Reflections on the Way

“Everything we do in life is rooted in theory” -bell hooks       My gut reaction was to say I do not really agree with this statement. However, upon some reflection I settled on that I really do not agree with this statement. It is a subtle difference, but one that reflects my growing unease with the positioning of what should be a set of interpretive frameworks as some sort of absolute structure indicative of human thought and action. This is a dangerous move that has the potential to be a step backwards away from a broad and depending respect for the diversity of identity and experience that is out there. Perhaps I am misrepresenting hooks with this interpretation, so please speak up of that is the case. Theory should, in my opinion, always be externally applied. As I mentioned, I see it as a tool for interpretation and reflection. It does not, can not, and should not be used to assume intent, describe causality, or be privileged as offering any sort of absolute ...

On a queer inclusive curriculum: I don’t really know how to begin to address some of the questions brought up around a queer-inclusive/supportive curriculum. As the questions about how to cope with and work around bigoted parents and policies suggest, there is a lot to push back against in this particular area. However, I do have some pushback of my own against the question about how to care for queer students without devaluing the beliefs or worldview of students resistant to queer-related conversations. I understand the importance of cultural relativism plays in intercultural communication. However, I draw the line for myself when those cultural practices start to infringe upon the rights or actively cause harm to others. I would argue that beliefs and world views that nurture queer phobic mindsets should be devalued. This does not mean that as a teacher you should disrespect or shame students for having been raised in those value systems, but you can make it clear that it is ...

       The words struggle, resistance, and revolution can often and easily be construed as violent and reactionary, as a backlash. That is not the framework used by bell hooks in her discussion of critical literature. It is, she says, a tool for building, for finding hope, an invitation for a shared imaginative experience. Anyone can be be an audience for a particular work if they engage willingly and with empathy, an empathy that is rooted in the ability to image different ways of knowing and speaking (hooks 1991). Critical fiction is fiction that explicitly highlights the struggles and lives of subaltern groups. Critical lenses, as they are argued for by Deborah Appleman, give readers the tools to overlay this framework on any text (Beach, et al 2016).   What first came to find when investigating the dialogue between critical literacy and critical fiction was Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611). The historical context in which it was first written position...