Then They Can Learn: Narratives of Black Teachers Using Familial Approaches in the Classroom

• In Event: 67.068 - MTCC Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: 67.068-2 - Disrupting Deficit Thinking of Teaching Through Innovation

Abstract

In a time where Black educators are few, and in an education system that, to date, has not paid its historical, economic, sociopolitical and moral education debt to Black children (Ladson-Billings, 2006), this paper privileges the perspectives of Black teachers committed to the success of Black children. Through teachers’ stories of how “family” is valued and enacted in the classroom, we explore larger discussions to be had about the preservation of identity, confidence, and innocence among Black children. This paper contributes to research on successfully meeting the needs of Black children, and provides concrete, actionable approaches and ways of thinking and being that have the power to humanize schooling for Black students.

Authors

• Tunette Michele Powell, University of California - Los Angeles

• Annamarie Mahealani Francois, University of California - Los Angeles