International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

ISSN: 0951-8398 (Print) 1366-5898 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tqse20

My soul is a witness: Affirming pedagogies of the

spirit

Cynthia B. Dillard , Daa'Iyah Abdur-Rashid & Cynthia A. Tyson

To cite this article: Cynthia B. Dillard , Daa'Iyah Abdur-Rashid & Cynthia A. Tyson (2000) My
soul is a witness: Affirming pedagogies of the spirit, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in
Education, 13:5, 447-462, DOI: 10.1080/09518390050156404

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390050156404

Published online: 25 Nov 2010.

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QUALITATIVE STUDIES IN EDUCATION, 2000, VOL. 13, NO. 5, 447–462

My soul is a witness: aµ rming pedagogies of the

spirit

CYNTHIA B. DILLARD
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1172 , USA

DAA’IYAH ABDUR-RASHID
Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA

CYNTHIA A. TYSON
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1172 , USA

Utilizing a cultural ideology and an explicit discourse of spirituality, this paper seeks to answer
three questions. First, what does spirituality mean for the ways in which African-American
women educate and research ? Second, how does the enactment and embodiment of a spiritually
centered paradigm impact the learning of both teacher and student in the context of the
classroom ? Finally, what might such work imply in terms of theory and praxis, particularly in
teacher education ? Arising from a case study of an exemplar African-American female professor
at a large Midwestern university, three narrative tales are shared which explicate the power and
in uence of a spiritual pedagogy in the lives of three African-American scholar}teachers and that
challenge taken-for-granted assumptions of singularity in epistemology and representation in
teaching and research.

Introduction

What is spirituality in education ? Spirituality in education is education with

purpose, education that is liberatory work, education that is emancipation. …
What is spirituality in education ? Spirituality in education is education that
connects, education that is about building relationships between and across
teachers and students, males and females, Others and Ourselves. … (Cynthia,
interview)
That a question regarding the relationship between spirituality and education is raised
and acknowledged in higher education in this historical moment may be testimony to
the changes occurring within the academy. Such changes are, in part, the result of the
inclusion at the discourse table of those historically excluded – African-Americans,
Asian-Americans, Native Americans, Latino-Americans and other marginalized
groups. As challengers to Eurocentric hegemony in the academy, we have come with
alternative o¶ erings of ‘‘ truth,’’ of the very conceptualizations of what it means to be
human, attempting at multiple levels to demystify the value-free claims of social science.
Here, we have set out in earnest to challenge the predominant epistemological and
cultural understandings in research and teaching, problematizing and recognizing that
‘‘ the social sciences are ethnocultural institutions that … are re ectors and microcosms
of the societal hegemonic privileges of Euro-Americans ’’ (StanŽ eld, 1985, p. 387). Such
reformation of the very basis of knowledge disrupts long-held paradigmatic assumptions
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education ISSN 0951-839 8 print}ISSN 1366-589 8 online ’ 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http :}}www.tandf.co.uk }journals
448 cynthia b. dillard et al.

and dispenses with the concept of neutral research and replaces it instead with explicit
or ‘‘ openly ideological ’’ research (Lather, 1994). Lather further describes the deeper
meaning of this current state of a¶ airs – and the consequences that such a reformation
might bring :
As the concept of disinterested knowledge implodes and collapses inward, social
inquiry becomes, in my present favorite deŽ nition of science, a much contested
cultural space, a site of what it has historically repressed. (p. 103).
Posthegemonic research then is a revealer of things past hidden – the voices of women
and the oppressed, the inherent biases, motives and ideologies of the researcher, the
social and political context of research work which implicates the very notion of the
research project – and the oft silenced spiritual voice.
Utilizing a cultural ideology and an explicit discourse of spirituality, this inquiry
seeks to answer three questions. First, what does spirituality mean for the ways in which
African-American women educate and research ? Second, how does the enactment and
embodiment of a spiritually centered paradigm impact the learning of both teacher and
student in the context of the classroom ? Finally, what might such work imply in terms
of theory and praxis, particularly in teacher education ? Arising from a case study of an
exemplar African-American female professor at a large Midwestern university, this
paper is intended to be both celebratory and resistant, in contrast with research directed
toward uncovering the ‘‘pathologies ’’ in African-American cultural styles, patterns of
expression, and communities. For those of us whose research and teaching objectives
include the cultivation of skills and knowledges that would enable us to be healers
through the very act of education and research, it is imperative to seek models whose
lived pedagogy can incite us to attune to our own spiritual reservoirs and draw from
them the ‘‘know-how ’’ and the ‘‘ be-how ’’ to foster balance, unity, harmony, and
growth in our classrooms. This research paper, then, is a spiritual o¶ ering to those
interested in exploring such alternative pedagogical practices.

