Liberate! with Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger

Michelle Pledger confronted the internalized oppression from her experiences as a Black girl in a predominately white school; then she converted her newfound wisdom into a commitment to promote culturally relevant teaching practices that honor and support the lived experiences of all students. Her story is essential listening for anyone committed to true equity in schools.

We cover a lot of territory, including:

4:00 Black in a White school

7:42 Michelle’s awakening

10:58 The personal cost of assimilation

15:05 Michelle’s challenge to you

18:08 Personal filters and blind spots

19:50 Decolonizing our schools

21:43 Liberating the curriculum

24:16 The startling impact of non-representation

26:44 Individualistic vs. collectivist cultures

29:48 Liberating classroom communication

35:20 Deficit thinking: our subconscious biases about intelligence

39:31 Ability grouping’s harmful effects

43:11 What’s stopping us from being culturally responsive?

48:35 Michelle’s call to action

 
Michelle Pledger’s personal website

Michelle’s about page at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Purchase Liberate! Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning

About Experience Matters

Experience Matters with Steve Shapiro invites guests to reflect on the most profound learning experiences of their youth and to consider how we can reform American schools. Each episode provides clues about how parents and educators alike can engage young people in powerful, sometimes transformational experiential learning. Education can take many forms, but whatever form it takes- experience matters.