Teaching Is a Revolutionary Act: The Legitimate Knowledge(s) of Black Women Teachers Enacting Activist Literacies

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Becoming Who We Were Meant to Be: Black Teachers' Experiences of Teaching and Becoming Teachers

Abstract

This qualitative study documents the experiences of Black women teachers across three
domains. The study examines Black women’s experiences in their teacher preparation program,
schools and communities, as well as their lives and the ways in which these experiences have
informed their activism. This study is significant for various reasons. The study positions Black
women teachers at center and highlights their experiences as legitimate knowledge(s) to inform
theory, policy and practice in teacher education. Secondly, this study contextualizes a relatively
new term, activist literacies in the academy to include, Black Women’s Pedagogy, Black
Women’s Activism and Social Justice Teacher Education as a way to engage in transformative
work. Thirdly, this study recognizes Black women particularly Black women teachers as integral
and central contributors to the survival and transcendence of their schools and communities.

Author

• Reba Yashema Hodge, Syracuse University