Envisioning epistemologie s of the spirit : the call

The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to
temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring
genuine change. (Lorde, 1984, p. 112)
Many scholars and activists involved in the reformation of the academy have worldviews
deeply embedded in the spiritual. The heretofore silencing of the spiritual voice through
privileging the academic voice is increasingly being drowned out by the emphatic
chorus of those whose underlying versions of truth cry out ‘‘ We are a spiritual people !’’
(Asante, 1990 ; Richards, 1989). The implications of a spiritually centered worldview on
the methodological tools utilized in the knowledge production process are profound.
StanŽ eld’s (1994) radical musings about the need for a serious paradigm critique along
with a need for an analysis of every stage in the knowledge-productio n process
(including a revision of formal epistemologies, their concomitant theories, method-
ologies, data interpretation and representational styles, and our typical patterns of
knowledge dissemination) underscore both the essentiality and the enormity of the task
at hand.
The recognition of the need for non-Eurocentric paradigms to re ect and express the
lives and worlds of African-Americans in particular and nondominant cultural groups
my soul is a witness 449

in general, is widespread (Asante, 1990 ; Asante, 1992 ; Crichlow, Goodwin, Shakes, &
Swartz, 1990 ; Dillard, 1994 ; Gordon, 1990 ; hooks, 1994 ; James-Myers, 1993 ; Ladson-
Billings & Henry, 1990 ; Lee, Lomotey, & Shujaa, 1990 ; StanŽ eld, 1985, 1994 ;
Woodson, 1977}1933). This call for an expressed paradigm that is re ective of the com-
plexities and depths of what DuBois (1986) refers to as the ‘‘souls of Black folk ’’ is also a
call for alternative pedagogical practices, practices that grow out of a di¶ erent vision of
what it means to be human – of what it means to realize one’s full human potential.
This work seeks to re-vision formal epistemologies that have guided much of what we
know as educational research and teaching, imagining and attending to the spiritual as
part of the ground from and through which epistemologies are constructed and enacted
in practice. Such attention gives birth to several questions : What does being a ‘‘spiritual
people ’’ mean for the way African-Americans educators ‘‘ educate ? ’’ For how African-
American researchers ‘‘research ? ’’ How does a spiritually centered paradigm in uence
the learning of both students and teachers in the context of the classroom ? What does
it imply in terms of theory and praxis ? While these may appear to be relatively harmless
sorts of questions, they take on a contested meaning when spirituality is placed in the
center of one’s very purpose for engaging in the act of research, teaching, and service.
More than that, it is one thing to have open and passionate dialogue around issues of
spirituality and education while walking down the halls of ivy. It is quite another to
come up out of the hallway, into the ‘‘legitimate ’’ spaces such as classrooms and
scholarly research journals, and present spirituality as a legitimate topic at the discourse
table. There is an inherent diµ culty in broaching a taboo topic from a cultural space
that is itself outside of hegemonic norms, thus creating the current outlaw status of
spirituality in the academy.
Such outlaw status has pedagogical implications as well. Given the reward structure
and cultural milieu of the academy, spiritually minded academicians have often
received the implicit message to hang their spirituality outside the doors of the
university and to pick it up again (if they are still inclined to do so) on the way out. As
the ultimate ‘‘s ’’ word, spirituality has tended to be a topic rarely explored in its
multidimensionality in the sacred secular halls of the academy.
While this might work for those who view spirituality as optional, it is an act of
violence against us and those like us whose cultural norms dictate the centrality of
spirituality in our lives. African-American women have historically addressed our
multiple oppressions – personal and societal – through versions of spirituality (Cannon,
1995 ; hooks & West, 1991 ; James, 1993 ; Lightfoot, 1994 ; Richards, 1989 ; Vanzant,
1996 ; Wade-Gayles, 1995). It has been and continues to be, for many, our path to self-
liberation and self-discovery. Such spiritual centeredness rests within the person, and as
such, has long been invoked by African-American women in our work as both public
school teachers and university professors. As such, we argue here that both the overt
invocation of spiritual language and the masked employment of spiritual concepts
inform and guide Black women educators. A discourse on spirituality as it intersects
with education has the potential of yielding understanding of the epistemological
foundations of successful African-American female teachers, and, as such, may reveal
otherwise obscured clues about culturally relevant teaching and liberatory pedagogy.
In the research literature by or about successful African-American women teachers,
spiritual concerns, though often unnamed, are pervasive (see exemplar cases in Foster,
1990 ; Hollins, 1982 ; hooks, 1994 ; Ladson-Billings, 1994). bell hooks’s Teaching to
transgress provides a prime example in her own descriptions of the segregated classrooms
of her youth :
450 cynthia b. dillard et al.

Within these segregated schools black children who were deemed exceptional,
gifted, were given special care. Teachers worked with and for us to ensure that we
would fulŽ ll our intellectual destiny and by so doing uplift the race. My teachers
were on a mission. (p. 2)

The mission that hooks refers to is a commitment to a liberatory cause, a spiritual

purpose that permeated every act of thinking, being, and feeling for the teachers within
these classroom contexts. Enacting a purpose that is community connected is just one of
many signature characteristics of spiritually based education.

