Teaching to Transgress bell hooks Gloria Jean Watkins

Teaching to Transgress bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins) presented by Saby Labor 4/21/11

Overview • • Objectives Community Guidelines Who is bell hooks? Activity: What is engaged pedagogy? Applying a Sociological Lens What does engaged pedagogy look like? What does it Mean to Be a Critical Educator? Evaluation LABOR

Objectives • The students will… • Apply concepts of engaged pedagogy and multicultural education to their own experiences. • Engage in self-reflection of their educational journey and its influences on their role as educators/learners. • Understand education from a critical sociological perspective. • The instructor will… • Gain an understanding of the course material through dialogue, shared narratives, and shared power. • of shared power and recognize individual student voices. LABOR

Community Guidelines (this example established by diverse undergraduate student group) • • • Use “I” statements 1 diva, 1 mic (one voice at a time) Assume good intent Use inclusive language “don’t yuck my yum” Confidentiality Meet them where ‘they are’ Mutual respect Step up, Step back LABOR

bell hooks • Context of my personal educational experience with bell hooks • Black feminist critic of "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy“ • A writer, a feminist theorist, and a cultural critic • Known as one of the most accessible academics in feminist writing • Her pseudonym, her great-grandmother's name, celebrates female legacies and is in lower case because "it is the substance of my books, not who is writing them, that is important. " • “Feminist movement created a revolution when it demanded respect for women’s academic work, LABOR recognition of that work past and present, and an end to

Questions bell hooks raises • Why is it necessary to talk about race? • It is inherent within traditional models of education that teachers have power…The question is how will you use it? • How does our own processes of self-awareness and selfreflection influence engaged pedagogy? LABOR

Activity: What is engaged pedagogy? LABOR

Applying a Sociological Lens… “White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy” • Video: cultural criticism and transformation pt 2 • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=OQ-XVTz. BMv. Q LABOR

Applying a Sociological Lens… College as a Total Institution • Revealed features of college society that are similar to mental hospitals • Total institution- self-contained societies that are designed to service all the needs of the people residing within their boundaries • All aspects of life conducted in same place under the same authority • Authority figures have tremendous power within the institution's confines • Total institutions are also largely self-contained and are designed so day-to-day interaction can occur independent of outside society • A consequence of building structures into college society, students are structurally discouraged from interacting with people outside of its confines • Strongly imposed division of power lends to superiority and ability to structure encounters LABOR • How is the classroom a total institution?

What does engaged pedagogy look like in practice? Teaching Theories of Difference Through Popular Culture video: cultural criticism and transformation pt 1 • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=z. QUu. HFKP-9 s LABOR

In an education system which… • Denigrates notions of wholeness and upholds idea of mind/body split • Encourages students and teachers to see no connection between life practices, habits of being, and the roles of professors • Reinforces existing systems of domination • Positions learning as a rote assembly-line based on coercion LABOR

…then we have a lot to think about as educators and learners • Education reinforces systems of domination. What are other systems of domination? • How is the college a “total institution”? How will you use the power assigned as an educator to facilitate critical dialogue and learning environments? • What role will self-actualization and reflection play in your institutional pedagogy? • How will you facilitate unlearning as a platform for holistic and critical learning? • How will you integrate shared narratives and shared voices in your classroom? LABOR

Transformative Practices • “Building common ground” or creation of collective guidelines to build community • Teaching gender using itunes • Article: http: //www. sociologysource. com/home/2010/9/12/teaching-gender-withitunes. html • Teaching hegemony • Article in handout: http: //www. sociologysource. com/home/2010/9/27/teachinghegemony. html • Adjust your rubric to reflect emphasis on participation to encourage student voices • Using autho ethnography to teach multiculturalism • See handout • http: //naha 1. edublogs. org/2008/03/07/auto-ethnography-anempowering-methodology-for-educators/ LABOR

What does it mean to be a critical educator? • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Za. TQ 5 g 8 Prog&feature=rela ted • “I entered the classroom with the conviction that it was crucial for me and every other student to be an active participant, not a passive consumer. . . education as the practice of freedom. . education that connects the will to know with the will to become. Learning is a place where paradise can be created. ” • hooks • Sites for critical education • Feminist classrooms • Childrens’ literature • Colleges and universities? LABOR

Evaluation • An email will be sent out with a short online evaluation form (or you can follow the link below) • https: //spreadsheets. google. com/spread sheet/viewform? formkey=d. GNVTHJze. F ZSc. XQ 5 Wl. No. S 2 li. Tn. U 3 MGc 6 MQ Thank you LABOR