book seriously. However, Teaching Community does itself damage in that regard as well. Some of the chapters seem as though they were rushed through--for example, the first chapter with hooks's comments on September 11th, which reads as unfocused, raging, and clouded with emotion without saying much of consequence, or a later chapter about sexual relationships between students and teachers, which expresses its main point several times in the same way and runs far too long, as though hooks was searching for the best way to phrase her argument.
bell hooks is, I think, well known for her brilliance and for her confrontational approach to matters of race, gender, power, etc. It's easy to see her brilliance in her chapters about race and racism issues. Throughout all of these, she's razor-sharp, challenging, insightful, and deep. The level of thought and scholarship she brings to those discussions is what attracted me to the book in the first place. However, outside of that subject, to which she's devoted so many years of thought and reflection, she's too often satisfied with making sweeping statements that she doesn't (or can't really) back up. Many times throughout the book she relies on referring to that which she opposes in the world and within academia by the absurd compound adjective "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal," and while I understand her reason for doing so, the choice of wording does a certain indignity to the reader, who could just as easily understand a substituted term to stand in for all those things and whose intelligence may feel slighted by reading the same bag of adjectives spilled out every page or few pages.
Coming from an author with so many intelligent things to say about the way that people relate to one another, this is just lazy. It can and should be done better. But then, many things in this book can and should-- various arguments are missing the meat of their positions or are predicated on broad, controversial statements that don't leave them especially sound. Personal diatribes that seem designed to settle scores with those in the academic setting hooks left should probaby have been left out or honed into something sharper. And someone should have paid the editor better.
That said, I can't cast this book entirely aside because of its wisdom in some chapters. In those, and in a few other places, it has provided me valuable advice and challenges both in my position as a teacher and also simply as a person-- a white male in a relationship with a woman, occasionally in a position of authority, and wrestling with what that entails. I wish this book had been written and edited with the time it deserved so it could have been as smart as it should have been. The combination of hastiness and laziness here is its downfall.
One of the reasons for this is that this is without a doubt the single most poorly copy-edited book I have ever read. It's hard to get through more than a few pages at a time without stumbling across a howler of a grammatical or sentence error that an editor has let stand. From time to time these errors are sneaky, but mostly they're glaring and obvious, interrupting the flow of the text and/or confusing the reader. That they were left the way they are is a sign of breathtaking incompetence on the part of the publisher-- and a little startling, considering that Routledge has a pretty good reputation as a reliable academic publisher.
Obviously, this publishing error doesn't say much about the content of the book even as it consistently attacks the reader's ability to take the book seriously. However, Teaching Community does itself damage in that regard as well. Some of the chapters seem as though they were rushed through--for example, the first chapter with hooks's comments on September 11th, which reads as unfocused, raging, and clouded with emotion without saying much of consequence, or a later chapter about sexual relationships between students and teachers, which expresses its main point several times in the same way and runs far too long, as though hooks was searching for the best way to phrase her argument.
bell hooks is, I think, well known for her brilliance and for her confrontational approach to matters of race, gender, power, etc. It's easy to see her brilliance in her chapters about race and racism issues. Throughout all of these, she's razor-sharp, challenging, insightful, and deep. The level of thought and scholarship she brings to those discussions is what attracted me to the book in the first place. However, outside of that subject, to which she's devoted so many years of thought and reflection, she's too often satisfied with making sweeping statements that she doesn't (or can't really) back up. Many times throughout the book she relies on referring to that which she opposes in the world and within academia by the absurd compound adjective "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal," and while I understand her reason for doing so, the choice of wording does a certain indignity to the reader, who could just as easily understand a substituted term to stand in for all those things and whose intelligence may feel slighted by reading the same bag of adjectives spilled out every page or few pages.
Coming from an author with so many intelligent things to say about the way that people relate to one another, this is just lazy. It can and should be done better. But then, many things in this book can and should-- various arguments are missing the meat of their positions or are predicated on broad, controversial statements that don't leave them especially sound. Personal diatribes that seem designed to settle scores with those in the academic setting hooks left should probaby have been left out or honed into something sharper. And someone should have paid the editor better.