Enacting methodologies of the spirit : the response

African Americans have always been a people of the spirit … We believe in the
evidence of things unseen, that we can make a way out of no way, that we have
come this far by faith. (CBD, interview)

The spirit of the call dictates the response. The call ushers forth from a recognition of the
intellectual violence that has been perpetrated against African-Americans under the
guise of ‘‘objectivity ’’ and}or ‘‘research.’’ Thus, when considering any social theory
and its subsequent methodologies, one must Ž rst ask the question : What is its guiding
philosophical assumption or paradigm ? African-centered paradigms maintain com-
munity and the collective as central, with spirituality as inseparable by its very nature
(James, 1993 ; Richards, 1989). Methodologically speaking, such an orientation is
translated into collaborative and cooperative research on behalf of the community and
individuals within the community.
The community referred to here needs to be understood as existing on multiple levels
and in multiple locations. Thus, the methodologies employed here arise from a
conscious, deliberate, and critical search for insights of African world women both inside
and outside the walls of academe. Often situated in ‘‘uncensored women talk ’’ (Bell-
Scott, 1994), these ongoing conversations serve to both assess the authors ’ claims of
knowledge and to articulate our concrete experiences as the criterion of meaning for
those claims. Both of these elements are considered epistemological necessities in
theorizing Black women’s lives from a Black feminist point of view (Collins, 1990).
While the implicit notions of womanist spirituality expressed by Collins (1990) allowed
for epistemological theorizing relative to the purposes of this inquiry and the use of this
site, it is important to recognize its limitations in understanding the range of experiences
and meanings of those experiences for all members of the Black community as a whole.
For example, Omolade (1994), in her work with single, low-income black mothers,
expressed concern that ‘‘ in spite of their special relationship, Black feminist or
womanist intellectuals do not speak to the daily lives of most African American women.
Through their silence, or inaction, womanist intellectuals are virtually absent from
framing or participation in the dominant discourses concerning Black mothers and
adolescents ’’ (p. 243). The unique verve of this research, however, is situated in a
black womanist theoretical framework, not as the deciding perspective guiding the ways
we think about spirituality in the academy, but as one way that might provide an
‘ endarkened ’ (Dillard, in press) reading of the daily lives of African-American women
academics as one subgroup of the African-American community. Theorizing Black
women’s lives in this way, our choices for methodology become a form of agency, a way
my soul is a witness 451

to learn, think, and imagine something di¶ erent, that is to transform taken-for-grante d
ways of knowing, especially in the academy. As such, methodology moves us to enact a
response: to heed our calling.
The principal participant and subject in this case study is a female African-
American professor currently employed at a major research institution in the Midwest.
She was selected as an exemplar, by process of community nomination." Further, for the
two then graduate student authors of this paper, personal experiences in classes with this
professor were so enriching, empowering, and spiritually fulŽ lling that, without
knowledge of the professor, they chose to become participant observers in the course
they were enrolled in with the professor, to conduct an examination of her practice and
praxis as an African-American woman teacher. After the course, they approached the
professor, shared their inquiry project, and enlisted her help in a true desire to share
what they had experienced, what they had come to see as a critical exemplar of the
expression of an in-depth and deeply personal (Nieto, 1995) spiritual epistemology in
the everyday life of the academy.
Thus, while the methods used here gesture towards ethnography, they did not
embody several of the basic requisites of traditional ethnographic work. For example, all
of the participants in this research project have personal as well as professional
relationships with each other. The two graduate students, Tyson and Daai’yah,# each
have a very personal relationship with Cynthia, the ‘‘subject ’’ of the study – as mentees,
as students, and as sister friends. There is no question that such relationships informed
the scope and the methodology of the work in a way that may seem a move against the
oft-felt desire for distance in ethnography . Given a traditional set of paradigmati c
assumptions, such relationships might even been seen to complicate and compromise
the validity of the Ž ndings.
However, from a more spiritually centered paradigm, issues of power embedded in
such relationships, while relevant, do not take the foreground : balance and harmony
become the analytic lenses of choice. Thus, the methodological tools are shifted to those
which foster reciprocally educative opportunities where, in this case, three souls meet,
each out of commitment to our own growth and development, and agree to share space
to explore issues that are of mutual (community) importance. This shared focus is
evident in a journal response from Cynthia to a journal entry that Daa’iyah wrote,
raising issues around themes of spirituality in the academy :
These are powerful questions, Daa’iyah, some of which deserve your attention. I
say that partially for selŽ sh reasons. … We [African peoples] need to begin to
acknowledge and describe, re-search and inform the educational system’s spiritual
void. (Cynthia, Jour, 4}5)
Thus, we sought a more spiritually grounded, organic set of methodologies in this
research paper, constructed theoretically and foundationally in a way that ‘‘seemed
right to [us] ’’ (Lorde, 1984, p. 38). SpeciŽ cally, data were collected in what was
conceptualized as three distinct but intimately connected communities. The Ž rst
community focused on Cynthia’s ‘‘ academic’’ community. While not as neat as this
boundary might suggest, this community primarily consisted of the academic sites
within which she does her work, that is graduate courses, informal advisor}advisee
forums, annual meetings and professional conferences, and scholarly journals. ‘‘Data ’’
were collected and recorded in this community through informal interactions with
Cynthia, with one formal directed interview that was duly transcribed and coded. Field
notes were taken by Tyson and Daa’iyah while participants in one of her graduate
452 cynthia b. dillard et al.

