Culturally responsive education, including culturally relevant or culturally responsive instruction described in multicultural education literature, is not only about utilizing students’ culture as a vehicle for learning, but also about teaching them how to develop a broader sociopolitical consciousness that enables them to critique the cultural norms, values, mores, and institutions that produce and maintain social inequities (Ladson-Billings 1994, p. 162). Contemporary U.S. scholars (e.g., Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1994) who have proposed various approaches to culturally responsive or culturally relevant education often draw upon the writings of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963), an US-American sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist, called for an education that prepares humankind to think more broadly, to eradicate social, economic, and political inequities (e.g., Du Bois, 1903/2008). This paper takes an historical perspective on DuBois’ (1903/2008) early work, including particularly Souls of Black Folks, in relation to his educational journey and studies in Germany. DuBois wrote about his educational journey in Germany in 1892, and the ways in which he felt he was treated as a human being (Du Bois, 1894/1954). The paper considers Du Bois’ (1903/2008) indirect references to Bildung and implications for the contemporary pedagogical approaches culturally responsive and culturally relevant education.

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903/2008). The souls of black folk. Oxford University Press. Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. teachers college press. Hegel, G. W. F. (1807/2018). Hegel: The phenomenology of spirit. Oxford University Press. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). Dream Keepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. W. E. B. Dubois: Remembrance of His Berlin Years (1892–94), published in: German History Intersections, [November 29, 2023].