The Pedagogy of Carter G. Woodson as a Humanizing Approach to Maximizing Possibilities for Black Boys and Black Young Men
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/jump.v7i2.5445Keywords:
Black Education, Racially Responsive Teaching, Black Boys, Carter Godwin WoodsonAbstract
Many teachers struggle to meet the needs of Black boys. While much of the discourse regarding potential solutions include recruiting Black teachers, specifically Black men, very little discourse centers on the pedagogical practices Black teachers employ inside and outside of the classroom. The Woodsonian Conceptual Framework for Humanizing Pedagogy advanced in this essay emphasizes critical self-reflection to challenge dominant narratives about students who experience oppression and attempts to humanize teachers’ thinking and the pedagogical practices they enact inside and outside of classrooms. This essay concludes with a discussion and recommendations regarding how teachers can use this framework to foster spaces that equip all students with knowledge and skills they can use to disrupt oppressive societal structures.
References
References
Allen, Q. (2017). “They Write Me off and Don’t Give Me a Chance to Learn Anything”: Positioning, Discipline, and Black Masculinities in School. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 48, 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12199.
Alvarez, A., & Milner, H. R. (2018). Exploring teachers’ beliefs and feelings about race and police violence. Teaching Education, 29(4), 383-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1512091.
An, S. (2022). Re/Presentation of Asian Americans in 50 States’ K–12 U.S. History Standards. The Social Studies, 113(4), 171-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2021.2023083.
Baggett, C. H. (2018). “We’re Here to Learn to Speak French”: An Exploration of World Language Teachers’ Beliefs About Students and Teaching. Educational Studies, 54(6), 641-667. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1478836.
Banks, J. A. (1992). African American Scholarship and the Evolution of Multicultural Education. The Journal of Negro Education, 61(3), 273–286. https://doi.org/10.2307/2295248
Brown, A. L., Crowley, R. M., & King, L. G. J. (2011). Black Civitas: An Examination of Carter Woodson's Contributions to Teaching About Race, Citizenship, and the Black Soldier. Theory Research in Social Education, 39(2), 278–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473455.
Brown, D. K., & Brown, L. A. (2010). Silenced Memories: An Examination of the Sociocultural Knowledge on Race and Racial Violence in Official School Curriculum. Equity & Excellence in Education, 43(2),139-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665681003719590.
Busey, L. C., & Walker, I. (2017). A Dream and a Bus: Black Critical Patriotism in Elementary Social Studies Standards. Theory & Research in Social Education, 45(4), 456-488. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2017.1320251.
Bush, L. V., & Bush, E. C. (2013). God Bless the Child Who Got His Own: Toward a Comprehensive Theory for African-American Boys and Men. Western Journal of Black Studies, 37(1), 1-13.
Cho, H. (2018). Professional judgement and cultural critical consciousness: the dynamics of teachers’ decision-making for teaching controversial cultural issues. Multicultural Education Review, 10(4), 253-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2018.1532709.
Cholewa, B., Hull, M. F., Babcock, C. R., & Smith, A. D. (2017). Predictors and academic outcomes associated with in-school suspension. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(2), 191–199. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/spq0000213.
Conner, J. C. (2021). Whitewashing U.S. History: The Marginalization of Latinxs in the Georgia Standards of Excellence. Journal of Latinos and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2021.1951735.
Dilworth, P. (2004). Competing conceptions of citizenship education: Thomas Jesse Jones and Carter G. Woodson. International Journal of Social Education, 18(2), 1–10. https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bsu.edu%2fclasses%2fcantu%2fjournal.htm.
Dixon, R. D., (2021). A Critical Quantitative Exploration of the State of Black Education. The Black Teacher Collaborative.
Ford, Y. D. (2014). Segregation and the Underrepresentation of Blacks and Hispanics in Gifted Education: Social Inequality and Deficit Paradigms. Roeper Review, 36(3), 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2014.919563.
Ford, Y. D. & Grantham, C. T. (2003). Providing Access for Culturally Diverse Gifted Students: From Deficit to Dynamic Thinking. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 217-225. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_8.
Everett, G.B., Rogers, G. R., Hummer, A.R., Krueger, M. P. (2011). Trends in educational attainment by race/ethnicity, nativity, and sex in the United States, 1989–2005. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(9),1543-1566. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2010.543139.
Givens, J. R. (2021). Fugitive pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the art of Black teaching.
Gordon, B. M. 1985. Toward emancipation in citizenship education: The case of African-American cultural knowledge. Theory and Research in Social Education, 12(4), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1985.10505485.
Grantham, T. (2013). Creativity and equity: The legacy of E. Paul Torrance as an upstander for gifted Black males. Springer, 45, 518–538. https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1007%2fs11256-013-0257-2/
Graves Jr., L.S. & Wang, Y. (2022). It’s Not That They Are Big, It’s Just That They Are Black: The Impact of Body Mass Index, School Belonging, and Self Esteem on Black Boys’ School Suspension. School Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2022.2072693.
Goggin, J. A. (1993). Carter G. Woodson: A Life in black history. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Hooks, S. D & Miskovic, M. (2011). Race and racial ideology in classrooms through teachers’ and students’ voices. Race Ethnicity and Education, 14(2), 191-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.519972.
Howard, C. T. (2003). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Ingredients for Critical Teacher Reflection. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 195-202. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4203_5.
James, C. E. (2012). “Students ‘At Risk’: Stereotypes and the Schooling of Black Boys.” Urban Education, (47), 464–494. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042085911429084.
