An Overview of Instructional Violence: Promoting Culturally Responsive Instruction

Introduction

Since learning of Dr A. Wade Boykin’s passing in January 2025, we have been rather upset, wanting to ensure that his legacy is in the forefront of educators’ minds and hearts as they seek to provide Black students with rigorous and relevant instructional styles and strategies, including those in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE). For context, note that Dr James A. Banks is the father of multicultural curriculum—culturally relevant and affirming content and materials. We consider Dr Boykin the father of multicultural instruction—culturally responsive teaching styles and strategies. Both curriculum and instruction must be designed with beneficence in mind—to do no harm with what is taught and how it is taught to Black and other minoritized GATE students.

The notion of curriculum violence was coined by Ighodaro and Wiggan (2010) in Curriculum Violence: America’s New Civil Rights Issue, defined as “the deliberate manipulation of academic programming in a manner that ignores or compromises the intellectual and psychological wellbeing of learners” (described in book abstract). While the authors use “deliberate” in their definition, we urge readers to understand that such violence can also be unintentional. Specifically, whether intentional or unintentional, harm has been done to GATE Black students/learners when curriculum and instruction are assaultive (Hines, Fletcher, et al., 2022; Hines, Ford, et al., 2022).

Borrowing from the concept of “violence,” we discuss instruction herein to honor Boykin’s (1988, 2005) research-based Afro-centric Cultural Styles Framework and to disrupt what we term “instructional violence.” Combined and individually, curriculum and/or instruction can traumatize students, in this case Black and other minoritized GATE students. We also believe that White students are harmed based on what they, too, are mislearning about people of color—negative stereotypes. We define “instructional violence” as intentional and unintentional teaching/pedagogical styles and strategies that negatively affect the academic, psychological, emotional, and behavioral well-being and needs of students. We unpack this next.

Signs of Academic Trauma by Cognitive/Learning, Emotional, and Behavioral Developmental Areas

Academic/educational trauma, per Sharony (2023), shows up among students with behaviors similar to anxiety, depression, ADHD, and intermittent explosive disorder. Herein, we share commonly seen signs of school-related trauma cognitively (learning-related), emotionally, and behaviorally based on Sharony’s model. This model does not include a psychological component but goes on to discuss PTSD in which students may be irritable, angry, depressed, detached, have trouble sleeping, and be triggered by activities, objects, and individuals, for example. See Table 1.

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Table 1.

Areas and Signs of Academic Trauma.

Area of Academic Trauma	Description of Signs
Cognitive and learning-related	Student has difficulty concentrating in class; being easily distracted; test anxiety; trouble adapting to changes; reduced memory capacity.
Emotional	Student shows a lack of motivation; low self-esteem; social anxiety; difficulty with emotional regulation; intrusive thoughts.
Behavioral	Student has angry outbursts; avoiding peers and teachers; hyper-vigilance; lower grades; trouble with eye contact; conflict with peers.

Avoiding Instructional Violence by Adopting Boykin’s Afro-Centric Cultural Styles Framework

Ford recalls vividly when she first learned about Boykin’s framework (Boykin & Allen, 1988; Boykin et al., 2005) in college. It was cathartic—she saw herself, family, friends, and many in her almost all-Black schools and communities as a child, student, adult, and professor. The characteristics are generalizations—propensities, not stereotypes, as with any culture that is described in research, theory, and practice. While other cultural groups share some of the following characteristics, they do so in their way(s) of being and living. When all or most of the Afro-centric characteristics are witnessed in a student, there is a very strong probability that he/she is Black. We compel readers to delve into Boykin’s numerous studies and articles for further details and nuances.

As stated earlier, we write this article as a tribute to Dr Boykin, to keep his legacy alive, and to proactively address how instruction/pedagogy/teaching must be culturally responsive rather than violent/harmful/traumatic, including in GATE classes, programs, services, and activities. When teachers/professors understand the cultural styles of their culturally different students, they can better align teaching and learning and, otherwise, avoid instructional violence. It is essential to understand that even if Black students are not traumatized, they are likely to be disengaged, which contributes to underachievement (Ford, 2010), race-based achievement gaps, and lower test performance and scores. Regarding tests, it is essential that we share Janet Helms’ application of Boykin’s framework to test performance (Helms, 1992). Ford and Helms (2012) also discussed this in a Journal of Negro Education special issue entitled “Testing and Assessing African Americans: Past, Present, and Future Problems and Promises.”

In Table 2, we describe and apply Boykin’s Afro-centric cultural styles framework to recommended instructional/teaching strategies. The objective is to connect cultural styles to learning preferences and needs in order to promote high levels of engagement and achievement among Blacks in educational settings—P-12 and higher education.

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Table 2.

Boykin’s Afro-Central Cultural Styles Model.

