Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: How Teachers Can Teach the New Majority in Public Schools

Abstract

BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 81, NO. 2 | 23 22 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 81, NO. 2 81 81 No.2 No.2 24 | BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 81, NO. 2 No.2 81 CULTURALLY SUSTAINING PEDAGOGY: HOW TEACHERS CAN TEACH THE NEW MAJORITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS By Sheikia Talley-Matthews and Greg Wiggan Since the beginning of common schools in the nineteenth century,American education has served the purpose of transmitting White Euro-American norms and culture.1 Social studies teachers and their classrooms have often been ground zero for perpetuating fragmented hegemonic historical accounts of United States and world history that portray White Euro-Americans as saviors of humanity. The teaching of distorted information from American textbooks has caused students of color to become disengaged with history and social studies, while denying them opportunities to explore the contributions of their own cultural groups.2 Figure 1. US Public School Population, 2017-18 School Year (NCES, 2017) We raise the question; how should social studies teachers teach the new 51.9 percent non-White majority of public school students? According to Milner (2012), the racial demographics of the new non-White majority students in public schools would lead most educators to label them as urban and different.3 Therefore, social studies teachers must have content knowledge to teach multicultural lessons. They must also have pedagogical knowledge to know what culturally responsive methods work for their students, such as those outlined by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). To be effective, teachers must understand the social, political, cultural, and physical environments in which students live and learn. In connection with the theme of “Black Migrations,” this article will help teachers implement culturally sustaining pedagogy in social studies classrooms. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy Django Paris and H. Samy Alim’s work, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (CSP), challenges educators to decenter Whiteness in teaching practices.4 CSP seeks to foster and sustain the value of languages, literacies, histories, and cultural ways of being for minority communities through education. The goals of CSP are built upon Gloria LadsonBillings ’s concept of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP), in which teachers use students’ home culture and community experiences as pedagogical tools, as well as to promote academic success.5 The goals of CRP are for teachers to become culturally aware and to use multicultural education strategies in their classrooms. Paris,Alim, and Ladson-Billings recognize that culture is constantly evolving among students, and that teacher pedagogy must reflect student cultures. Theory into Practice For the purpose of discussion, we ask the question: what does CSP look like in a social studies lesson on Black migrations? As noted, teachers must have content and pedagogical knowledge. However, teachers’ content knowledge should expand further than the class text: it should also include primary source data and additional readings and artifacts to support subject matter content. How can teachers engage students with the topic of Black migration in a way that is culturally sustaining to minority communities? In light of the NCSS standards for history, which aim to enable learners to develop historical comprehension so they can reconstruct historical events, music could be used as a pedagogical tool. For example, the lyrics of Big Daddy Kane’s old school hiphop song “Word to the Mother (Land)” may be helpful in introducing Black migrations. Take a stand [in] the fight for power Cause we’ve been here before the Mayflower Living superior abiding by nature The history of the Asiatic one paid the Price to be paid in slavery Like the name of Antonio was gave to me But knowledge of self broke every shackle and chain Now I declare myself as the Big Daddy Kane The teacher, teaching a lesson to be heard That’s word, to the mother my brother So discover the truth of one another Cause here’s the real deal upon our skin color Lay down white, yellow, red or pink But the color of black is most dominant The rising and sizing can never cease [Marley Marl: what you going say now?] Peace!6 81 No.2 BLACK HISTORY BULLETIN VOL. 81, NO. 2 | 25 After reviewing the lyrics, the teacher could ask students to deconstruct...