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Journal Article

Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race Feminism.

22 Jun 2010-Educational Foundations (Caddo Gap Press. 3145 Geary Boulevard PMB 275, San Francisco, CA 94118. Tel: 415-666-3012; Fax: 415-666-3552; e-mail: caddogap@aol.com; Web site: http://www.caddogap.com)-Vol. 24, pp 19-26
TL;DR: In this paper, a discussion on engaged pedagogy from a critical race feminist perspective is presented, where the authors describe the experiences they gained from a group of African American pre-service teachers in a social foundations course.
Abstract: Oh, fix me Oh, fix me Oh, fix me Fix me, Jesus, fix me. We're still blaming teachers. At conferences and in publications, we 're still blaming teachers. In the news and at school board meetings, we're still blaming teachers. We're still talking about what teachers aren't doing and what they don't know. Teachers are faulty and broken. And everyone has something to say about how to fix them. Yes, it's the teachers who are broken, faulty, and require fixin'. But I submit to you that teachers, like the students they serve, are victims. They get smashed by school districts with wrecking balls of bureaucracy, limited resources, and inadequate pay. They get smashed by impractical professional development that does little to support the realities of day-to-day school life. But sadly, they are also wrecked by us: teacher educators. But we are victims, too. We suffer the indignities of a political tenure track system that rarely values collaborative work in schools and school communities. We suffer the injustice of state and NCATE standards that devalue true social justice and academic freedoms that embrace a true and authentic meaning of curriculum. But rarely do we get at the source. It is rare that we talk about how teachers are developed. How are teacher education programs structured? In what ways are these programs evaluated? And, in what ways do teacher educators engage in and model critically reflective self-assessment and evaluation toward the continual improvement of a praxis that supports educational equity? As a woman of color scholar whose work focuses on the intersections of social foundations and curriculum theory in the context of urban teacher education, I am an advocate and purveyor of scholarship and praxis that raises the intellectual value of the work of teachers and teacher educators who wholeheartedly and unselfishly support those who are most likely to be underserved in the educational arena, k-20. I advocate for and subscribe to the praxis of engaged pedagogy as defined by cultural critic and scholar bell hooks (1994). I advocate for and subscribe to the theoretical and conceptual notion of critical race feminism as defined by legal scholar and social activist Adrien K. Wing (1997). What I propose is a classroom praxis of engaged pedagogy from a critical race feminist perspective. In this article, I will describe hooks' engaged pedagogy in the context of the experiences I gained from a group of African American pre-service teachers in a social foundations course. This will be followed by a description of critical race feminism. The article will conclude with a discussion on engaged pedagogy from a critical race feminist perspective. Engaged Pedagogy bell hooks (1994) speaks elegantly about the process of teaching students "in a manner that respects and cares for" (p. 13) their souls as opposed to "a rote, assembly line approach" (p. 13). As a contrast to the 'safe' place of lecture and invited response, hooks moves to a place of resistance as she espouses "a progressive, holistic education ... more demanding than critical or feminist pedagogy" (p. 15). hooks advocates an education that goes beyond the classroom (Florence, 1998) and relates to students as whole human beings. In the context of the social foundations classroom at a historically Black university, this required finding ways to get to know my students and their connections to their families. This meant students interjecting their experiences regarding such issues as parental involvement to include their right to question the value of attending local school board meetings as part of their learning experience. Beyer (as cited in Florence, 1998) suggests that this may mean including elements of popular culture in the classroom experience. In my social foundations classroom, my students expressed a preference for writing rap and poetry to deliver their ideas, rather than the essay style writing required in the syllabus I developed. …

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine aspects of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Disability Studies (DS) to propose a new theoretical framework that incorporates a dual analysis of race and ability: Dis/ability Critical Race Studies, or DisCrit.
Abstract: In this article, we combine aspects of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Disability Studies (DS) to propose a new theoretical framework that incorporates a dual analysis of race and ability: Dis/ability Critical Race Studies, or DisCrit. We first examine some connections between the interdependent constructions of race and dis/ability in education and society in the United States and why we find it necessary to add another branch to Critical Race Theory and Disability Studies. Next, we outline the tenets of DisCrit, calling attention to its potential value as well as elucidate some tensions, cautions, and current limitations within DisCrit. Finally, we suggest ways in which DisCrit can be used in relation to moving beyond the contemporary impasse of researching race and dis/ability within education and other fields.

582 citations


Cites background from "Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..."

  • ...While Berry observes, ‘Commonality of race does not produce commonality of self-identity’ (Berry 2010, 24), we believe this to also be true of dis/ability....

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  • ...…Legal Studies), along with Dis/abilities Studies theorists, for laying the groundwork and stimulating our thinking in this endeavor (Bell 1987; Berry 2010; Brantlinger, 1997; Crenshaw et al. 1995; Delgado Bernal 2002; Delgado and Stefancic 2001; Erevelles et al. 2006; Ladson-Billings and Tate…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In practice, researchers may apply pseudonyms with little thought or dee... as discussed by the authors The pseudonyms, an integral part of the social science research, are ubiquitous, thereby garnering minimal published reflection.
Abstract: Pseudonyms, an integral part of the social science research, are ubiquitous, thereby garnering minimal published reflection. In practice, researchers may apply pseudonyms with little thought or dee...

83 citations


Cites background from "Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..."

  • ...Although scholars have underscored the connection between CRF and narratives or storytelling in areas such as teaching and learning (Berry, 2010), we extend this point to research methodology specifically....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted a qualitative meta-analysis to highlight critical issues facing women of color (WOC) faculty and synthesize the research literature in order to offer recommendations for action to address inequities using an intersectionality framework.
Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight critical issues facing women of color (WOC) faculty and to synthesize the research literature in order to offer recommendations for action to address inequities using an intersectionality framework. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a qualitative meta-analysis. Relevant articles were obtained through a search of the EBSCO and Google Scholar databases entering in combinations of specific keywords. In order to be included in this review, the manuscripts had to be published between the years 2001 and 2017; in a peer-reviewed journal; and available through the university library system. Findings The majority of manuscripts in the meta-analysis revealed high teaching and service loads, ambiguous standards for tenure and lack of culturally responsive mentorship are challenges experienced by WOC faculty. Moreover, there is limited research that examines STEM WOC faculty experiences at minority-serving institutions and in leadership roles. Further research is needed to examine the long-term efficacy of mentoring strategies and institutional transformation efforts for WOC. These numerous challenges cumulatively undermine institutions’ abilities to implement institutional transformation that impacts WOC in higher education. Originality/value The recommendations provided are based on the results of the meta-analysis and are intended to promote systemic change for STEM WOC faculty in institutions through intersectional and transformational approaches.

46 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper explored the potential of critical race feminism as a framework through which we might cultivate transformative social justice-oriented change in schools and suggested that CRF is a relatively untapped resource in school reform efforts that may help us to rethink reform in general.
Abstract: Throughout the past several decades, there has been an abundance of research about school reform, particularly in schools predominated by students of color and students experiencing poverty. Critics acknowledge that many reform efforts have failed and comprehensive solutions to school change remain elusive. In this article, we provide an overview of prominent school reform efforts and describe some of the ideological problems inherent in these dominant approaches—particularly the abstract, one-size-fits-all vision of reform that they are premised upon. Then, we explore the potential of critical race feminism (CRF) as a framework through which we might cultivate transformative social justice-oriented change in schools. We suggest that CRF is a relatively untapped resource in school reform efforts that may help us to rethink reform in general, specifically by dislodging some of our taken-for-granted assumptions and offering us principles for school change. Finally, we give examples of counternarratives based on CRF principles that reflect the kind of critical, fluid, nonhierarchical approach to change needed to disrupt the status quo of inequitable, reproductive schooling.

33 citations


Cites background from "Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..."

  • ...CRF’s focus on intersections of race, class, and gender (Berry 2009; Wing 1997), as well its interdisciplinary approach to national and international social inequality (Berry 2010), make it a powerful vehicle through which to theorize change for the increasingly diverse and complex challenges faced by schools....

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References
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Book
09 Dec 1999
TL;DR: In this article, Patricia Hill Collins explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as those African-American women outside academe and provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde.
Abstract: In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as those African-American women outside academe. She provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. The result is a superbly crafted book that provides the first synthetic overview of Black feminist thought.

10,052 citations

Book
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the importance of engaged pedagogy and teaching to transgress in a multiracial world, focusing on the teaching of new worlds and new words.
Abstract: Introduction: Teaching to Transgress 1. Engaged Pedagogy 2. A Revolution of Values: The Promise of Multicultural Change 3. Embracing Change: Teaching in a Multicultural World 4. Paulo Freire 5. Theory as Liberatory Practice 6. Essentialism and Experience 7. Holding My Sister's Hand: Feminist Solidarity 8. Feminist Thinking: In the Classroom Right Now 9. Feminist Scholarship: Black Scholars 10. Building a Teaching Community: A Dialogue 11. Language: Teaching New Worlds / New Words 12. Confronting Class in the Classroom 13. Eros, Eroticism, and the Pedgagogical Process 14. Ecstasy: Teaching and Learning Without Limits

5,012 citations


"Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Rather, it may facilitate the valuation of multiple ways to experience. hooks’ (1994) engaged pedagogy allows for students’ lived experiences to facilitate their understandings, thereby creating an understanding for teacher/teacher-educator....

    [...]

  • ...However, hooks (1994) does approach this issue differently....

    [...]

  • ...I advocate for and subscribe to the praxis of engaged pedagogy as defined by cultural critic and scholar bell hooks (1994)....

    [...]

  • ...bell hooks (1994) speaks elegantly about the process of teaching students “in a manner that respects and cares for” (p. 13) their souls as opposed to “a rote, assembly line approach” (p. 13)....

    [...]

Book
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: The Critical Race Theory (CRT) movement as discussed by the authors was one of the first movements of critical race theory in the 20th century and has been studied extensively in the last few decades.
Abstract: Acknowledgments Foreword Preface I A. What Is Critical Race Theory? B. Early Origins C. Relationship to Previous Movements D. Principal Figures E. Spin-off Movements F. Basic Tenets of Critical Race Theory G. How Much Racism Is There in the World? H. Organization of This Book II A. Interest Convergence, Material Determinism, and Racial Realism B. Revisionist History C. Critique of Liberalism D. Structural Determinism III A. Opening a Window onto Ignored or Alternative Realities B. Counterstorytelling C. Cure for Silencing D. Storytelling in Court E. Storytelling on the Defensive IV A. Intersectionality B. Essentialism and Antiessentialism C. Nationalism versus Assimilation V A. The Black-White Binary B. Critical White Studies C. Other Developments: Latino and Asian VI VII A. Right-Wing Offensive B. Postracialism and a Politics of Triangulation C. Power D. Identity VIII A. The Future B. A Critical Race Agenda for the New Century C. Likely Responses to the Critical Race Theory Movement Glossary of Terms Index About the Authors

4,012 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The critical pedagogy, as represented in this article, has developed along a highly abstract and Utopian line which does not necessarily sustain the daily life of students, and this line has been criticised by Ellsworth.
Abstract: Elizabeth Ellsworth finds that critical pedagogy, as represented in her review of the literature, has developed along a highly abstract and Utopian line which does not necessarily sustain the daily...

2,687 citations


"Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In Why Doesn’t This Feel Empowering? Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy, Ellsworth (1989) identifies the need for teachers/teacher-educators to “criticize and transform her or his own understanding in response to the understandings of students” (p. 300). Ellsworth contends that by moving critical pedagogy to lived experiences placed into current reality, teachers and teacher-educators can begin to deconstruct the perceived empowerment gained from such a classroom experience. In this way “students would be empowered by social identities that affirmed their race, class and gender positions ...” (p. 300). She seems to suggest that focusing on the understandings of students through their lived experiences detracts from the political singularity of critical pedagogy. In other words, the teacher/teacher-educator is no longer the sole provider of empowerment. The content/material of what is learned becomes affirmed by the students’ experiences. Such valuation “redistribute[es] power to students” (p. 306), delineates “the socially constructed and legitimated authority that teachers/professors hold over students” (p. 306) and understands that students’ lived experiences provide dimensions of knowledge into the classroom that the teacher/professor could not know “better” than the student. However, “to assert multiple perspectives ... is not to draw away from the distinctive realities and oppressions of any particular group” (p. 323). Creating a space for multiple perspectives is in no way designed to oversimplify or homogenize any one’s experiences regarding oppression and conflict in the classroom. Rather, it may facilitate the valuation of multiple ways to experience. hooks’ (1994) engaged pedagogy allows for students’ lived experiences to facilitate their understandings, thereby creating an understanding for teacher/teacher-educator. Ellsworth and hooks appear to agree on these points. A key tool in hooks’ engaged pedagogy that facilitates this experience is dialogue. This is where hooks and Ellsworth distinctly depart from one another. hooks’ engaged pedagogy incorporates passions, dialogue, and interaction through the entrance of lived experiences. Ellsworth has identified dialogue “as a fundamental imperative of critical pedagogy” (p. 314) with rules that include the assumptions that all members have equal opportunity to speak, all members respect members’ rights to speak and feel safe to speak ...” (p. 314). However, among other problems, she feels that critical pedagogy does not alleviate the historical power of the teacher/professor and thereby can limit the freedom of speech in the classroom setting. hooks does not address this dilemma in her engaged pedagogy in this way. Ellsworth refers to this as a problem of “the students’ and professor’s asymmetrical positions of difference and privilege” (p. 315). In hooks’ engaged pedagogy, there is a failure to address these asymmetrical positions and the issues of difference and privilege (or lack thereof) that accompany them. As a result, what also does not get specifically addressed in hooks’ engaged pedagogy is how privilege and difference may silence such dialogue. However, hooks (1994) does approach this issue differently....

    [...]

  • ...Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy, Ellsworth (1989) identifies the need for teachers/teacher-educators to “criticize and transform her or his own understanding in response to the understandings of students” (p. 300)....

    [...]

  • ...In Why Doesn’t This Feel Empowering? Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy, Ellsworth (1989) identifies the need for teachers/teacher-educators to “criticize and transform her or his own understanding in response to the understandings of students” (p....

    [...]

  • ...In Why Doesn’t This Feel Empowering? Working Through the Repressive Myths of Critical Pedagogy, Ellsworth (1989) identifies the need for teachers/teacher-educators to “criticize and transform her or his own understanding in response to the understandings of students” (p. 300). Ellsworth contends that by moving critical pedagogy to lived experiences placed into current reality, teachers and teacher-educators can begin to deconstruct the perceived empowerment gained from such a classroom experience. In this way “students would be empowered by social identities that affirmed their race, class and gender positions ...” (p. 300). She seems to suggest that focusing on the understandings of students through their lived experiences detracts from the political singularity of critical pedagogy. In other words, the teacher/teacher-educator is no longer the sole provider of empowerment. The content/material of what is learned becomes affirmed by the students’ experiences. Such valuation “redistribute[es] power to students” (p. 306), delineates “the socially constructed and legitimated authority that teachers/professors hold over students” (p. 306) and understands that students’ lived experiences provide dimensions of knowledge into the classroom that the teacher/professor could not know “better” than the student. However, “to assert multiple perspectives ... is not to draw away from the distinctive realities and oppressions of any particular group” (p. 323). Creating a space for multiple perspectives is in no way designed to oversimplify or homogenize any one’s experiences regarding oppression and conflict in the classroom. Rather, it may facilitate the valuation of multiple ways to experience. hooks’ (1994) engaged pedagogy allows for students’ lived experiences to facilitate their understandings, thereby creating an understanding for teacher/teacher-educator....

    [...]

  • ...Critical pedagogy, as presented by Ellsworth (1989), presents dialogue as an entrance to multiple perspectives....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2008-Reciis
TL;DR: In this article, Patricia Hill Collins contribui para a consolidacao do Pensamento Feminista Negro propondo uma teoria centrada na teoria critica, in which se privilegia o ponto de vista das mulheres negras.
Abstract: Em Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins contribui para a consolidacao do Pensamento Feminista Negro propondo uma teoria centrada na teoria critica na qual se privilegia o ponto de vista das mulheres negras. Para desenvolver o argumento e as estrategias da construcao do seu marco teorico, Collins busca na vivencia e na experiencia da mulher negra norte-americana o trama principal da teoria. Trata-se de um trabalho necessario para a construcao de uma sociedade plural e polifonica cujas diversas vozes podem e devem ser acomodadas no mundo do conhecimento e das ciencias. O trabalho de Collins articula diversas correntes teoricas como estudos de genero e etnia, classes sociais, sociologia da ciencia, pensamento social marxista, teoria critica. Ela se inspira na Perspectiva Feminista de Sandra Harding, dos estudos da sociologia da ciencia, nos trabalhos de Angela Davis, uma das principais referencias dos estudos de genero e etnia e nas historias de vida das mulheres negras que Collins coleta ao longo da pesquisa. O livro de 335 paginas e dividido em tres partes. E na primeira parte que ela constroi a base teorica do Pensamento Feminista Negro que inclui com parte da Teoria Social Critica. De acordo com a autora, a teoria social critica permite analisar a situacao da mulher negra, assim como entender a supressao e a desvalorizacao do Neide Mayumi Osada

2,556 citations


"Engaged Pedagogy and Critical Race ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...However, unlike CRT adherents, critical race feminism is multidisciplinary as its draws from “writings of women and men who are not legal scholars” (Wing, 1997, p. 5) as evidenced in the social and political writings of Patricia Hill Collins (1990; 1998), bell hooks (1990), and Joy James (1999)....

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