A Reflection on:

Teaching Critical Thinking

Practical Wisdom
By Bell Hooks

 
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Table of Contents

I. Book Study Process​…………………….2

II. Individual Chapter Reflections​………….3
A. Chapters 1-5​………………………...3
1. Critical Thinking……………….
2. Democratic Education………….
3. Engaged Pedagogy……………..
4. Decolonization………………….
5. Integrity………………………....
B. Chapters 6-10​……………………….6
6. Purpose…………………………..
7. Collaboration…………………….
8. Conversation……………………..
9. Telling the Story………………….
10. Sharing the Story………………..
C. Chapters 11-15​……………………...9
11. Imagination……………………..
12. To Lecture or Not……………….
13. Humor in the Classroom………..
14. Crying Time…………………….
15. Conflict………………………….
D. Chapters 16-20​……………………...12
16. Feminist Revolution…………….
17. Black, Female, and Academic….
18. Learning Past the Hate………….
19. Honoring Teachers……………..
20. Teachers against Teaching……..
E. Chapters 21-25​……………………...15
21. Self-Esteem…………………...
22. The Joy of Reading…………...
23. Intellectual Life……………….
24. Writing Books for Children…..
25. Spirituality…………………….
F. Chapters 26-28​……………………..17
26. Touch………………………….
27. To Love Again………………..
28. Feminist Change……………...
G. Chapters 29-32​……………………..20
29. Moving Past Race and Gender..
30. Talking Sex…………………....
31. Teaching as Prophetic Vocation.
32. Practical Wisdom……………...
III. Group Reflection​……………………….22
IV. Works Cited​…………………………….23
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Book Study Process
(due dates and accountability)

Everyone reading the chapters each week makes a summary on this document. Those
reading will meet during the week BEFORE the group meeting
FEBRUARY:
1-4: (Hattie and Wylie) chapters 1-5
4: Group meeting
6-11: (James and Rachel P.) chapters 6-10
11: Group meeting
13-18: (Rachel N. and Hattie) chapters 11-15
18: Group meeting
20-25: (Wylie and James) chapters 16-20
25: Group meeting
27- March 4: (Rachel P. and Rachel N.) chapters 21-25

MARCH:
6-11: (Hattie and Wylie) chapters 26-28
11: Group meeting
13-18: (James and Rachel P.) chapters 29-32
18: Final group meeting
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Individual Chapter Reflections

 Chapters 1-5
Chapter 1: Critical Thinking
Summary: Bell Hooks’ work opens with a look at her own childhood to explain
that all children are predispositioned to be critical thinkers, but grow out of it as
they age, and how she intends to explain why that happens and how to prevent in
in the rest of the book. She then goes on to explain what needs to go into a
classroom in order to encourage critical thinking.
Key Points:
- Children are predisposed to be critical thinkers
- “Across the boundaries of race, class, gender, and circumstance,
children come into the world of wonder and language consumed
with a desire for knowledge” (Hooks, 2010. p. 1-2).
- They are encouraged to grow out of it because of the education system
- “Whether in homes with parents who teach via a model of
discipline and punishment that it is better to choose obedience over
self-awareness and self-determination, or in schools where
independent thinking is not acceptable behavior, most children in
our nation learn to suppress the memory of thinking as a
passionate, pleasurable activity” (Hooks, 2010. p. 2).
- Everyone, teachers included, need to be active critical thinkers
- “When everyone in the classroom, teacher and students, recognises
that they are responsible for creating a learning community
together, learning is at its most meaningful and useful” (Hooks,
2010. p. 11).
Discussion Questions:
1. What have you experienced in your own life that has encouraged a lack of
critical thinking?
2. In what ways could parents cultivate a passion for thinking in the home?

Chapter 2: Democratic Education

Summary: This chapter opens up with an anecdote from Hook’s childhood, which
was during the time before civil rights. There, she had to work towards equality
and true democracy for all citizens. She continues to branch into our modern time
where it is not necessarily a guarantee that our nation will be democratic, but the
idea of democracy must constantly be worked towards.her examples of
democracy deteriorating through the next generation includes private schools
appearing when integration was finally legal in the United States and Black
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studies and Women’s studies being renewed to reflect less emotional energy to
the causes. She elaborates on how education systems should strive for full
equality as that is what the base of democracy lies on.
Key points:
- Teacher's job is to teach students how to uphold a truly democratic
society.
- “Nowadays, most students simply assume that living in a
democratic society is their birthright; they do not believe they must
do work to maintain democracy… In keeping with that discourse,
educators were deemed crucial conveyors of democratic ideals”
(Hooks, 2010. p. 14).
- Thomas Jefferson’s Theory of Divided Minds, educating everyone even if
they don’t want to learn
- “Despite these contradictions, Jefferson did not waver in his belief
that embracing change was crucial to the “progress of the human
mind”(Hooks, 2010. p. 15).
Discussion Questions:
1. In which ways could democracy have been upheld in your education?
2. How can you bring ideals of democracy into your classroom?

