Progressive beliefs do not translate into new teaching practices without a fierce will.

Evidence

I want to reiterate that many teachers who do not have difficulty releasing old ideas, embracing new ways of thinking, may still be as resolutely attached to old ways of practicing teaching as their more conservative colleagues. That’s a crucial issue. Even those of us who are experimenting with progressive pedagogical practices are afraid to change. Aware of myself as a subject in history, a member of a marginalized and oppressed group, victimized by institutionalized racism, sexism, and class elitism, I had tremendous fear that I would teach in a manner that would reinforce those hierarchies. Yet I had absolutely no model, no example of what it would mean to enter a classroom and teach in a different way. The urge to experiment with pedagogical practices may not be welcomed by students who often expect us to teach in the manner they are accustomed to. My point is that it takes a fierce commitment, a will to struggle, to let our work as teachers reflect progressive pedagogies. — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 268

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces the earlier threaded argument in this same book about the split between pedagogical theory and classroom practice, echoing Freire’s caution against ‘verbalism.’ — connects to: Progressive content does not suffice; pedagogical practice itself carries conservative class values — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 262; Progressive change is resisted when it unsettles classroom authority and safe harmony — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 73; Education suffers a crisis worsened by progressives disregarding teaching (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Progressive politics do not equip educators with skills for teaching diverse students. #corroborates (0.85) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 89
• Teachers’ own consciousness gaps block culturally relevant pedagogy from actually using critical consciousness. #expands (0.80) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 249
• Progressive change is resisted when it unsettles classroom authority and safe harmony #expands (0.78) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 73
• Educators must wait for the masses’ own consciousness rather than imposing needed changes. #complicates (0.78) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 372
• The pedagogy is forged with, not for, the oppressed and remade in struggle. #qualifies (0.76) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 113
• Education suffers a crisis worsened by progressives disregarding teaching #corroborates (0.75)
• Leaders may hold different knowledge but must not impose it on the people. #complicates (0.75) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 436
• Radical texts lose their force when taught in ways that affirm prior traditions. #complicates (0.74)