That said, I can't cast this book entirely aside because of its wisdom in some chapters. In those, and in a few other places, it has provided me valuable advice and challenges both in my position as a teacher and also simply as a person-- a white male in a relationship with a woman, occasionally in a position of authority, and wrestling with what that entails. I wish this book had been written and edited with the time it deserved so it could have been as smart as it should have been. The combination of hastiness and laziness here is its downfall.
October 16, 2008
"Learned helplessness is necessary for the maintenance of dominator culture" This was my first book by bell hooks. I may be hooked. This was really the summary of everything I have been thinking about lately. Teaching, anti-racism, anti domination cultures. She also references Thich Naht Han who touched me after only a small dose of writing. I'm moving towards acceptance of the spiritual as part of the cure.
The book is about how academia upholds tha status quo. How dissident voices are needed as educators to break the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy culture. bell hooks talks about the relationship of professor to student and how a lecture based on telling one viewpoint, and learning based on rote memorization is not getting us anywhere. How teachers need to inspire thought and experience based learning. Learning that is not relative to the future or to getting a degree to have a future. Now, now, now. Particularly the humanities. This type of typical learning reinforces the idea that someone dominates others and that that one person has the right idea.
She brought up the idea of "open dialogue" that may have been Thich's phrasing. But she defines open dialogue as the interaction between two people where there is space for both of them to change a bit of themselves. Kind of like ah, I see where you are coming from. She says that open dialogue is the way to form community between differences. She gives examples of her colleagues who she had respectful relationships with although they are white and male and conservative, but there is still room for them to interact and get a little closer together. This excites me so. This is what I want to achieve. The abilitiy to talk to people without talking down to them even if you think or know you are right. Coming at them with a I am interested in what you have to say because you formed that your whole life so I can't just trivialize that and say "cars suck", and here is what I have formed from my experiences and here are the reasons why. Its kind of like knowing why you do the things you do and not just doing them. I can see change being made in this way. Towards open dialogue. Here we go!!!!
The book is about how academia upholds tha status quo. How dissident voices are needed as educators to break the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy culture. bell hooks talks about the relationship of professor to student and how a lecture based on telling one viewpoint, and learning based on rote memorization is not getting us anywhere. How teachers need to inspire thought and experience based learning. Learning that is not relative to the future or to getting a degree to have a future. Now, now, now. Particularly the humanities. This type of typical learning reinforces the idea that someone dominates others and that that one person has the right idea.
She brought up the idea of "open dialogue" that may have been Thich's phrasing. But she defines open dialogue as the interaction between two people where there is space for both of them to change a bit of themselves. Kind of like ah, I see where you are coming from. She says that open dialogue is the way to form community between differences. She gives examples of her colleagues who she had respectful relationships with although they are white and male and conservative, but there is still room for them to interact and get a little closer together. This excites me so. This is what I want to achieve. The abilitiy to talk to people without talking down to them even if you think or know you are right. Coming at them with a I am interested in what you have to say because you formed that your whole life so I can't just trivialize that and say "cars suck", and here is what I have formed from my experiences and here are the reasons why. Its kind of like knowing why you do the things you do and not just doing them. I can see change being made in this way. Towards open dialogue. Here we go!!!!
October 25, 2024
Skriver fint om hopp och rörelsebyggande, om kärleken i undervisning och lärande. Läs!
May 21, 2020
Highly recommended.
Here are a few bookmarks i made:
“Many white folks worked for civil rights, then passively dropped the struggle when critiqued by people of color or told by them they were not wanted. Anti-racist white folks recognize that their ongoing resistance to white supremacism is genuine when it is not determined in any way by the approval or disapproval of people of color. This does not mean that they do not listen and learn from critique, but rather that they understand fully that their choice to be anti-racist must be constant and sustained to give truth to the reality that racism can end.”
“When I hear white people complain about not being able to make the social contact they would like to have with people of color, my response is always to encourage them to work actively for racial justice, because that work will draw to them the community they desire, if their longing is sincere and not an excuse for living a life cloaked in unchanged whiteness.”
