More Than a Bandaid: How Black Mothers Remedy and Repair in Homeschool Communities

Session Type: Working Group Roundtable

Abstract

The proposed roundtable explores Black homeschooling from the perspective of Black mothers and related implications for traditional schools. Through various critical qualitative approaches, the research demonstrates how Black homeschool communities remedy and repair the harms of the racialized educational terrain (Diamond 2006). This roundtable brings Black home education into conversation with traditional schools in novel ways; challenging the focus on neoliberalism, expanding the definition of community, and considering the value of intergenerational interactions. The papers include a rare retrospective of Black homeschooling in the 1990’s, a pioneering investigation of Black digital homeschool communities, and a novel study focused on Black homeschool organizations. Ultimately, the roundtable emphasizes Black mothers’ labor in service of remedying and repairing longstanding educational issues through community.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Research Focus on Black Education

Chair

• Cheryl A. Fields-Smith, University of Georgia

Papers

• We Have Come a Mighty Long Way: Homeschooling Communities among African-American families - Monique Gadson, Seattle School of Theology and Psychology

• The Role of Unconventional Community in BiPOC Homeschooling: An Exploration of the Digital Footprint of Black Home Educators - Christal Gamble Banks, @Mamasweetbaby

• Black Homeschooling as Remedy to Black Miseducation: An Autoethnography - Ariel Sylvester, DePaul University

• Motherwork as Community-work: How Black Homeschooling Mothers Labor Together - Moriah L. Johnson, Loyola University Chicago

• In Community with Others: How Black Families Navigate and Experience Home Education - Rachel A. Johnson, School Mental Health Collaborative

• The Ubuntu-like Characteristics of Black Home Educators’ Community - Cheryl A. Fields-Smith, University of Georgia