Toward an Understanding of Freedom School Pedagogies and Methodologies for Teacher Learning

• In Event: 56.030 - Education Opportunity and the Possibilities of Freedom Schools for Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Building upon research that theorizes and documents teacher learning and teacher development across the professional continuum (Britzman, 2003; Feimen-Nemser, 2001; Putnam & Borko, 2000), this paper explores teacher learning within the Freedom Schools model, specifically focusing on the national summer training institute where college-aged youth (known as Servant Leader Interns) are trained for their work in the 6-week long Freedom Schools summer program and a professional development institute for practicing classroom teachers in traditional school settings that draws upon pedagogies and practices used in the summer program model.

Despite the fact that over two decades of research have demonstrated that culturally responsive practices improve achievement for students of color (Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2009), such practices are still relatively few in classrooms. Thus, centering cultural diversity in teacher education programs is crucial and must require more than rhetoric. “Articulating the vision is only the first step; weaving the vision throughout the teacher education curriculum and developing the local capacity to implement that curriculum are ongoing and collaborative processes” (Villegas & Lucas, 2002, p. 30). This paper explores how teacher learning and development within the Freedom Schools model are framed, guided and sustained by pedagogies and methodologies that center culturally relevant/responsive practices.

This paper investigates the process of learning to teach at Freedom Schools and uses the programs of study from the summer training institute and the professional development institute as an opportunity to explore the connectedness between teacher learning and culturally responsive/relevant pedagogy and offer a critical interpretation of teacher education and teacher learning in social justice oriented, community-based spaces.

This discussion gives explicit attention to the kinds of culturally relevant/responsive practices fostered in the Freedom Schools model and the methodologies used to prepare Servant Leader Interns as well as cultivate such pedagogies for practicing classroom teachers. Both institutes focus on providing participants with opportunities to develop (a)their socio-political consciousness, (b)their cultural competence and (c) their capacity for ensuring academic success amongst students of Color. Moreover, both institutes focus on developing participants’ stance of social justice education, so that the act of teaching becomes a means of activism. The primary methodology used for teacher learning in these spaces is one of living the model whereby participants are put in the position of learners and taught in culturally relevant/responsive ways. Examples of specific practices for each aforementioned category will be provided and described in the full paper.

This analysis can inform traditional university-based teacher preparation programs and professional development efforts that wish to prepare and sustain culturally relevant/responsive educators. Implementing such curriculum has to provide teachers with opportunities that focus on learning and experimenting with effective culturally sensitive and contextualized instructional strategies. There has to be an explicit connection between the desired characteristics of a culturally responsive teacher and the courses and field experiences offered to pre-service teachers. Freedom Schools have long recognized this need and make culturally responsive pedagogy integral to preparing its’ Servant Leader Interns and professional development efforts with classroom teachers in traditional school settings.

Author

• Tambra O. Jackson, Indiana University - IUPUI