Chapter 3: Engaged Pedagogy

Summary: Hooks defines engaged pedagogy as only being possible through a
student and teacher relationship first. A restricted curriculum of information is
also restrictive of the equal opportunity for education in a classroom. In her
experience, she found that meeting the student at their needs and growing from
their is necessary to cultivate an excitement for learning. She uses exercises like
personal paragraphs and group work to encourage student discussion in the
classroom-explaining that activities like that emphasize her idea that all students
have valuable contributions to make.
Key Points:
- Attain relationships with your students.
- “Engaged pedagogy begins with the assumption that we learn best
when there is an interactive relationship between student and
teacher” (Hooks, 2010. p. 19)
- Independent thinking should be taught in the classroom.
- “In the engaged classroom students learn the value of speaking and
of dialogue, and they also learn to speak when they have
something meaningful. Understanding that every student has a
valuable contribution to offer to a learning community means that
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we honor all capabilities, not solely the ability to speak” (Hooks,

2010. p. 22)
Discussion Questions:
1. How can teachers interact with their students in order to create a
friendship and also maintain an air of professionalism in a classroom?

Chapter 4: Decolonization
Summary: This chapter opens with explaining that using critical teaching, social
injustice can be addressed and the act of decolonization can occur. She uses
colonization as a term referring to the entirety of white america laying claim to all
important aspects of the country’s history intentionally or not. Occurrences like
claiming there are no prominent black authors can lead to students entering higher
education to believe they aren’t good enough or to feel frustrated because
predispositions on who they are prevent educators from seeing how smart they
are. Although decolonization is something that needs to end for education to be
truly democratic in nature, it won’t happen all at one time and it is the role of the
teacher to incorporate methods of teaching that encourage decolonization.
Key Points:
- The education raises children who unintentionally hold prejudices against
others by race
- “After the militant push for racial equality led to desegregation and
the changing of laws, black power activists were one of the first
groups in this nation to call attention to all the myriad ways
education was structured to reinforce white supremacy, teaching
white children ideologies of dominance and black children
ideologies of subordination” (Hooks, 2010. p. 23).
- Teach in ways that present all sides to the story
- “Understanding that liberation is an ongoing process, we must
pursue all opportunities to decolonize our minds and the minds of
our students” (Hooks, 2010. p. 27-28).
Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways can a music educator teach ideals of decolonization as
shown in the chapter?

Chapter 5: Integrity
Summary: In the beginning of this chapter, Hooks explains that American schools
have largely focussed on transmitting the information and values deemed
important and correct. In order for education to be unbiased, teachers need to
embrace questioning and encourage differing perspectives. Teachers cannot say
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their beliefs and goals in a classroom and then proceed to do nothing working
towards their goal, that would be a classroom lacking integrity.
Key Points:
- Avoid encouraging systems of domination
- “By forcing education to be the tool of mass colonization,
dominator culture basically made the classroom a place without
integrity” (Hooks, 2010. p. 30).
- Do what you support.
- “There is little or no discussion of integrity in the classroom.
Unfortunately, many teachers and students think of integrity as an
old-fashioned concept that has little meaning in a world where
everyone is striving for success and yet, when students learn in a
context without integrity it is likely that they will internalize what
psychoanalyst Alice Miller calls “poisonous pedagogy.”(Hooks,
2010. p.32).
Discussion Questions:
1. What beliefs do you uphold that you do not personally act on?
2. What are some ways you can begin to act on these beliefs?

 Chapters
6-10
Chapter 6: Purpose
Summary: Chapter Six attempts to define the purpose of teaching. Hooks explains
that teachers should work to broaden their students views on the world and help
open their eyes to new ideas. Additionally, embracing students differing
perspectives and helping them to expand their understanding will encourage them
to continue learning. She finishes the chapter by highlighting that many students
will be unfamiliar with an open, questioning environment. Teachers need to
develop facilitating skills to guide them through meaningful experiences.
Key Points:
- Encourage and foster students’ uniqueness
- “...teach in ways that were humanizing, that would lift my
students’ spirits so that they would soar toward their own unique
fullness of thought and being” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 35).
- Concerns with teaching differently
- “I saw humanization, the creation of a learning community in the
classroom, as my purpose, and recognized that in order to fulfill
this task I would need to teach critical thinking, [but] when
students began to ‘change’ their minds as a consequence of study
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in our classrooms, I felt concerned that I was transcending

appropriate boundaries” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 35).
Discussion Questions:
1. How would you guide students through meaningful learning if they’re not
willing to try?

