Wednesday, May 31, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Patel Center, Room 136
FEATURED SESSION
11:00-11:15 a.m.
“Black Church Pedagogy: An Assets-based Approach to Effective Literacy Instruction“
Globally, the Black Church is considered the most influential institution in the Black community. It has successfully educated Black students and families across generations. Yet, the voice of the Black Church has been excluded from the conversation concerning the best way to educate Black students in the place called “school.” Historically, the value of education was emphasized and perpetuated in the Black Church where members were taught to read and write. Reading is a human right, and many members have sacrificed their lives to fight for equitable access to literacy for the Black Community.
This presentation will begin with the question: “What can educators, particularly literacy researchers, learn from the Black Church?” A close examination of the Black Church will reveal the complex interconnectedness of beliefs, communication systems, literacies, and politicized realities, bonded by relationship ties. This multifaceted community was intentionally established by committed ancestors whose descendants have continued to fight for literacy and equity for all based on a black theological approach. Studies conducted by the presenter have identified how Black Theology is developed and perpetuated in the learning environment of the Black Church and how it is steeped in its rich literacy practices giving birth to Black Church Pedagogy. An in-depth discussion of Black Church Pedagogy will highlight sources of incongruence and points of connection between church and school settings for many Black students and families and serve as a reminder of the role of the Black Church as the established expert in the education of Black people.
Dr. Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon
11:20-11:35 a.m.
“Early Literacy Across the African Diaspora: An Untold Story“
Acclaimed historian, Slyvannie Diouf (2019) observes that more than one million literate West African Muslims, and, an unknown number of literate non-Muslim West African people were among the 12.5 million African people captured or kidnapped, enslaved, and transported to the Americas. In this presentation, the lives of lives and literacy of five African Muslim enslaved men: Ayyuba Suleiman Diallo (Job Ben Solomon) (1701-1773), Ibrahima Abdur Rahman (1762-1829), Omar Ibn Said (c. 1770-1864), Salih Bilali (1765-c. 1850), and Bilali Mohammed (c.1770-c.1857), analytically are examined to understand the role of literacy that pre-dates their enslavement as informed by African cultures, ethnicities, histories, languages, and literacies in the Senegambia region. Of special interest is a recent acquisition by, the United States Library of Congress, the Omar ibn Said Collection, as it includes the autobiography of Omar ibn Said, the only known autobiography written in ancient Arabic by an African enslaved man. Africanist and Islamist scholars valorize his resilience as an African Muslim man who remained faithful to Islam under anti-Black racism, the horrors of chattel enslavement, and attempts at Christian conversion. The autobiography dismantles prevailing assumptions about people of African descent as sub-human, without culture, history, intellect, language, or literacy. It also revolutionizes what we know about the history of literacy in the Americas by drawing on sources and resources written by people African descent. As such, their knowledge, insights, and understandings help to exposes the pervasiveness of White supremacy; and unveils the roots of deliberate anti-Black literacy laws, policies, and practices.
11:40-11:55 a.m.
So, You Want to Involve Parents? Some New Ways to Engage Them
Just as populations change, ideas about how to encourage and work with parents also need to evolve. Patricia Edwards provides school leaders and classroom teachers with new and creative ways in which to welcome, encourage, and involve parents. Enacting these types of practices requires a special kind of commitment from teachers and school leaders, which often coincides with a particular kind of mindset about families and one’s responsibility to engage them. Educators often develop this mindset as they deepen their understanding of families, literacy/language, culture/race/class, and themselves. Edwards pulls these understandings together and presents them in a straightforward and concise way.
Dr. Patricia Edwards
