How often do we hear academics and scholars
use the phrase "One size does not fit all", when discussing a number
of educational or socio-economic issues facing America? Well, one very pressing
challenge that fits that description is related to the task of building
literacy proficiency in males of color.
The issue is not just about getting boys of
color to complete the "must-read" curriculum. It goes much beyond that. The real challenge
lies in encouraging these young men to embrace reading and writing so that they
might develop "in total" - socio-emotionally - and not simply in
terms of passing an exam or moving to the next grade.
Addressing the root cause
At the heart of the problem lie many non-literary
challenges that sometimes get overlooked in our eagerness to build a ready-made
solution. The tools we use to build
those solutions, such as policy decisions, teaching methodologies and
curriculum content, take a "one size fits all" view of the classroom.
And often, as we develop and implement what we perceive to be the "ideal
solution", we lose sight of the fact that we are tailoring solutions for a
disparate group of students.
The Broad Prize for Urban Education[i]
endows a $1 million benefit to urban school districts that can prove they have
contributed significantly in the academic performance of, and reducing
improvement gaps between, poor and minority students. As recently as March
2012, educational experts gathered in Washington to nominate deserving school
districts for the award noticed exactly the disparity that I am talking about
here. Although in this case the spotlight was on the differences between
Hispanic-American and African-American students, the lessons learned are
equally valid to any two (or more) groups of students. As noted by USA Today[ii]:
"The real lesson is that we
need to stop lumping blacks.....in terms of how we measure progress and in
terms of policy — as "students of color." The groups have different
education needs".
The
report very aptly identified the root cause of the challenge that educators
face when trying to encourage literacy proficiency amongst males of color in
the following words:
"Lumping the two groups together
only shifts attention away from differing strategies that can work for each
group."
Different strokes
Promoting
literacy proficiency amongst men of color must consider the environment beyond
the classroom, in order to be successful.
Afro-American students have a unique set of socio-economic and
socio-emotional circumstances that make them open to a different
teaching/learning style than that used for other ethnic communities. And unless
educators and policy makers realize that, no policy tool or teaching method
will meet with success.
Recognizing
the fundamental differences between various groups of students is therefore the
first step to encouraging learning within members of those groups. Once some of
the social barriers to learning have been removed, men of color will respond
more positively to any stimulus that aims to foster literacy proficiency
amongst their ranks.
As
a result of such reorganization should also come the realization that curricula
currently used in traditional schools therefore deserve a second look. Teachers
and educators need to understand that what a Hispanic-American student will
relate to in the classroom is different from that to which an Afro-American
student will respond to, which is totally divergent from that which stimulates
white American students.
The
fact is that each student learns differently. And a student's ethnicity helps
shape his/her learning styles. These differences in learning styles are well
articulated in the text "Moore, Carol. (1992): Learning Styles -
Classroom Adaptation"[iii],
where the case for "Different strokes make different folks" can be
made. The underlying message here is that while students may find it extremely
hard to change their unique learning styles, educators should adapt their
teaching methods to meet differing learning styles.
Best
practices to bridge these differences
So
what can we do to bridge these differences? A lot, actually! Over the years of
being involved in the learning and development of youth of color, I have seen
first-hand the results that certain practices can bring to bear in fostering
literacy proficiency in males of color. I'd like to propose some of my
"best practices" for educators to consider:
- Cultural responsiveness: Bringing cultural sensitivity into the classroom means that teachers are aware of the learning style of their pupils, and adapt their teaching methods accordingly
- Recognizing ability: Given the right literary environment, boys of color will shine too. Teachers should recognize their student's innate abilities to learn, and must do away with oversimplification of lessons
- Collaborative classrooms: Rather than promoting "individualism" in learning, help foster a collaborative literary environment
- Enabling text: Choose text books and other learning material for the curriculum, to which men of color can relate. Using "standard" text will make them "tune out"
- Unapologetic learning: Choose literacy plans that don't force boys of color to be apologetic about their place in the community when learning or writing their assignments
- Readers write & Writers read: Have students read as authors and write as readers. Fostering both these perspectives is a key element of fostering literacy proficiency amongst males of color
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