Chapter 7: Collaboration
Summary: In this chapter, Hooks explains how collaboration helps people think
more critically about their own perspectives. Different people can offer new ideas
and questions that reshape others’ views. Engaging in dialogue gives people a
chance to test their ideas amongst differing perspectives and shape them around a
more diverse context.
Key Points:
- Reassessing in regards to other views
- “We deploy the strategies of dialectical exchange, which
emphasizes considering and reconsidering one’s position,
strategies, and values” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 38).
- Diversity enriches dialogue
- “We emphasized the importance of establishing and maintaining
trust, which means understanding that what is essential to us is
creating a dialogue between our differences that enriches us both.
(Hooks, 2010, pp. 39).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you ensure everyone is equally collaborating?

Chapter 8: Conversation
Summary: In this chapter, Hooks identifies that learning should not be a solitary
experience. Knowledge is not retained by copying notes and taking tests. When
students can have a conversation and play with the knowledge, they are able to
absorb various ideas and think critically about the content. In the classroom, open
dialogue encourages each student to develop a personal voice by allowing them to
present their own ideas and engage with others’ ideas. Placing value on individual
thought helps motivate students to learn. Furthermore, students retain a great deal
more from working with the information in a social context.
Key Points:
- Difficulties with conversation in the classroom
- “Those of us who recognize the value of conversation as a key to
knowledge acquisition also know that we are living in a culture in
which many people lack the basic skills of communication because
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they spend most of their time being passive consumers of

information (Hooks, 2010, pp. 44).
- Diverse classrooms can better address social issues
- “A conversation-based model of learning is especially useful when
a classroom is diverse. We have all been, to some extent,
socialized to feel comfortable listening in on or talking in the
conversational manner, so defensive barriers are less likely to be
put up” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 45).
Discussion Questions:
1. When working together collectively, how can you be sure that each
student is contributing and not one student is doing all of the work?

Chapter 9: Telling the Story

Summary: Hooks explains that stories are an incredible way for people to make
connection with others. Furthermore, people can develop a deeper intimacy with
the knowledge they learn through making personal connections and thinking
critically. She continues to indicate that people’s stories give context to their ideas
and perspectives. Storytelling activities provide a chance for every students’ voice
to be heard in an environment where information is freely exchanged.
Key Points:
- Storytelling helps build community
- “Students listen to one another’s stories with an intensity that is not
always present during a lecture or class discussion. One of the
ways we become a learning community is by sharing and receiving
one another’s stories” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 51).
- Stories are a way for students to make connections
- “Stories help us to connect to a world beyond the self. In telling
our stories we make connections with other stories… A powerful
way we connect with a diverse world is by listening to different
stories we are told. These stories are a way of knowing” (Hooks,
2010, pp. 53).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you create an accepting environment where each student is
accepting of each other's varying points of view?

Chapter 10: Sharing the Story

Summary: In this chapter, Hooks advocates for students for engaging in
intellectual activity through storytelling. Rather than distracting them from the
content, sharing individual experiences allows students to make connections and
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form a deeper understanding of the information. She explains that teacher and
student involvement in sharing driven activities helps create a sense of
community learning and elevates coursework. In increasingly diverse classrooms,
stories provide an opportunity for students to learn about each other’s similarities
and differences. Finally, she emphasizes that teachers will need to develop skills
in facilitating discussions but should not be fear unexpected student responses.
Key Points:
- Storytelling is intellectually engaging
- “Experience is to be valued as much as factual information, and…
there is indeed a place in the learning process for telling one’s
personal story” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 55).
- “Dismantle unnecessary hierarchies” (Hooks, 2010, pp. 56).
- “As long as an individual professor is the only person who
evaluates the work of students and grades, our status in the
classroom is never that of equals. However, this does not mean that
professors must be authoritarian or lord it over the students”
(Hooks, 2010, pp. 56).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you be sure that each student is accepting of each other’s ideas
and stories?

 Chapters
11-15
Chapter 11: Imagination
Summary: Imagination is something we can either gain or lose in education
depending on how much it is valued in the classroom. It encourages us to think
outside of reality, to push change. For some reason, it is discouraged in our
culture which contains everyone in the limits of the standard box. Imagination is
almost seen as a threat to knowledge the older children get. Overall, Hooks wants
us to push these standards and truly let our minds free in the classroom, so they
can learn to be free outside of the classroom.
Key Points:
- “What we cannot imagine cannot come into being” (Hooks, 2010, p. 59).
- “Without the ability to imagine, people remain stuck, unable to move into
a place of power and possibility” (Hooks, 2010, p.61).
Discussion Questions:
1. What are some ways that our society/classrooms try(s) to steer kids away
from using their imagination?
2. How could we encourage more use of imagination in schools, especially in
high schools?
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Chapter 12: To Lecture or Not

