In Brilliant Teaching, you will come to understand that equity - when we view it from an informed, multi-layered, and artistic perspective - is the essential purpose of teaching. As education thought leader Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge argues, true equity does not need to defend or justify itself against detractors. Teaching for equity means creating student-centered opportunities that match the social, political, and economic context of the learning environment. Informed by both theory and extensive collaboration with K-12 teachers, Brilliant Teaching will help you develop a deep understanding of culture, one that you can leverage in order to be responsive to students.
This book draws from a range of disciplines, including but going well beyond the post-modern and critical-theory-based discourse that dominate conversations today. Brilliant Teaching also pulls from art theory, cultural psychology, cognitive science, and learning theory, as well as classic historical texts within education. With this broad foundation, Dr. Stembridge offers an empowering, engaging approach that educators can use to help learners reach their own goals, and to move society onward and upward. - Discover practices that you can use to provide vulnerable students with high quality, effective, and meaningful learning opportunities - Learn to empathize with and respond to your students in a way that will engage and empower them in rigorous learning experiences - Embrace artful thinking and an integrated understanding of culture in your approach to equity in the classroom - View the K-12 classroom with a more expansive mindset and fresh ideas from an expert educator
For K-12 educators, preservice teachers, parents, school board members, and policymakers, this book is a breath of fresh air and inspiration in a world where culturally responsive teaching is increasingly recognized as a must.
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Do I, or Do I Not, Take This Picture? xiv
What Is This Book About? xvi
To Whom Am I Speaking? xx
Part One Culturally Responsive Artmaking Teaching 1
One What Does It Mean to Think Like an Artist? 5
What Is Artmaking? 7
Social Learning 15
Notes on Artmaking: Influence and Inspiration 29
Chapter Notes 31
Two Defining Equity and the Problem of Fairness 35
A Problem of Fairness 37
Measured by Outputs 39
Quality and Effective 44
Difference ≠ Deficits 50
What Schools Can Do 60
Notes on Artmaking: The Heart of Equity 61
Chapter Notes 64
Three Shifting Paradigms 69
Equity Problems of Practice 71
Race 76
Nonstarters 83
Notes on Artmaking: Layered Methodologies 88
Chapter Notes 92
Four Artmaking - As an Equity Issue 95
What Does It Mean to Understand? 97
The Role of Culture Relative to Achievement 108
Notes on Artmaking: Composition 127
Chapter Notes 128
Part Two The Culturally Responsive Artmaking Teacher (In) You 131
Five 12 Days of Instruction 135
Seating Charts, Volcanoes, and Different Glimpses of Themselves 137
Week 1: Planning (Structure and Process) 142
Week 2: Superpowers, Not Hacks 149
Week 3: From Compliance to Agency 160
“Something Has to Work Better .” 167
Notes on Artmaking: Ordinary Resurrections 169
Six Improvisation 173
Make It into a Melody 175
Uncertainty 177
Imprint the Memory 179
Notes on Artmaking: Have Students Translate the Melody 181
Chapter Notes 182
Seven Story 183
Our Job Is to Be a Storyteller 185
The Star of the Show 186
The Story Unfolds as a Question 188
Notes on Artmaking: The Power of Story 189
Chapter Note 190
Eight Audience 193
A Captive Audience 195
A Good Classroom Is Supportive of New Ideas 197
In Defense of Incentives 199
Notes on Artmaking: Incentives Are Not the Reward 208
Chapter Notes 210
Nine The Art of Culturally Responsive Assessments 211
A Culture of Responsive Assessments 213
Why Are Performative Assessments More Equitable Than Traditional “Standardized” Assessments? 215
Measure It Performatively 221
Notes on Artmaking: “They Weren’t Taking Cues Off of Me.” 228
Afterword 231
Brilliance 232
Brilliant Teaching is Philosophizing 234
References 237
Index 255
