The Jegna Tradition: Using Africana Heritage Knowledge to Restore Excellence in Education

• In Event: 47.024 - Curriculum Protests, Uprisings, and Revivals

Abstract

In answer to the deep, ongoing crisis in Black education in the United States, late scholar Asa G. Hilliard theorized and operationalized the Jegna as a culturally-informed pedagogical philosophy/identity that leveraged Africana heritage knowledge and cultural memory to inform thinking, philosophy, research, practice, pedagogy. In his address to the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Hilliard associated Jegna to Black educators and situated it as a culturally-informed philosophical orientation, pedagogical stance, research methodology, and teaching practice. In this paper, the author connects with and builds upon Hilliard’s research calling for the cultivation of culturally-informed practitioners who are able to access and leverage Africana heritage and cultural experiences to improve outcomes for Black children.

Author

• Lasana Kazembe, Indiana University - IUPUI