bell hooks and #classroomactivism

In this blog post I will attempt to identify strategies for performing activism in the classroom regardless of the course material.

                                                      

            The potential for activism in the classroom was what initially motivated me to pursue a master’s degree and subsequent PhD in Communication Studies. Although I, like some of my peers who I have spoken to, remain undecided about my place in academia, I remain as optimistic as ever when it comes to activism in the classroom. That being said, I have come to realize that this particular department is not indicative of the norm. In fact, the faculty here at UNT is significantly more social-justice oriented than many other COMM departments. As such, many of our professors are given opportunities to teach classes situated around social justice movements. These anxieties aside, I believe there is still potential for activism in virtually any classroom. I was led to this revelation by a few of this semester’s readings, including bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress.

            hooks says about engaged pedagogy, “it emphasizes well-being. That means that teachers must be actively committed to a process of self-actualization that promotes their own well-being if they are to teach in a manner that empowers students” (15). This seems an ample starting point because I have come to recognize that my pedagogy is more deliberately inclusive and progressive when my optimism about activism in the classroom is at its highest. Accepting hooks’ assertion that activism is even possible in generalized classes, I believe, is paramount in making it happen. It is only when I approach the classroom with a sense of assurance that it is possible for me to make a difference that I can be successful in doing so.

            Another element necessary to the successful practice of #classroomactivism, I believe, is thoroughly discussed in Chapter 10. hooks says, “it is crucial that critical thinkers who want to change our teaching practices talk to one another, collaborate in a discussion that crosses boundaries and creates a space for intervention” (129). This particular passage struck a chord with me because I have found, much to my surprise, that the Communication Studies scholarship I have found most useful in developing strategies for #classroomactivism have come from pieces Performance Studies scholarship, not rhetoric scholarship. Although this example of border-crossing dialog is still situated within Communication Studies, I believe the differences in pedagogical approaches warrant a mention. It was John Sloop’s (2014) Learning to Perform that first urged me to make a greater effort to read more performance studies scholarship, and I believe Sloop’s suggestion comes from the same place of interdisciplinary urgency that bell hooks writes with.

            Finally, hooks addresses the anxieties around the English language in the classroom. I, too, have felt that the English language serves as a sort of rhetorical trap in the classroom. It is, in many cases, so inherently masculine-centric and white-centric that it seems impossible to account for all of its problematic components. hooks explains with great care how to address this impasse in Chapter 11. hooks says of proctors of vernacular discourse, “I imagine them hearing spoken English as the oppressor’s language, yet I imagine them also realizing that this language would need to be possessed, taken, claimed as a space of resistance” (169). I believe this is also a responsibility of the instructor. We have the opportunity to make strategic (tactical?) use of language to perform activism in the classroom without necessarily having to lecture about social justice. Karen has oft-mention describing her romantic ally as “partner”, a decidedly non-gendered term in order to incite curiosity amongst her students. As long as we educate ourselves as much as possible about the ramifications of certain terms and adjust our pedagogy and classroom vocabularies accordingly, we can create a deliberately inclusive and strategically progressive environment, regardless of the material we teach.

So, a brief recap. The following are three strategies for incorporating activism into any classroom, courtesy of bell hooks.

1.     Be committed. Successful advocacy in the classroom requires the instructor to be confident in her/his/their ability to do so. (Chapter 1)

2.     Broaden our exposure. I have been caught up in a whirlwind of rhetoric for years. Since I began teaching, I have come to realize how important Performance Studies scholarship is to my goals in the classroom. (Chapter 10)

3.     Change the English language from the inside out. Use inclusive and considerate language to establish an accepting climate, regardless of the material. (Chapter 11)