Show and Tell: Getting Folx Together to Center Blackness in Teacher Education

• In Event: Challenging Equity in Teacher Assessments and Curriculum: Exploring Race, Language, and Black Epistemologies in Educator Preparation

Abstract

There is a dire need in teacher education to include Black history through the stories and experiences of Black people. With the majority of teacher education programs centering Eurocentric curriculum, preservice teachers are leaving teacher education programs ill-prepared to create inclusive classrooms where their students can experience the genius of Black people. There is a lack of professional development spaces for teacher educators that do not require finances for teacher educators to develop their instructional practices around centering Blackness. In this paper session, the co-authors share how they have created an institute to help teacher educators explore and develop best practices to center Blackness in their courses through the use of materials and primary sources from African American digital archives.

Authors

• Shamaine Bertrand, The College of New Jersey

• Kisha M Porcher, University of Delaware