Summary: In this chapter, Hooks digs into the purpose and overall outcome of
teaching in large lectures. To her, the best setting for teaching is in small groups,
so everyone can be acquainted and feel more comfortable to discuss their most
inner thoughts. If there is a time when a large lecture is inevitable, give more time
for the Questions and Answer portion, this is where meaningful discussions
happen and the learners can become engaged. At the end of a lecture, thank the
audience, or specific learners for giving their undivided attention, it takes a lot of
work to focus in a set up like this. Hooks main point for this chapter is: large
lectures discourage participation while small groups are more personal.
Key Points:
- “When we as a culture begin to be serious about teaching and learning, the
large lecture will no longer occupy the prominent space that it has held for
years” (Hooks, 2010, p.64).
- “Along the way he had forgotten the reason for the talk was not simply to
display knowledge and information, but rather to teach us. To teach in the
setting of a large lecture, one has to work harder to make connection with
listeners” (Hooks, 2010, p. 66).
Discussion Questions:
1. How might you make a large lecture more personal and engaging?

Chapter 13: Humor in the Classroom

Summary: There are many different viewpoints on humor in the classroom; some
see it as being necessary for engagement, while others see it simply as “letting
go” of seriousness towards a subject. Hooks emphasizes the many positive
outcomes from using humor in the classroom. It can be used to break the ice, to
wake students up, to lighten the mood, and to engage students more in the lesson.
Hooks learned to be witty in her classroom, and it made all the difference in their
participation. Although, don’t use humor as a way to negate confrontation or
conflict, these moments are learning moments.
Key Points:
- “Fear of conflict often leads teachers and students to refuse direct
confrontation of issues when they may serve as useful teaching moments”
(Hooks, 2010, p. 74).
- “When she began to allow her funny self to emerge, she felt like she was
more vulnerable, but the students appreciated this vulnerability and the
sense of openness that shared laughter can bring. Concurrently, when we
shift our minds into laughter we move from the left brain to the right brain
 11

creating a whole new place for thinking and dreaming, for creating great
ideas” (Hooks. 2010. Pg. 74).
Discussion Questions:
1. What should be the balance for authority and vulnerability for using
humor?

Chapter 14: Crying Time

Summary: Crying is inevitable in classes revolved around difficult subject
matters. It is up to the teacher to shape where these raw emotions lead the class
discussions. Hook explains that getting to know the students on a personal matter
will help shape these occurrences more. The reality is everyone expresses
emotions differently, and teachers must be able to accept these and build off of
these reactions. It should be known in any school that you are not anything less if
you express your emotions in public, it does not change you in any way, you are
still human. And yet, Hooks expresses the fact that these emotional outbreaks
should not mislead the direction of the lesson. Students and teachers both need to
understand how to get through these difficult subjects and grow, because that is
life.
Key Points:
- “Importantly, when there is a weeping student, it is the teacher who must
discern if those tears can be used to nurture a deeper class discussion or if
they are an intrusion” (Hooks, 2010, p.78).
- “It was clear that this utterly unplanned moment of emotional intensity
was a moving lesson for the students that positive bonds rooted in respect
and affection can emerge from relationships that began with much
contestation and conflict” (Hooks, 2010, p. 82).
Discussion Questions:
1. Why do humans, intellectual beings, fear expressing strong emotions in
public?
2. How can we encourage/accept these expressions in the classroom?

Chapter 15: Conflict

Summary: Hooks explores the many views on having conflict in the classroom
and how to deal with them. She stresses that students and teachers should learn to
discuss in groups and not be afraid of hurting feelings. A lot of classrooms try to
implement talking nice to each other leaving conflicts unresolved, which will
make problems last longer. Hooks believes that students should not fear to
exercise their right to disagree or engage in critical exchange (Hooks, 2010, p.
86). She adds that, “You won’t always feel good in every discussion, accept that
 12

and learn how to prepare for those experiences” (Hooks, 2010, p. 88). Although
there will always be students who try to hurt others on purpose to stop learning,
Hooks stands with her motion of teaching students how to discuss critically.
Key Points:
- “The pressure to maintain a non-combative atmosphere, however, one in
which everyone can feel safe, can actually work to silence discussion
and/or completely eradicate the possibility of dialectical exchange”
(Hooks, 2010, p. 86).
- “At times it was evident that students wanted to be liked by their peers
more than they wanted to learn. These attitudes trivialize and undermine
democratic education as the practice of freedom” (Hooks, 2010, p. 88).
Discussion Questions:
1. How to we practice assertive discussion techniques when dealing with
controversial topics?

