69ý

Opinion
Social Studies Opinion

Africana Studies Can Save Education—and the World

Growing up, I loved learning but not school
By Ismael Jimenez — January 31, 2023 4 min read
Illustration of the map of Africa casting a shadow on documents and opened books.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

When I was a young child, I struggled with stuttering in public. In hindsight, I believe this pattern emerged because of the racially motivated bullying I continuously received from classmates. Despite this bullying from my peers, I still considered my white suburban classroom a separate space where the teacher was a fair arbitrator of relations between students.

But by 4th grade, my positive view of school had vanished. I remember attempting to answer a question and beginning to stutter. The teacher told the class that they shouldn’t laugh because “his people talk like that.”

Between a Black mother raised in the United Kingdom and a Latino father, race was a constant topic of conversation in my family. I knew the comment was racist and told my parents, who swiftly secured an halfhearted apology from the teacher for “misspeaking.” Still, the damage to my sense of belonging in school was done.

I might have been pushed away from learning entirely if the librarian at the school had not given me her original 1965 copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X soon after. 69ý the Autobiography in 4th grade was the starting point of my love for learning Black history and learning in general—but it did not restore my positive view of school as a place for that learning.

As I grew older, my love for education increased and so did my resistance to school. This resistance was reflected in my 1.6 GPA. Despite my negative experiences, I chose to pursue teaching as a profession. For me, it was a path to address injustice authentically.

My exposure to the power of Black history as early as elementary school and my desire to address injustice led me to my core belief that Africana studies can save the world.

Africana studies is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the study of Black people and history, but it also represents a foundational building block of a more just world. This field of study can offer teachers the intellectual tools to develop an entirely new conceptual framework of education—one that is liberating and more humane for everyone.

Africana studies was only recognized in higher education through dedicated Black student activism, particularly since the 1960s. African people across the diaspora have long demonstrated a consistent effort to define the world through a different lens from the one imposed by a Eurocentric worldview. Throughout our history, African people have needed to create theoretical frameworks that affirm our humanity in the face of European domination. This African-centered worldview rejects the assumption that human suffering is an inevitable byproduct of “progress” or that control of the natural world is the highest level of human advancement. 69ý of Africana studies seek innovative ways to approach how people relate to one another and the world.

Our school systems were founded on a Eurocentric worldview that treats learning as an objective and measurable pursuit that can be disconnected from the subjective and interconnected context of human existence. 69ý and classrooms are structured with the “knower of” certain “facts” (the teacher) distributing that objective knowledge to passive recipients (the students).

This educational framework not only reinforces the passive learning behavior of students but also prioritizes individual competition at the expense of cooperative learning. We can see the cost of this framework in the use of a one-size-fits-all standardized-test-score model used as the primary measurement of learning, in oversized classrooms designed to treat education like an assembly line, and in the overall disengagement of students who view education as simply a means to an end.

By being exposed at such a young age to ideas centered on questioning this Eurocentric perspective—first through reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X and in the years of study that followed—I have come to see the true goal of education is not to separate myself from reality in order to categorize it but to see myself as a part of the subjective reality of our existence.

Not only does a Eurocentric education framework reduce education achievement to measuring decontextualized, narrow facts, it also devalues differing worldviews and “otherizes” non-European groups. There is a direct line between this individualistic and competitive framework of schooling and the unsustainable resource extraction and labor exploitation we see in the workforce. The goal of this dominant education framework is to produce workers, not whole, self-actualized human beings.

This approach encourages the accumulation of wealth through the exploitation of people and the extraction of natural resources. As we all face a global, existential environmental and spiritual crisis, this Eurocentric worldview cannot sufficiently address our collective plight.

I believe that Africana studies can encourage us to reconfigure the hierarchical relationship between student and teacher that has long made classrooms a dehumanizing place for students like me. Teachers can shift the focus of education away from simply acquiring skills to compete in the workforce to cooperative learning models that emphasize our collective responsibility to each other. Africana studies is the missing intellectual component we need for a more humane and holistic education system.

Explore the Collection

We are not a historically mature society until we acknowledge that everyone’s history matters. In this special collection, a slate of Black history researchers and educators help lead us down that road to historical maturity and LaGarrett J. King offers practical resources for improving Black history instruction.

Social Studies Opinion Black History Belongs in Early Elementary School
Here’s how to integrate Black history into the early elementary school curriculum—and why you should.
Wintre Foxworth Johnson
4 min read
Illustration of a young Black girl raising her hand in class.
Xia Gordon for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion We Don't Teach Enough About Black Fear in U.S. History
Here’s what I learned researching social studies standards: Teaching about Black fear drastically challenges popular narratives of U.S. history.
Brittany L. Jones
4 min read
Illustration of a low perspective view looking up inside a massive cavern with an ominous shadow ahead.
Xia Gordon for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion Africana Studies Can Save Education—and the World
The goal of our dominant education framework is to produce workers, not whole, self-actualized human beings. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Ismael Jimenez
4 min read
Illustration of the map of Africa casting a shadow on documents and opened books.
Xia Gordon for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion The Five Questions for Building Your Black History Program
69ý and districts must do better to highlight the importance of dedicated Black history instruction.
LaGarrett J. King
6 min read
Illustration of black faces looking out from behind vibrant blooming flowers.
Xia Gordon for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion How to Teach Black History: A Resource List
Here are some books, websites, databases, and podcasts to deepen your students’ Black history knowledge—and your own.
LaGarrett J. King , Greg Simmons & Dawnavyn M. James
5 min read
Illustration of a pair of hands gently holding a vase filled with vibrant red flowers.
Xia Gordon for Education Week

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 08, 2023 edition of Education Week as Africana Studies Can Save Education—and the World

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Social Studies 'Can We Trust This Source?' And Other Questions Readers Ask in History
Historical texts require students to weigh authors' bias, context, and audience.
7 min read
Illustration of student reading book with tinted glasses.
Dan Page for Education Week
Social Studies Download How to Hold a Mock Election in Your Classroom: A Downloadable Guide
Tips for an engaging, age-appropriate mock election that develops students' voting habits.
1 min read
A bin of "I Voted Today" stickers rests on a table at a polling place, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Stratham, N.H.
A bin of "I Voted Today" stickers rests on a table at a polling place, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Stratham, N.H.
Charles Krupa/AP
Social Studies Mock Elections in 69ý Evolve to Build Trust in Democracy
69ý use mock elections to help build voting habits early and help students understand the electoral process.
9 min read
69ý at Northside Intermediate prepare for a mock election on Nov. 8, 2016 in Opelika, Ala.
69ý at Northside Intermediate School in Opelika, Alaska, prepare for a mock election on Nov. 8, 2016.
Todd Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP
Social Studies Opinion A Year After Oct. 7, Silence Isn't an Option for Teachers
Teaching about the Israel-Hamas war can feel impossible, but two guardrails offer a path.
Eli Gottlieb
5 min read
A small plant signifying hope grows out of a crack in the pavement, casting  shadow of the large tree it will grow into. Candles burn in remembrance.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/E+/Getty Images