Cultural Styles Area and Description	Sample Instructional Strategies and Teaching Styles
Affect Student has strong feelings and emotions; heightened sensitivity Student is easily engaged when learning is relevant and affirming and the reverse when it is not	• Avoid offensive words and visuals (so that students will not get offended and refuse to complete assignment/activity) • Include student interests in curriculum; adopt books of interest • Listen to student—do not penalize them for disliking curriculum (what is taught) and instruction (how it is taught); get to know student’s reason(s) for liking and disliking
Harmony Student has a strong desire to be one with the environment Student wants to belong and to feel welcome; to fit in and belong	• Get to know students • Build positive and respectful relationships with students • Creative inclusive classroom and school settings • Create a sense of belonging, making sure that the learning environment/classroom setting is welcoming and nurturing • Provide constructive feedback
Communalism Student is interdependent; has a “we, us, our” rather than individualistic and competitive persona; family and community oriented; social Student prefers to and enjoys working with classmates, including helping others	• Community environment—emphasis on friendships and supporting each other • Cooperative learning • Group work and projects • Group and team-based competitions • Peer teaching • Learning circles
Movement Student is tactile and kinesthetic Student prefers hands-on learning and physical involvement	• Active learning activities1—hands-on, role plays, simulations, games, field trips, shadowing • Decrease lecture time to make room for activities
Verve Student is active and lively; demonstrative; dramatic Student has a preference for movement and activity such as dance, simulations, playing games, and plays	• Experiential learning • Opportunities to expend energy • Active learning strategies
Oral Tradition/Orality Student has strong preference for speaking; to speak is to perform; blunt and direct Student enjoys responding verbally over tests/filling in bubbles, and paper–pencil assignments	• Permit students to respond verbally to questions and comments • Discussions • Speeches • Debates • Work games • Encourage expression of beliefs and opinions, along with support/evidence for responses
Expressive Individualism Student has unique and distinctive personality and style; risk taker; dares to be different; dislikes routine Student likes/cherishes compliments about their creative styles and personality	• Utilize student interests • Creative writing • Creative thinking • Support individual expressive/communication styles • Choice • Humor • Art • Music • Drama • Poetry
Improvisation Student is spontaneous; can create with little to no preparation and practice; resourceful; creative Student is highly engaged when allowed to be creative	• Problem-based learning • Creative thinking • Brainstorming • Open-ended questions • Novelty—surprises, unexpected, not routine
Social Time Perspective Student is polychronic; the event is more important than actual time When student is very engaged, he/she/they lose track of time. May be late submitting assignments, coming to class, etc.	• Teach time management • Provide structure • Have multiple deadlines • Have flexible deadlines • Divide teaching and assignments into smaller tasks, steps • Provide frequent reminders of due dates • Make teaching and learning relevant and engaging
Perseverance Student is resilient and persistent in the face of negative challenges (e.g., discrimination) No one enjoys negative challenges, so students need encouragement for pressing forward and dealing with difficulties while trying to do well in school	• Acknowledge/affirm student self-efficacy/agency • Focus mainly on strengths • Provide challenge with support; scaffold • Encourage and reward persistence

We hope both Tables 1 and 2 are informative to teachers/educators in their efforts to be culturally responsive and competent, particularly for Black GATE students and the instruction they receive. The objective is to be responsive to how culturally different students learn and prefer to be taught. This increases engagement and achievement.

Discussion

In Table 2, we provided descriptions and examples of suggested instructional strategies and teaching strategies based on the cultural styles of Black students with particular attention to GATE. It is important for teachers to learn about the cultural styles of all other minoritized students—Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Biracial/Multiracial, Pacific Islander, and Alaskan Native. Note that in 2011, minoritized students became the majority of students in public schools (Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection). Per the National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge/racial-ethnic-enrollment), of the 49.6 million students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in fall 2022,

• 22.1 million were White;

Given the amount and degree of cultural diversity and associated differences, it behooves educators to work on being culturally competent (Ford et al., 2023); particularly, with dispositions, knowledge, and skills (Middleton et al., 2022). Dispositions—attitudes—must be culturally affirming and asset-based. Then, teachers will not only refer more underrepresented groups for GATE but also modify curriculum and instruction to be multicultural and rigorous. Ford’s Bloom–Banks Matrix is one resource for doing so (Ford, 2011; Ford & Trotman Scott, 2016; Wright et al., 2017, 2018). It merges Bloom’s Taxonomy of Critical Thinking (six levels) with Banks’ Multicultural Infusion framework (four levels), resulting in 24 cells of four color-coded quadrants. See Figure 1 for a description of each cell.OPEN IN VIEWER

Conclusion

For a myriad of social and culturally incongruent reasons, far too many Black students are failing to reach their potential, even those in GATE. They are caught up in racialized achievement gaps (traps), underachievement, and low achievement (i.e., performing below average) (Ford, 2010). They are over-surveilled and over-disciplined, as revealed in hundreds of reports and studies (Peterson, n.d.). They are underrepresented in gifted and talented education (Colorado, 2010; Ford & Hines, 2025). Conversely, Black students, especially our males, are overrepresented in special education high-incidence categories (e.g., specific learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders) (Arundel, 2023; Hines et al., 2023, 2025; Pincus et al., 2025). To state the obvious, this is problematic as our Black students of all ages—including preschoolers—are being marginalized through no fault of their own. Dr Boykin’s Afro-centric framework offers so much relative to correcting these inequities and ending/disrupting instructional violence. The time is long overdue.