Conference explores innovative ways to teach Black history

Hundreds of educators from all around the country joined the Center for K–12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education’s annual teaching Black history conference to discuss innovative ways to implement teaching Black history into their year-round curriculum. 

The three-day conference, held July 25-27 at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, featured sessions led by classroom teachers who shared their successful strategies with participants. This year’s theme was “Black Boy Joy, Black Girl Magic: The History of Black Childhoods,” which addressed the narratives of Black childhoods, highlighting the joy, resilience and brilliance that have shaped generations.

Attending were teachers, administrators, editors, librarians, community leaders and advocates in various roles who engaged in meaningful discussions with presenters — and each other.

“I just enjoy being able to listen to other people’s perspectives and experiences,” said Chuck Marable, a STEM teacher and consultant from Atlanta, Georgia.  

Marable said this year’s conference was the first one he was able to attend in its entirety — and the first one he was able to attend as a participant, as well as a presenter. As a science educator, Marable said he appreciates hearing from teachers in the humanities.

“I just left a presentation by an English teacher. I am invigorated and learned a lot that I’m going to take back with me,’ Marable said.

The presentation Marable attended was given by Njemele Tamala Anderson, Philadelphia Citizen’s Educator of the Year and an 11th-grade English teacher at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber in Philadelphia. Anderson’s presentation, “Black Joy in Pursuit of Social Justice,” highlighted the yearlong lesson she conducted in the classroom and how she incorporated a community element.

“A lot of times we teach in our own little box and students present their work to the class,” Anderson said. “What we really need to do is to take that critical thinking and that beautiful learning of our students and take it throughout the school and out into the community. It needs to reach decision-makers who can see the brilliance of what’s happening in your classroom.

“Bringing those decision-makers into space so they can see the critical thinking of our children addressing issues like homelessness or littering gives our children a voice that empowers them,” she said.

Anderson said she practices Liberatory Education, an approach that combats discrimination and bias in schools and holds students to the highest standards of intellectual work — all while showering them with radical compassion and love to bring out their best work and prepare them to be engaged citizens of the world.

She said she wants to know her students: who they are, what are their goals and dreams. To get this information, she shares a survey with the kids, and another one with their parents.

“The first question on the parent survey is, ‘What do you love most about your child?’ And these parents start telling me all kinds of things that they love about their babies. I approach it as we’re about to co-parent together, so that’s the first question,” Anderson said.

She also takes an extra step in getting to know her students and asks the parents if the child has lost anyone who was close to them.

“It’s a heavy question, but I ask it because I want to know who’s still battling grief in my room,” she said. “This is the intentionality of planning and thinking that I’m doing. And that’s what we all have to do.”

Anderson talked about students’ approach to their projects looking through the lens of hip-hop and its role in social movements. Throughout the year, she said she had numerous guest speakers from the community attend her class and talk to the students about music, politics and communication. At the end of the year, each of the students had to perform a hip-hop song or a rap they wrote in front of the whole school.

“I was laying out the assignments that they were going to do, and the students were like, ‘This is hard,’ but the sense of accomplishment, the sense of pride these students felt … as educators, we have to create those experiences for young people. So, I’m going to challenge you today. Whether you’re a teacher, an administrator, or anyone in education, I want you to think big and I want you to reach big,” Anderson told the group. “I don’t want you to have any limits on what you can bring into your classroom.”

In between sessions, a poster session ran continuously in the Jacobs School atrium, where attendees could take in the displays of informative artwork and books, or just sit and talk with each other about the session they just attended.

Conference organizer LaGarrett King, professor of social studies education and founding director for the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education in the Graduate School of Education, said the ability to share ideas with other like-minded educators from all over the world enhances how Black history is learned and taught.

“What makes this conference special is its sense of community. I am always amazed at the presenters’ ideas and how our theme comes to life,” King said.

Plans are already underway for the 2026 conference.

“Next year, as the country celebrates the 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, we celebrate those Black founding mothers and fathers who have been left out of history,” King said.