Teaching to Transgress Education as the Practice of Freedom bell hooks Routledge New York Londonvoll my stadents ‘especially to Laon who dances wit angels in gratin forall the times we start over—begin again — renew our joy in learning. she, to reconstruct, and to not to beggin always anew, 10 spoil, to refse to base to understand and tole fife asa processive to become Panto Freireacademic public that I encou surprise wi rely and deeply about the clase 1 T speak inti room, That public seemed particularly surprised when Es that lwasworking on a collection of essays about teaching, This surprise isa sad reminder of the way teaching is seen as a duller, less valuable aspect of the academic profession. Th perspective on teaching is common ome. Yt it must be chal lengea itwe are to meet the needs of our students i we are to restore 1 education and the cksroom excitement about ideas anal the will to lear, There isa serious crisis in education, Sulents often do not to teach, More d ‘want to learn and teachers donot i ‘ever before in the recent history ofthis nation, ed ‘compelled to confront the biases that have shaped teach sew ways of knowing, i i social critics ferent strategies for the sharing of knowledge, We ‘ess this crisis if progressive critical thinkers an acts though teaching is nota subject worthy of our regard, The classroom remains the mot radical space of possibility n the academy. For years it has been a place where education was been undertinied by teachers ad students alike who seek to use tava patton a place to learn. Wit tive eal for renewal and rejuvenation ino lhe know beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable, so that we for opportunisieconcernssather that as these essays, Ladd my voice tothe collec teaching practices Urging all of us to open our minds 1 0 that we can can think and rethink, so that we ean ereate new visions, 1 celebrate teaching that enables transgressions—a mover against and beyond boundaries. Ie i that movement wh makes education practice of fredon Engaged Pedagogy To extacate asthe practice of fredom is way of teaching that n. That learning process comes easiest to those cach who also believe that there isa aspect of our anyone can ea of as who ‘vocation that is sacred who believe that ou work st merely to share information but to shate in the intellectual and spit tna gromth of ou students, To teach ina manner that respects 1 cares for the souls of cur stents is esentil if we are 40 provide the necessary conditions where Te deeply and intimately begin, Throughout my years as student and professor, I have be Jing ean most most inspired by those teaebers Who have bi courage tranggress those boundaries that woul confine each pupil 10 ‘rote, aswembly-ine approach to learning. Such teachers ap- pprch students with the will and dese to tespond to our unique eings, even i the sination does not allow the full ‘emergence of a rekaionship based on mutual recognition. Yet the possibility of such recognition is always present »“ Teaching Fagen Paulo Freire and the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat H deeply with their work, When [ frst began college, Freire’s thought gave me the support [needed to challenge the “bank ng system” of education, that approach to learning thats root are two of the “teachers” who have toiched me fed in the notion that all students nced to do consume nformation fed to them by profesor and be able wo memo ze and store it Karly om, it as Frere’ insistence 1 educa ‘ion could he the practice of freedom that encouraged ie 10 create strategies for what he called “conscientization” in the slastoom. Translating that term to eitical awareness and agement, entered the classrooms with dhe conviction that i ‘was crucial for me andl every other stadent tbe a active pat= Hicipant, nota passive cons x Education as the practice of Freedom was continually undermined by professors who were actively hostile o the notion of student participation, Freire’s| work alfred that education can only be iberatory whe knowledge as field in which we ll bor That hich Nhat Hants phi gaged Buddhism, the focus on practice in com ual labor ws affirmed by losophy of en jumetion with contemplation, His philosophy was similar to Freire’s emphasis on “praxis world in order to change In his work Thieh Nhat Hanh albays speaks of the teacher ssa healer, Like Preir, h tion and reflection upon the approach to knowledge called ont students to he active participants, to link awareness with p tice, Whereas Freie was primarily concerned with the min, Thich Nhat Hanh offered a way of thinking aout pedagogy which emphasized it His focus on a holistic approach to learning and pivitual ion of mind, body and spit practice enabled me to overcome years of socialization that had hed st ight-me to beliewe classroom was dint dents and professors regarded one another as “whole” human enmged Peizoer 5 ing, striving not just for knowledge in books, but knosledge abot ho to ive in the world During my twenty yearsof teaching, [have witnessed a grave sense of disease among professors (irrespective of their poli ties) when students Want ust see them as whole human beings n snply as seck- with complex ives nl experiences rather crs after compa fo bits of knowledge, When T as fan wndengraduve, Women Studies wa jane aig plate ie Wg to acknowledge a connection between