African-Centered Education: Strategies to Advance Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Equitable Learning Opportunities for Young Black Children

• In Event: Navigating Place and Space in Black Bodies

Abstract

Historically, Black children’s educational needs - with attention to their culture, racialized experiences, and building a positive racial identity - have been neglected. Early childhood education (ECE) settings can be transformed into sites of learning and healing by centering their cultural identity through African-centered education (ACE). Through ACE, Black children can find meaningful connections with their ancestry to expand on their knowledge; however, much of the extant research on ACE centers on grades 5-12. We seek to extend this knowledge with a qualitative study explicitly focused on defining ACE in ECE and highlighting common practices. Here, we propose a working definition for ACE in ECE and begin to outline teaching strategies consistent across African-centered ECE centers participating in this study.

Authors

• Danielle Allen, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Takondwa Musa, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill