Empowering Voices: The Role of Black Women Educators in Shaping Equitable Futures

• In Event: Stepping into the (Cess)Pool While the Water Is Stirring: Deconstructing/Reconstructing Black Pedagogical Activism Narratives

Abstract

This paper explores how collaborative, culturally-informed, activist/advocacy-oriented approaches can shape equitable educational futures. The author analyzes historical examples of activist-informed education and makes connections to how it can catalyze transformative community-building. The specifically examines the Jeanes Teachers’ tradition as a model for holistic, activist pedagogy.

Overview

This presentation explores Black women educators’ fundamental role in shaping equitable educational futures. Drawing on historical and contemporary perspectives, the paper highlights Black women educators' educational research, policy, and practice contribution, the importance of historical frameworks, and their potential to foster thriving futures for diverse communities. Examining historical movements and current practices across formal and informal settings provides a glimpse into how equity-oriented approaches can reshape education policy and practice. The work integrates interdisciplinary perspectives, including oral historiographies, womanist theory, and themes from the Jeanes Teaching Tradition, a rich legacy of African American activist pedagogy. Insights from BIPOC communities complement the analysis, proposing actionable strategies for equitable educational futures for our communities.

Theoretical Framework

Guided by womanist thought (Maparyan, 2012; Walker, 1983) and restorative justice principles (Zehr, 2002), this presentation incorporates the guiding concepts of the Jeanes Teachers’ tradition—community self-help, holistic education, responsiveness, advocacy, insurgency, and development—as a potential framework for education research. It also positions education research as a "long path" approach, emphasizing the importance of oral histories and historical awareness in shaping present and future education policies.

Method/Data Sources

Overall, this presentation and research employs oral history (Ritchie, 2014) through a qualitative lens, examining the historical archives and documentation of the Jeanes Teaching Tradition. The presenter uplifts oral history and archival research, by using Interviews with educators and community members that document the activist pedagogy of Jeanes teachers and teachers from the 1960s-1980s. Data sources for this presentation include oral history interviews with educators and activists in the Jeanes Teaching Tradition, such as Narvie Harris, Mary Lee Hall Bussey, and Carol Prejean Zippert, archival, and museum resources documenting the Jeanes Teachers’ contributions to Black education history.

Findings

Preliminary findings indicate that cultural heritage focused frameworks, such as those presented by King (2006, 2021) and King and Swartz (2015, 2018) significantly improve student outcomes, reduce disparities, and foster inclusive learning environments. The Jeanes Teachers’ tradition exemplifies how activist pedagogy, allied with innovative, community-based research methodologies, yields powerful and enduring outcomes for both schools and broader communities. Integrating historical insights and interdisciplinary methods, this presentation aims to stimulate dialogue that will allow us to reimagine an educational future without systemic inequities.

Scholarly Significance

This presentation contributes to education research by providing theoretically and methodologically innovative practices that center the pursuit of equity and justice, offering actionable methodologies like oral history for future studies on restorative and transformative justice and highlighting collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry in advancing knowledge and transformative impacts within educational and community contexts. “Returning what (we) learned to the people” we aptly respond to the AERA call to produce research that has the potential of transforming education for ourselves and our communities.

Author

• Danie Marshall, Georgia State University