A Soul-Centered Approach to Educating Teachers: A Black Education Network (ABEN)

A Soul-Centered Approach to Educating Teachers has been created by A Black Education Network (ABEN), a national organization whose mission is to reverse the backward slide of Black students by utilizing culturally informed research, technology, and visionary community networking within the African Diaspora to facilitate academic and cultural excellence wherever scholars are. This interactive book presents portraits, narratives, and essays to illustrate the impact of ABEN on Black educators and those they serve. Traditional teacher education, curriculum, and instruction is largely disconnected from the lived experiences of diverse students and their communities. Current debates around Critical Race Theory and its application to curriculum call into question culturally responsive practices while others are striving for ways to support equitable practices in the classroom. Questions about these practices include, What does teacher and learning look like when grounded in community voice and practice? How can we better integrate the history, context, experience, and voice of the communities being served? How can teacher education apply authentic problem solving to address the concerns of a community? This inspirational and educational tale answers these questions for the myriad teachers, parents, administrators, school districts, community organizations, and community members who seek a better understanding of how to foster, access, and learn from spaces of Black excellence for Black children. Soul-Centered is essential reading for both scholars involved in a variety of disciplines in Education, and for community leaders interested in seeing how improved education practices can hugely benefit their constituents.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: "Ubuntu! Who We Are and Why" Joyce King Founder's Introduction: Debra Watkins Editors' Introduction: Rona Frederick and Kmt Shockley Part I: ABEN - The Foundation Chapter 1: The Making of the Vision Rona Frederick Chapter 2: ABEN – Reimagining Black Education RonaFrederick Part II: Soul-Centered Programming Chapter 3: The Cultural Imperative Initiative Anthony Browder Chapter 4: A Youth Perspective on ABEN: A Greene Scholar's Experience Ayinde Olokotin Chapter 5: Two Minds and One Vision: Reflections from Mama Rosaline Preudhomme the Keeper of Wisdom Rona Frederick Chapter 6: The Power of the ABEN Summer Institutes: The Village Method Rona Frederick Chapter 7: From National to International Reach: The Sankofa Homeschool Collective Monica Z.Utsey-Okpoti Part III: Personal Narratives of Soul-Centered Healing Chapter 8: Leading outside of the White Gaze: Debra Watkins, Founder of ABEN Rona Frederick Chapter 9: ABEN: A Lighthouse Akosua Lesesne Chapter 10: Full Circle: A Tribute to Debra Watkins and ABEN Bobbie Brooks Afterword: What Traditional Teacher Education can Learn From A Black Education Network Marvin Lynn About the Contributors Index NOTE: Table of contents subject to change up until publication date.

About the Author :
ABEN combines and disseminates evidence-based research findings, education strategies, and culture through offering professional development opportunities, student-focused programming, and curricula designed to empower the educators of Black students and Black students themselves. Specifically, ABEN supports and partners with educational institutions - schools, churches, non-profit organizations, educators, researchers, parents, corporations, foundations, especially those who focus on African-centered education - that work to ensure Black students reach their full potential. Kmt G. Shockley is professor of educational leadership at the University of Houston. His interests include research on African-centered education and maroonage. Dr. Rona Frederick serves as a coordinator of Education Studies at the Catholic University of America. She has written more than a dozen research articles on culturally responsive teaching of children of African ancestry. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Hampton University, a Master's Degree in Professional Studies with a focus on Africana studies from Cornell University, and a Doctoral Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on teacher education, evaluation, and equity from the University of Maryland, College Park. Joyce E. King (BA, PhD Stanford University) is the Benjamin Mays endowed chair for Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership and Professor of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University. A past president of the American Educational Research Association, she was provost at Spelman College and director of teacher education at Santa Clara. Her recent books include Heritage knowledge in the curriculum (with E. Swartz) and We be lovin' Black children: Learning to be literate about the African diaspora (co-editors G. Boutte, G. Jackson, & L. King).

Review :
"The work of ABEN and its founder, Mama Debra Watkins, is sacred work in the best tradition of the Ancestors. This volume is a much-needed and necessary documentation of insights, methods and outcomes that bear witness to effective African-centered leadership, instruction, engagement and achievement."--Chike Akua, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Clark Atlanta University "Simply put, re-building the Black Teacher Pipeline necessitates revitalizing the soul of Black teachers. In A Soul-Centered Approach to Educating Teachers: A Black Education Network (ABEN), we receive an effective blueprint to unite Black teachers, but we are also reminded of how critical Afro-centrism is to pedagogy, generational knowledge, and our pursuit of justice. The best teachers of my life were situated at Nidhamu Sasa and they embodied their souls in their collective practices. Their influence has impressed upon me that to re-build the Black Teacher Pipeline, we must prioritize fueling the soul of Black teachers and paving the way to allow them to integrate themselves in impactful Black teacher pedagogies and Black historical lenses. The triumph of A Soul-Centered Approach to Educating Teachers: A Black Education Network (ABEN) is demonstrating how impactful this vision is when fully realized and giving a powerful example for us all to model. I'm humbled to be a part of this movement towards "retrieving our...human heart." --S. El-Mekki, CEO, Center for Black Educator Development "Most people would agree that these are troubling times for Black people worldwide. Fortunately, A Soul-Centered Approach to Educating Teachers: A Black Education Network (ABEN) provides our communities a framework and praxis for those who educate across geographical and cultural locations. This book, steeped in the Pan-African and Black liberation tradition, introduces spirituality, culture, and healing into our daily ponderings and practices of education reform. The editors brought together some of the most prolific thinkers interested in education for liberation. They've made the case that ABEN is a hidden gem in liberation work!"--Venus E. Evans-Winters, Professor, Founder of Planet Venus Institute