Guiding Like the North Star: A Literature Review of Black Teachers Helping Black Students Navigate Civic Estrangement,2014–2023

Abstract

For decades, Black Americans have occupied a status known as civic estrangement, existing simultaneously as citizens and noncitizens in the United States. This systematic literature review examines how Black teachers helped Black students navigate civic estrangement between 2014–2023, the first full decade of the Black Lives Matter movement. Findings indicate that teachers cultivated Black fugitive spaces, affirmed and validated their students, helped students develop a critical consciousness, and engaged in this work out of a sense of responsibility to their students. This systematic literature review has implications for teacher educators and civic education researchers.