Perspectives of Black Histories in Schools

Edited by:
LaGarrett J. King, University of Missouri-Columbia

A volume in the series: Research in Social Education. Editor(s): Brad M. Maguth, The University of Akron.

Published 2019

Concerned scholars and educators, since the early 20th century, have asked questions regarding the viability of Black history in k-12 schools. Over the years, we have seen k- 12 Black history expand as an academic subject, which has altered research questions that deviate from whether Black history is important to know to what type of Black history knowledge and pedagogies should be cultivated in classrooms in order to present a more holistic understanding of the group’ s historical significance. Research around this subject has been stagnated, typically focusing on the subject’s tokenism and problematic status within education. We know little of the state of k-12 Black history education and the different perspectives that Black history encompasses.

The book, Perspectives on Black Histories in Schools, brings together a diverse group of scholars who discuss how k-12 Black history is understood in education. The book’s chapters focus on the question, what is Black history, and explores that inquiry through various mediums including its foundation, curriculum, pedagogy, policy, and psychology. The book provides researchers, teacher educators, and historians an examination into how much k- 12 Black history has come and yet how long it still needed to go.

CONTENTS
Foreword, Gloria Boutte. Introduction, LaGarrett J. King. Problems and Alternatives: A Historiographical Review of Primary and Secondary Black History Curriculum, 1900–1950, ArCasia James-Gallaway. Black History and National Policy in England: Legitimizing Anti-Blackness, 1950s to Present Day, Nadena Doharty. An Exploration of Black History Through Afro-Diaspora Literature for Children and Youth, Christina U. King, Oona Fontanella-Nothom, and Angie Zapata. “There’s No Such Thing as Someone Else’s War:” White Allies in Black History, Ryan M. Crowley, William L. Smith, and Carly C. Muetterties. White Teachers, Mis-Education, and the Psycho-Social Lynching of Black History, Brianne Rose Pitts. Same Story, Different Country? A Comparative Analysis of Representations of Black Histories in Mainstream Secondary Textbooks Across the African Diaspora, Nafees M. Khan, Clemson University, Crystal Simmons, and Christopher L. Busey. “We’re More Than What They Say”, Maria Tope Akinyele. “My People Did This”: The Shaping of Collective Remembrance in an African American History Class, Lina Richardson. The Difference Black History Knowledge Can Make: A Consideration of Psychosocial Influences, Collette Chapman-Hilliard, Andrea C. Holman, Valerie Adams-Bass, and Shawntell Pace. Where Are the Black People? Teaching Black History in Ontario, Canada, Natasha Henry. About the Authors.