Bell hooks speaks on the lack of excitement that comes with teaching. After schools
began to integrate, the goal went from transforming minds to keeping children obedient and
enforcing white authority. Her main focus was how much less teachers cared, which differed
greatly from her early years of schooling. This was highlighted even as far as graduate school.
It was when she discovered the work of Paulo Freire that she began to believe in the way
teaching was truly meant to be done: with excitement. Education was meant to liberate, not
oppress.
An important detail in hook’s writing was how she was able to connect flawed teaching to
oppression. Black children's learning was indeed rooted in antiracist struggle, and before
integration teachers made sure to put in the time and effort to not only get to know their students
but also allow the things they learnt to change them. It was during integration where the change
happened, where black students were forced to conform yet were still seen as outsiders. Even
as those children grew to be intellectuals they were playing a different game. Their goal was not
primarily to learn, but to prove they deserved to be equal.
This reading is very important to me because hooks’ pedagogy opened the idea of an
exciting classroom. The idea of excitement was seen as troublesome for the atmosphere of the
classroom, but it made perfect sense to me. Looking back, the fun classes were the ones where
I learned the most. It wasn’t like we were simply playing around either, it was a space where you
could ask questions, think in your own way, and be engaged in an intellectual manner. These
were the types of classes that’d be the highlight of your day as you wait, wondering what else
you could possibly learn. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to most classes, where you are to
sit, watch, and write. It was expected you knew everything before you learned, and that there
was only one way to do things. To be in an exciting class felt nothing like a job, it felt like
walking through a new door each lesson. Each door leads to a new world, new ideas, and a
newfound desire to learn more.