Friday, April 3 2015, 12:20pm Miller Learning Center Room 148 Special Information: Free, Open to the Public, First Year Odyssey Approved Friday Speaker Series Historically, research has shown that the most effective examples of Black teachers – those with African heritage – teaching Black students were those who fostered cultural solidarity and culturally relevant pedagogies (Brockenbrough, 2012; Foster, 1994; Irvine 1990; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Moreover, gendered focused research explored how Black female teachers (Beauboeuf-Lafontant 2002; Dixson 2003) and Black male teachers (Brown, 2009; Lynn, 2002, 2006) utilized culturally relevant pedagogies to connect with their students beyond classrooms as role models and care-takers by interacting with students in ways that echoed familiar mother-child relationships. However, the field lacks significant research examining queer Black teachers and their experiences working with students of color. In fact, literature focused on queer teachers habitually ignores Blackness (Brockenbrough, 2012). Moreover, much of the limited research that does investigate the experiences of Black queers teachers focuses solely on Black queer male teachers (Brockenbrough, 2012). To-date, there are no studies that focus exclusively on the lives of Black and Brown lesbian teachers and their experiences working with students of color. Dr. Love’s talk will focus on her research examining the lives of Black and Brown lesbian teachers and personnel who work in Pre-K-12 settings with students of color, with the aim of understanding educators’ overall teaching experiences (i.e., teaching styles, teaching identities, negotiating identities, student impact).
