Unveiling a Communally Bonded Educational Ecosystem: A Dialogue Between Historical and Contemporary Black Educators

• In Event: Critical Counter-Narratives as Transformative Praxis in Urban Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Objective
Ensuring quality education (i.e., good teachers, culturally-affirming and intellectually-engaging curriculum, and positive academic and social outcomes) for Black children is of paramount concern, given the myriad of forces that undermine their education, including (1) the low percentage of Black teachers (D’amico et al., 2017; Madkins, 2011; Mosely, 2018), (2) the disproportionate closure of Black schools (Author et al., 2022; Duncan-Shippy, 2023; Ewing, 2018), (3) disproportionate and racially-biased disciplining (Little & Welsh, 2023; Milner, 2020; Monroe, 2005), and (4) the erasure of Black history instruction from school curricula (King, 2020). Remedying these conditions requires reframing urban education and ensuring that educators develop a deep awareness of the social, cultural, and historical contexts of Black communities, families, and children.

Theoretical Framework
The Communally Bonded Education Model (CBEM), the theoretical basis for this paper, centers the ecosystem of Black education (Author, 2004, 2009, under review). The CBEM emerges from the history of Black schools and educators (Anderson, 1988; Edwards, 1996; Siddle Walker, 2000), Black educational thought (Alridge, 2008; Du Bois, 1935; Lee, 1992), and empirical research. The CBEM reclaims an earlier form of education that views the relationships between educators and learners as sacred and rooted in a deep sense of commitment to and familiarity with the learners and their families and communities. Communally Bonded Educators (CBEs)—the educators within the CBEM—build upon students and their families’ cultural knowledge and strengths.

Method and Data Sources
Emanating from a larger and ongoing research study, we have combined historical (35 oral history interviews and archival sources) and anthropological (17 ethnographic interviews) research. Our analysis in this article employs a key tenet of the CBEM—Sankofa—to investigate how Black educators historically and contemporarily in a midwestern city, sought to reclaim and rekindle communal education for Black children. Sankofa is an African philosophical concept that means “Go back and fetch that which you have forgotten.” The following research question guided the paper: What were the characteristics and disposition of Communally Bonded Educators (CBE) historically, and how are these characteristics exhibited among educators today?
Results
Key findings are CBEs (1) embrace the idea that Black children, across social classes, should receive a high-quality education, (2) hold Black students to high expectations, (3) incorporate sociopolitical analysis of students’ context, and (4) transmit Black culture and histories through their lived experiences and teaching.

Significance
Unveiling the perspectives of CBEs, we argue moving forward in urban education requires developing transformative praxis and asset-based ways of thinking about the education of Black people and their communities. It is essential to focus on the strengths within those structures, systems, and relationships that historically served Black children well. The analyses in this article are grounded in an intellectual tradition that views Black educational institutions and the educators who work in them as critical to Black identity, culture, and achievement. The article concludes with implications for the preparation of educators who work in predominantly Black urban–and suburban–communities by reframing CBEs as integral parts of the child’s ecosystem.

Authors

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

• Nicole Misra, University of Missouri-St. Louis

• Luimil Negrón, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Dionne Ferguson, Good Journey Development Foundation