This ethnohistorical study returns to a historical site of Black education, The Mississippi Freedom Schools (MFS) of 1964, to excavate conceptions of teacher education and Black education held by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) a predominantly Black social movement organization. The MFS served as an alternative site of education for Black children across the state of Mississippi that, unlike public school, placed the lives of Black children and the movement for Black liberation at the center of learning. Through an analysis of digital archival documents, secondary sources, and interviews this dissertation is segmented into two sections of historical findings. Part I begins with a series of narratives recounting a racialized history of teacher education, the journey of Black education in America, and the origin of SNCC. The second section details the foundational values of teacher education, answers the question, “What counted as teacher education?”, and derives the essential components of Black education all held by SNCC. By illuminating these conceptions this study aims to inform and transform the trajectory of not only how teachers are prepared to teach Black children, but also inform the broader field of education as it relates to education policy, curriculum, and teacher education program design. This study found that the foundational values of teaching and teacher education held by SNCC required teachers to interrogate and confront their deepest perceptions of Black folk, demands that teachers release ego and hero archetypes, and that teacher education actively disrupt traditional teacher-student binaries. Additionally, this study found that SNCC believed that a shattering of perceived realities and ideological foundations, a theoretical understanding of the Black American experience, and a knowledge of both the historical and current context of Mississippi counted as teacher education. Lastly, this dissertation found, according to SNCC, Black education served as a confirmation of youth’s lived experiences in an inequitable society, to demystify the functions of society that leads to oppression, aimed to dispel anti-Black myths and supplement the erasure of Blackness in school curriculum, and worked to cultivate an activist mindset and skillset.

African American rites of passage (ROP) have historically contributed to adolescent gender socialization enabling Black youth to overcome the effects of racism and oppression. ROP in the schools provide lessons in Black history, traditions, and culture as they guide youth through the turbulent terrain of adolescence via the communal "coming of age" process. This study examined adolescent girls' experiences in weekly ROP classes at Ella Baker Freedom Academy (EBFA) Charter School over the course of one academic year and five months. EBFA is an African-centered Freedom School in a northeastern city in the United States. This study employed ethnographic methods within a Black Feminist/Womanist framework to investigate how rites of passage support adolescent girls' gendered ethnic identity, self-concept, and peer relations. This study fills in gaps in the literature on ROP, focusing on the participants' ROP experiences within the intersections of adolescent identity formation, womanhood and sisterhood empowerment, and culturally relevant gender socialization practices in school. Three major questions guided the study: 1) How ROP classes supported adolescent girls' intersecting and developing gender and ethnic identities; 2) How ROP classes supported students' female peer relations; and 3) How African values were utilized in ROP classes. The study revealed the interconnected ways in which ROP supported participants' developing gender/ethnic identities, and improved peer relationships, conflict resolution strategies, and personal definitions of womanhood. The ROP classes supported students by: a) developing a critical awareness of sexism, internalized oppression; i.e., colorism, negative racial/gendered stereotypes about Black women and girls in U.S. society, particularly those propagated through the media; b) building appreciation, esteem, and respect in themselves and each other; c) cultivating positive academic identities through healthy female peer relationships via critical dialogue, trust building, conflict resolution, and empowering communications; d) developing personal standards for womanhood using African-centered values; and e) revealing gendered passageways to womanhood and sisterhood in intergenerational and emotionally safe spaces, and across school contexts. / Urban Education

The instructional practices of three current classroom teachers who formerly served as Servant Leader Interns (SLIs) in the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools (CDFFS) Program were examined. Haskell (2001) outlined eleven principles of transfer of learning, which were used to survey the levels of transfer established from service in Freedom Schools to practice in the traditional classroom. Individual surveys, The Freedom School Pedagogies Teacher Observation Record (FSPTOR) along with interviews of each participant were used for data collection; all three components were used to triangulate the findings. The findings from this study verified that low transfer was observed when the minimal application of the principles of learning was applied. This study revealed that for transfer to occur at high levels, it is imperative that adherence to all 11 principals is made, and the understanding of transfer, the application of transfer, and reflection on transfer are implemented. If the transfer of instructional practices is a goal of CDFFS for SLIs, the CDFFS program should consider implementing transfer of learning theory in future SLI training.

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