Transformative Pedagogies: Uplifting and Protecting the Genius of Teachers and Students of Color

Session Type: Virtual Symposium

Abstract

This session includes teacher/scholars whose work expands Muhammad’s (2020) Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) to examine the genius cultivations of educators of Color serving students of color in climates where genius is stifled. Focusing on English, Social Science, and teacher education classrooms, we present research that: 1) Defines genius from our positionality as critical educators of color, 2) Illuminates transformative pedagogies BIPOC educators actualize in schools where genius is overburdened and overlooked, 3) Expands HRL tenants in response to community context, intersectional identities, student needs and epistemological concerns. This symposium discusses the reciprocal relationship between the genius of teachers of color and that of their students, as Muhammad reminds teachers to “cultivate their own genius that lies within them” (14).

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Educators for Social Justice

Chair

• Dena Simmons, LiberatED

Papers

• Carrying On the Tradition: Toward a Black Brilliance Praxis of (Re)Imagining Blackness in Education - Kiese Vita, California State University - East Bay

• Indi(genius) as Counterforce to Cultivate Warrior-Scholars and Challenge the Power Elite - Edgar Orejel, Native American Community Academy

• Intimate Inquiry: Embracing Emotion as Genius Through Embodied Pedagogies in Teacher Education - Stephanie Cariaga, California State University - Dominguez Hills

Discussant

• Gholnecsar Gholdy Muhammad, University of Illinois at Chicago