From NCTE’s Standing Committee on Global Citizenship
This post was written by NCTE member Darius Phelps, who is also a member of the Standing Committee on Global Citizenship. As Committee members, we have discussed how we can amplify the importance of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and teaching living poets. Poet, 2023 recipient of the NCTE Early Career Educator of Color Award, assistant director of programs under the Center for Publishing & Applied Liberal Arts (PALA) department at NYU, Darius amplifies this work with his blog post on how poetry can be used to “Embrace Every Hue.”
“When we teach with vulnerability, we create a culture of healing.”—Darius Phelps
Why Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Matters in Poetry
In today’s classrooms, mental health challenges, grief, depression, and a pressing need for healing often remain unaddressed in standardized curricula, even as they permeate our students’ lives. As a literacy professor, I see contemporary poetry as a vital tool to engage students with these themes. In this space, we’re not just teaching literature; we’re nurturing a culture of healing. This approach resonates with bell hooks’s vision that education should be a liberating practice, transforming classrooms into spaces of freedom and healing (1994). By bringing contemporary and diverse voices into our syllabi, we foster racial literacy, create spaces for healing, and strengthen Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP), which validates students’ unique experiences and identities.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is essential in recognizing diverse voices and challenging conventional narratives. When we center poetry by authors of color, we’re doing more than just exposing students to new perspectives; we’re inviting them into a space where they are seen, valued, and understood. bell hooks called radical love a powerful act against systemic oppression (2000). Here, poetry becomes a vehicle for empathy, healing, and expanded perspectives on identity, belonging, and justice. Geneva Gay, a leading voice in culturally responsive teaching, notes that CRP creates an environment in which students of color feel recognized, understood, and respected (2000).
Poetry as Resistance and Healing
Incorporating poetry into the classroom is not just about creative expression; it’s also an act of resistance and a path to healing. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated that, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and critically.” Through poetry exploring themes of racial justice, identity, and healing, students develop critical thinking skills that challenge oppressive structures and foster a commitment to justice. The poetry of BIPOC contemporary, living poets such as Chiwan Choi, Eugenia Leigh, Mahogany L. Browne, Patrick Rosal, Roberto Carlos Garcia, and R.A. Villanueva, for instance, rehumanizes marginalized identities, bringing visibility to experiences often excluded from mainstream narratives and cultivating a ‘decolonized’ educational approach that values students’ voices and lived experiences.
Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings further argues that CRP encourages students to critically examine society, preparing them for transformative change. Poetry nurtures racial literacy and empathy by validating students’ identities and lived experiences. This approach in my classroom creates a safe, inclusive space where students can engage deeply in conversations about race, gender, and justice.
Radical Love and Healing
Radical love is the core of this work. bell hooks’s “engaged pedagogy” calls on educators to teach from a place of love and vulnerability, fostering a more inclusive and just learning environment. By embracing the rich diversity of voices found in contemporary poetry, we cultivate collective growth and work toward dismantling systemic oppression. As hooks (1994) reminds us, “The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.”
Using poetry in this way is not just about teaching students to appreciate verse; it’s about equipping them to understand and reshape the world around them. When educators commit to embracing every hue of student experience, we foster resilience, empathy, and a sense of community. In the words of poet R.A. Villanueva, “Poetry is trying, it seems to me, to conceive of how our universe works.” Poetry teaches perspective and power and is necessary for healing, for change, and for creating classrooms where every student feels empowered to share their story—ultimately, embracing every hue.
References:
hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge.
hooks, b. 2000a. All about Love: New Visions. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gay, Geneva. 2000. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. Teachers College Press.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. 1995. “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.” American Educational Research Journal 32 (3): 465–491.
Darius Phelps is a PhD candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, and 2023 recipient of the NCTE Early Career Educator of Color Award. He is the assistant director of programs under the Center for Publishing & Applied Liberal Arts (PALA) department at NYU and is a manager at Brooklyn Poets. An educator, poet, spoken word artist, and activist, Darius writes poems about grief, liberation, emancipation, and reflection through the lens of a teacher of color and experiencing Black boy joy. His work and poems have appeared in the School Library Journal, NY English Record, NCTE’s English Journal, Pearl Press Magazine, ëëN Magazine, and many more. Recently, he was featured on WCBS and highlighted the importance of Black male educators in the classroom.
The Standing Committee on Global Citizenship works to identify and address issues of broad concern to NCTE members interested in promoting global citizenship and connections across global contexts within the Council and within members’ teaching contexts.
It is the policy of NCTE in all publications, including the Literacy & NCTE blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.