 Chapters
16-20
Chapter 16: Feminist Revolution
Summary: Hook opens the chapter by summarizing feminist movements in higher
education, meaning what went well and what didn’t through the course of female
inclusion in Universities. An interesting development that she highlights is that
throughout the course of time, the content of feminist courses have become far
less radical and prominent in the school system entirely.
Key Points:
- Feminism restores integrity in higher education
- “The impact sexist thinking and biases had on ways of knowing
created distortions and systematically supported misinformation
and false assumptions, and thereby robbed learning of the integrity
that should always be the foundation of knowledge acquisition”
(Hooks, 2010. p. 91).
- The introduction of feminism into the classroom encouraged critical
thinking.
- “The institutionalization of Women’s Studies programs provided a
sound academic foundation for scholars to interrogate sexist biases
in the production of knowledge and provided a basis for corrective
revision of previous bodies of thought” (Hooks, 2010. p. 92).
Discussion Questions:
1. How could this generation stop the anti-feminist backlash that occurs in
higher education?
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Chapter 17: Black, Female, and Academic

Summary: Similar to the previous chapter, this chapter loosely goes through the
progression of black inclusion in american higher education. With the addition of
also being a female, Hooks describes the stereotypes surrounding women of her
standing and how to avoid stigma associated there. She even ventures to say the
controversial statement of segregated black communities being the one place
black women didn’t need to prove their worth in the classroom, and that feeling
won’t return until all racial and gender stigmas are removed.
Key Points:
- “Since we live in a society that does not fully acknowledge the reality of
race-based discrimination, while simultaneously denying the widespread
prevalence of gender-based discrimination, there is a tendency to ignore
the grave extent to which racialized sexism shapes and influences the way
black females are perceived in daily life” (Hooks, 2010. p. 96).
- “As racial segregation ended, lack teachers and professors working in
predominantly white settings often found and find ourselves both the
objects of abusive scrutiny and at times the targets of abusive harassment
by both students and colleagues” Hooks, 2010. p. 98).
Discussion Questions:
1. How could white teachers who were raised in this form of system help
destroy stereotypes attached to black female teachers?

Chapter 18: Learning Past the Hate

Summary: In this chapter, Hooks describes her experience with learning about
black authors and intellectuals. She used her findings in her own teaching
practices while it was also a major theme in education in general. The way only
white authors were used as classics or intellectuals was described as a poisonous
hierarchical learning environment, which was demolished at the entry of these
publications in higher education. Hooks clarifies that even though feminist and
black studies classes weren’t educating students on white males that had been
studied so long before, the new classes were used to show newer sides of
education and thinking.
Key Points:
- “In reality, the focus on diversity revitalized learning by changing
education so that it would not reflect and uphold the biases inherent in
imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal thinking. It returned an
integrity to teaching and learning that had long been absent” (Hooks,
2010. p. 105).
 14

- “Certainly, in the study of literature many feminist scholars find it difficult

to explain to students our conviction that itis important that they read
works by authors who may be racist, sexist, engaged in class elitism, or
homophobic” (Hooks, 2010. p. 106).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you in your classroom provide multiple sources regardless of
background?
2. How do these sources benefit what you are hoping to teach your students
pedagogically?

Chapter 19: Honoring Teachers

Summary: The theme of this chapter is introduced by describing how students
quickly lose respect for their teachers as they go through the school system.
Hooks discussed that this could be due to a plethora of reasons including parents
to the education system in general. She continued by calling the relationship
between teacher and student as the one saving grace for students to respect their
teachers. Even with the addition of close relationships to students, the role that
divides teachers and students should remain intact to avoid disorder.
Key Points:
- “Despite the value of showing respect and regard for teachers, by the time
students are teens they will tend to regard teachers as negative authority
figures or as outright enemies” (Hooks, 2010. p. 111).
- “Often students who have been raised in dominator thinking are
uncomfortable with any teacher who repudiates this paradigm and seeks to
create mutuality in the classroom” (Hooks, 2010. p. 114).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you teach your students to respect not only you but also other
teachers that may not follow or believe in the teachings reflected by
Hooks?

Chapter 20: Teachers against Teaching

Summary: This chapter relates to the common university student by opening with
an all too familiar scene of a teacher speaking in monotone in front of the
classroom. No one in the room seeming altogether interested in the information
being relayed. In most cases, the teacher is blamed. In some ways it is true that
the teacher is responsible for student boredom, but it becomes a two way street
where the students need to meet their teachers half-way in the creation of an
engaged classroom. Not only does a teacher need to know constructively what
 15

they need to work on content or demonstration wise, but the student needs to meet
their teacher half way because educators can’t read minds.
Key Points:
- “Letting students know that they were participants in creating and
sustaining a constructive classroom dynamic helped to lessen my initial
sense that it was solely my responsibility to make the classroom an
interesting learning place” (Hooks, 2010. p. 118).
- “Again, teachers cannot work to repair wounds if we are not made aware
of when and why a student hurts” (Hooks, 2010. p. 120).
Discussion Questions:
1. When was an event in which you have been uninterested by a class but
have done nothing?
2. How can you relay to your own students an environment where
constructive criticism and discussion can occur?