ideas learned in university setings and those learned in life pr tives. And, despite those times when students abused that free- ‘dom in the classoom by only wanting to dwell on personal experience, feminist classrooms were, om the whole, one loca tion where T witnessed professors striving to create participa tory spaces for the sharing of knowledge. Nowadays, most won ted w exploring ns studies professors are not 28 eo new pedagogical strategies. Despite this shift, many students Decase they com still sek to enter Feminist ehssroom 1610 the ace believe that there, more than in any other phice ry, they wil ave the practice of freedom. ogresine, holistic education, “engaged pedagogy” is more al or feminist pedagogy 1 opportunity 10 experience education as demanding than conventional ¢ For, unlike these two teaching practices, ite teachers must be actively committed t0 being, That me a proces 0 Thich Nhat Ha therapist eather or any epg profesional shouldbe dee tl word iso hl iss case he helper nap, he or she canna tp man peopl" In he Cd Sates ‘emphasized that “the practice of a healer rare that anyone talks about teachers in university settings ashealers And its even more rare to hear anyone suggest that teachers have any responsibility to be selactalized individual Learning about the work of intellectuals and academies pr my precollege years, [was certain that the task for those of os sctwalzation, Tt was the actual experience of college that di ‘might be otherwise unfit for social interaction, Luckily during, ny undergraduate years I hegan to make a distinction b the practice of being an intelectual /teacher ad one’s rte ss a member of the academic profesion vas difficult to maintain Fidelity tothe idea ofthe intllec tual as someone who sought to be whole—wellyrounded in a context where there was litle emphasis on spirimal wellbeing notions of wholeness andl uphold the Me of a mind ly split one that promotes nl supports compartmentalization, This support reinforces the dualistic separation of public ble and that the best in oneself emerged in one’s seademi work, This meant that whether academies were ara adc alcoholics, batterers, oF sexwal abusers, the only important aspeet of our identity was whether or not our minds fan old was crossed, leaving in place only an objective mind free ofexperiencesand biases. There was fear thatthe conditions of hat self would interfere wth the teaching process, Part of the luxury and privilege of the role of teacher ‘pressor tay is the absence of any requirement that we be selactualized, Not suprisingly, professors who are not concerned with inner well being are the most threatened hy the demand on the part of students for liberatory education, for pedagogical processes that will id them in their own stragge fr self aetualization, ( ‘hat T would find spiritual and intellectual guidance in univer sity etings from writers, thinkers, scholars, Fo have found this would have heen to stumble across rare treasure. I learned along with other students, 9 consider myself fortunate found an interesting professor who talked ina compelling way Most of my professors were not the slightest bit imevested in enlightenment. More than anything they yeemed enthralled by the exercise of power and authority within their mini-kingdon, the elassoom, This is not to sy that there were not compelling, benever nits true to my memory that twas rare—aby lent dictators, deeply committed to progressive pedagogical practices. U was syle wanted to emulate whose teaching. My commitment to learning kept me attending clases, Yet even $0, because I did not conform—would not be an un my survival ay stent. His work offered both a way forme teaching, I wa particularly disappointing to encounter whitele profess ww Frire’s model even as their pedagogical practices were mired in structures of domi they approached subjects from a more progressive standpoint. ‘When I first encountered Paulo Freie, I was eager to sce i his spl of teaching would embody the pedagogical practice hie described so eloquent in his work. During the short time f vay in which his manner of teaching exemplified his pedagor «al theors (Nota students interested in Freite have had a sin lineratory education. 1 had never wanted to surrender the con tems of domination, {needed to know that professors did not have tobe dictators in the classroom, sonal success was intimately inked with selFactalization, My mind/body split that was so often taken to be a given, Most pro Fesors were often deeply antagonist toward, even scorntil of any approach to learning emerging from a philosophical stn Point emphasizing the union of mind, body, and spitit rather than the separation of these elements. Like many of the st erful academics that Tyas misguided to seek such a perspective in the academy Throughout my student years [el deep inner anguish, Me ‘ory ofthat pain returns a I listen to students express the co ‘cern that they will not succeed in academic professions if they havior or partic ipation in cocrcive hierarchies. These students are often fear ful, a8 Iwas, that there are no spaces in the academy where the wil to be selbactualized can be alfirmed, This fear is present because many professors have intensely hostile responses tothe vision of iberatory education that com nects the will to know with the will become. Within profes: sorial