Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Black Learner Excellence Learning Community

Asif Wilson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Wilson’s research broadly focuses on justice-centered pedagogies in P-20 educational contexts and has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in top-tier peer reviewed publications. In 2023, Dr. Wilson received the Early Career Award through the National Council for Social Studies and the Emerging Scholar Award through the Critical Race Studies in Education Association. Wilson started his career in education with Chicago Public Schools as a middle school social studies and science teacher. Before moving to his role at UIUC, he served as Dean of Instruction at Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and Executive Director of a non-profit organization where he conducted his dissertation research on liberatory education. Dr. Wilson’s scholarship invites educators in and outside of P-20 educational settings to imagine and actualize more justice-centered pedagogical praxes.  It embodies the communal, loving, and transformative vision he has for P-20 education. 

Awards

2023 Emerging Scholar Award Winner, Critical Race Studies in Education Association

2023 Early Career Award Winner, College and University Faculty Assembly, National Council for Social Studies

Latest Publications 

• Why we need Critical Race Theory: Moving toward Critical Race Praxis in P-20 education
• Excuse me whiteness: Attempting to transform pedagogies through critical professional development
• Returning to the source: Black teachers centering justice with Black students in Chicago Public Schools
• And still we are not free: The school prison nexus in higher education
• The six pillars of teaching and learning: Towards pedagogies of risk in P-20 classrooms