Creating Racially Safe Learning Environments: Investigating the Culturally Specific Pedagogical Enactments of Two Black Teachers

• In Event: Dismantling Racial Injustice by Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers of Color

Abstract

This paper illuminates the culturally specific pedagogical enactments of two Black teachers- one male and one female- who created racially safe learning environments in otherwise racially hostile urban elementary schools. Using multiple case study methodology, this five-month ethnographic case study investigated the ways in which both teachers' pedagogical beliefs and practices aligned with African American Pedagogical Excellence (AAPE). Findings show how their culturally specifically pedagogical enactments fostered cultures of community, love, and achievement suggesting potential to create racially safe learning environments for Black and Brown students. This research illustrates how educators’ pedagogical beliefs and practices mitigate racially oppressive schooling conditions and expands the knowledge base needed to center AAPE in discussions of ‘best practices’ for teachers.

Author

• Sara E. Bangert, Indiana University - Indianapolis