ctces, individuals often complain bitterly that students ant classes to he “encounter groups.” While itis utterly unrea sonable for students to expect classooms to be therapy see received in these settings wll enrich and enhance then Gurrently, dhe students L encounter seem far more uncer tain shot the projeet of selFactuaizaion than my peers and 1 were twenty years ago. They eel that there are no clear ethical szuidlines shaping actions, Ye, hile they despair, they ate also adamant that education should be liberatory. They want ane fesors than my generation did, There demand mote fr ar times when I walk into classrooms overflscing with students They do want an education that i healing to the uninformed unknowing spirit. They do want knowledge tha is meaningtl They rightfully expect dhat my colleagues an! L ssl not offer them information without addresing the connection between what they art learning ad thei overall ie experiences Thisdemand on the students’ part does not mean that the wil alas, rept our guidance, This sone of the joys of edues tion asthe practice of treed responsiblity for their choices, Writing about ou teacher/st dent relationship in piece forthe Village Vie, “How to Run the are: OFFLine ao into dhe Margins at Yale,” one of my students, Gary Dauphin, shares the joys of working with me aswell asthe > pledging a fraternity rather than cultivating his writing mon blackman to people of colo; # wom a» Teaching to Tangent ranted in. dd some ofthis learning by reading Bt tos oft came frm hanging out on the rnges a her Iie ved ike that fora wl, shuting between high points my cases ad low pointcut. Goria was safe haven Pledging fraternity about ae aa 2 you can get from her clsroomy, from the yellow Ritcien where she used share her han with stent Sn need of ious forms of eatenance ‘This is Gary writing about the joy: The tension arose as we discussed his reason for wanting to join fraternity and my di dain for that decision, Gary comments, ey represented a vision of black manhood thatshe abhorred, one where violence and abuse were primary ciphers of boning andl identi.” Describing his asertion of autonomy from my in luenice he sites, “But she must have also known the influence on my ile, the Knits of hooks ad te Ultimately, Gary fle hat the decision he hi fraternity was not constructive, is of even her thers” made to join hie open couraged onedimensions ange both daring and. cence wasan example of engaged pedagogy Through critical thinking—a process he learned by theory and actively ad ey ness” where the fraternity had allegiance. Our intere fer this exper: Iyving wss—Gary experienced e tion as the practice of freedom, His final comments about me: ria had only eas over-and thisto tell me simply that there are many kinds of choices, many kinds of logic, Leon whatever I wanted as long as Iwas hones.” I have quoted his ony affirming engaged of ‘writing at length bee pedagogy: It means that my voice is not the only acco ‘what happens in the elasroomn, Engaged pedagogy necessarily yates stent expresion. In her essay, “Interrupting the Calls for Student Vice in Libera Eng Pepe 2» sation: A Feminist Posttructurals Perspective,” Mimi ‘Omer employs Foucaulian framework to suggest that Regulatory and punitive me Son bring to mind curse tices which eal for stud formation about thee es ar wes ofthe confer and pedagogical prac 1 publi reveal, even the presence of mthorty figures sch a teacher, whe the only ones who are asked to share, to confess, Engaged ped agogy does not seck simply to empower students. Any chase oom that employs holistie model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process ‘That empowerment cannot happen if we refuse 1 be vulner bie wt education isthe practice of freedom, students sre not ng students to take risk, Professors who ‘expect students to share confessional narratives but who are themscles unwilling to hare are exercising power in a manner that could be coercive, fn my chssrooms, Ido not expect ste dents to take any risks that L would not take, tos that T would not share. When professors bring narratives of ces into elasroom discussions it etimin their expe possibilty that we can funet tors. Its often pro ny confessional narratives to academic discussions s0 2s (0 show how experience can and ing of acade tice being vulnerable in the classroom, being wholly tind, body, and spirit, Progressive professors working to transform the curtiul material, But most professors so that it does not reflect biases or seinforce system of dom: nation are most often the inliveals willing 4 take the risks cemgaged pedagogy requires and to make their teaching, Practices a site of resistance. In her essay, “On Race and Voice:Challenges for Liberation Education in dhe 19M,” Chanda Mohaay writes that Profesors who embrace the challenge ofselfactualization will ing them with ways of knowing tha enhance theit capacity to tive fullyand deeply. A Revoluti n of Values The Promise of Multicultural Change tichor has been taken away anid there ino sure ground under wonder what my ie is all about and what 1 ave beet pt on ina projeet [lose all cense of myself andl must then, when the work sone, redicov pep in the process of rediscovery: Never having attended any ofthe past reunions id not know whet to expect. Ii know that rt ime we were about to have a racially integrated reunion. tn