Astral Projections. Examining Arts-Based Pedagogy (ABP), Afrofuturism (AfF), and Speculative Design (SpD) as methods to process (Dis)connections and Connections between pedagogical practices utilized at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Collegiate Black Men (CBM).

Abstract

The goal of this qualitative case study was to examine arts-based pedagogy (ABP), Afrofuturism (AfF), and speculative design (SpD) as tools that utilize imaginative solutions, cultural inclusivity, and arts-based teaching methods to process (dis)connections and connections between pedagogical practices utilized at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and collegiate Black men (CBM) (Mont, 2012; Howard et al., 2016). Pedagogical (dis)connections include “anti-blackness” or racial(ised) misandry through cultural, personal, or academic challenges that dehumanize collegiate Black men (Smith et al., 2007). Pedagogical connections include empowerment, self-discovery, and personalized learning experiences that invite belonging and the well-being of CBM (Harper et al., 2009; Mont, 2012; Waters, 2021). Various creative artifacts were produced to examine reflections, ideas, and personalized pedagogical solutions imagined to impact the participants' lives. Theoretical concepts taken from Dewey (1938), Greene (1995), Eisner (2005), and Dumas and Ross (2016) were used to ground the pedagogical argument centered on art inquiry, art as experience, social imagination, and anti-Blackness in learning environments. Five collegiate Black men attending a PWI were recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling to participate in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field notes, and creative artifacts before, during, and after seven weeks of creative workshops. The data were examined and analyzed through case study stories and cross-case analyses to understand pedagogical solutions, forms of (dis)connections, and connections between CBM and pedagogical practices used at PWIs.