 Chapters
21-25
Chapter 21: Self-Esteem
Summary: In this chapter, Hooks explains a deeper meaning and understanding of
“self-esteem”, and how it affects students academically. She claims that if their
self-esteem is wounded, then this can become an obstacle in their learning, and
effect how they perform. She also explains that teachers play a major role in
helping or hurting the students self-esteem, and can promote healthy self-esteem
by appreciation and awareness of the students potential. Many smart children
harbor low self-esteem, but accell academically to cover it up.
Key Points:
- “Teachers who acknowledge this power are far more likely to use it in the
service of raising a student’s consciousness so that they may realize their
potential” (Hooks, 2010, pg 124).
- “Self-esteem is confidence in our ability to think, confidence in our ability
to cope with the basic challenges of life and confidence in our right to be
successful and happy, the feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to
assert our needs and wants, achieve our values, and enjoy the fruits of our
efforts” (Hooks, 2010, pg 122).
Discussion Questions:
1. How have you benefited from an understanding teacher emotionally?
2. How can you take that kindness and direct it towards your classroom?

Chapter 22: The Joy of Reading

 16

Summary: This chapter summarizes the importance of knowing how to read.

Hooks even goes as far as to say that knowing how to critically read and think is
more important than having a formal education acquiring higher degrees. In
addition, she suggests that newer technologies are dimming the creativity of
actually reading a book. Students who lack the basic ability to read can’t learn to
their full potential.
Key Points:
- “Laying the foundation for a passion for words and ideas, reading made
the impossible possible” (Hooks, 2010, p. 133).
- “Books invite us to imagine” (Hooks, 2010, p. 129).
Discussion Questions:
1. In which ways could reading be incorporated into a music classroom that
will continue to cultivate passion in the subject?

Chapter 23: Intellectual Life

Summary: Hooks goes on through her journey to become a professor of english
and also to write books for all ages. She explains that she had not initially
intended on becoming an educator but found that many people that do do not
follow her interpretation of what an educator is.
Key Points:
- “When I think about the question of why to choose an intellectual life in
an anti-intellectual society, what immediately comes to mind is the
transformative impact of new ideas and knowledge” (Hooks, 2010. p.
138).
Discussion Questions:
1. How would you relay to your classroom an environment of criticism
support?

Chapter 24: Writing Books for Children

Summary: This chapter summarizes the importance of good quality children’s
books and how they can change the way the child feels about themself, which can
create a positive impact. She states that many of her books have come from the
desire to create good books for children that would challenge racism and sexism.
Key Points:
- “Teaching outside classroom settings is one way to ensure that democratic
education is accessible to everyone” (Hooks, 2010, p. 141).
- “We live in a world that in many ways is not child-loving” (Hooks, 2010,
p. 144).
Discussion Questions:
 17

1. If there were a subject that you could write a children’s book about, what
would it be and which social issues would you address?

Chapter 25: Spirituality

Summary: This chapter ponders the question of whether or not spirituality should
be taught in the classroom. Hooks believes that it should be taught in the
classroom, as it can be creates a more open mind which leads to greater
acceptance of all religions. This can create an atmosphere of trust that draws the
teachers and students closer together.
Key Points:
- “Spirituality should be taught in the classroom because it is the magical
force that allows for rational openness that is needed for genuine
academic/ intellectual growth” (Hooks, 2010, p. 150).
- “To me the classroom continues to be a place where paradise can be
realized, a place of passion and possibility; a place where spirit matters,
where all that we know learn and all that we know leads us to greater
connection into greater understanding of life lived in community” (Hooks,
2010, p. 151).
Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways have you viewed the term spirituality?

 Chapters
26-28
Chapter 26: Touch
Summary: A deviation from the themes of the work until this point, this chapter
addresses possibly the most controversial information in the piece altogether. In
this chapter, Hooks claims that the moment there is physical closeness anywhere,
including classrooms, there is an implied and given presence of sexual feelings.
The point of mentioning this was to demonstrate alternate ways to interact with
students that can include touch and continue to remain platonic and appropriate.
Key Points:
- Touch- ​Eros​ is a palpable love between students and teachers.
- “The presence of eros in the classroom ushers in the sacred. We
are afraid to acknowledge the presence of physical bodies in the
classroom. For when these bodies of flesh enter, so does eros, so
does sexuality” (Hooks, 2010, p. 154).
- When we as teachers are afraid to acknowledge the presence of physical
bodies in the classroom, the eros takes on a sexual undertone.
 18

- Instead, we should use ​“Passionate Pedagogy”​ because it channels

“erotic energy” that can be used in constructive ways for individual
relationships and classroom relationships.
- “Passionate pedagogy in any setting is likely to spark erotic
energy. It cannot be policed or outlawed. This erotic energy can be
used in constructive ways both in individual relationships and in
the classroom setting” (Hooks, 2010, p. 155)
- We should challenge abuses of power where erotic becomes exploitative,
but we should also recognize that erotic interaction is enabling and
transforming.
Discussion Questions:
1. How can you make it clear to your classroom the intentions of platonic
touch between teacher and student if they were to question them?
2. How can we clarify the line between erotic eros and passionate pedagogy
for someone who might have difficulty understanding them?

