Kira Koop


IL - Critical Thinking


Hooks, B. (2010). Teaching critical thinking: practical wisdom. New York, New York: Taylor & Francis.


The last paragraph of bell hooks' introduction to her book states that the topics that the book discusses directly result from hooks' conversations with students and teachers, and "emerge from our collective desire to understand how to make the classroom a place of fierce engagement and intense learning."

The short essays that follow touch on ideas such as decolonizing the classroom, how collaborative critical thinking can be, feminism within an educational structure, and democratizing education. 

Though this is a physical book of essays (students can find an ebook available with a free trial here), I felt it necessary to include her writings in my recommendations to other learners. hooks is an extraordinary teacher, writer, and feminist, but until I came across this volume in the education section of my public library, I had had no idea that she has a career as a teacher on top of writing feminist theory. She writes efficiently: it takes little space for her to make a point, but with each sentence I encounter a new revelation. It's because of this that I haven't selected a single essay to recommend to you; even the essays that are less relevant to the course content I have found to be insightful and valuable for my learning process.