Revolutionary Nationalism, Curriculum, and Pedagogy in the Oakland Community School

• In Event: 16.025 - Agency in Education

Abstract

In 1960s Black America, the tide shifted from the classical Civil Rights Movement (Hall, 2005) narrative to the slightly more contested grounds of Black Power (Van Deburg, 1992). In this transition from Civil Rights to Black Power, Afrocentric schools and Black Panther liberation schools were born (Rickford, 2016). Of the latter group, one school eventually emerged to become the model for other liberation schools. Founded in 1970, the Oakland Community School would gain funding and acclaim from the California Department of Education (Huggins, 2009). Using the political lens of revolutionary nationalism and the pedagogical frameworks of culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy, this paper will examine the curriculum and instruction of this school and its sign posts for contemporary social justice education. Analysis of archival data from school curriculum guides, unit plans, a recorded television program, and other primary resource material will yield a preliminary discussion of findings. The conclusion will offer recommendations for future research in this particular area and the rationale for such research.

Author

• Robert P. Robinson, The Graduate Center, CUNY