Pedagogical Features

Culturally Responsive Approaches

Interspersed with the important narratives and successes of African Americans, as a comprehensive overview of history, the topics of slavery, racial discrimination, school segregation, and violence are included in the Making Freedom curricula. This curricula is designed to respond to hard history through Culturally Responsive Approaches.

Further, primary sources that express  historical expressions of racism are included in order to help students recognize and understand the influence of White supremacist ideology before, during and after enslavement.  We recognize that both teachers and students may feel that they lack accurate information on the ways to analyze this information as well as process their own feelings and experiences. As a result, these topics and their devastating impact can be challenging–or even painful– realities to broach and discuss. 

As you engage with the lesson content, we encourage you to actively work to create a safe space for the emotional experiences and responses of learners. Recognizing that it is imperative that primary sources, in particular, be shared with students with great care, as they can trigger painful emotions in students, such as anger, sadness, fear, and shame. Additionally,  understanding that if not proactively examined and critically explored these ideas and sources can perpetuate anti-Black ideas.  We encourage you to utilize one or all of the best practices below in order to structure your class community prior to engaging in lessons identified as needing additional care during implementation. 

• Create or revisit classroom expectations for behavior that are grounded in respect and empathy for all.
• Inform students before sharing any racist source materials. Offer a clear rationale for why you are sharing the source. Allow individual students to opt out of engaging with the source, and offer them a meaningful alternative activity.
• Consider the order of sources. Students should engage with sources that depict African Americans in a positive light prior to any sources that include racist depictions.
• Be explicit about the racist ideas included in the source. Be sure to identify images, ideas, or words as racist, analyze how they are being used and consider their impact. Provide clear expectations for how students should engage with the racist content
• Make space for students to reflect on their emotional reactions to seeing/reading racist content. Private journaling offers a safe way for students to reflect. This can be followed by a discussion, in which students can choose whether to share.  Be sure to validate students’ emotions. Sharing your own emotions can offer powerful modeling.
• Invite students to “talk back” to racist ideas. This includes coming up with counterexamples for stereotypes.

Through the process of using these suggested norms and activities, our job as teachers and students furthers us to use the lens of our historical understanding to view our current institutions, culture, and ourselves in a truthful manner. As a more accurate understanding of our complicated racial history is achieved, students can express their new knowledge in a variety of ways, as the activities in the lessons suggest.  Finally, they can be encouraged to take action to address issues in their own lives, schools and communities.