Towards an engaged Pedagogy: Bell Hooks Manifesto and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

Abstract

The debate over what content and methods should compose the mathematics education of children has been an omnipresent contested discourse in the mathematics education terrain. In today's schooling regimes, the push for accountability and the movement towards a culturally-coded, standards based curriculum seem to cripple every earnest attempt at rejuvenation and redemption of democratic access to educational opportunities and resources for learners. The abysmal inequalities we witness in schools and societies worldwide have been complicit in creating a rather apocalyptic vision of the future of education as a practice of engagement and empowerment. With a longstanding history that imbibed racial demarcation and reductionist positioning, the quest for liberation through transformative education endeavors appears as if a figment of pure imagination. In the face of intensified challenges that transcend national geographic boundaries, we seek refuge and inspiration by revisiting the works of crucial thinkers such as bell hooks who reminds us of the ultimate goal of education, viz. praxis of humanization and liberation. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the ideas set forth by bell hooks in her book Teaching to Transgress and to further explore its relevance to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Additionally, we will expound on basic issues that reflect her pedagogy including the role of the mathematics teacher and how she envisions the classroom setup. Furthermore, we will relate hooks' work in this book to other discourses in critical theory as well as propose potential impact on our evolving perspectives in critical pedagogy.