When I chose #trysomethingnew as my theme for the semester I envisioned using it primarily for pedagogical purposes. I realize the more we get in to the semester that I need to adopt this catchphrase as a student as well. In both the traditional and not traditional sense of being a student. bell hooks also supports the idea of a classroom community that involves the professor learning right along with the "students", so that everyone is a student in that classroom setting. Reading bell hooks was challenging for me in a transformative way. Her writing has made me consider issues that I would not have considered before both as a student and as a professor. I tend to let people be who they are without much interference but I realize that I need to do more than that. Paving the way for students to find their agency in their education is what hooks would like us to do. When a person has found their agency, they know what they are about. They have recognized those issues that have held them back and have moved forward to find their voice.
At the heart of it, I think, is love. Loving yourself enough to be true to who you are. Loving fellow people enough to let them do the same. Her approach, through calling people out on their prejudice and marginalization, is not an approach I am brave enough (yet) to take, but I applaud it.
During pedagogy this week I mentioned that I chose more than one quote of hooks' that I liked. “In my classrooms, I do not expect students to take any
risks that I would not take, to share in anyway that I would not share” (p.
21). This is nothing if not fair. As an educator, it is fair to ask our students to expand who they are and what they believe. It is fair to ask them to be considerate of other students and professors. bell hooks, at the heart of it all, challenges us to be fair. What is wrong with that?
I highlighted the same passage. Karen touched on this, but it was extremely satisfying to see hooks ground Feire's philosophy. I'm in the exact same place as you are, looking forward to a time when I've moved passed fears; but the prospect of trying new risky things is... uncomfortable. hooks says that not all pain. "dirt in the water", and discomfort are ultimately harmful. I don't want to teach others to just play it safe or be complicit, because I have hope in dialog right now, dammit! We shall see, huh?
ReplyDeleteBecca! I really like your insight to bell hooks and your connection with the #trysomethingnew. I think that you bring a new perspective which is very refreshing. I appreciate your honesty about both love and fear. This really helped me in understanding a new perspective on how I can facilitate my classroom. The quote you mention in your last paragraph reminded me of Dr. Lain because during my first semester he would always mention that this is a quote he lives by in his teaching. This really helped me in how I treat my students as well as facilitate the classroom!
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of 'loving' yourself so you're true to who you are, and loving your students is a fantastic way to build that classroom community and touch students. bell hooks writes a book called "All about love", where she defines love as "the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth…Love is an act of will-namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to live.” (Hooks, 2000, p. 5) I think viewing 'love' through this lens as opposed to this 'instinctive' feeling that we have is a good way to know whether or not we're actually loving, precise definitions can go a long way
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