African American Students and Classical Education
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Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Summer 2021 Culturally Contested Curriculum? African American Students and Classical Education Mary E. Negley Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Negley, Mary E., "Culturally Contested Curriculum? African American Students and Classical Education" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2289. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2289 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CULTURALLY CONTESTED CURRICULUM? AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AND CLASSICAL EDUCATION by MARY NEGLEY (Under the Direction of Ming Fang He) ABSTRACT This dissertation is a series of speculative essays that explore the intersections of classical education, African American education, and culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining pedagogy. For centuries, classical education dominated the educational scene, and even today many people consider it to be a paragon of learning. However, it contains elitist and outdated ideas. By recognizing the miseducation of Blacks in the United States and exploring the educational journeys of four prominent African Americans: Marva Collins (1936-2015), W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963), August Wilson (1945-2005), and Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), I explore possibilities that classical education can be culturally empowering for African American students rather than contested to their cultural heritages, legacies, traditions, and histories. I illuminate ways to create culturally empowering pedagogy for classical education for African American students. Classical education should be used to liberate African American students rather than oppress them. We need to create a space for African American students to heal from their tragic loss and all forms of oppression they experience at home, in the community, and at school. We also need to honor African American students’ funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) and the cultural roots of their learning styles (Hale-Benson, 1986). To develop culturally empowering pedagogy for the classical education for African American students, White teachers need to critically examine who they were and how they have become who they are as teachers, challenge their biases, recognize their cultural blindness, and defy internal and external racism and should work with other educational workers to create a culturally inspiring and liberating learning environment, where all African American students have equal opportunity to reach their highest potential (Walker, 1996). INDEX WORDS: Curriculum studies, Classical education, African American education, Speculative essay, Culturally sustaining pedagogy, Culturally contested pedagogy, Urban education, W. E. B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, August Wilson, Marva Collins. CULTURALLY CONTESTED CURRICULUM? AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AND CLASSICAL EDUCATION by MARY NEGLEY B.S., University of Georgia, 2007 B.A., University of Georgia, 2007 M. Ed., University of Georgia, 2009 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION © 2021 MARY NEGLEY All Rights Reserved 1 CULTURALLY CONTESTED CURRICULUM? AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AND CLASSICAL EDUCATION by MARY NEGLEY Major Professor: Ming Fang He Committee: Daniel Chapman William Schubert John Weaver Electronic Version Approved: July 2021 2 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Bettie and Cary Negley, for their unwavering encouragement and support. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank many people, who helped me accomplish this dream. First, I would like to thank my committee, Dr. Ming Fang He, Dr. Daniel Chapman, Dr. William Schubert, and Dr. John Weaver. Thank you for your wisdom, your constructive feedback, and your encouragement. From the first moment of orientation, I realized that Georgia Southern University is a warm and inspiring place, and through my classes and interactions with you all, you have confirmed my realization. Thank you for helping me realize that I can achieve this feat. Thank you especially to my chair, Dr. Ming Fang He. Thank you for the phone calls, Zoom sessions, and book recommendations. I am so grateful to you for your dedication, perseverance, and inspiration. Secondly, I would like to thank my colleagues and director who founded my school with me. Thank you for being dedicated to our students. Thank you also for encouraging me on this journey. Finally, I would like to thank my family. Thank you to my sisters, Carolyn, Carrie, and Michelle, for letting me confirm that the oldest sister is the wisest sister (at least until you all get your doctorates). Thank you for your support and encouragement. Thank you also to my parents, Bettie and Cary Negley. Thank you for your steadfast support and encouragement. Thank you for repeatedly telling me that you are proud of me (especially whenever I had to sacrifice family time to work on my dissertation). I hope that one day I can provide the same level of support and encouragement that you two have given me. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................................................................................3 LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER PREFACE…………………………………………………………………………….……………7 Why Do I Want To Do This Study?.........................................………………………….10 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...............13 State of Classical Education in the United States………………………………………..13 State of Classical Education in Savannah, Georgia……………………………...............15 Major Challenges for My Students………………………………………………………16 Why a Theoretical Dissertation?........................................................................................18 Why Is This Study Important?...........................................................................................19 Major Influences…………………………………………………………………………21 The Miseducation of Blacks in the US South……………………………………………22 Classical Education and Progressive Education…………………………………………27 Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy………………………………………………………….31 Why Speculative Essay?....................................................................................................33 Exemplary Speculative Essays…………………………………………………………..34 Outlines of Chapters……………………………………………………………………..37 2 CLASSICAL EDUCATION…………………………………………………………………...40 Defining Classical Education……………………………………………………………41 Benefits of Classical Education………………………………………………………….44 Disadvantages of Classical Education…………………………………………………...57 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….75 3 EDUCATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS………...…………………………..77 Miseducation of African American Students in the United States………………………78 Miseducation of African American Students in Urban Schools……..………………..…85 Culture and Curriculum………………………………………………………………….87 High Expectations…………………………………………………………………….…90 Black Boys in School…………………………………………………………………....91 Black Girls in School…………………………………………………………………....93 White Teachers and Black Students…………………………………………….………94 Love and Social Justice…………………………………………………………………96 4 PROFILES OF PROMINENT AFRICAN AMERICANS…………………………………….98 Marva Collins…………………………………………………………………………..100 W. E. B. Du Bois……………………………………………………………………….106 August Wilson………………………………………………………………………….117 Carter G. Woodson……………………………………………………………………..122 Analysis of the People Profiled…………………………………………………………126 Classical Education and African American Education of the Profiles………………....128 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...…131 5 CULTURALLY EMPOWERING PEDAGOGY………………………………………..……132 Culturally Contested Pedagogy…………………………………………………………132 From Culturally Irrelevant to Culturally Relevant Teaching…………………………...135 Creating a Culturally Empowering Pedagogy………………………………………….140 Culturally Responsive Teaching………………………………………………………..141 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy………………………………………………………….145 5 Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy………………………………………………………...147 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...149 6 CREATING CULTURALLY EMPOWERING PEDAGOGY FOR CLASSICAL EDUCATION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS……………………..………..……151 Classical Education as a Window………………………………………………………153 Illuminating Null Curriculum for African American Students…………………………154 Making Classical Education for Liberation of African American Students……………155 Finding Ways to Teach Cultural Heritages, Legacies, Traditions, and Histories………157 Honoring Funds of Knowledge and Cultural Roots of Learning Styles………………..160 Using Classic Literature and World History to Empower……………………………...164 Confronting Biases, Cultural Blindness, and Racism…………………………………..165 Working Together to Empower African American Students…………………………..167 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...168 AFTERWORD…………………………………………………………………………….…….170 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................173