Chapter 27: To Love Again

Summary: Love in this chapter is one that is defined as being similar to a love
between parent and child or between friends. The idea of love being a destructive
force in a classroom is demolished in the chapter, using a lack thereof being a
main cause of women leaving the feminist movement. In a classroom, love can be
used by teachers and students to understand limitations, possibilities, and progress
of students, while simultaneously creating excitement in the classroom.
Key Points:
- There are 6 basic factors of love- care, commitment, knowledge,
responsibility, respect, and trust.
- When the fundamental principles of love are at the basis of student-teacher
interaction, optimal learning ensues.
- Learning occurs when there is any passionate pursuit of knowledge.
- “When we teach with love, we are better able to respond to the
unique concerns of individual students, while simultaneously
integrating those concerns into the classroom community” (Hooks,
2010. p. 160).
- Teachers aren’t therapists, but we are unable to offer a meaningful
classroom experience if we cannot read the emotional climate of our
students.
- “If we refuse to make a place for emotional feelings in the
classroom it does not change the reality that the presence of
 19

emotional energy over-determines the conditions where learning

can occur” (Hooks, 2010, p.160).
- We often have students under some form of therapeutic care, and these
students are far less likely to learn when they feel that their emotional
intelligence is devalued.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are some ways that we as teachers can communicate love to our
students?
2. How can we as teachers show our students love while still maintaining a
teacher-student dynamic as opposed to a friend-friend or parent-child
dynamic?

Chapter 28: Feminist Change

Summary: Expanding on the preceding chapter, Feminist Change begins with
using society’s damaged view of love to show how feminists had began rejecting
love as a whole. Hooks uses a cliche line that love for others cannot begin until
self love is fully felt. In a feminist case, being fully confident is seen as
threatening to a patriarchal society. In a way, having no self esteem despite being
powerful in the workforce is what the patriarchy desires and continuing to
practice feminism without a sense of self care and love is anti-feminist.
Key Points:
- We must teach about love from a feminist standpoint- not the “power
matters more than love” feminist view, but the view that love is more than
just romantic love; we are loved by our parents, our siblings and our
friends, and that being without a romantic partner doesn’t make you
“lesser”
- “It seems especially crucial to talk about love in and outside the
classroom from a feminist perspective at a time when many of our
female students who are quite brilliant find themselves full of
self-doubt and fear. They may be fretting over whether or not they
will be seen as cool if they exercise their intelligence, or they may
be wrestling with the age-old fear that being smart means they will
be alone. To teach them, both by theory and practice, women
professors who are advocates of feminism must have the courage
to let our lights shine” (Hooks. 2010, p.166-167).
- Love in education should be used to encourage students to feel
comfortable with failing in order to learn, and gain more confidence with
themselves through interactions with their peers and teachers.
 20

- “The best assurance that any woman will know love is that she
loves herself and uses this love as the foundation for full-self
realization” (Hooks, 2010, p. 168).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can we expand the ideas in this chapter to include LGBTQ+ students
and validate their relationships?
2. How can we as feminist teachers encourage and build-up female students
without being seen as being men-hating or showing favoritism?

 Chapters 29-32
Chapter 29: Moving Past Race and Gender
Summary: Chapter 29 discusses the importance of looking past stereotypical
sexism and racism. Hooks brings up important African American feminists before
her who have helped in her understanding and push for equality. She brings up the
importance of speaking of love in the struggle for self-determination, as well as
acknowledging that love is the necessary foundation allowing us to survive wars
and hardships.
Key Points:
- “The movement into self-love, self-respect, and self-determination is the
movement now galvanizing the true, unarguable majority of human beings
everywhere” (Hooks, 2010, p. 176).
- “It is love that allows us to survive whole” (Hooks, 2010, p.176).
Discussion Questions:
1. What lessons and objectives can you place in your classroom to attempt
showing love and moving past stereotypical sexism and racism?

Chapter 30: Talking Sex

Summary: In this chapter, Hooks explains that there is something unsatisfying and
dishonest about the way sex is talked about. Attempting to theorize sexuality to
talk about sex in a liberating way has created spaces of silence within the feminist
movement. She also brings up the suggestion for women to talk openly about the
erotic energy, and not just leave it in private.
Key Points:
- “Society’s hatred for sex is profound” (Hooks, 2010, p. 179).
- “The erotic, particularly in the realm of the sexual, can lead to spiritual
and emotional self-actualization, even if the place where it begins, where
desire places us, is imperfect, unequal, and, yes, potentially dangerous”
(Hooks, 2010, p. 180).
Discussion Questions:
 21

1. How do we attempt to normalize talking about sex while still respecting

all parties involved?