courses in multicultural education. Document analysis included samples of Cynthia’s

writing within various genres including her class journals and responses to student
journals, poetry, dramatic writings, and scholarly publications.
The second community utilized in this study was a sister’s circle that Daa’iyah
attended which o¶ ered a natural and welcoming opportunity to explore issues
surrounding spirituality and education in a local community setting versus an academic
one. In this group, volunteers completed a descriptive survey developed from categories
that emerged in analysis of the formal interview data and informal interactions with
Cynthia. This information provided a way to assess the validity and transferability – the
purposefulness – of these categories outside of the academy, important to any research
conducted from a spiritually centered African paradigm.
A Ž nal community included students who had taken classes and}or participated in
a summer research program with Cynthia. Their perspectives, while not speciŽ cally
utilized in this paper, provided a means for determining the extent to which spirituality
permeates Cynthia’s work with other students who, unlike the authors, may or may not
deal consciously with issues of spirituality in their daily lives. Additionally, these
students are not all African-American and represent the diversity that is present in
many educational contexts today. By eventually giving audience to the voices of
African-American and non-African-American students, a space may be created where
spirituality in teaching might be examined for its eµ cacy in multicultural and
multiethnic contexts.

Embodying pedagogies of the spirit : three tales

We can not amend our pedagogy until our epistemology is transformed … it will
happen because we are in the midst of a far reaching intellectual and spiritual
revisioning … (Palmer, 1983, p. xvii)
Thus far in this paper, we have explored the theoretical and methodological framing of
a spiritual pedagogy. However, as educators we also need explicit exemplars that can
demonstrate the more pragmatic and practical application of the theoretical in our
lives.
We have chosen to display these data outside hegemonic norms for reporting,
gesturing toward an alternative that is itself embedded in a spiritual worldview. Dillard
(1994) maintains that theory, and we might add research Ž ndings, need not be couched
in the traditional communicative pattern of Eurocentrism (hooks & West, 1991) that is
the essay. St. Pierre’s (1993) discussion of the evolution of the essay as the communicative
device of choice in European circles serves to underscore the point that it is not the essay
per se that is valuable, but rather the function it serves as a tool for meaning making. We
see other writing and communicative patterns and styles as able to support meaning
making as well.
Traditionally, in African-American communities, spiritual insights are conveyed
orally in the form of proverbs, anecdotes, poetry, story, song, and dialogue. Thus, these
are the genres that we will utilize in textual formats to complement the essay in
conveying our research Ž ndings. Entitled here Embodying pedagogies of the spirit, these
three narratives each explicate, in a practical and tangible manner, lived pedagogical
expressions of a spiritual epistemology in the context of one graduate teacher education
course in multicultural education.
In the Ž rst narrative, Pedagogies of the spirit: the Ž rst day, an impressionist tale
my soul is a witness 453

(VanMaanen, 1988) using data taken from Cynthia’s class journals is woven together
with Ž eld notes to recreate the feel and  avor of a pedagogical moment as it occurs on
the Ž rst day of class. Methodologically, we believed this move provides a way for the
reader to envision, from the beginning (the ‘‘setting of the stage ’’) the enactment of a
spiritual pedagogy. In Pedagogies of the spirit: a re exive tale, Cynthia o¶ ers insight into the
lessons of her life that gave rise to envisioning and enacting teaching as spiritual
practice. As a course requirement for all students in her class (including her), this story
is her actual creative autobiograph y from the course. Written in the form of poetry, this
artifact embodies the substance and spirit of her expressed spiritual pedagogy.
Finally, in Pedagogies of the spirit : a conversation, a critical tale analyzes and synthesizes
the implications and possibilities of what being immersed in a spiritually centered
academic setting has meant personally and theoretically to graduate students Tyson
and Daa’iyah. Using conversation as data display, the two student voices are ‘‘ guided ’’
by an ethereal marker that is Cynthia’s voice articulating the spiritual concepts that
undergird and aµ rm pedagogies of the spirit and around which their conversation was
focused. This is an attempt to avoid the tendency toward ‘‘ objectivism, by reducing the
world to a collection of things [which] places the knower in a Ž eld of mute and inert
objects that passively succumb to his or her deŽ nitions of them ’’ (Palmer, 1983, p. 56).
Rather, the intent is to interrupt conventional forms of data display by bringing
together in analysis of the data an embodied positionality, creating a space for
collective voices that are neither subjective nor objective but able to transcend both.

