Lecture Notes: Fugitive Pedagogy and Black Education

Introduction

• Speaker: Mahasan Cheney, Assistant Professor of Education at Brown
• Event: First talk of the spring semester, coinciding with the end of Black History Month
• Focus: Insight into Carter G. Woodson, "the father of Black history"

Goals of the Program

• Highlight and celebrate new works in the field of education
• Showcase the interdisciplinary nature of education
• Explore various perspectives in education research
• Address and tackle issues of race and the legacies of racism in education

Previous Events

• Andrea Flores' Book Talk: Focus on Latino high school students in college access programs
• Upcoming Events:
  • "Critical Conversations: Race, Education, and Inequality" panel discussion
  • Talk with sociologist Natasha Waraku on race in suburban school contexts

Featured Speaker: Professor Jarvis Givens

• Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Research Focus: History of U.S. education, African-American history, Black intellectual history
• Notable Works:
  • "We Dare Say Love"
  • "School Clothes: A Collective Memoir of Black Student Witness"
  • "American Grammar: Slavery, Settler Colonialism, and the Racial Life of Schooling"

Key Concepts in Givens' Work

• Fugitive Pedagogy: Concept introduced by Givens
  • Combines themes of confinement and resistance
  • Examines subversive educational practices of Black teachers
• Carter G. Woodson’s Influence:
  • His textbooks and educational materials challenged dominant narratives
  • Woodson's legacy in Black education as a subversive act

Historical Context

• Education as Political Resistance:
  • Black education as a site of resistance against white supremacy
  • Assertion of Black educability during slavery and beyond
• Fugitive Pedagogy in Practice:
  • Black teachers used creative and discreet methods to teach Black history and culture
  • Examples include subversive use of Woodson’s textbooks

Implications for Contemporary Education

• Legacy of Fugitive Pedagogy:
  • Influence on the Civil Rights Movement
  • Connection to modern Black Studies programs
  • Encourages rethinking of how history of Black education is taught
• Call to Action:
  • Encourages educators to draw from the legacy of fugitive pedagogy for anti-racist teaching

Conclusion

• Impact: Givens' work reshapes conversations in the history of education
• Importance: Centers Black educational experiences and strategies for resisting oppression
• Future Directions: Exploration of ongoing impacts and adaptations of fugitive pedagogy