Separate and Connected: A Portrait of Perspectives and Pedagogy at an Afrocentric Shule

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Community-Relevant and -Responsive Pedagogies

Abstract

Prior research demonstrates the importance of and need for unique pedagogy and curriculum for African American students given the reality of racism and their social location in society.
Absent from the literature is a clear explanation of what this curriculum looks like at the classroom level. Drawing on a pedagogy of connectedness and a framework of anti-colonial pedagogy, this paper illuminates the practices and curriculum at an Afrocentric shule. Qualitative results indicate a shared understanding among teachers of their responsibility to equip students to defend themselves against curricular injury and construct a positive black identity that is intertwined with service to the community. Findings add to and expand prior research on the importance of counternarratives for African American students.

Author

• Raygine Coutard Diaquoi, Harvard University