“When Shannon [Minnubst] asked me what were the circumstances that would entice me to teach, I told her that I would like to teach in an open classroom setting where anyone could come (staff and faculty); that I would like to teach teachers con- cerned with issues of race, gender, class, and religion in their classrooms; and I would dialogue with students.”
“Oftentimes, black students, like all students, may feel an immediate sense of safety if they are surrounded by people like themselves. This feeling of safety may free them from racialized stress and as a consequence they may be more open to learning. But it must be remembered that it is not segregation that creates a context for learning but the absence of racism.
Working to end racism in education is the only meaningful and lasting change that will benefit black students and all students. “
“Shannon [Minnubst], like other anti-racist white folks, made her commitment to working to end domination in childhood. Growing up in Texas she was acutely aware of racism; it was there in her family. Confronting her sexuality in high school also created greater awareness of group oppression: “Toward the end of my college years I had to deal with sexuality and that brought real surprises—dealing with all the self-hatred—learning what it feels like to be hated because you are different.” Now she can state: “Being a lesbian was hard but was easy because I was still white. It’s hard to be a woman, hard to be a lesbian but easy to be white.” When I asked Shannon what inspired her to move past the fear of difference that so many white folks are “stuck” in, she says: “When I feel fear in myself I am determined to get rid of it.”
Here are a few bookmarks i made:
“Many white folks worked for civil rights, then passively dropped the struggle when critiqued by people of color or told by them they were not wanted. Anti-racist white folks recognize that their ongoing resistance to white supremacism is genuine when it is not determined in any way by the approval or disapproval of people of color. This does not mean that they do not listen and learn from critique, but rather that they understand fully that their choice to be anti-racist must be constant and sustained to give truth to the reality that racism can end.”
“When I hear white people complain about not being able to make the social contact they would like to have with people of color, my response is always to encourage them to work actively for racial justice, because that work will draw to them the community they desire, if their longing is sincere and not an excuse for living a life cloaked in unchanged whiteness.”
“When Shannon [Minnubst] asked me what were the circumstances that would entice me to teach, I told her that I would like to teach in an open classroom setting where anyone could come (staff and faculty); that I would like to teach teachers con- cerned with issues of race, gender, class, and religion in their classrooms; and I would dialogue with students.”
“Oftentimes, black students, like all students, may feel an immediate sense of safety if they are surrounded by people like themselves. This feeling of safety may free them from racialized stress and as a consequence they may be more open to learning. But it must be remembered that it is not segregation that creates a context for learning but the absence of racism.
Working to end racism in education is the only meaningful and lasting change that will benefit black students and all students. “
“Shannon [Minnubst], like other anti-racist white folks, made her commitment to working to end domination in childhood. Growing up in Texas she was acutely aware of racism; it was there in her family. Confronting her sexuality in high school also created greater awareness of group oppression: “Toward the end of my college years I had to deal with sexuality and that brought real surprises—dealing with all the self-hatred—learning what it feels like to be hated because you are different.” Now she can state: “Being a lesbian was hard but was easy because I was still white. It’s hard to be a woman, hard to be a lesbian but easy to be white.” When I asked Shannon what inspired her to move past the fear of difference that so many white folks are “stuck” in, she says: “When I feel fear in myself I am determined to get rid of it.”
January 9, 2014
I have so much to say about this book!
As a youth organizer, I'm just beginning to learn what it means to frame my work as educational in nature. This book gave me lots to think about, regarding the connection between education and community-building.
bell hooks seems to be in such a different place, at the writing of this book, compared to some of her her earlier works. I guess evolution is a sign of growth and consistent investment, though, right?
hooks gives a lot of emphasis to the value of creating integrated communities, as opposed to opting for closed spaces, or as she puts it, "segregated" spaces. I had a hard time with this, although I appreciate her point, that creating spaces for doing all the important work that exclude members of the oppressive majority are unrealistic and can often be less effective. I suppose I feel a little bit let down by this analysis, though. Perhaps I think it's oversimplification. Of course, failing to educate and work with willing members of oppressive classes does little to change the oppressive behavior; but working exclusively within the safety of our own communities of marginalized people yields the opportunity to share histories, build resilience, heal, and problem-solve more openly than in most contexts. I think balance is important.