Chapter 31: Teaching as Prophetic Vocation

Summary: Chapter 31 summarizes prophetic vocational teaching as demanding
“allegiance to integrity of vision and belief in the face of those who would either
seek to silence, censor, or discredit our work” (Hooks, 2010, pg 181). It gives
insight to the importance of the teachers in our lives, and what we need to be
teaching them in order to empower them to be productive citizens, and take full
advantage of their rights. It also emphasizes the importance of critical thinking
and questioning skills in students, and by doing this, they will be self-actualizing
and self-determining.
Key Points:
- “Prophetic Vocation requires us to be bold in telling the truth and ready to
uphold an alternative vision- one that enables people to imagine new
possibilities” (Hooks, 2010, p. 181).
- “Shaming is one of the most common strategies used by educators in
classrooms where prejudices prevail. Shaming dehumanizes” (Hooks,
2010, pg 183).
Discussion Questions:
1. How do you personally view education?
2. In what ways does your vision compare to Bell Hooks’?

Chapter 32: Practical Wisdom

Summary: This chapter emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and
practical knowledge, and expresses that it is a democratic way of knowing that
also requires a constant open approach. When engaged in critical thinking, it can
heighten our capacity to live well and fully. Hooks states that knowledge is rooted
in experience, which shapes what we value.
Key Points:
- “As critical thinkers we are to think for ourselves and be able to take
action on behalf of ourselves”(Hooks, 2010, p. 185).
- “It is practical wisdom that leads us to recognize the role played by
intuition and other forms of emotional intelligence in creating a fertile
context for the ongoing pursuit of knowledge” (Hooks, 2010, pg.188).
Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways do you suggest teaching practical wisdom while keeping an
open mind, knowing that all students have different beliefs?
 22

 
Group Reflection: 
In ​Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom,​ Bell Hooks imparts years of wisdom
upon her readers. Members of academia are likely to find this book useful. More so, teachers
who are open to changing their philosophies/ideas about teaching. In addition, social justice
reformers, politicians, and generally curious members of the population could find this book
useful. The best way to use the information presented is to keep an open mind about the subject
matter from the book and criticize/think critically about your own teaching ideologies and
consider altering them based on the information presented.
The back cover is honest by stating some of the main themes throughout the book, and
elaborating that any member of education could enjoy it. “Addressing questions of race, gender,
and class in this work, Hooks discusses the complex balance that allows us to teach, value, and
learn from the works written by racist and sexist authors.” (Hooks, 2010, back cover). The title
of this book, ​Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom ​is accurate. She explains how to
teach and apply critical thinking in the classroom. She uses Richard Paul and Linda Elder’s
definition of critical thinking “the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to
improving it,” (Hooks, 2010, p.9) and sets this as the basis for her book.

Bell Hooks, also known as Gloria Jean Watkins, is known for a plethora of works
including those mentioned in ​Teaching Critical Thinking.​ Most have a relative tie to themes of
this book such as “​All About Love: New Visions, Salvation: Black People and Love; a​ nd
Comunion” ​(Hooks, 2010, p.165). She studied at Stanford University (B.A), University of
Wisconsin (M.A), and University of California (Ph.D). She has taught at University of Southern
California, Yale University, and Oberlin College. She is qualified by her childhood and her
studies.

The author uses herself as a resource frequently, which we thought made her work less
credible. She cites other authors such as Richard Paul, Linda Elder, Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau,
among others, but she cites them mostly for definitions or minor explanations, not major themes.
This work doesn’t have any images, graphs or diagrams. It mentions other books in the field and
elaborates on or disagrees with the stances of these other authors and mentions other books that
she’s written so that readers can learn more about these specific topics if they choose to.

In conclusion, Bell Hooks redefines what critical thinking means from how a student can
think to how the teacher can critically evaluate themself. Her goal is to make teachers more
aware of social issues they could be encouraging and how to avoid passing along social
discrimination to the next generation of academics. By including her own experiences as a
teacher and a student, she is able to express society’s need for change both in the classroom and
in the world as a whole. She’s answering questions that both students and teachers asked from
her previous volume: ​Teaching to Transgress and Teaching Community.
 23

 
Works Cited

Hooks, B. (2010). ​Teaching critical thinking: Practical wisdom​. New York: Routledge, Taylor &
Francis Group.

Britannica, T. E. (2014, October 29). Bell hooks. Retrieved April 08, 2018, from
https://www.britannica.com/biography/bell-hooks