koikoi97's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
hberg95's review
5.0
Every single time I walk into a classroom, whether as a student or a teacher, I think about this book. hooks perfectly explicates the power dynamics at work in the classroom, in academia, and beyond and her work provides us with questions to think on, beliefs to analyze and assimilate, and actions to take to our classrooms going forward.
This is a text I'm excited to return to and one of the main texts that makes me excited at the thought of becoming a professor someday and inspired to be a good one.
This is a text I'm excited to return to and one of the main texts that makes me excited at the thought of becoming a professor someday and inspired to be a good one.
scrow1022's review
5.0
Inspiring and challenging. How might we embody revolutionary beliefs? (In teaching, but these lessons can be seeded in other fields.) What is the role of the body, of love, of eros in our intellectual work, especially as we interact with others? Profound lessons.
gabesteller's review
5.0
Recommended by my fellow education guy Sam, and although this is definitely directed at teaching college level not Primary school like we do lol, still feel like i got something out of it. I’m also almost amazed this is my first time reading hooks, but at the same time I feel like she was to Oberlin College student experience what like the leftover microwave radiation from the big bang is to the universe, and many of the concepts here i was already at least passingly familiar with. all to say 20ish years late bell hooks has totally conquered at least one college campus!!
Anyway onto the stuff… which is great! i feel like u can tell she's an excellent teacher just by the masterful balance of generosity, firmness, and like genuine excitement she brings in every essay, it really brought me back to the best times at Oberlin feeling like I was getting exposed to ideas and books i would never have bumped into a in a thousand years, connecting thoughts and concepts that maybe felt related but i could never assemble coherently on my own!
especially enjoyed the chapters on Essentialism and Experience, Language, and Ecstasy, which i feel like got at what can be so fantastic about a good class, where you pull the curtain back on some completely endemic aspect of modern life, and how in way it should never be underestimated how hard it is to communicate across gulfs of experience but also how amazing it can be when its done!
One criticism or thing that hasn't necessarily aged well is hooks’ love of Big Terms. Libreratory pedagogy, etc. You get the feeling and she almost says out right in her chapter on theory that she finds these phrases usefully precise and eyeopening. While Its not overwhelming by any means i think i do fall on the anti-jargon side that ultimately they aren't really useful outside of a academic contexts and serve to make everything a little more opaque. I was excited for her dialogue chapter with a white professor from a working class background, thinking i might see some her ideas presented in a more conversational form, but it was actually waaaay more jargon-y! in all likelihood cuz their both profs but tough stuff man.
also enjoyed the passing mentions of Dinesh D’souza lolol he has been around a long time i guess
Nice job bell!
Anyway onto the stuff… which is great! i feel like u can tell she's an excellent teacher just by the masterful balance of generosity, firmness, and like genuine excitement she brings in every essay, it really brought me back to the best times at Oberlin feeling like I was getting exposed to ideas and books i would never have bumped into a in a thousand years, connecting thoughts and concepts that maybe felt related but i could never assemble coherently on my own!
especially enjoyed the chapters on Essentialism and Experience, Language, and Ecstasy, which i feel like got at what can be so fantastic about a good class, where you pull the curtain back on some completely endemic aspect of modern life, and how in way it should never be underestimated how hard it is to communicate across gulfs of experience but also how amazing it can be when its done!
One criticism or thing that hasn't necessarily aged well is hooks’ love of Big Terms. Libreratory pedagogy, etc. You get the feeling and she almost says out right in her chapter on theory that she finds these phrases usefully precise and eyeopening. While Its not overwhelming by any means i think i do fall on the anti-jargon side that ultimately they aren't really useful outside of a academic contexts and serve to make everything a little more opaque. I was excited for her dialogue chapter with a white professor from a working class background, thinking i might see some her ideas presented in a more conversational form, but it was actually waaaay more jargon-y! in all likelihood cuz their both profs but tough stuff man.
also enjoyed the passing mentions of Dinesh D’souza lolol he has been around a long time i guess
Nice job bell!
ahoran's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
Should be required reading for every educator
as_a_tre3's review
5.0
Teaching and learning as a practice for freedom is the main theme for bell hooks’ engaged pedagogy. As a proponent of meaningful learning, I learned a lot from this book. bell hooks was also on point when she pointed out the dichotomy of the body and the mind that happens so often inside our classrooms. Rest in power and love, bell hooks, your pedagogy and your mind and body will forever be engaged with, cherished, and celebrated.