Book+Review

Book Review submitted by Wendie Willis hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress. New York: Routledge.

Introduction “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” is an old adage that I think aptly describes anyone brave enough to read this book. Author bell hooks is ready to confront the reader about the issues of power, privilege, and difference. Is the reader ready to absorb her perspective as a Black female and feminist professor? More importantly will the reader apply what has been read to make a difference in the classroom?

Content Summary Hooks has been influenced by the work of educator Paulo Friere, who believed in education as a liberatory process. She honors Friere by discussing the impact of his theory of liberatory education on her own development as a pedagogue. Hooks begins her book with a must-read introduction, followed by her writing on issues related to essentialism, feminist scholarship, language, teaching in a multicultural world, class, and eroticism and the pedagogical process. This book is a compilation of essays by hooks and should not be read as one flow of ideas, although the essays relate well to one another.

Strengths
 * 1) The ideas that hooks writes about can impact the reader’s thinking and serve as fodder for reflective work that can be done to liberate oneself first, as a prerequisite for liberating the students in one’s classroom.
 * 2) hooks devotes space in her book to what does not work in the classroom. This information is presented in narrative form and using examples, thus giving the reader an opportunity to clearly see his or her weaknesses in the classroom.
 * 3) From a literary standpoint, hooks uses metaphors that add to the narrative nature of the text and keep the reader engaged even throughout parts of the book that refer to theory.
 * 4) This book was published more than 10 years ago, but hooks’ topic remains relevant within today’s educational framework.

Limitations
 * 1) hooks’ style of writing may be a distraction for some, causing the message of the book to get lost in the medium. For instance, hooks uses dialogue in two of the chapters of the book. Readers may find this hard to follow especially the first time it is used, when hooks is having a conversation with herself about her mentor Paulo Friere.
 * 2) hooks’ thoughts as a black feminist may not be palatable to those who choose to read this book but have no intention of acting upon its precepts.
 * 3) hooks is unapologetically definitive in her opinions on those practices in education that foster liberation. Her stance about liberatory education runs counter to today’s main line thinking regarding education. This may lead to misunderstanding and disengagement from those reading this book.

Conclusion hooks speak her truth as a Black feminist who educates in such a way as to liberate the students under her charge, while at the same time transgressing against the established mores of teaching in The Academy. Her feminist truths mirror my thinking about education. My educational experiences mirror hooks’: from the introduction when she speaks about her experiences in a black grammar school with black teachers who cared, to warning those of us who define ourselves as liberatory educators about the colleagues who will minimize and discredit our efforts, when our teaching does not conform to that which is considered traditional. Our common philosophies of education made reading this book an affirming experience for me. “I rushed in where angels don’t tread” and profited from it. I admonish any one who is ready to revolutionize their thinking as an educator to do the same thing. Read hooks’ Teaching to Transgress and use it as a barometer to measure where you stand on the issues of power, privilege, and difference. What hooks has to say may well be what you need; infuse your thinking with a new perspective regarding your identity and effectiveness as a teacher, educator, and human being.