The book dedicates two chapters to spirituality in education, which filled me with all the familiar conflicted feelings I have around spiritual expression and Blackness in Amerikkka; but once I got over myself, I feel like I agree with a lot of those ideas as well. In particular, her sentiment that "emotional connections tend to be suspect in a world where the mind is valued above all else, where the idea that one should be and can be objective is paramount" (127) struck a chord with me. In the world of social justice, those of us who fraternize with social workers might remember the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics, and reflect briefly upon its analysis. This observation by hooks quickly escalates into a critique of objectivism in education, which is really where she brings it home for me. As far as I'm concerned, if you're not biased, you probably don't care enough. Thanks, bell hooks, for seeing it my way!
All in all, this is a dense read, and took a while to digest, but it was rich with outside references I want to look up, valuable challenges to my current politics, and suggestions for ways to hone my practice in the name of creating change, which I'm excited to put into practice.
As a youth organizer, I'm just beginning to learn what it means to frame my work as educational in nature. This book gave me lots to think about, regarding the connection between education and community-building.
bell hooks seems to be in such a different place, at the writing of this book, compared to some of her her earlier works. I guess evolution is a sign of growth and consistent investment, though, right?
hooks gives a lot of emphasis to the value of creating integrated communities, as opposed to opting for closed spaces, or as she puts it, "segregated" spaces. I had a hard time with this, although I appreciate her point, that creating spaces for doing all the important work that exclude members of the oppressive majority are unrealistic and can often be less effective. I suppose I feel a little bit let down by this analysis, though. Perhaps I think it's oversimplification. Of course, failing to educate and work with willing members of oppressive classes does little to change the oppressive behavior; but working exclusively within the safety of our own communities of marginalized people yields the opportunity to share histories, build resilience, heal, and problem-solve more openly than in most contexts. I think balance is important.
The book dedicates two chapters to spirituality in education, which filled me with all the familiar conflicted feelings I have around spiritual expression and Blackness in Amerikkka; but once I got over myself, I feel like I agree with a lot of those ideas as well. In particular, her sentiment that "emotional connections tend to be suspect in a world where the mind is valued above all else, where the idea that one should be and can be objective is paramount" (127) struck a chord with me. In the world of social justice, those of us who fraternize with social workers might remember the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics, and reflect briefly upon its analysis. This observation by hooks quickly escalates into a critique of objectivism in education, which is really where she brings it home for me. As far as I'm concerned, if you're not biased, you probably don't care enough. Thanks, bell hooks, for seeing it my way!
All in all, this is a dense read, and took a while to digest, but it was rich with outside references I want to look up, valuable challenges to my current politics, and suggestions for ways to hone my practice in the name of creating change, which I'm excited to put into practice.
January 11, 2011
Not a pedagogy proper but a loose collection of essays, 'Teaching Community' addresses the progressive potential of cultural studies, her experience of black womanhood in a white society, the tricky nature of white allyship, spiritual and 'death-aware' education, the effect of shaming on the performance of students of color, and her own educational experiences under Jim Crow. The writing is plain to the point of feeling clunky at times, and the book could stand editing (there's a chapter on her relationships with each of her siblings which didn't add anything to my experience of the book), but the book is full of original insights. I found myself taking notes as I read.
January 12, 2021
Very quick, valuable read. Collection of hooks' personal accounts on how to be a dissident voice as an educator.
January 7, 2024
bell hooks provides a collection of essays that helps form a common language around education as a practice of freedom, maintaining radical openess, and building community.
She proposes that it's possible for learning to be an experience that builds and affirms self-esteem.
She asks what does it look like when white people work to become anti-racist, men work to challenge sexism and patriarchy, and heterosexists begin to champion sexual freedom ... And how do we fumble? She affirms our attempt saying we are all struggling to raise our consciousness and figure out the best action to take.
The chapter good sex, enters a troubling space for me where I disagree with her. I'm generally wary of a defense of a sexual relationship where there is such a strong power imbalance, and when talking about student and teacher, is typically also a large age difference. Thats where I pull the star.
