Engaging Black College Men’s Leadership Identity Through Pedagogy

• In Event: Collegiate Black Men and Leadership Learning for Liberation

Abstract

This paper will address the process of engaging Black college men in leadership learning by centering their identity. We employed an anti-deficit achievement framework within pedagogy and course design. This paper will highlight the importance and implications for understanding how engaging with same-race, same-gendered peers in formal leadership curriculum can support Black men in continuing to develop their leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy. The paper will explore key course outcomes, pedagogical methods to center identity and build leadership capacity, and key takeaways for leadership educators developing courses that engage Black college men.
Within leadership education and curriculum, Black male leadership continues to be an underdiscussed topic. One critical component that Black males need to engage in the leadership process is their sense of belongingness in higher education institutions. Strayhorn (2008) notes that supportive relationships with peers, faculty, and staff are critical to this belongingness and overall satisfaction at college. These supportive relationships help Black males leaders examine their leadership identity, capacity and efficacy in constructed environments that validate their experiences (Beatty et al., 2010; Guthrie et al., 2021). However, at predominantly white institutions (PWI), black males who engage in the leadership process have shown the inability to fully express themselves and have their ability challenged regularly that is not seen in their majoritarian peers (Harper et al., 2011). If these environments are not supportive and see their experiences reflected in an equitable way, Black males may feel less inclined to engage. Ultimately, to fully understand and engage in the leadership process, consideration must be given to the social environment and how conducive it is to their values and the impact that they want to make on campus (Beatty et al., 2010).
The conceptual framework to define the issue and engage leadership educators is culturally relevant leadership learning (CRLL). CRLL transforms leadership programs to consider how difference creates advantages and disadvantages through two dimensions. First, it recognizes that current leadership learning practices and theories reinforce majoritarian ideals and do not recognize the lived experiences of marginalized individualized. By recognizing this, CRLL centers the lived experiences of all individuals and how these individuals utilize their experience to understand their leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy (Bertrand Jones et al., 2016; Guthrie et al., 2021). The framework is grounded in culturally relevant pedagogy, which calls educators to utilize an asset-based approach to empower students in the classroom (Ladson-Billings, 2014).

Authors

• Cameron C. Beatty, Florida State University

• Darius Robinson, Florida State University

• Johnnie L. Allen, Florida State University