By Dr. Georgiary Bledsoe and Dr. Sonya White Hope

June 2021

“Pedagogy” has multiple meanings in education: theory, method, practice. In this fourth of five articles, we address Pedagogy, the third pillar in the BaobaoTree Framework. And we define it in terms of culturally meaningful interaction with students. Pedagogy is critical, as it impacts the social, political and psychological development of learners. We share six principles to help teachers connect with students of all backgrounds through Africentric pedagogy. We seek to illuminate how relationships in the music class are key to success. 

Africentric vs. Afrocentric

GB: The term Afrocentrism was coined in 1976 by Molefi Asante. It means “rediscovering African and African American achievement; restoring Africa’s rightful place in history; and establishing its importance on a par with European history, culture and accomplishment” (Appiah & Gates, 1999). Afrocentrism gained legitimacy in the U.S. as scholars increasingly agreed that providing a realistic portrait of African and African American history was long overdue. Though sources generally equate Afrocentrism and Africentrism, we view the latter as an approach that branches out from the former. Both approaches view people of African descent as actors in history rather than “objects,” and both are grounded in historical principles and values of African culture. 

But, whereas Afrocentrism sought to research and document theory, knowledge and practice, Africentrism seeks to apply them. In education, Afrocentrism has generally had an inward focus, bringing needed self-knowledge to Black children. Africentrism, in our usage, is outwardly focused - on what Black culture means in larger cultural contexts. In music education, Africentrism examines what Black music culture contributes to the self-knowledge of all music educators and students in America.

About Africentric Pedagogy

Before introducing the six principles of Africentric pedagogy, we want to clarify what it is not as well as what it is. Though Orff and Kodaly, for instance, are referred to as “pedagogies,” that is not the kind of pedagogy we are contemplating here. In our view, Orff and Kodaly are primarily engaged as methods. Methods are prescriptive in that they provide a course to follow. And in our DAPP lexicon (Dispositions, Aims, Pedagogy and Practice), methods are part of the fourth pillar, Practice. Both method and pedagogy are important and we will return to method in the next article.

The qualities of Africentric pedagogy that are critical to understand are that it is relational, generative and emergent. It is neither transactional, management-driven nor focused solely on transmission. Africentric pedagogy is designed to produce group and thus individual academic and cultural excellence, expand students’ heritage and cultural knowledge, teach agency, and create a shared commitment to group well-being and belonging.

Our six principles summarize and exemplify the Africentric pedagogical principles articulated in the work of King and Swartz.

“All cultures and groups—from the underrepresented to the overrepresented—have lived, acted, and produced knowledge that marks their presence. Accounts of the past that bring their presence into view are history at its best. Accounts of the past that dismember this presence are history at its worst, as dismembered accounts interfere with historical concurrence and derail the possibility of having comprehensive knowledge about the past.” (King & Swartz, 2016) 

The six principles of Africentric pedagogy were created by giving voice to silenced narratives and bringing them into dialog with the narratives of dominant groups. This process of reconnecting multiple knowledge bases and experiences is referred to as “re-membering.” Re-membering is an important part of a concerted effort to engage Africentric pedagogy. In Africentric music education, re-membering is the process of researching, analyzing and applying knowledge about the role of relationships in music making and the craft of giving shape to generative, emergent music making. 

SWH: Africentric pedagogy always seeks to build, nurture, and/or sustain community. To be clear, Africentric pedagogy is not the exclusive province of teachers or students of African descent. That is, people of all backgrounds, whether they hold insider heritage knowledge or solely outsider cultural knowledge of Africentric music, can access this generative approach to teaching.  Likewise, it will not change the essence of non-Black students or teachers. This teaching orientation:

The Six Principles of Africentric Pedagogy in Action

Sometimes, in our zeal to provide richly layered, long-lasting experiences for our students, we music teachers forget that high-quality music education occurs in a vast variety of contexts. Genuine music education often takes place with teachers whose credentials include a comprehensive knowledge of the local clapping games and jump rope songs. That is, some of the best teachers of music do not have formal certifications and can be found on the local playground. Since culturally situated learning and teaching really are dynamic undertakings, I’ve chosen a few examples of Africentric pedagogy ‘in action’ that demonstrate the Principles of Africentric Music Pedagogy. My descriptions below of the principles in action were created through a process of re-membering.

1. ELDERING

GB: Eldering is instructing with authentic authority based on knowledge, wisdom, and expertise, where knowledge is a communal experience and everyone has something to contribute.

SWH: Eldering in Action

Women find freedom and peace through Double Dutch club (see especially 1:01-end): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CXjagOY84I 

This video demonstrates several important aspects of ‘eldering’ in action. Specifically, Pamela Robinson, an adult African American woman who not only enjoyed jumping Double Dutch as a girl but also continues to participate in the activity, exhibits ‘authentic authority based on knowledge, wisdom, and expertise.’ That is, her childhood skill combined with her adult wisdom led her to create community-oriented teaching, learning, and nurturing spaces that address some of the needs of contemporary Black women while simultaneously providing music learning and teaching environments.