Jett, C. C. (2019). “I Have the Highest GPA, but I Can’t Be Valedictorian?”: Two Black Males’ Exclusionary Valedictory Experiences. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1599341.
Kaka, S. J., & Hollstein, M. (2022). Social Studies Teachers as Instructional Gatekeepers for Issues of Race and Justice. The Social Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2022.2085649.
Kern, M. L., & Friedman, H. S. (2008). Early educational milestones as predictors of lifelong academic achievement, midlife adjustment, and longevity. Journal of applied developmental psychology, 30(4), 419–430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.025.
King, L. G. J. (2018). Interpreting Black History: Toward a Black History Framework for Teacher Education. Urban Education, 54(3), 368–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918756716
King, L. G. J. (2014). Learning other people’s history: pre-service teachers’ developing African American historical knowledge. Teaching Education, 25(4), 427–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2014.926881.
King, L. J., & Brown, K. D. (2014). Once a year to be Black: Fighting against typical Black History Month pedagogies. Negro Educational Review, 65(1-4), 23–43. https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http%3a%2f%2fwww.uncfsu.edu%2fner.
King, L. G. J., Crowley, R. M., & Brown, A. L. (2010). The Forgotten Legacy of Carter G. Woodson: Contributions to Multicultural Social Studies and African American History. The Social Studies, 101(5), 211–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377990903584446.
King, L. J., Davis, C., & Brown, A. L. (2012). African American History, Race and Textbooks: An Examination of the Works of Harold O. Rugg and Carter G. Woodson. Journal of Social Studies Research, 36(4), 359–386.
Kutner, M., Greenberg, E., Jin, Y., & Paulsen, C. (2006). The health literacy of America's adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education (NCES 2006–483).
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00028312032003465.
Milner, H. R. (2017). Where’s the race in culturally relevant pedagogy? Teachers College Record, 119(1), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F016146811711900109.
Monroe, R. C. (2005). Why Are "Bad Boys" always Black?: Causes of Disproportionality in School Discipline and Recommendations for Change. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 79(1), 45-50. https://doi.org/10.3200/TCHS.79.1.45-50.
National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2013). National Center for Education Statistics.
National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2020). Significant Disproportionality In Special Education.
Noguera, P. A. (2003). The trouble with Black boys: The role and influence of environmental and cultural factors on the academic performance of African American males. Urban Education, 38(4), 431–459. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042085903038004005.
Reynolds, R. (2010). “‘They Think You’re Lazy,’ and Other Messages Black Parents Send Their Black Sons: An Exploration of Critical Race Theory in the Examination of Educational Outcomes for Black Males.” Journal of African American Males in Education 1(2), 144–63. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45534844_They_think_you%27re_lazy_and_Other_Messages_Black_Parents_Send_Their_Black_Sons_An_Exploration_of_Critical_Race_Theory_in_the_Examination_of_Educational_Outcomes_for_Black_Males.
Powell, T. & Coles, A. J. (2021). ‘We still here’: Black mothers’ personal narratives of sense making and resisting antiblackness and the suspensions of their Black children. Race Ethnicity and Education, 24(1), 76-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2020.1718076.
Schott Foundation for Public Education. (2015). Black lives matter: The Schott 50 state report on public education and Black males. http://schottfoundation.org/resources/black-lives-matter-schott-50-state-report-public-education-and-black-males.
Shillingford, A., Richelle, J. J., Norman, A., & Chapple, R. (2021). “African American Mothers’ Perceptions of Their Sons’ School and Community.” Journal of African American Males in Education, 12(1), 49–65. https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?site=eds&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=21539065&AN=150839582&h=Yv4z6g3ePrfbz8%2fmMhIjBEtGDuHTScvAalJAkf6XpHkPqW6%2bq3Oy3%2b4GHtU%2bZL3ehedEy1576H07K4vAMrSHYg%3d%3d&crl=c&resultLocal=ErrCrlNoResults&resultNs=Ehost&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d21539065%26AN%3d150839582.
Skiba J. R, Horner H. H., Chung C., Rausch K. M., May L. S & Tobin, T. (2011). Race Is Not Neutral: A National Investigation of African American and Latino Disproportionality in School Discipline. School Psychology Review, 40(1), 85-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2011.12087730.
Tatum, A. W., Johnson, A., & McMillon, D. (2021). The State of Black Male Literacy Research, 1999–2020. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 70(1), 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F23813377211038368.
Thomas, J. D. (2022). “If I can help somebody”: The civic-oriented thought and practices of Black male teacher-coaches. Theory & Research in Social Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2022.2078258.
Webster, C. & Knaus, B.C. (2021). “‘I Don’t Think They Like Us’: School Suspensions as Anti-Black Male Practice.” Journal of African American Males in Education, 12(1), 66–88. https://eds.s.ebscohost.com/abstract?site=eds&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=21539065&AN=150839583&h=suK7%2bJBMN9gwi7A%2fwWzHw22Q13ZCWLxCgt%2bO0VJWldM0rledVvZrI2GUaAMXRG0AaP4Sv8203bw55iCSJL9vEQ%3d%3d&crl=c&resultLocal=ErrCrlNoResults&resultNs=Ehost&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d21539065%26AN%3d150839583.
Woodson, C. G. (1990[1933]). The mis-education of the Negro. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, Inc..
Wright, B. L., & Counsell, S. L. (2018). The brilliance of Black boys: Cultivating school success in the early grades. New York: Teachers College Press.