Pedagogies of the spirit : the Ž rst day

Spirituality and this business called education implies relationships whether that’s
relationships with the Creator or relationships with other people or relationships
with family or with students. So I get real annoyed when places where I work
don’t allow that to be a part of what I do. (Cynthia, Interview 7}16)
She enters. All eyes follow her. Eyes that stare and question. Confused and challenged
eyes try desperately to make sense of an anomaly – a Black woman professor. A Black
woman professor with hair so short that you can ‘‘see what’s on her mind.’’ Tall and
stately. A Black woman professor dressed immaculately in a sea of black interrupted
only by a mass of authentic West African mud cloth. The black-and-white mud cloth is
made into a jacket that drifts gently toward her knees. A Black woman professor with
an arm full of silver bangles that evoke rhythms with each graceful movement of her
hands. A Black woman professor whose very presence bespeaks a di¶ erent paradigm.
From the very beginning, it is obvious that this will be a di¶ erent kind of class. She
smiles :
When I was a little girl, I was always the one who couldn’t sleep the night before
the Ž rst day of school. I was so excited ! I had similar feelings as I prepared and
gathered the syllabus, readings, books and class roster for our class and walked
downstairs from my oµ ce. I felt the same sort of excitement as I walked into class,
looked at you and we began what I am sure will be a wonderful and productive
time together, talking and thinking and struggling through the very complex ways
in which culture, in all its multiple forms, constructions and ways of being
constructed, in uences our education and the education of our children. (1st
Journal entry, Course XXX)
454 cynthia b. dillard et al.

Walking into the room with a big crate of ‘‘ stu¶ ,’’ the good doctor makes her way to an
empty space on the tables. Eyes watch every move, as the crate is emptied. Books.
Papers. Note cards … and … food ? From the very beginning, it is obvious that this will
be a di¶ erent kind of class.
Welcome ! Just to make sure everyone is in the right space this is Education XXX,
Multicultural education. My name is Cynthia Dillard, and yes, I do have a Dr.
before it and I know that, and now you know that so it is not necessary to my sense
of self that you call me Doctor Dillard, unless you come from a tradition where
that’s important to you. Cynthia will do just Ž ne.
She smiles, pauses, looks deeply into the eyes staring attentively at her :
You will probably hear me talk more tonight than you will at any other class
during this quarter – our time together. We, that is all of us, will share the
responsibility of helping each of us come to know fuller, deeper, better
understanding of the issues surrounding multicultural education. I include myself
because I don’t know nearly enough and I expect to learn from all of you as well.
You need to know that this is very serious work, work that we need to be engaged
in with a sense of urgency because our kids need us to be. So the expectation is that
we will all better understand the reasons we do what we do, our purposes in being
teachers, that we will indeed all work hard, push ourselves beyond what we’ve
traditionally known and done, and that we will do this together.
You will notice that I brought food – that’s because I like to eat ! But, really,
I always bring food for the Ž rst night of class, usually something that I’ve made
cuz I really like to cook ! And in this quarter’s class, we will have a break about
halfway through because I need to break, to go to the bathroom or whatever. I
can also imagine that many of you are coming from a full day’s work teaching at
a school and that you will also need to concentrate on these very important issues
in multicultural education – and I need you to concentrate and think deep too :
That’s something you can’t do if you are hungry. So tonight, I brought this food
for you to eat while we have some break time. Before I get into the syllabus let’s
take some time to go around the room and have everyone brie y introduce
themselves – you’ll have the opportunity to go more in depth when you do your
creative autobiographie s next week. As for me …
I am an African-American woman teacher willing to embrace all of me for the
good of all of us. (From Cynthia’s autobiography )

Pedagogies of the spirit : a re exive tale

I learned to be a teacher through the lessons of my life …

(In special honor of Mrs. Jones, a woman teacher well remembered and to all of
us who have chosen to call ourselves teachers)
I learned to be a teacher
through the lessons of my life
the poignant
painful places,
the joy Ž lled
special spaces,
and all the gray
my soul is a witness 455

and rather everyday

stu¶ in between,
the stu¶ that dreams are made of
the dreams I hold way deep
in my heart …
I learned to be a teacher
through the lessons of my life
Studying my Mom, the head school woman
who carried out her lessons
of Black womanhood
around the kitchen table,
over steaming pots of beans
cannin’ kettles of bubbling blackberry jelly
yellow cornbread made perfect
through the magic of
black cast iron skillets
simmering gumbo on New Year’s Eve
and a big jug of Ernest and Julio
that Mrs. Williams (now Ph.D)
carried up the street in a brown paper bag
and could these wimmin friends (all teachers) have a good time !
tellin’ story after story of who did what and how life
IS
for a Black woman in America.
I would sit in the corner
mesmerized by the sound of their voices
‘‘ Girl, I know what you mean ! ’’
‘‘ She was in the bathroom justa boo-hooin ’ like I done killed her or somethin ’.’’
‘‘ I put that onion in the oven and he thought he had his meal. I know he was
pissed as hell when he opened that stove, but, shit, I worked all day too : I’m
tired. ’’
When I was feelin ’ especially brave,
I’d try to jump into their conversation
‘‘ Mrs. Bass, I know … ’’
just as my Mom, head school woman
would shoot me one of those
you’d-better-shut-your-mouth-if-you-know-what ’s-good-for-yo u glances
Didn’t I know ?
These lessons were demonstrations
of the richness
and soulfulness
of Black life,
the blood, sweat, and the tears,
the joy and the gladness
Yes, I was a very serious student.
I learned to be a teacher
456 cynthia b. dillard et al.

