Shifting Teacher Practice Using Young Black Students' Cultural Capital

• In Event: Supporting Teacher Growth: Pedagogy Rooted in Culture

Abstract

Historically, Black students have been positioned using a deficit perspective (Valencia, 1997; 2010), resulting in students’ classroom and schooling experiences being less than favorable. For example, Black students often face psychological distress because they feel like schools devalue them (Cholewa et al., 2014). As a way to counter deficit framing of Black students, I use a case study to identify six young, Black students’ assets and Community Cultural Wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005). My findings show that Black students’ families play a significant role in their lives, including informing students’ sensemaking around inequalities. Implications from my study helps inform educators’ enactment of asset-based pedagogies at an earlier stage in Black students’ lives and positively impact young, Black students’ academic success.

Author

• Christine Quince, Santa Clara University