Some quotes:
"Hopefulness empowers us to continue our work for justice even as the forces of injustice may gain greater power for a time. As teachers, we enter the classroom with hope... Living in hope says to us 'there is a way out' even from the most dangerous and desperate situations." (Xiv prologue)
"A profound cynicism is at the core of dominator culture wherever it prevails in the world...[it] normalizes violence, that makes war and tells us that peace is not possible." (11)
Talking Race and Racism:
"To build, community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination." (36)
"The assumption that 'whiteness' encompasses that which is universal, and therefore for everybody, while 'blackness' is specific, and therefore 'for colored only' is white supremacist thought." (39)
"We need to generate greater cultural awareness of the way white supremacists thinking operates in our daily lives. We need to hear from the individuals who know, because they have lived anti-racist lives, what everyone can do to decolonize their minds, to maintain awareness, change behavior, and create beloved community." (40)
Education as a practice of freedom:
"Education is about healing and wholeness. It is about empowerment, liberation, transcendence, about renewing the vitality of life." (43)
"Students who speak standard English, but for whom English is a second language, are strengthened in their bilingual self-esteem when their primary language is validated in the classroom. This valuation can occur as teachers incorporate teaching practices that honor diversity, resisting the conventional tendency to maintain dominator values in higher education." (45)
***"Diversity is a fact of modern life, especially in America. There are tremendous differences in our communities- ethnically, racially, religiously. Diversity suggests the fact of such differences.
Pluralism, on the other hand, is a response to the fact of diversity. In pluralism, we commit to engage with the other person or the other community. Pluralism is a commitment to communicate with and relate to the larger world- with a very different neighbor, or a distant community. Many educators embrace the notion of diversity while resisting pluralism or any other thinking that suggests that they should no longer uphold dominator culture." (47)***
"Anti-racist white women are not afraid to engage with critiques by black women/ women of color because those white women fundamentally understand that as long as we fear facing our differences and avoid conflict, we cannot arrive at a true place of solidarity and sisterhood." (61)
"People who may be very supportive of difference and diversity in theory are often unable to handle the concrete demands of change. Learning to live and work in a diverse community requires a commitment to complex analysis and the letting go of wanting everything to be simple. Segregation simplifies; integration requires that we come to terms with multiple ways of knowing, of interaction." (78)
"Service as a form of political resistance is vital because it is a practice of giving that eschews the notion of reward... The teacher who can ask of students what do you need in order to learn or how can I serve - brings to the work of educating a spirit of service that honors the students will to learn. Committed acts of caring lets all students know that the purpose of education is not to dominate or prepare them to be dominators, but rather to create the conditions for freedom. Caring educators open the mind, allowing students to embrace a world of knowing that is always subject to change and challenge." (91- 92)
"Creating trust usually means finding out what it is we have in common as well as what separates us and makes us different. Lots of people fear encountering difference because they think that honestly naming it will lead to conflict. The truth is, our denial of the reality of difference has created ongoing conflict for everyone... We become more sane ... when we learn to engage our differences, celebrating them when we can, and also rigorously confronting tensions as they arise." (109)
A mantra for loving and forgiving dysfunctional parents:
"Sincerely, I believe you two, mom and dad, did the best job of raising us that you could do given your circumstances- everything that happened to you and your family's of origin, much of which has been unresolved trauma. I appreciate all the care that you both give to me; that appreciation can and does coexist with critical awareness of things that were done that were not positive, loving, or nurturing of my emotional and spiritual growth. Sharing painful memories does not negate positive memories. If there had not been many wonderful aspects of my childhood, I would not seek to strengthen our closeness, to talk with you about my being, my work. It's the presence of so much good that keeps us together as a family. To stay together, to cherish our closeness, then, we have to be open and honest- sharing both our joy and our pain. (119-120)
She proposes that it's possible for learning to be an experience that builds and affirms self-esteem.
She asks what does it look like when white people work to become anti-racist, men work to challenge sexism and patriarchy, and heterosexists begin to champion sexual freedom ... And how do we fumble? She affirms our attempt saying we are all struggling to raise our consciousness and figure out the best action to take.
The chapter good sex, enters a troubling space for me where I disagree with her. I'm generally wary of a defense of a sexual relationship where there is such a strong power imbalance, and when talking about student and teacher, is typically also a large age difference. Thats where I pull the star.
