Teaching African American Youth: Learning from the Lives of Three African American Social Studies Teachers

摘要

This study examines the life histories of three African American social studies teachers, focusing on the evolution and changes in their identities, perspectives, and attitudes related to their profession and instructional practice. In addition, the study addresses the significance of the teachers' racialized experiences as African Americans and how these experiences influence their use of culturally relevant pedagogy and other culturally responsive instructional strategies to teach their African American students. In the context of this study of three African American social studies teachers, critical race theory is used to acknowledge the teachers' life experiences with racism and the ways in which the teachers combat and address racism and oppressive mainstream educational ideologies, by sharing their counter-stories of experience in educational scholarship and their daily classroom teaching.A life history methodological approach was used to collect and interpret meaning from the narrative life stories of the three African American social studies teachers. The themes that emerge from the teachers' life stories focus on the teachers' beliefs and practices of culturally relevant pedagogy; the teachers' beliefs and practices of African-centered pedagogy; and the teachers' emancipatory teaching regarding racism in society and education. The results of this study have implications for the practice and research of African American teachers' philosophies and pedagogies; practice and research of culturally relevant teaching in social studies; and social studies teacher education.