From my last blog post about the bridging pattern, we
learned that bridging cultural gaps between faculty and students is essential
in order to demonstrate inclusiveness of all cultures, therefore helping students feel a sense of
freedom in the classroom.
A few weeks ago, we read Teaching
to Transgress by bell hooks (1994), which taught us that education should empower students. hooks’ cultural and
educational background shaped her as a critical thinker who imagined new ways
of teaching and learning. She recollects her early educational experiences, saying:
“Those classrooms were the one space where pedagogical
practices were interrogated, where it was assumed that the knowledge offered
students would empower them to be better scholars, to live more fully in the
world beyond academe” (hooks, 1994, p. 6).
In the introduction alone, hooks writes about several themes
important to teaching across cultures, like valuing each student’s voice,
generating excitement in the classroom, and creating classroom community.
The goal
In chapter three of Teaching
to Transgress, hooks states the following:
“Making the classroom a
democratic setting where everyone feels a responsibility to contribute is a
central goal of transformative pedagogy” (hooks, 1994, p. 39).
This quote ties together the connections between valuing
each student’s contribution, creating a democratic classroom climate, and the importance
of these ideas in transgressive and transformative pedagogy. Recalling what we
learned from my last blog post, I’ll take this a step further to say that recognizing
each student’s agency and expecting students’ active contribution (therefore
democratizing the classroom) is especially
important in culturally diverse classrooms.
But LLP, that sounds difficult.
Well, it is. In my first semester as a college instructor, I
have faced situations I never thought I would. In August when the returning TAs
talked with us (the newcomers) about their experiences, I remember thinking, Nah, that stuff will never happen to me. My
students will care about their work and always come to class, ready to shape
their own meaningful education! And then life happened. Enacting
transformative pedagogy that democratizes multicultural classrooms is tough!
Even hooks knows this.
“The unwillingness to approach teaching from a standpoint that
includes awareness of race, sex, and class is often in the fear that classrooms
will be uncontrollable, that emotions and passions will not be contained” (hooks,
1994, p. 39).
Encouraging students to speak up about their experiences and
actively participate in the creation of knowledge is certainly daunting,
especially considering our (natural) fear of the unknown. What will happen when I allow sensitive topics to come up in class discussion?
What if things go wrong? Those concerns are valid, but…
…hooks says we have to do it anyway.
Sorry, y’all. No way out of this one. Here’s the thing about
life and about teaching: We are inevitably going to be pushed outside of our
comfort zones. Things might get tense or awkward at times. As educators in a
culturally rich world, bridging the gap
between ourselves and our students is going to change our classroom. A
first it might be scary, but ultimately it is the only way to embody the kind
of pedagogical philosophy that hooks writes about. And I don’t know about y’all,
but she’s got me convinced that her ideas are the way to go.
“Often, professors and students have to learn to accept
different ways of knowing, new epistemologies, in the multicultural setting” (hooks,
1994, p. 41).
A crucial step for me in the process of embracing these ideas was accepting the fact that not
everybody is going to like it at first. We know that our students are more
accustomed to the banking model of education, dutifully taking notes during
lecture and regurgitating information when it’s time for an exam. So when we
radically transform our classrooms—recognizing our students’ agency, making them
co-creators of knowledge, encouraging and expecting their active participation
and contribution in class—we are going to displease at least a few people. But here’s the important part: that’s okay. With ideas as profound and inspiring as hooks', I think
it’s easy to assume that she is immediately and universally praised for her
work. However, even hooks has experienced pushback to her methods.
“In my professional role I had to surrender my need for
immediate affirmation of successful teaching (even though some reward is
immediate) and accept that students may not appreciate the value of a certain
standpoint or process straightaway” (hooks, 1994, p. 42).
If we can face the reality that liberating our students in a
culturally diverse setting might be difficult at times, then it might be easier
to put aside the desire to be well-liked by our students. Of course being liked
by students is not a bad thing, and it’s not bad to want pleasant
faculty-student relations, but it’s important not to prioritize those wants
above our ultimate goal as instructors—to
empower all of our students in a
democratic, culturally inclusive classroom setting which is conducive to the
development of critical thinkers.
Ultimately, we know what we need to do in order to be as effective and empowering as possible when we teach across cultures. I’ll
let my final hooks quote speak for itself:
“When we, as educators, allow our pedagogy to be radically changed by
our recognition of a multicultural world, we can give students the education
they desire and deserve. We can teach in ways that transform consciousness,
creating a climate of free expression that is the essence of a truly liberatory
liberal arts education” (hooks, 1994, p. 44).
(LLP)
#teachingacrosscultures
hooks, b. (1994).
Teaching to transgress: Education as the
practice of freedom. New York:
Routledge.
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