Relevance of the Sankofa Teaching and Learning Approach: A Cultural Comparison

The Sankofa bird, an Akan symbol which means "go back and retrieve," walks forward while looking backward. This symbol signifies that forward progress must be based on the critical examination of the past and a fostering of principles that are relevant to our contemporary lives (Liddell & Talpade, 2014; Talpade & Talpade, 2014). Culture however, can moderate the perceptions of relevance to our lives. In academia, pedagogical strategies relevant to one culture may not be relevant to another. This study focuses on culturally relevant pedagogy and compares its relevance to students at a predominantly white institution (PWI) with those at a historically black university (HBU). The disparity in relevance justifies the need for culturally engaged pedagogy and the ubiquity of HBUs in the context of academic achievement. Educational attainment in higher education tends to be lower among black students than white students (Richardson, 2012). Regardless of the course delivery method, face-to-face versus online, this attainment gap has been consistent (Park, Holloway, Arendtsz, Bempechat, & Li, 2012). Levine and Levine (2014), however, point out that although there is an attainment gap, this gap is narrower now, and that in comparison to the white population, the black population has made progress more rapidly. Enrollment in college however is only half the battle, and a supportive college environment is necessary for the educational attainment and persistence of black students in a PWI (Keels, 2013; Wei, Ku, & Liao, 2011). Researchers have acknowledged and identified the challenges of black individuals in a PWI. Black students have reported a negative racial college environment, experiences of discrimination, stress, depressive symptoms, and subsequent lower college persistence and educational attainment (Greer & Brown, 2011; Pieterse, Carter, Evans, & Walter, 2010; Wei, Ku, & Liao, 2011; Wei, Liao, Chao, Mallinckrodt, & Botello-Zamarron, 2010). Greer and Brown (2011) compared minority status stress and coping strategies of black students in a HBU with those in a PWI. Thus all the participants from both institutions were black. Minority status stress was assessed as the experiences of stress related to achievement, environment, intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. Black students reported lower minority status stress at HBUs and used different coping strategies than black students at the PWI. Gardner, Barrett, and Pearson (2014) reported the challenges of black administrators at PWIs and identified three issues related to adjustment, institutional, and career dynamics. Although increasing the diversity of the campus environment has been proposed as ethical principles and solutions to reducing minority status stress and educational attainment disparities, these institutional changes cannot be attained easily and in a short time frame. In the context of educational attainment it is important to identify the challenges associated with educational attainment and the factors associated with successful pedagogies. Factors associated with academic success have identified the role of emotional engagement, using longitudinal data, when the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were met in a diverse sample (Park et al., 2012). Positive affect associated with learning materials was found to close the difference in performance between white and black students (August & Felker, 1977). Wei et al. (2011) found that college persistence affected by minority status stress was mediated by perceptions of the university environment. These authors contended that a deeper knowledge of history, heritage, and mainstream culture will ensure retention of minority students in college. This application of history and culture in pedagogy has been acknowledged as a critical factor by researchers. The implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy and its positive impact on academic gains of students has been documented (Almanza & Mosley, 1980; Berry, 2005; Tsurusaki et al. …