Some quotes:
"Hopefulness empowers us to continue our work for justice even as the forces of injustice may gain greater power for a time. As teachers, we enter the classroom with hope... Living in hope says to us 'there is a way out' even from the most dangerous and desperate situations." (Xiv prologue)
"A profound cynicism is at the core of dominator culture wherever it prevails in the world...[it] normalizes violence, that makes war and tells us that peace is not possible." (11)
Talking Race and Racism:
"To build, community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination." (36)
"The assumption that 'whiteness' encompasses that which is universal, and therefore for everybody, while 'blackness' is specific, and therefore 'for colored only' is white supremacist thought." (39)
"We need to generate greater cultural awareness of the way white supremacists thinking operates in our daily lives. We need to hear from the individuals who know, because they have lived anti-racist lives, what everyone can do to decolonize their minds, to maintain awareness, change behavior, and create beloved community." (40)
Education as a practice of freedom:
"Education is about healing and wholeness. It is about empowerment, liberation, transcendence, about renewing the vitality of life." (43)
"Students who speak standard English, but for whom English is a second language, are strengthened in their bilingual self-esteem when their primary language is validated in the classroom. This valuation can occur as teachers incorporate teaching practices that honor diversity, resisting the conventional tendency to maintain dominator values in higher education." (45)
***"Diversity is a fact of modern life, especially in America. There are tremendous differences in our communities- ethnically, racially, religiously. Diversity suggests the fact of such differences.
Pluralism, on the other hand, is a response to the fact of diversity. In pluralism, we commit to engage with the other person or the other community. Pluralism is a commitment to communicate with and relate to the larger world- with a very different neighbor, or a distant community. Many educators embrace the notion of diversity while resisting pluralism or any other thinking that suggests that they should no longer uphold dominator culture." (47)***
"Anti-racist white women are not afraid to engage with critiques by black women/ women of color because those white women fundamentally understand that as long as we fear facing our differences and avoid conflict, we cannot arrive at a true place of solidarity and sisterhood." (61)
"People who may be very supportive of difference and diversity in theory are often unable to handle the concrete demands of change. Learning to live and work in a diverse community requires a commitment to complex analysis and the letting go of wanting everything to be simple. Segregation simplifies; integration requires that we come to terms with multiple ways of knowing, of interaction." (78)
"Service as a form of political resistance is vital because it is a practice of giving that eschews the notion of reward... The teacher who can ask of students what do you need in order to learn or how can I serve - brings to the work of educating a spirit of service that honors the students will to learn. Committed acts of caring lets all students know that the purpose of education is not to dominate or prepare them to be dominators, but rather to create the conditions for freedom. Caring educators open the mind, allowing students to embrace a world of knowing that is always subject to change and challenge." (91- 92)
"Creating trust usually means finding out what it is we have in common as well as what separates us and makes us different. Lots of people fear encountering difference because they think that honestly naming it will lead to conflict. The truth is, our denial of the reality of difference has created ongoing conflict for everyone... We become more sane ... when we learn to engage our differences, celebrating them when we can, and also rigorously confronting tensions as they arise." (109)
A mantra for loving and forgiving dysfunctional parents:
"Sincerely, I believe you two, mom and dad, did the best job of raising us that you could do given your circumstances- everything that happened to you and your family's of origin, much of which has been unresolved trauma. I appreciate all the care that you both give to me; that appreciation can and does coexist with critical awareness of things that were done that were not positive, loving, or nurturing of my emotional and spiritual growth. Sharing painful memories does not negate positive memories. If there had not been many wonderful aspects of my childhood, I would not seek to strengthen our closeness, to talk with you about my being, my work. It's the presence of so much good that keeps us together as a family. To stay together, to cherish our closeness, then, we have to be open and honest- sharing both our joy and our pain. (119-120)
June 21, 2012
Parts of this were out of this world good; some slightly less. The chapter on sexual relations with students pushed me out of my comfort zone... Loved the perspective on racism and the academy.