through the lessons of my life

My Dad, a teacher himself
Strong Black man
Prideful product
of the segregated schools of the south
A man who painted houses in the summer months
and whose whistling could be heard for blocks
When the work got especially tiring
he’d begin to sing
his songs
arising from a place so deep and gorgeous
I could only listen in awe
and imagine the source of such strength, such spirit
‘‘I ’m tired and so weary}but I must go on … }There will be peace in the valley someday ’’
‘‘Lift every voice and sing}til earth and heaven ring}ring with the harmony of liberty ’’
When I became a teacher, we’d swap teacher stories
as we dug in the dark soil of his garden and
I learned the lessons of Mother Earth from Father Clyde,
Of the need to till before you plant
Of the need to watch and to water only when the ground is dry
Of the need to harvest only what you need and to leave the rest
to ripen in its own time
On our knees, tending the ‘‘crops, ’’
he shared the lessons of his family and his schooling
I now understand the meaning of
‘‘ a tough row to hoe, ’’
And from whence the strength of the Black man comes.
I learned to be a teacher
through the lessons of my life
Through loving my Black family at home
and, for a time,
trying to ignore my Blackness at school.
But schizophrenia is not healthy
and it didn’t really Ž t my 1970s
Angela Davis wannabee image
and after
someone wrote KILL ANGELA on my locker in my middle school AND
someone told me that student body presidents were never Black AND
after I still couldn’t be legitimately groovy even by having a 25-year-old white
boyfriend with a bu¶ ed body, a Harley, and an apartment of his own AND
FINALLY
after the KKK decided that I, Cynthia B. Dillard needed to be spat upon and
kicked and assaulted, called names that my parents heard regularly but ‘‘ escaped ’’
to Washington so their kids would not have to hear them and could go to school
my soul is a witness 457

and make something of themselves, I learned the most important teacher lesson of
my life :
I AM AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TEACHER WILLING
TO EMBRACE
ALL OF ME FOR THE GOOD OF ALL OF US.
So I learned to be a teacher
through these lessons of my life
And found that there’s real power in claiming
and deŽ ning
one’s own way of knowing and being
one’s own space and place and reality
And such power should be a right of all people and
the responsibility of all who call themselves teachers
It should be a sort of mantra that does what Daddy’s songs used to do
to keep us committed and engaged
a battle cry to respond to the war
often waged
intentional or not
against children and women
in this country, this world,
and in our classrooms.
Have we taught the children their lessons ?
Have we taught the children lessons of survival and strength, of hope and care ?
Have we taught the children,
our young bright Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White children
that love and courage lives inside them and,
once found within oneself
is meant to be shared ?
I learned to be a teacher
through the lessons of my life
and with these lessons
I try to teach
and to live anew
so others are able to Ž nd
the known
and yet to be known
lessons of their own lives.

Pedagogies of the spirit : A conversation

I wonder if the way my fourth-grade teacher screamed at me … ‘‘ I am the

teacher, and not you, young lady ! ’’ made me realize that we are all teachers and
learners and we take the stage as the ‘‘spirit ’’ moves us – teacher that I am. I
wonder, I wonder, my soul looks back in wonder … I look back … and recover my
own standpoint on the world of teaching and learning. (Tyson, Jour, 4}5)
Tyson : A story, a story. You know in the world of storytellers the evocation of a story
458 cynthia b. dillard et al.

is so deeply embedded in the ways in which a people know and come to know and
negotiate the meaning of life.
Daa’iyah : Yes, this is so true. As a new researcher, I am always struck by the ways in
which codes, and categories and analysis evoke a sometimes ‘‘invisible ’’ cultural kind of
connectedness. A connectedness that is much like a naming.
Tyson : You know, in many African cultures as well as other ancient and contemporary
cultures, the naming ritual was and has become a tradition of selecting a name that
would embody a story and a prophecy of things to come. It is truly the descriptive,
theoretical, conceptual and especially the spiritual transcendence of that person,
embodied in the name.
Daa’iyah : So in a sense, we are engaging in a naming ceremony with the data that we
have collected. This naming shapes and refocuses the discussion of the analysis. Even the
term analysis doesn’t capture the richness in the concept of naming because analysis is
the taking apart where naming is a purposeful building and constructing.
Tyson : Indeed ! Look at what happens when we name something. Research analysis
requires ‘‘categories ’’ and categories can hold back and limit meaning. Say, for
example, we look at children’s literature and I create a category that is ‘‘text to life’’
application. There is not a whole lot of room left to transcend the category. Naming,
on the other hand, encompasses a story as descriptive, theoretical, perceptual, and
spiritual. So within the name – spirituality, in this case – is the description and the
deŽ nition. Within the name is the concept of what it means to be an embodied spiritual
person. The names are also a theoretical base in terms of what it, spiritual pedagogy,
ought to look like in the classroom and what it ought to look like in research and in
practice.
… Spirit is present in providing a space for students and instructor to re ect on
their own personal biographies and to relate that to their current educational
thinking. Opportunities emerge where a stronger sense of self knowledge and self
awareness can be cultivated … (Cynthia)
Tyson : Throughout the interview, Cynthia mentioned the connection of spirituality in
her teaching being tied to her strong sense of self. In essence, she says that there is a level
of consciousness that one must have about oneself in order to be spiritual. Would you
agree that this level of introspection is foundational to the embracing of this form of
spiritual pedagogy ?
Daa’iyah : It seems to me that embedded in this concept of naming and identity is what
I would like to call the unitive principle, that is, that a naming identity embodies the
sense that you must have a connection to what you are doing and your very ideals, your
passion, your purpose, your sense of mission … that there has to be a centering and a
unity of all those aspects of your self.
Tyson : It makes me think of something I read a long time ago in the Bible ‘‘for if
anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his natural
face in a mirror, for he looks at himself and o¶ he goes and forgets what sort of man he
is. ’’ I guess the whole notion of identity consciousness is the coming to a mirror of self
and not walking away and forgetting that self when in the classroom. It’s as if teachers
without such a basis enter the classroom much like they are taking a  ight to some exotic
place and they leave their baggage instead of taking it with them. When teachers enter
a classroom, they can’t check their baggage at the door – they need those bags !
… Vulnerability both on the part of the teacher and the taught is extremely
important. If we believe that trust is fundamental to any relationship, then
my soul is a witness 459

