‘That’s My Job’: Black Teachers’ Perspectives on Helping Black Students Navigate White Supremacy

Duncan, Kristen E.

doi:10.1080/13613324.2020.1798377

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…CRT centers around the notion that there needs to be more focus and emphasis on racism being an institutionalized concept, that has become systematic and is regularly found in our society (Sleeter, 2017). Racism has become such a normalized part of society that those who do not experience it find it hard to recognize or hold conscious awareness of its existence (Duncan, 2020). White supremacy has also become embedded into our society through those who display and exhibit desired white cultural norms or behaviors being deemed less of an other or being viewed as socially more accepted (Duncan, 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Racism has become such a normalized part of society that those who do not experience it find it hard to recognize or hold conscious awareness of its existence (Duncan, 2020). White supremacy has also become embedded into our society through those who display and exhibit desired white cultural norms or behaviors being deemed less of an other or being viewed as socially more accepted (Duncan, 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Counterstories. CRT includes a tenet of counterstories which is described as being the stories of individuals from racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities or those individuals who are not from the cultural majority (Duncan, 2020). Counterstories have been defined as being a method that aims to tell the story about the experience of individuals whose story is not normally told (Solórzano & Yosso, 2009).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Painting the Experience of Black Elementary School Teachers: A Portraiture Perspective Case Study

Green

2022

Journal of Black Studies

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This case study uses a conceptual framework that pieces together Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Black Feminist Theory to elevate the voices of Black elementary school teachers allowing for their lived experiences to be seen through a portraiture perspective. The words of the participants have been woven together to create art/poetry that depicts what it means to be a Black educator presented through their individual perspectives. Eight themes were uncovered that act as unifying ties connecting the lived truths of each educator to one another. Through sharing the lived stories of these individuals this study aims to shine light on what it means to be a Black educator moving through a predominantly White working environment. This study stands as a platform to assist with uplifting the voices of the participants and vitalizing the voices of Black female educators giving them a seat at the table so they can be heard.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Painting the Experience of Black Elementary School Teachers: A Portraiture Perspective Case Study

Green

2022

Journal of Black Studies

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“…Justice-oriented teachers must work within and through very "standard" lessons; otherwise, CC can perpetuate whiteness to children. As Black teachers' history of activism suggests, there is hope that they are more willing to address the problematic relationship between Black communities and police (Duncan, 2020). Experiences influence teachers' reading of the world and the preparation of students (Ladson-Billings, 2000).…”

Section: A Curriculum For All?mentioning

confidence: 99%

African American Head Start Teachers’ Approaches to Police Play in the Era of Black Lives Matter

Henward

Lyu

Jackson

2021

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background: Scholars in the fields of early childhood education (ECE) and multicultural education have argued that preschools are key sites in which children learn about race and racism. However, there is little research on how teachers negotiate conflicting tensions and enact antiracist approaches within Head Start (HS) classrooms that use comprehensive and commercialized curriculums. Study Purpose: This article is about the challenges early childhood educators face when young children (ages 3–5) bring painful and uncomfortable issues of race, racism, and incarceration to preschool. This study is part of the research project Negotiating Head Start Curriculum (NHSC), a comparative study of policy implementation in four cultural communities in the United States. Here we focus on educators’ response to the “Jail Scene,” a pivotal scene taped in an HS classroom serving African American children. Research Design: The method used in the NHSC project is a multivocal ethnographic research method combined with a comparative case study design. We selected classrooms in each community that implemented both Creative Curriculum® and Teaching Strategies Gold®, led by experienced teachers in Chicanx and Latinx, Samoan, and white Appalachian communities. We made videotapes of similar activities across all sites. We then used these videos as cues for focus group interviews with educators (teachers, directors, and instructional personnel). We applied constant comparative, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Voloshinovian literary analysis to 41 interview transcripts of 132 educators’ talks. Findings: Analysis of transcripts indicates Black teachers are more likely to recognize racism, including the effects of incarceration and arrest on children’s talk and play, in ways unavailable to teachers from outside their community. Despite extant research suggesting early childhood teachers of color are no more likely to engage with young children about racism than white teachers, our study found that Black teachers offer nuanced, careful, and responsive approaches to antiracist pedagogy. They respond in sensitive, child-led, playful ways, inserting counternarratives within the confines of scripted curricula. Conclusions: ECE teachers’ disparity of interpretation has particular importance as ECE moves to professionalize the field. If elementary school patterns are any indication, the field should expect a sharp increase in the percentage of white, middle-class teachers instructing children of color. Unintentionally, these teachers may fail to recognize the play and talk to contain challenges born out of racism and inequality. We suggest policymakers, curriculum designers, and the broader field of ECE must carefully consider the approaches of teachers of color and take these approaches seriously.

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“…During these historical periods, Black students' need to understand the systems of white supremacy under which they lived was very much a matter of life and death. Many Black teachers in the new millennium have continued to take up this work, helping their students navigate the systems of white supremacy that affect their lives in numerous ways (Duncan, 2020a), as the work of racial justice-oriented teaching continues to be a matter of life and death when those in power have to be convinced that Black lives matter. These teachers work to help their students become keenly aware of the systems and structures that actively work to oppress them, while helping their students develop ways to address those systems and structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“They act like they went to hell!”: Black teachers, racial justice, and teacher education

Duncan

2021

JME

Self Cite

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Purpose While Black teachers have engaged in racial justice-oriented teaching for centuries and the body of research on racial justice-oriented teachers is growing, very little is known about how teachers come to this work. The purpose of this paper is to focus on where and how Black teachers who teach with racial justice aims learned to engage in this work. Design/methodology/approach This is a narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) study that was designed and analyzed using a critical race theory lens. Findings Participants learned to engage in racial justice-oriented teaching from their lived experience, particularly from their K-12 teachers who showed why this kind of teaching was necessary. Additionally, participants were highly skeptical of whether or not teacher education programs could prepare White preservice teachers to engage in this kind of teaching. Originality/value There is very little research focusing on how Black teachers come to engage in racial justice-oriented teaching, and even less that provides insight into how Black teachers perceive teacher education programs at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). This study sheds light on when, where and how Black teachers learn to teach with racial justice aims, and it also illuminates the experiences of Black teachers in PWI teacher education programs.

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‘That’s My Job’: Black Teachers’ Perspectives on Helping Black Students Navigate White Supremacy

Cited by 28 publications

References 42 publications

Painting the Experience of Black Elementary School Teachers: A Portraiture Perspective Case Study

Painting the Experience of Black Elementary School Teachers: A Portraiture Perspective Case Study

African American Head Start Teachers’ Approaches to Police Play in the Era of Black Lives Matter

“They act like they went to hell!”: Black teachers, racial justice, and teacher education

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