Reclaiming Communally Bonded Educators: A New, but Old Vision for the Field and Function of Black Educators

• In Event: In the Spirit of Sankofa: Black Educational Thought in These Troubling Times

Abstract

Purpose: In his 1933 speech entitled “The Field and Function of the Negro College,” W. E. B. Du Bois challenged the administrators and faculty at Black colleges and universities to hold onto their mission of preparing Black students to navigate a society characterized by a racial caste structure that attempted to consign Black people to the bottom. We extend Du Bois’s ideas to K-12 educational settings and propose a new, but old vision of the Communally Bonded Educator—a vision rooted in Black educational thought, the strengths of Black educational spaces, and empirical research.
Perspective: Our paper is guided by the Communally Bonded Schooling Model, which is an ecologically based framework that centers Black institutions and focuses on empowering the entire educational ecosystem of Black children.
Modes of inquiry and data sources: We outline five characteristics of the Communally Bonded Educator. These characteristics were developed out of ethnographic research whose data sources include archival data, in-depth interviews, and observations.
Conclusions: We argue that Communally Bonded Educators should possess a deep familiarity with the ecosystem of Black education, understand the historical role of Black educators in the Black community, and prepare Black children intellectually while providing them with a political awareness that prepares them for their existing context.
Significance: The strong bonds often formed between Black educators and their students—especially ones who express a commitment to working with Black children—are essential for cultivating a sense of belonging, which can lead to academic achievement.

Authors

• Jerome E. Morris, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Luimil Negrón, University of Missouri - St. Louis