Honoring Black History and Culture

Throughout the year, students learn about the many contributions Black people have made—and continue to make—but with a special emphasis in February. The Director of Diversity Equity & Belonging, Kirsti Peters comments “Black History Month is an opportunity for us all to think about ways to continue to expand how we engage with the rich intellectual canon of Black people all year round in and outside of Friends.”

Recognizing that everyone has a role to play in advancing the story of Black history and culture, LS Librarian Paula Zamora Gonzalez and Grade 4 Teacher Marcus Leslie applied the principles of Imaginative Inquiry to create engaging programming for Grades 3 and 4 aimed at enhancing students’ knowledge of Black history and awareness for Black scholarship within the School. They also introduced a Imaginative Inquiry as a new pedagogy for their LS colleagues to consider.

Putting students’ imagination at the center of learning, the collaborative program kicked off with dramatic play. A Schomburg Center Researcher (played by Ashley Shaw, Assistant Director of Special Events) explained her predicament, “Two archive boxes were jumbled, and I don’t know which artifact belonged to Alvin Ailey and which to Katherine Dunham.” Students agreed to help investigate. They went to work using videos, biographies, obituaries and a mixture of primary and secondary sources to learn about these important figures. Students heard from experts, including their Dance teacher, Adia Whitaker, who shared her expertise as a dance anthropologist and practitioner of the Dunham Technique. The program concluded with research-backed recommendations from students to the “Schomburg Researcher” on the missing artifacts.

Paula reflects, “We use storytelling for empathy and research for knowledge. When we draw on the pedagogy of Imaginative Inquiry, we bring learning to a new level.”

Katherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey