African-American Males: A Literacy Ecosystem By- Christina Johnson and Christine Szeluga
Middle school students in the Brooklyn Public Library, 2013 Definition and Description: The field of education is saturated with articles and studies about under-performing poor African-American males, particularly in middle and high school (Tatum, 2006). This population is very unique because they are two groups—both black and male—who have historically underachieved in literacy (Husband, 2012). When boys read, they tend to prefer non-fiction texts, comics, video game manuals, and scary tales with strong male leads over fiction, while girls tend to prefer the latter (Bosacki et al., 2009; Brozo, 2002; Collins-Standley et al., 1996). Typically, boys prefer reading practical, analytical, and informational texts (Clarke, 2006) such as newspapers, how-to manuals, and sports texts. Many African-American children face external factors such as “structural racism, community patterns, parents' education attainment, and socioeconomic status” (Tatum, 2006) as well as negative stereotypes in and out of school. In addition, many of them live in poverty ridden substandard neighborhoods. African-American children in low socioeconomical neighborhoods often have: •
Lack of materials they like to read –Black boys need to find books they relate to and text they are interested in. If teachers and librarians rethink the types of texts and curriculum they provide to African-American boys, they must think of the boys everyday lives and
the communities in which they live which can be difficult; of the 3,200 children’s books published last year (2013), only 93 were about black people (New York Times). •
Predominantly white teacher population—Many new white teachers are unprepared to work with high needs, African-American populations because they do not have the skills or the experience to educate them. It is especially hard to educate those who have to repeat a grade because the students have decreased academic scores, increased unpleasant behaviors, and decreased self-concept ability in school (Davis-Kean, 2009). Graduate teachers were interviewed in an attempt to define the problem of the gradual decline of minority teachers in the schools across American cities and found they are not taught how to teach African-American children. The consensus is that the white professors look down upon the African-Americans and feel as though they are all poor and unreachable (Delpit 2006). From this, it can be suggested that the majority of teachers are white because black teachers are put off from the profession.
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Undereducated and impoverished parents –Learning begins at home and if parents are not educated or work long hours, they cannot fully support children with their schoolwork. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of black children (compared to 15% of white) live in single-parent homes. Parents, especially mothers, in low socioeconomic situations are more punitive and less affectionate with their children. While research has shown that a child with an adult who cares about them, are more likely to succeed in life because, among other factors, good parenting (Davis-Kean, 1999).
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Low socioeconomic levels are detrimental to students’ IQ and school achievement as these students “generally do less well than never-poor students” (McLoyd, 1998). Disadvantaged children start school with lower cognitive skills than their more advantaged counterparts and the same disadvantaged children are put into low-resources schools, which only increased the inequality.
Challenges and Opportunities: Many African-American males have self-concept and identity issues (Tatum, 2006) including acting tough, retreating to violence and disassociating from school. Once the students become disassociated with school, they can get into trouble. Husband (2012) found that black boys are disproportionately suspended from school, which allows for less instruction time and makes them to fall behind. In many cases, teachers will take a student disassociating from the class as acting out, which can eventually lead to suspension. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (2014), black students are suspended or expelled three times more than their white counterparts. In the 2011-2012 school year, New York State suspended more black youth than any other race—it is no wonder these children are falling behind. The report suggests that while the suspensions should act in redirecting the behavior, it also has unwanted results. Anderson, Howard, and Graham (2007) noted a strong “relationship between suspension rates and reading achievement in black males.” Boys who have been suspended have lower levels of reading comprehension and literacy skills.
Many African-American males who fallen into this category come from single-family homes, live at or under the poverty level, and have other extenuating circumstances that keep them back. According to Stepler-Harris and Graves (2010) children who do better in reading are more likely to have parents involved in their lives. Most of the primary skills students are equipped with when entering school are gained from the behaviors and speech patterns form their parents whether positive or negative (Slaughter & Epps, 1987). As Tatum states, young African-American males are disengaged from literacy because they are not engaged in the text but it is the job of educators and librarians to find ways to engage them. One way is to enable the text; this allows students to engage with it on a personal level. AfricanAmerican males need to feel connected, emotionally invested and reflective to the text, in a way that other students may not. Studies show that boys seek to identify themselves through characters in books. When we do not provided this type of literature, teachers and librarians are doing a real disservice to the African-American male population (Moloney, 2002). Impact and Implications: Many educators face a challenge in choosing texts that are appropriate for African-American males. However we argue, most, if not all of the current required readings do not pertain to anything in the lives of African-American males, leaving them to become disengaged. Most of them, especially those from low income, single parent families or shelters, will not have the required experience to draw any knowledge from in order to answer the required questions. We also need to be aware of how we present information and question our students. One year a principal in the Bronx, NY required her teachers to make vacation posters with their classes and when teachers asked the students where they went for summer vacation. First, one teacher noted she had to define the word “vacation” after, the students responded: “I went to the supermarket,” “I went to the park,” “I went to the Bronx”, etc. Typically, African-American males from these types of homes do not have the opportunity to “vacation” and therefore cannot add to a conversation surrounding vacations. There are many other examples of this nature that we can use surrounding the topic of the involvement of these children in classroom conversations. Educators, parents and administrators need to find engaging texts that African-American males can relate to and depicts their lives and interests in order to engage them. Once the texts are in place, we must practice how to engage our students in conversation and writing of the texts. If students are not interested or disengaged, they are less successful in reading and in school. We know instruction must be differentiated in order to support the varied needs of black boys (Kirkland, 2011) but we must implement it too. Over the last ten years, solutions have been proposed to alleviate the issues with literacy within the African-American male population (Tatum, 2006) some of the issues are outlined below: •
Rites-of-passage programs which aim to improve the lives of disadvantaged, at-risk youth.
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Providing culturally responsive literacy instruction that links classroom content to student experiences as it acknowledges the legitimacy of different ethnic groups, bridges the meaningfulness between school and home, teaches students to be proud about where they came from and uses several types of resources for instructional use.
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Creating academically oriented remedial programs including the creation of extra classes that make it easier for students to connect with the material presented. Schools have already adopted remedial classes to support struggling students, especially in the New York City Department Of Education. Many schools in New York City are geared for specific interests. An example of this is the New York Harbor School founded in Bushwick, Brooklyn which had a mostly male African-American and Latino population. Students in this “high needs,” land-locked area were taught about marine life, sailing and diving. The students were able to practice their skills by becoming certified divers using the pool in the building, sailing on the East River and pulling oysters from a oyster farm off the coast of Connecticut. Students were also expected to take all the regular required high school classes. By the end of their forth year in 2008, they had a 88% graduation rate within four years (inside schools), and several students went on to careers in the maritime field. By having an exciting curriculum, that is relevant to the students, kids will do better—regardless of race.
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Establishing all-male academies or alternative schools and programs designed specifically for African American males.” Schools in neighborhoods like Harlem in Manhattan, Treamont in the Bronx, East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn have established this model. Schools that are homogenous leave fewer distractions. Eagle Academy in the Bronx, an all male academy, is an example of how an all-male academy works for boys of color where the graduation rate far exceeds the city’s average. In June 2014 Eagle Academy saw 100% college acceptance of their high school seniors. One senior, Hassan Mitchell, was accepted to twenty-one colleges. This proves that young men of color are capable of incredible things with the right tools.
A Librarian’s Story: Christina, a first year librarian and is having second thoughts about what she’s going to teach this year. Her fifth grade class will be her pilot class for a curriculum unit on sustainability. She had them for the first time recently and it went pretty well. She is really in having the students look at and find solutions to maintain fresh water now and for future generations. Her hope is that she can help them to build knowledge and skills. She wants to motivate, encourage a sense of responsibility and nurture a sense of caring, so that they become thoughtful and engaged citizens of the community. The lesson began by discussing what they thought sustainability meant. Most of then did not have a clue, but some gave suggestions as to what they thought it was. Like usual, most of the answers came from the girls. Once students gave their answers, she introduced the definition in terms so that they could understand: “sustainability is the maintaining of the quality of life for now and the future.” She thought about what she could do to get the boys engaged in the lesson too. It had to be something that would make them think and want to take part in the process. She remembered reading about a young girl in a third world country had to wake up before the sun rose and walk four miles to get fresh water to bathe, cook and drink. She told this story and the response was what she had (secretly) hoped for.
“Oh, that’s not far,” said Jamal “That’s nothing. I once walked 5 miles,” yelled Basil. “I can carry that. That’s not that heavy,” replied Jeremiah “Hmmmm!” She thought to herself, “They are coming alive! How can we keep this momentum up?” So, what better way to make them feel her pain than to ask them to lift something that is approximately five pounds? She grabbed a basket of books and asked Basil to come and hold the books. She explained that water would feel heavier than the books because, as Basil put it, “Aww, this ain’t heavy! I could carry this four miles.” She reminded Basil that it was four miles one way and then four miles back with the heavy containers. At this point they all seemed to be engaged in the conversation surrounding freshwater. She then asked the students to talk in a group, at their tables, to see if they could come up with a solution to help this young lady and her water issues. Good responses started to formulate—those that are typical of a child that lives in America where things are plentiful and of course she had to remind them of this fact. Some of the answers given: 1. Get bottled water 2. Have someone drive her to get the water 3. Go to a neighbor’s house and borrow some water 4. Don’t use all the water from the day before. Before they delved into the answers any further the period was over. Working with this class again is going to be exciting and not just for her but the students too. Creating a curriculum surrounding sustainability is not something that is new by any means. By creating something that not only involves everyone, but is close to home and African-American male students can connect with, will give me the edge that I need to get them involved and keep them engaged. It will also help to foster a relationship between my students and myself. I want to motivate, encourage a sense of responsibility and nurture a sense of caring, so that they become thoughtful and engaged citizens of the community. We know that our students are coming to school with very personal needs; some are hungry, dirty, and angry. When our students face such critical needs, they will not be able to sit down and read a book, write a story, or even pay attention in class. How can we reach those students who have the weight of the world on their shoulders? We can engage these students by focusing on stories that reflect the dilemmas that they face every day. In order for the students to be the best that they can be, we have to be the best that we can be and remember that these students are “reading for their lives” (Tatum 2010).
Middle school students at the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection Conclusion Schools, teachers and librarians need to have resources that are culturally relevant to AfricanAmerican males and books with strong lead males and African-American people. They need to see themselves in what they read, make the connection and define themselves. We need to engage students with hands-on problems that they themselves can fix and repair and must remember there are all types of learners, but the boys in particular need engagement. Teachers and schools should also reconsider discipline procedures. Discipline that leads to students staying outside of the classroom for long periods of time hinders their learning. Many black boys retreat to violence as a way of defending themselves against the pain that they live with on a daily basis. In order to get our African-American male students engaged in the readings and curriculum we need to understand what captures their attention, what will engage them, and what is going to touch their lives. It is not simply about students’ literacy development, it is about students’ lives (Tatum, 2006). Teachers and librarians need to involve the students by finding something that is interesting, meaningful and activates their prior knowledge. Our hopes and dreams are to foster energy and awareness inside of these students so that African-American boys will gain the skills and information they need to make informed decisions.
Resources Anderson, K.A., Howard, K.E., & Graham, A. (2007). Reading achievement, suspensions, and African-American males in middle school. Middle Grades Research Journal, 2 (2), 43-63. Bosacki, S., Elliott, A., Bajovic, M., & Akseer, S. (2009). Preadolescents’ self-concept and popular magazine preferences. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 23 (3), 340. Clarke, L.W. (2006). Power through voicing others: Girls’ positioning of boys in literature circle discussions. Journal of Literacy Research, 38 (1), 53-79. Delpit, L. (2006). Teacher's Voices. In Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom (pp. 105-127). New York: New Press. Davis-Kean, Pamela. (2009). The effect of socio-economic characteristics on parenting and child outcomes. University of Michigan. Husband, T. (2012). Why can’t Jamal read?. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(5), 23-27. Kirkland, D.E. (2011). Listening to echoes: Teaching young black men literacy and the problem of ELA standards. Language Arts, 88 (5), 373-380. McLoyd, Vonnie. (1998). Socieoeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 52 (2), 185-204. Moloney. (2004, January 1). Me Read No Way! A Practical Guide to Improving Boys' Literacy. Myers, Walter Dean. (2014, March 15). Where are the people of color in children’s books? New York Times. ABC 7 News, (2014, June 1). Retrieved from, http://7online.com/education/eagle-academystudents-overcome-obstacles-to-make-it-to-graduation-day/139962/ Slaughter, D & Epps, E (1987) The home environment and academic achievement of black American children and youth: An overview. Journal of Negro Education 56:1. Stepter-Harris, Toni & Graves, Scott L. (2010). The influence of cultural capital transmission on reading achievement in African American fifth grade boys. The Journal of Negro Education, 79(4), 447-457. Tatum, A.W. (2006). Engaging African American males in reading. Educational Leadership, 63(5), 44-49. Tatum, A.W. (2010). Helping Struggling Readers: Reading for Their Life. Retrieved from, http://youtu.be/5vc1iMoJFjg.
United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. (2014). Civil rights data collection. Retrieved from, http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdcdiscipline-snapshot.pdf