Centering Black Student Belonging in Teacher Classroom Community-Building Practices

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Cultivating community is one classroom practice to establish the kind of connectedness that increases Black children’s sense of belonging, and exemplary Black educators consistently create these spaces. While there is no mystery in nurturing Black children’s educational well-being (Hilliard, 2003), it takes morally-engaged thought and action from educators (King, 2017). Thus, there is continual need to examine manifestations of emancipatory pedagogies that emerge from the classroom community-building work of good Black teachers. We situate this symposium as necessary recovery work designed to intervene in the harms wrought by the man-made disasters of colonialism and chattelization (Nobles, n.d.).

Sub Unit

• SIG-Research Focus on Black Education

Chair

• Melanie M. Acosta, Florida Atlantic University

Papers

• Collective Responsibility And Humanity: The Social Ensemble For Black And Belonging - Michael J. Strozier, Florida Atlantic University

• Locating Students: Remembering And Restoring Student Agency For Black And Belonging - Shanna Lillis, School District of Palm Beach County

• Prioritizing Black Boy Joy by Creating a Culture of Care in the Classroom - David D Bynes, Florida International University

Discussant

• Melanie M. Acosta, Florida Atlantic University