The Racial Hauntings of One Black Male Professor and the Disturbance of the Self(ves): Self-Actualization and Racial Storytelling as Pedagogical Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamar L. Johnson

Through a series of racialized stories, I illustrate the familial knowledge, racial hauntings, and educational experiences that forge(d) the beginning and the continuing of my racial identity as a Black male. To examine these stories, I employ racial storytelling as a theoretical, methodological, curricular, and pedagogical tool to assist me in a deep excavation of my past, present, and future selves and to illuminate the literacies that my Black male body brings to the classroom. Racial storytelling illustrates how my racial encounters from the past situate themselves in the current moment and still haunt me today. As such, I (re)enter these embodied stories to demonstrate how life moments impact how I think about racial issues in today’s context. The questions that guide this line of inquiry are the following: (a) How can educators employ racial storytelling as a pedagogical and methodological practice? (b) How can language and literacy scholars of Color use the radical (self) imagination as a thought and concept to face our racial ghosts and to analyze our hauntings? In closing, I propose the radical (self) imagination as a recommendation for literacy scholars of Color and language and literacy education.

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Derrick R. Brooms

Background/Context A good deal of research has been written about the problems and challenges facing Black male youth in their educational endeavors, ranging from academic performances, aspirations, and outcomes to student–teacher relationships, social experiences, and identity development. Statements calling for more Black male teachers abound in current educational discourse, and a number of studies have focused on their experiences in teaching, their pedagogical practices, and their role within the school setting. However, little attention has been given to how Black male students experience their learning and relationships with Black male teachers—the very people who are supposed to benefit from this adult presence. The present study investigates Black male students’ experiences with Black male teachers at a single-sex urban secondary school. Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand Black male students’ experiences in an all-male learning environment, with a particular emphasis on the role of Black male adults in their schooling experiences. Participants This study focused on the schooling experiences of 20 college-age Black males who all attended the same single-sex public high school. Research Design Qualitative research methods were used in this study. In particular, data from in-depth interviews explored students’ narratives about how they experienced and made meaning from the all-male schooling environment. Findings Findings suggest that the students conceptualized adult Black males at their school as otherfathers based on their pedagogical practices, care and concern, and support. First, students expressed their need or desire for male teachers in their secondary schooling experiences. Students identified Black male adults as significant contributors to their development. Second, learning from Black male teachers was valued highly by students because these experiences provided them with insider perspectives and key insights on being Black and male. Students were exposed to opportunities to learn about how race and gender could matter in their lives. Finally, engaging with Black male adults in their schooling experiences provided students with unique opportunities to learn more about themselves. Students’ learning enhanced their critical consciousness and connected to their racial and gender identities as well. Students attributed much of their success and personal development to how Black male teachers engaged in otherfathering—expressed as holistic care, support, parenting, modeling, and life coaching. Recommendations Implications and recommendations for educational researchers and practitioners to better understand how Black males matter in the lives and schooling experiences of Black male youth are discussed.


Author(s):  
Marvin McAllister

This chapter argues that Dave Chappelle, Affion Crocket, and the duo Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key have all fallen victim to the black comedic Conundrum of excessively physical comedy. These comedians testify not only to the problems associated with representations of the black male body, but also highlight the lack of strong female comediennes headlining television sketch comedy shows. This chapter also notes, however, that each of these comedians has produced satire that conveys substantive social commentary.


Author(s):  
C. Kemal Nance

C. Kemal Nance reflects on the ways in which African American men utilize dance vocabularies in artistic and academic work. He reveals his findings through his own experiences as an African dance performer, as well as through a series of interviews with Baba Chuck Davis. Centering an analysis of gender and sexuality, Nance explores the scripted nature of these discourses while addressing the ideological implications of historical representations of the black male body, masculinity, and heteronormativity in the field of African dance in the United States.


Author(s):  
Raichle Farrelly ◽  
Iuliia Fakhrutdinova

This chapter builds on the pedagogical knowledge base of educators who work with refugee-background adult language learners. The chapter introduces refugee-background adults who have experienced interruptions in their formal education. The authors present a framework for pedagogical scaffolding that emerges from a sociocultural perspective on learning. An overview of research underscores the benefits of recognizing and building upon learners' strengths, lived experiences, and oral traditions. Classroom-based approaches that integrate pedagogical scaffolding into meaningful learning opportunities to enhance the language and literacy practices of adult learners are highlighted. The chapter sustains innovation and conversation among educators working with refugee-background adults, ideally in collaboration with the learners themselves, to cultivate pedagogical practices that foster learner success in the classroom and beyond.


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