February 16, 2023
All I can say is that I am so grateful that bell hooks took up space in this world and shared her loving spirit with students everywhere. All of her writing leaves me feeling so inspired. Rest in power ❤️
March 8, 2022
It opened my eyes to a new way of thinking when teaching students. To bring a melody of learning that flows, equitable, and accessible for all involved in the process. Hope, community, language, and loving what you do begins the process of sustaining their attention and achieving so much more for you and them.
January 7, 2023
These essays are highly personal reflections on teaching. Some of it is inspirational, as I have come to expect from bell hooks. However, the rest of it, particularly the chapters on spirituality and sexuality in the classroom, were a little beyond me. For example, her chapter on teacher- student romantic relationships (and how they aren’t typically more problematic than any other patriarchal relationships) might be true at the university level, but, like, what am I supposed to do with that? It seems she wrote that essay simply to justify her own brief tryst.
April 15, 2008
Another text I'm teaching. Not nearly as good as _Teaching to Transgress_, unfortunately. It's a good example of what Flower refers to as "writer-based prose." Hooks takes a lot of dense theoretical concepts and fails, in some cases, to provide a clear context for her readers, in this case, my students. She references Palmer a lot, too. In retrospect, I wish I would've chosen his text rather than hers. Still a fan of hooks, though!
February 17, 2009
What I appreciated most was when she got really specific about her own experiences with teaching -- what was hard about it & what lessons she learned. What I was frustrated by was when she got vague and meandering. I don't think this is her best book, but worth a read.
April 11, 2022
The Star card, La Estrella, both in the tarot and Loteria it means the same thing. Spiritual or divine inspiration, the coming of hope in your life journey.
Last fall I came up on the one year anniversary of dropping out of school. One year of healing from a dark and retched place. But this time also has me reflecting on the progressive professors I had in college, that I now realize were putting bell hooks’ philosophy to practice. Teaching with love. No matter what material failure I had in my work, I know now that much of my own inability was brought by deep seated shame and anxiety. Reading through theory of pedagogy in hooks, Sedgwick, and Barbara Johnson this past year have allowed me to heal through reflection, and self led education.
I found some semblance of spirituality through academia, a place I thought would be completely secular. But backing up my reading in progressive issues with this kind of theory, it keeps the doom at bay.
I love bell hooks, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third in this trilogy.
Last fall I came up on the one year anniversary of dropping out of school. One year of healing from a dark and retched place. But this time also has me reflecting on the progressive professors I had in college, that I now realize were putting bell hooks’ philosophy to practice. Teaching with love. No matter what material failure I had in my work, I know now that much of my own inability was brought by deep seated shame and anxiety. Reading through theory of pedagogy in hooks, Sedgwick, and Barbara Johnson this past year have allowed me to heal through reflection, and self led education.
I found some semblance of spirituality through academia, a place I thought would be completely secular. But backing up my reading in progressive issues with this kind of theory, it keeps the doom at bay.
I love bell hooks, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third in this trilogy.
July 30, 2025
“Aprender a vivir y trabajar en una comunidad diversa requiere comprometerse con el análisis complejo y dejar ir el deseo de que todo siempre sea simple. La segregación simplifica; la integración exige que aceptemos las múltiples formas de conocer, de interacción.”
La forma en la que, de manera tan honesta y brillante, enlaza política y la problemática de la cultura de dominación: raza-clase-género con la esperanza y espiritualidad para dirigirnos a la vida en comunidad como práctica constante. La educación y educadores (tanto fuera como dentro del aula) como elemento fundamental transformador para la libertad.
Ojalá haberla leído de adolescente, me hubiera explotado la cabeza. Lectura absolutamente necesaria en mi opinión.
La forma en la que, de manera tan honesta y brillante, enlaza política y la problemática de la cultura de dominación: raza-clase-género con la esperanza y espiritualidad para dirigirnos a la vida en comunidad como práctica constante. La educación y educadores (tanto fuera como dentro del aula) como elemento fundamental transformador para la libertad.
Ojalá haberla leído de adolescente, me hubiera explotado la cabeza. Lectura absolutamente necesaria en mi opinión.
