ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author describes some of the current work in research on pedagogy with a description of her own research on successful teachers of African American teachers. The past ten years have ushered in renewed interest in pedagogy. Some scholars have argued for generic pedagogical principles that more narrowly define notions of pedagogical excellence without raising questions about the relationships between and among teacher ideologies, beliefs, culture, and identities and those of students. Thus, the focus of the research has been on knowledge about content, pedagogy, and the intersection of the two. In 1989, the author began a process/project of research with successful teachers of African American students. She begins the research because of her own personal relationships with excellent teachers in both her de facto segregated elementary school and the historically black undergraduate school she attended. The author discusses ways that pedagogy can serve as a force for what she term "cultural preservation" and social change.
