The influence of Western ideologies in Ghanaian higher education is undeniable and scholars have long called for a reframing of higher education policies to reflect the desires, culture, and institutions of Africa. Using a historical and reflective narrative approach, this article explores institutional identity within the higher education context…

This study sets out to explore the current Nigerian Higher Education Institution (HEI) curriculum and its relation to the notion of black consciousness. This study argues that for the curriculum of HEIs in Africa to be relevant to the notion of black consciousness, it should mirror the philosophies of Africa as a continent. The curriculum should…

The 'Sankofa' scale was constructed on the basis of perceptions of students about culturally relevant teaching and learning methods. This study established the construct validity of the scale. Participants (n = 171) who were students from a historically black university, reported their agreement regarding the presence and importance of teaching…

This article examines the partnership between a teacher and teacher educator disrupting a colonized early childhood curriculum that fosters a dominance of whiteness by replacing it with the beauty and brilliance of Blackness. We explore the following research question: "What are the affordances of teaching from an Afrocentric stance in a…

This rich, arts- and spatial-thinking-integrated project examined the effects of making three-dimensional dioramas of traditional African cultures on Black fifth graders at an urban school on students' racial identities, knowledge of cultural universals, and spatial thinking skills. Pretest and posttest attitudes measured with the Multidimensional…

Existing research notes that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are bastions of Black culture where Black students often feel supported (e.g., Harris in The Urban Review, 44(3), 332-357, 2012). What is less well-known are the specific practices campus stakeholders enact to create culturally-affirming environments. This study…

This project intended to create conditions that are conducive to helping minority students achieve success in learning, in school, and in life. The project is a response to the rising rate of health and career disparities among minority U.S. adolescents. Based on the theoretical framework of the cultural historical activity theory, this attempt…

The influence of hip hop culture and music on African-American youth is profound and can be used as a tool to shape positive outcomes in education. Hip hop has been used effectively in the classroom to engage students and enhance their critical thinking (Gangloff-Bailey & Freeman, 2014). In addition, hip hop has been described as a socializer…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a social emotional learning curriculum, "Brothers of Ujima," for children at risk for being referred for placement in emotional and behavioral support classrooms. The "Brothers of Ujima" is a strength-based culturally relevant intervention for African American boys aged…

How do black students acquire academic literacy skills without being severed from their cultural and historical identit(ies)? In this article, the author presents instances of literacy events in an out-of-school program called Youth Voices that serves to create opportunities for development of a strong sense of historical and cultural identity. An…

African-centered pedagogy aims to cultivate a positive and productive culturally based identity for Black children, and African-centered schools endeavor to supply that cultural base, placing the history, culture, and life experiences of individuals of African descent at the center of everything that they do. Our study examines the historical…

Art museums and other institutions of informal learning can promote multicultural understanding by collaborating with community ethnic groups and designing exhibitions that richly characterize the cultures they represent. Through the lens of educational programming for the exhibition "30 Americans," this article describes how both the Corcoran…

Despite the laudable intent of various educational initiatives in raising the achievement level of all children, limited progress has been made. In an effort to diminish the achievement gap of students of color, some researchers have examined the cultural relevancy of the curriculum in promoting student achievement. The purpose of this mixed…

Investigated African-descent college students' perspectives toward their African identity and how students with different perspectives reacted to immersion into an African-centered literacy curriculum. Five prevailing perspectives emerged: indifferent, resentful, hostile, accepting, and African centered (only one student was African centered).…

This article is on the strange confluence of culture, identity, learning, and systemic design. We argue that the work of instructional design is, essentially, work on culture and identity. A person's culture and identity fully and inextricably situate their thought, action, and interaction. For this reason, this inherent situatedness of culture…