March 1, 2025
Education is freedom. "All too often we think of community in terms of being with folks like ourselves: the same class, same race, same ethnicity, same social standing and the like. All of us evoke vague notions of community and compassion, yet how many of us went out to find an intimate other, to bring them here with us today? [...] I think we need to be weary: we need to work against the danger of evoking something that we don't actually challenge ourselves to practice. A lot of white folks can travel all the way to Tibet to experience intimate otherness, but can't imagine the idea of finding an other in their life right where they are, and saying, 'Would you like to come with me?'"
An important read for any educator.
An important read for any educator.
February 20, 2025
"...quando la conoscenza viene condivisa in modo da rafforzare la mutua collaborazione, quella forma di dominio subisce una trasformazione"
Questo testo mi ha infuso una bella e grande energia. É rigenerante poter leggere di trasformazioni tramite esperienze positive e conflitti ma anche di sfumature che non ci fermiamo mai ad osservare con attenzione.
Tanti spunti su cui riflettere ma per ora voglio godermi questa sensazione di benessere che mi lascia questo libro.
Grazie!
Questo testo mi ha infuso una bella e grande energia. É rigenerante poter leggere di trasformazioni tramite esperienze positive e conflitti ma anche di sfumature che non ci fermiamo mai ad osservare con attenzione.
Tanti spunti su cui riflettere ma per ora voglio godermi questa sensazione di benessere che mi lascia questo libro.
Grazie!
August 8, 2023
I admittedly skipped around a bit with this book (unlike book 1 of this series) & intended on giving 4 stars. But hooks’ chapter “Heart to Heart” is a MUST READ.
“When we teach with love we are better able to respond to the unique concerns of individual students while simultaneously integrating those of the classroom community. When teachers work to affirm the emotional wellbeing of students we are doing the work of love.” (133)
“When we teach with love we are better able to respond to the unique concerns of individual students while simultaneously integrating those of the classroom community. When teachers work to affirm the emotional wellbeing of students we are doing the work of love.” (133)
August 10, 2025
The title and subtitle sum this book up perfectly. I loved how she describes the classroom and education as a form of freedom.
Overall a good read and challenging in all the right ways. Many of the chapters had me deeply thinking about my interactions with people in the world.
This book taught me definitions of community that I haven’t really thought of and gave me hope in unexpected ways.
Overall a good read and challenging in all the right ways. Many of the chapters had me deeply thinking about my interactions with people in the world.
This book taught me definitions of community that I haven’t really thought of and gave me hope in unexpected ways.
October 20, 2025
This was, of course, another excellent read from bell hooks. Soooo relevant to my teaching, and it once again helps me recommit to doing crit. ped. in the classroom. I love the connections between all her other books with this one and the additions I had not yet read from hooks.
The part about learned helplessness being a product of the dominator style of education is 20 years ahead of its time. Love that insight - hoping to take that to coworkers to see how we can go past the banking form of education and into education as a practice of freedom.
The part about learned helplessness being a product of the dominator style of education is 20 years ahead of its time. Love that insight - hoping to take that to coworkers to see how we can go past the banking form of education and into education as a practice of freedom.
July 4, 2019
It is nice that bell hooks intentionally uses language that isn't riddled with jargon. Academic work that is too dense to follow makes it inaccessible to most and she, rightly, realizes that.
For this book, the first 2/3 were solid and are potentially going to help form my dissertation framework. The last few chapters, eh, not my favorite.
For this book, the first 2/3 were solid and are potentially going to help form my dissertation framework. The last few chapters, eh, not my favorite.
September 17, 2019
Loved, loved, loved this.
February 1, 2022
some great nuggets in this one, but the essays don’t really stick to the theme and I don’t see much that’s building upon “teaching to transgress”—a lot of repetition.
October 21, 2024
Part how-to-teach, part philosophy, part how to include being a whole human in the academe. Will read again.
August 22, 2025
loved her writings abt shame, community, teaching toward the future vs present, what it means to serve students, the academy, LOVE, talking about death in the classroom, teaching as caretaking. ugh
January 16, 2025
When would I ever give The bell hooks less than a 5-star rating??
September 1, 2022
There is no one quite as articulate and well educated as bell hooks. Her quest for knowledge and keen curiosity reflect in every sentence of her writings.
April 12, 2023
"love will always change and challenge us"
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