For our first seminar, we reviewed some quotes from well known academic practitioners, and in our group of three people, we selected the following quote, which resonated with us:

‘If students’ initial ideas and belief are ignored, the understanding that the develop can be very different’

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A. L., and Cocking, R. R. (Eds). 2000. How People Learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. National Academy Press: Washington D.C. p.10.

We all had different responses to the quote, but essentially concluding on the same understanding: teachers have to meet students where they are at regarding their ideas, thoughts, beliefs and aspirations and work together from there. Connecting with students has to be a key component of effective teaching, otherwise, there will be lots of room for misunderstanding.

The following quote baffled us and seemed somewhat in appropriate:

‘In its earliest conception, erotic potency was not confined to sexual power but included the moving force that propelled every life-form from a state of mere potentiality to actuality. Given that critical pedagogy seeks to transform…to some extent it must rely on the presence of the erotic in the classroom’

hooks, b. 1994. Teaching to Transgress. Routledge: London. P.194

I was very dismissive of the quote during the seminar because the idea of the erotic in the classroom seemed to be something that I could not relate to. Then we were told that that quote had been from ‘Teaching to Transgress’ by bell hooks, which I have actually read. Re-visiting the quote, I was reminded of ideas from another feminists writer, Simone de Beauvoir, about transcendence and immanence. In her book, ‘The Second Sex’, she states that what sets humans apart from other mammals (or life-forms) is the ability to transcend challenges posed by nature and our environment through striving and innovation. Erotic could therefore be replaced with passion, drive, purpose or transcendence – reaching and exceeding one’s potential. I think what bell hooks is saying is that fostering critical thinking requires the presence of transcendence in the classroom. Going beyond the generally accepted knowledge.