vulnerability is a precursor to that trust. Only then can bridges be created across
people that might not be there otherwise … (Cynthia)
Tyson : The bridge here really is self-disclosure. I’ve heard it said that the greatest gift
you can give a friend is self-disclosure. In inviting the creative presentation of each
individual’s autobiography , she creates a space that allows for the seeds of trust to be
planted, nurtured and to grow into a place that is free of fear of judgment, yet aµ rming.
Daa’iyah : And Cynthia doesn’t situate herself as all knowing, she situates herself as a
learner in that process. It is so easy to do the opposite – to position oneself as the holder
of all the knowledge. But Cynthia creates the feeling that she is in this with you, that it
is for her as well as the class a valuable learning experience. That, too, creates a sense
of trust.
Tyson : It’s as Cynthia says, trust is fundamental to any relationship and being
vulnerable is a precursor for that trust, then there is a kind of reciprocity between
vulnerability and trust. One cannot exist without the other. From the very beginning,
Cynthia sets the stage for this trust. You know going in that she has made pedagogical
choices that are going to push you beyond yourself, from the beginning to the end.
Daa’iyah : A major implication that grows out of vulnerability is the change in the
power structure. Once she says that ‘‘this is not about me dispensing knowledge to you,
it is about us engaging, ’’ right then at that very moment, she is, through her own
vulnerability as a professor, invoking the power of the collective spirit.
… Purpose is linked to identity because it is like the glue that melds what could
have been fragmented parts of self together into a transcendent core. And when
you’re trying to educate and be educated for a purpose in life, that’s spiritual …
(Cynthia)
Daa’iyah : Cynthia herself embodies a sense of purpose that permeates her whole being
and is directed toward the greater good. It radiates a true commitment. Cynthia’s
purpose is directed toward the greater good of her students, she is truly committed to the
academy as a site for her work. It is truly what she feel is her mission and you can see
that in terms of how she approaches teaching her courses, her scholarship, her
administration.
Tyson : And so what, how does purpose translate into pedagogical acts ?
Daai’yah : One must as a teacher then ask : Why am I here ? What gifts do I have to give
and to share with humanity ? What is my mission ? And one must then make decisions
about the actual strategies and conditions under which teacher and student will interact
to seek answers to those questions, all of which will be di¶ erent for each student.
Tyson : We use those types of philosophies in education but we don’t call them spiritual.
I guess when we think of Cynthia and spirituality in education, her purpose is clear for
each person, that they engage at their own level, for the good of themselves Ž rst because
she always starts with self and moves later to the greater good, the larger scheme of
things.
Daa’iyah : When you are dealing with spiritual epistemology and a spiritual framework,
concepts are recast and have di¶ erent shades of meaning. Yet it allows you to be open
and free and take risks because ultimately you are operating out of a spiritual paradigm.
… Art and things beautiful, in terms of expression, need to be a part of education :
A spiritual education attends to the aesthetic. Not just the one time, like in the
creative autobiographies . In course assignments a deliberate attempt is made to
bring in that which aesthetically pleases (poetry, music, artist expressions, etc.),
460 cynthia b. dillard et al.

that provide a di¶ erent way of looking at a similar problem or a di¶ erent sort of
expression. … (Cynthia)

Daa’iyah : So we are looking at not only the expression of beauty in the forms of art,
music, poetry and so forth that deals with the topics of multicultural education, but also
the expressions and creation of the space that allows for various forms of aesthetic
expressions.
Tyson : I believe that in this way we see a clear demonstration of just how spirituality
provides theory in practice. A person who is spiritual walks into a classroom and
immediately works at all of the stu¶ that we are talking about – self-identity, purpose,
vulnerability, trust. That person is beautiful to watch at the art and craft of teaching.
Cynthia is not just the professor in front of the class teaching, she is bigger than that : She
is the mud cloth on the table, the brownies she baked, the cut  owers, all making a place
that is aesthetically beautiful, giving attention to the space.
Daa’iyah : In this case, it is clear what spiritual pedagogy looks like but it is also
important to mention what it sounds like. It sounds like a place and space where you
hear student voices more often than teacher voices, teacher voice is heard in concert
with student voices, a part of a whole chorus.

