A call & response critical poetic inquiry of resistance ideologies among teachers and Black youth

Abstract

Grounded in the Black intellectual tradition, this article explores how Black youth and teachers of Black youth operationalize resistance ideologies to combat hegemonic narratives about Black youth in U.S. urban school spaces. Using data from four Black youth and teacher participants, we applied a priori coding based on Bernard and Agozino’s description of Black free spaces and the Black Studies Theory of Alterity to identify the participants’ resistance ideologies and how they were evidenced. Next, we employed a call-and-response method of critical poetic inquiry to analyze participants’ responses, generate themes, and produce research poetry as findings. The three primary themes include (1) savior narratives for Black youth, (2) discipline and perceptions of Black youth, (3) the systems of belief within participants’ resistance ideologies. The findings are disseminated in a call-and-response format that joins the teacher’s perspectives with Black youth perspectives.

Keywords:

• Black youth
• urban education
• poetic inquiry
• resistance ideologies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Camea Davis

Camea L. Davis, Ph.D., is a Director of Qualitative Research and an Assistant Research Professor at Georgia State University. Davis also serves as the National Network Director for the acclaimed Youth Poet Laureate Program of an initiative of Urban Word, an award-winning youth literary arts and youth development organization. Davis is a poet, educator, and educational researcher with a heart for urban youth and communities. Her research focuses on youth activism, racial justice in teacher education, critical collaborative ethnography, and critical poetic inquiry. Davis has published in Qualitative Inquiry; Equity & Excellence in Education; The Journal of Middle School Education; Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal; Ubiquity: The Journal of Literature, Literacy, and the Arts; The Journal of Hip Hop Studies; and The Journal of School and Society.

Syreeta Ali McTier

Syreeta Ali McTier, Ph.D. is a researcher, teacher educator, and elementary school administrator in an urban school district in metro Atlanta, GA. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University. Dr. McTier’s research interests include Black students’ education, urban education, media stereotypes as a form of institutionalized racism, teachers’ perceptions of media stereotypes and minority students, and disproportionate discipline. Dr. McTier has co-authored a book chapter in the Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership (2015) and has presented at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.