Critical Perspectives on Teaching in the Southern United States

Book excerpt: Critical Perspectives on Teaching in the Southern United States presents new and provocative insights into education in the Southern United States, from the perspective of educators with a variety of experiences. This book foregrounds the Southern United States as having unique sociopolitical, sociohistorical, and sociocultural contexts which directly influence knowledge and classroom pedagogies. Contributors use a range of critical frameworks that coalesce around methods including: self-reflection through research, social justice advocacy, and culturally responsive, culturally relevant, culturally sustaining, and asset-based pedagogies. Through the lenses of these critical frameworks, several contributors also address challenges and strategies for teaching controversial topics in the classroom. Drawing upon unique experiences teaching in various regions of the Southern United States, chapters explore salient topics such as race, language, gender, discrimination, identity, immigration, poverty, social justice, and their influence(s) on pedagogy. This book raises questions considering the ways that history has shaped present-day Southern education and about the myriad complex dynamics that influence pedagogy in the Southern U.S. context. Ultimately, this book affirms the importance of utilizing critical perspectives in contemporary discussions about education in the Southern United States.