… Re ection is more than a mental pause. It is an essential pedagogical move to

create a space for students to think deeply and possibly explore issues of spirituality
The deep seated need for re ection, quiet time and self exploration is key to
education. … (Cynthia)

Daa’iyah : When I think of re ection, I think of silence. I see a spiritually embodied
person as somehow using the power of the silent space. This raises questions about
teacher education for me because, I guess inside of this narrative that we operate in there
has been no space to address the need for quiet, in terms of pedagogy.
Tyson : Or just the fact that because we don’t talk about educators as spiritual beings
that there is no spirituality. I think if we go back to the identity piece, because Cynthia
is very aware of that aspect of her identity as a spiritual person, the need to re ect on as
well as to re ect spirituality is as much a part of pedagogy as any other theoretical base.
Maybe I should say that it’s not put in a hierarchical way, these bases operate
simultaneousl y and in parallel with each other. Like when I tell a student teacher,
‘‘ Now that was a really unrighteous thing to do, ’’ they can’t hear it in those terms. They
can hear that it was not a good instructional strategy or not a good classroom technique.
If it is linked to something that sounds the least bit spiritual, it is rejected because it’s not
part of what they legitimate as pedagogy.

… Spirituality and this work of education implies relationships whether that’s

relationships with the Creator or relationships with other people or relationships
with family or students or whoever. I get real annoyed when places that I work
don’t allow or are not interested in that being a part of what I do. … (Cynthia)

Tyson : So, really, what all of this is saying is that there are several conditions or
elements embedded in a spiritual pedagogy : A solid sense of self, directly tied to a
purpose for whatever pedagogical moves are made. Development of multiple levels of
vulnerability and trust between student and teacher and students and students that are
reciprocal in nature, that intimate terrain that hooks talks about. A dependence on
my soul is a witness 461

re ection as a way to insight. An ability to be simultaneousl y open to a variety of

perspectives. A sort of chorus that is aesthetically the sights and sounds of educational
beauty. But most important to me is an aµ rmation and an embrace of a pedagogical
model that means, as an African-American educator, I don’t have to sell my soul.
Daa’iyah : Amen.

Pedagogies of the spirit : Ž nal thoughts

We return here to the original questions of this paper. First, what does spirituality mean
for the ways in which African-American women educate and research ? Second, how
does the enactment and embodiment of a spiritually centered paradigm impact the
learning of both teacher and student in the context of the classroom ? Finally, what
might such work imply in terms of theory and praxis, particularly in how we prepare
teachers and how we enact pedagogy and engage curriculum in teacher education ? To
resist the proclivity to answer these questions in ways that might facilitate pedagogical
replication is truly a challenge. Here, we resist suggesting that all teacher}scholars
necessarily understand, appreciate, and value spiritually grounded pedagogy. However,
we do suggest that embracing such an understanding may create a context where the
enactment of such a pedagogy is maybe more soulful in terms of teaching and creating
relationships with students. This case is deeply situated in the tenets of an endarkened
feminist epistemology (Dillard, in press), an epistemology which seeks to liberate us
from the traditions of educational research and our thinking that undergirds inquiry
and teaching as a neutral endeavor (Tyson, 1998). Thus, we resist making universal
claims to an absolute spirituality. Rather, as a necessary part of our being, we embrace
what it means to be spiritual Black women, academics, and researchers without having
to render any of ourselves invisible in order to be acceptable or accepted in the academy,
including that which feeds our souls and spirits. We encourage the reader to do the
same.

Note

1. The participant for this study was selected through the process community nomination (Foster, 1991 ;
Ladson-Billings, 1994). This participant selection process allows the researchers to put their trust in
community members (community organizations, students, colleagues) to select participants and}or sites,
based in the nominations from those within the community as to their validity as ‘‘ exemplars.’’ In this case,
Cynthia’s name continually ‘‘rose to the top ’’ when soliciting examples of spiritually and culturally engaged
teachers. This was not just the case in informal nominations. Several more formal endorsements were also
present. Cynthia was awarded the 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, ‘‘ presented annually by
teachers … in recognition of those who have demonstrated e¶ orts to keep alive the ideal and spirit of the late
Dr. King.’’ The nominating party (one of Cynthia’s former students) wrote, ‘‘ … she has spent many hours
listening, guiding, and nurturing me as a professional and a person. She has the ability to create a cooperative
environment that nurtures bonds between herself and her students.’’ The Award program committee (whose
membership constitute public school teachers, and various community members) believed that she
‘‘ exempliŽ es the very heart and spirit of Dr. King’s dream. ’’ Cynthia was also nominated and awarded the
Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. This Award honors faculty members who have done a superior
job of teaching and are chosen by a committee of alumni, students and faculty. ‘‘ She teaches from the heart
and with such soul searching and profound re ection ’’ a student wrote. This ‘‘portrait’’ of the participant
from the academic community and the community at large supported her selection for the purposes of this
inquiry as a spiritual pedagogue.
2. Both students have since graduated with doctoral degrees, under Cynthia’s guidance, thus becoming
colleagues. This is further evidence of the continued commitment to growth and spiritual development
fostered through their relationships with one another.
462 my soul is a witness

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