“Teaching First-Year Seminar: The hidden curriculum of culture, history, and heritage at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Teaching First-Year Seminar: The hidden curriculum of culture, history, and heritage at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Abstract First Year Seminar (FYS) is a commonly used retention tool developed to support the progression and encourage the completion of college for students during their initial year of post-secondary education. Yet very little is known about the pedagogical approaches of FYS instructors, particularly at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This study specifically explores the experiences and pedagogical perceptions of HBCU FYS instructional professionals. The researchers interviewed six participants to understand ways in which these institutional agents, specifically instructors, leveraged tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy and aspects of fictive kinship to enact social justice, within teaching approaches. Based on the coding and interpretation of semi-structured qualitative interviews, the results uncovered attempts to culturally reach and teach students. Thus, the researchers argue, that HBCU FYS instructors practice a hidden curriculum of instruction informed by Black culture and the institution’s history as a form of explicating heritage as capital in teaching