Addressing the Crisis in Black Education from a Gardner’s Perspective

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

The crisis in Black education began during the slave era with laws prohibiting Blacks to read and write. The race for Blacks to catch up remains elusive. Despite the Brown vs Board of Education ruling in 1954, US schools systems remain largely separate and unequal. Disparities in the education show up in less experienced/lower paid teachers, fewer resources, lower expectations, lower test scores, lower overall achievement, more discipline, different course offerings as well as different home and community environments, especially family characteristics (NECS, 2012; Cook, 2015). To address the crisis in Black education, this panel explores education as a living system (Snyder, 2015) and presents the following:
1. A gardening metaphor as an evolving framework to identify elements important for attaining equity, justice and excellence in education for Black students.
2. The perspective of a gardener (teacher) and the shift in perspectives.
3. An innovative out of school program using urban agriculture to teach science, entrepreneurship, employment skills, environmental stewardship, and culture & history.

Sub Unit

• 102nd Annual Meeting and Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History

Chair

• Concetta A. Williams, Northern Illinois University

Individual Presentations

• A Gardening Metaphor: An Evolving Framework for Achieving Equity, Justice, and Excellence in Black Education - Eric Kyere, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work

• Using the Gardener's Perspective to Design An Afterschool Program - Stephanie Boddie, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

• A Teacher's Perspective on the Gardening Framework - Stephanie Lewis, Bible Center Church; Stephanie Boddie, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Commentator

• ASALH Audience, .