The Empty Shelf and Other Curricular Challenges of Teaching for Children of African Descent: Implications for Teacher Practice

This article examines aspects of an African-centered pedagogy defined here as a pedagogy in which children can come to critically understand their identities as people of African heritage in a North American society. The data are taken from an ethnographic study on Black women teachers' "liberatory" pedagogy for children of African descent. The author discusses three classroom interactions between teachers and students from African-Caribbean-Canadian backgrounds. Through these vignettes and a discussion with the school principal, issues for liberatory classroom practice are raised. The central argument is that teacher practice must invite conversations that are often thought to be taboo or controversial. These conversations are necessary for pupils' self-understandings.