Improving Black Students’ College and Career Readiness through Literacy Instruction: A Freirean-Inspired Approach for K–8 Classrooms

Abstract

Abstract:Scholars have argued that college preparation for Black students is the civil rights issue for our times. While Black students hold high aspirations for future success, their college and career readiness in literacy is often mitigated by instructional barriers in K–8 classrooms. In this article, the author offers a set of principles, inspired by the work of the late Brazilian educator Paulo Freire that teachers can use to enhance Black students’ college and career readiness. The treatise outlines four instructional principles that help Black students critically “read the word and the world”: (a) Leverage students’ community knowledge and career aspirations for literacy skill instruction; (b) Center students’ racial literacies and conventional literacies within instruction; (c Promote liberatory literacies through conventional, creative, and critical writing; and (d) Inspire skill development, critique, and action through “problem-posing” projects.