Episode 27: “A Good Theory Always Starts with a Good Question” with the esteemed Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings

From West Philly to Stanford University to becoming a field-shifting scholar, Dr. GLB is here to drop the mic for Street Data Pod’s Season 4. We learn about Little Gloria and her largely positive educational experience growing up in Philadelphia before attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). We get the inside scoop on her groundbreaking research as a post-doc at Stanford, including what happened when she flipped the dominant, deficit-based research paradigms and asked, “What’s right with Black kids?” From there, GLB enlightens us around the core tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy, which starts with a set of beliefs about children and families (not practices!) and a willingness to interrogate knowledge. Finally, we talk about the transformative value of focusing on the “big ideas” of one’s discipline versus the millions of little facts that suck the life out of so much curriculum. To continue our exploration of pedagogies of student voice, GLB takes us to Matamoros, México where a science teacher with few resources in an “underperforming” region breathes life into his content by believing in the brilliance of his students and building an experiential learning simulation. Don’t miss this phenomenal episode!

 

For Further Learning:

• Here is a recent article by Dr. Ladson-Billings: “I’m Here for the Hard Re-Set: Post Pandemic Pedagogy to Preserve Our Culture”
• Here’s a trailer for Radical, the movie Dr. Ladson-Billings referenced as an example of culturally responsive pedagogy in classrooms.
• At the time of the recording, Dr. Luis Moll just transitioned into being an ancestor. We want to honor his brilliant contributions to our field by sharing an article on his seminal theory of funds of knowledge.