Teaching to Transgress chapter 8-14

5. Sentences Summarizing the Main Idea

In these chapters, bell hooks writes concerning the nation’s attempt to make all people the same. There is neglect throughout the country regarding differences in white male and black, white female and black female, and even white language and black language. bell hooks encourages difference and acceptance throughout the classroom as well as encouraging understanding of the differences in order to create greater equality. As well, she says that we, as teachers, must not only consider the mind in the classroom, but the body as well to make it an experience of the person as a “whole.”

4. Key Quotes

1. “Confronting one another across differences means that we must change ideas about how we learn; rather than fearing conflict we have to find ways to use it as a catalyst for new thinking, for growth” (113).
2. “It was only when I entered college that I learned that black males had supposedly been ‘emasculated,’ that the trauma of slavery was primarily that it had stripped black men of their right to male privilege and power, that it had prevented them from fully actualizing ‘masculinity’ (120).
3. “In the classroom setting, I encourage students to use their first language and translate it so they do not feel that seeking higher education will necessarily estrange them from that language and culture they know most intimately” (172).
4. “Significantly, I found that when ‘women’ were talked about, the experience of white women was universalized to stand for all female experience and that when ‘black people’ were talked about, the experience of black men was the point of reference” (121).

3. Key Terms

1. Feminist classroom – 113 – any classroom where the topic is being taught from a feminist perspective
2. Women’s Studies course – 113 – course aimed at studying women in the past and present
3. “The Burning of Paper Instead of Children” – 167 – a poem by Adrienne Rich

2. Connections

1. “…despite racism, black gender relations were constructed to maintain black male authority even if they did not mirror white paradigms, or about the way white female identity and status was different from that of black women” (120).
• Throughout high school, I attended classes with a wide variety of students. Our school was made up of wealthy students of various descents, as well as poor students bussed in from the projects of our city. In four years, I became acquainted with many students from both ends of the spectrum, and quickly realized how differently life can be based upon race. To me, it seemed that, in the homes of wealthy African American students, their father was only a “good” father if he acted like a white man. So many of my friends from the less fortunate parts of town did not even know their fathers, but among those of whom did, not many shared positive experiences. It seems, too often, that in order for an African American man to gain respect in society, he has to whiten himself. The positive differences between white males and black males are not recognized; only the encouragement for society to act white, regardless of each man’s heritage, is encouraged.
2. In chapter eleven, hooks discusses encouraging students to speak in their vernacular language. She shares an occasion, as well, when she instructed her students to speak in such a manner, and when they did, other students were angered, complaining that they could not understand what was being said.
• In high school, our teachers always corrected students who spoke in their vernacular language. I realized then, and still do today, that it is not “proper” English. I never asked myself, however, what “proper English” really is. There were always different dialects and accents throughout the United States because it has always been such a melting pot; who is to say that we must speak in a certain manner to be accepted? I wish that I would have had teachers like bell hooks that encouraged my fellow classmates to speak in their vernacular tongue. Too often, I fear, there are students who don’t share their valuable opinions because they are afraid of “sounding dumb.” I know that I have sat in classes with ideas running through my mind, but kept quiet because I didn’t know if it was the right answer and if I knew how to correctly say it. Students need encouragement such as bell hooks provides to speak in the language that makes them comfortable and confident. If students are given the opportunity to feel not only encouraged, but insightful, they will strive on that success and, hopefully, reach their potential.

1. Question

In your classroom, how will you expect students to speak? Will you require perfect language in essays and oral responses? If so, what effect do you think your expectations will have on your students’ self-assurance?