Still Runnin' the Underground: Emancipatory Pedagogy in an After-School Club

• In Event: 68.061 - Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 68.061-10 - Decolonial Interventions and Critical Curricular Design

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of emancipatory pedagogy and critical race theory at the middle school level. African American men have grim outcomes on most quality of life indicators (Howard, 2014; Noguera, 2008). The current school curriculum perpetuates white supremacy (Asante,1991) and therefore dismisses, maligns, and ultimately enslaves African American students to a lower social status. Swartz (1996) suggested emancipatory pedagogy as a response to deconstruct and refigure master-scripted and hegemonic school narratives and curriculum. Drawing from emancipatory pedagogy and critical race theory, the author created an after-school program to raise the sociopolitical consciousness of middle school males of color. The findings have implications for teaching and teacher education.

Author

• Dalisha Williams, University of South Carolina