Teaching To Transgress

by bell hooks

There are times when I walk into my class and the students seem absolutely bored out of their minds. And I say to them, “What’s up? Everybody seems to be really bored today. There seems to be a lack of energy. What should we do? What can we do?” I might say, “Clearly the direction we’re moving in doesn’t seem to be awakening your senses, your passions right now.” My intent is to engage them more fully. Often students want to deny that they are collectively bored. They want to please me. Or they don’t want to be critical. At such times I must stress that, “I’m not taking this personally. It’s not just my job to make this class work. It’s everyone’s responsibility.” They might reply, “Well it’s exam time,” or “It’s this kind of time,” or “It’s the beginning of spring,” or “We just don’t want to be sitting here.” And then I try to say, “Well, then, what can we do? How can we approach our subject to make it more interesting?”