Pedagogical Progressivism and Black Education: A Historiographical Review, 1880-1957

This article offers a critical review of the literature on how race played into the historical development of pedagogical progressivism in the late-19th and early-20th-century United States. While many historians have focused on the overt/covert racism inherent in much of progressive pedagogy as espoused by White educators, others have highlighted the ways in pedagogical progressivism supported movements toward liberation and social justice, especially when taken up by Black educators. Thus, the historical treatment of pedagogical progressivism is becoming more nuanced by incorporating the work of Black scholars, school leaders, curriculum designers, and teachers.