Faculty Publications

Black Fifth Graders Make Dioramas Of Traditional African Cultures To Explore Racial Identity, Cultural Universals, And Spatial Thinking

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Black females, Black males, culturally relevant pedagogy, culture, elementary school, identity, programs, race, scale construction, social, social studies, subjects, urban

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Urban Education

Volume

54

Issue

2

First Page

274

Last Page

308

Abstract

This rich, arts- and spatial-thinking-integrated project examined the effects of making three-dimensional dioramas of traditional African cultures on Black fifth graders at an urban school on students’ racial identities, knowledge of cultural universals, and spatial thinking skills. Pretest and posttest attitudes measured with the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity–Teen evidenced an increase in sense of belonging to other Black people. Students learned social studies content and recognized many cultural universals, allowing them to feel connected to the African groups. Student essays showed admiration for African cultures, connections through similar foods, and links through appreciation of animals.

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Original Publication Date

2-1-2019

DOI of published version

10.1177/0042085915613552

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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