What is an African Centered Education and Why Is It Important?
African Centered Education is an educational framework which seeks to reconnect children of color with the truth, beauty, and grace of their African heritage and culture. While it can take shape in many forms,
daily African centered interactions with culturally relevant information in all subjects is a key component. Many see it as a means of liberating and empowering the Black community. It is growing in popularity as an educational paradigm because of its positive effects on Black students. Educators employing the Afrocentric model are witnessing enhanced self-esteem, positive self imaging and higher standards of educational excellence in children of the African diaspora.
B.L.A.C.K. tutors can testify to this first hand, as we have seen these positive developments in our children in a relatively short time. Although the African Centered Educational model targets children of color, aspects of it can be used in all homeschools because there is much to be learned and "relearned" about African and African-American Culture by children of all ethnicity.
As a lifeschooler of seven children spanning a fifteen year period, I have used almost every mainstream homeschooling curricula on the market, including Abeka, Konos, Story of the World, The Well Trained Mind, Classical Conversations, Alpha and Omega, Apologia, Saxon Math and more. Some I adopted and still use; others I took the meat and threw away the bones. While I have experienced good results with many of these curricula, (as evidenced by the fact that several of my children are honor roll students in college), it was not until recently that I began to perceive something lacking as it relates to me and my children as people of color.
By limiting my resources to mostly Eurocentric curricula, I realized that I had failed to fully expose my children to their rich, black history, which is often misinterpreted, hidden, or outright omitted in mainstream curricula. It also dawned on me that my children's first encounter with their heritage and culture in most textbooks is that of an oppressed or enslaved group of people. No wonder many of our black children, particularly those in the public school system, often experience such low self esteem! An African Centered Education fosters in children of the Diaspora a world view whereby they see themselves as "major players" on the stages of world history rather than as mere "observers" (Dr. Molefi Asante). This, in turn, helps them to develop skills to deal with all types of people with a clear awareness of "who I am and where I am from."
(Kansas City Missouri School Board)
Over the years, during the month of February, when everyone is focused on Black history, I would pull out my beloved Black Heritage Stamp collection, and teach my children about great African-American heroes like Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman. But I always felt like I should (and wanted) to do more. As an art history lover from my Howard University days, I had great intentions of introducing my young ones to my favorite African American artists like Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, or Varnette Honeywood.
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| Henry Oswasse Tanner |
Or what about Henry Oswasse Tanner, an African American artist who moved to France to escape racism in the eighteenth century? I recently learned from my astute
B.L.A.C.K. students that the Europeans considered Mr. Tanner one of the most talented artists of their time. Yes, I developed fancy lesson plans with noble intentions of fulfilling my dreams of teaching my children their black history, but there never seemed to be enough time in the day to fit it into our busy schedules after Co-op classes or our Abeka and Classical Conversations lessons.
Recently, I resolved to dust off my black history lesson plans and make
my children's story the center of
their world. I have come to understand the true meaning of Kujichagulia, the
Kwanzaa principle of self determination.
For us, it means doing what my husband and I believe is best for our children, as downloaded into our spirits by the Almighty Creator, so that they can fulfill the awesome destiny God has ordained
for them. Does this mean I intend to discard my favorite Eurocentric curricula? Certainly not, because, first of all, I've invested way too much money to throw them away! But, more importantly, children of color, like their European counterparts, need to be schooled about the history of ALL cultures. However, the study of our own heritage and culture will play a large part in how I and my beautiful brown children spend our precious time!
If you are interested in learning more about the African Centered Education, visit the following links:
Kamali Academy
http://www.kamaliacademy.com/afrikan-centered-education/
BlackEducationNow.org
http://blackeducationnow.org/id18.html
Dr. Lathardus Goggins II, Ed.D.
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