2. LOCATING STUDENTS

GB: Locating Students is an approach that designs learning opportunities around normative characteristics of Africentric culture.

SWH: Locating Students in Action, A Reflective Narrative

Given that ‘locating students’ refers to approaching music education from the perspective that the Africa-descended context is a valid norm, I’ll illustrate this principle with a reflective narrative from my classroom experience.

“I really enjoyed how much fun my beginning string students had in our recent class! We were exploring dynamics through improvised solos on open strings. The students had divided themselves into four quartets – one group had 3 violins and a bass, another had a violin, two violas, and a cello, and the others looked more like traditional string quartets. My rules were simple: each member of each group had four counts to improvise a piano or forte pattern on their A string. The remaining members of the groups would perform a musical response with my prescribed ‘melody’: four, mezzo forte quarter notes on their D strings. As usual, the students’ assessment was an in-class concert. Besides really mastering forte, piano, and alternating between solo and ensemble performance, I was amazed that the students remembered our audience behavior conversation from the previous week – each improvising student received applause from non-performing classmates immediately following their ‘solo.’ Yes, my students remembered that audience participation during performance is normative in a jazz improvisation.”

3. MULTIPLE WAYS OF KNOWING 

GB: Multiple Ways of Knowing refers to the heritage or cultural knowledge teachers have about their students. It reflects the range of culturally-specific Africentric ways that students learn.

SWH: Multiple Ways of Knowing in Action

All schools should be this Amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4buD-w9cj4 

This entire video demonstrates a teacher’s commitment to locating students’ cultural preferred practices and behaviors. That is, the teacher demonstrates a traditional way of knowing – in this case, a traditional morning greeting – combined with many culturally relevant ways of greeting her students. Additionally, this provides a view of a Euro-descended teacher successfully engaging Africentric pedagogy.

4. QUESTION-DRIVEN PEDAGOGY

GB: Question-Driven Pedagogy is a reciprocal learning experience based on inquiry. Students demonstrate agency by defining themselves and their ideas during instruction built around thought-provoking questions.

SWH: Question-Driven Pedagogy in Action, A Reflective Narrative

Showing question-driven pedagogy, that is pedagogy in which students self-define, in action lends itself to reflective narrative. I think the following recollection will help make this abstract idea more concrete.

“I was really amazed at the depth of personal and independent thought my 7th graders expressed during our recent preparation for listening. Upon entering my classroom, the students read (and responded to) the following task on the board: If you had the chance to learn a musical skill from one of the musicians below, who would you choose and what would you want to learn? Take a moment to look up these musicians. Explain your answer in detail. The musicians included Florence Price, Marian Anderson, and Alice Coltrane. Some wrote short essays. Others drew pictures. And one combined words and images that created a mini graphic novella!”

5. CULTURALLY-AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

GB: Culturally-Authentic Assessment guides students to produce knowledge and arrive at solutions through demonstration. And it assesses students’ learning using community-informed standards and expectations.

SWH: Culturally Authentic Assessment in Action

Sesame Street Handclapping Chants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-FpmUUc7U 

This entire video demonstrates an Africentric pedagogical approach to Culturally Authentic Assessment. The film opens with a small group of girls playing ‘Down, Down Baby’ while a younger, inexperienced girl watches on. At 00:45 we observe one skilled girl offer to teach the younger girl. Working collaboratively, the older girl ‘guides’ the younger in ‘producing knowledge’ by arriving at solutions through demonstration. The younger girl’s new learning, assessed using ‘community-informed standards and expectations,’ not only gives the novice a chance to demonstrate her competence but also envelopes her a supportive community that privileges success for all.

6. COMMUNAL RESPONSIBILITY

GB: Communal Responsibility fosters belonging, working together, reciprocity and being responsible for each other. Individuals are valued for group contribution.

SWH: Communal Responsibility in Action

Jamaican children ring games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlwg9R-GcqQ 

This video demonstrates group belonging, working together, communal responsibility, and more. Specifically, the students and the teacher show their collective responsibility to one another. Said another way, the fact that the teacher is an adult does not impose a hierarchical element on the group’s musical interchange. Yes, the children and the teacher are aware of their categorical differences, but these differences do not interfere with group members’ learning, practicing, or performing new musical skills.

In our next and final article we will consider the fourth and last pillar in the BaobaoTree Framework - Practice. Practice provides guidance in musical content and teaching methods.

References:
“Afrocentrism: the study of Africa and its history from a non-European perspective.” In Africana: the Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, edited by Appiah, K. and Gates, H. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 1999.

King, J. and Swartz, E., 2016. The Afrocentric Practice of Teaching for Freedom: Connecting Culture to Learning. New York: Routledge.

To cite this article:
Bledsoe, G., & White Hope, S. (2021, June). Engaging Africentric Pedagogy. Retrieved [insert date] from https://www.sankofasongs.org/articles/africentricparadigm-pedagogy

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