“There are literally young black boys who have never seen a black man reading.” Alvin Irby
by Jay
Imagine entering your literacy class and dreading every second of the time you are in this prison of a classroom. Classrooms that are not culturally sustaining assimilate into these prisons for many African American males, because of internal and external factors.
The following list form Tatum shows “several factors that serve as barriers to achievement for African American males” (Tatum, 2006, P. 44)
Internal Factors: External factors
self-concept Structural Racism
identity issues Community Patterns
behaviors as acting tough Parents education attainment
failing to retreat from violence Socioeconomic status
avoiding self-disclosure
dissociating from school
A teacher that is not aware of these factors will be setting up the student to fail in many ways inside and outside of the classroom. Culturally sustaining literacy needs to be brought into the school that addresses “content to student experiences: developing character development program, rites-of-passage programs, comprehensive literacy programs, and academically oriented remedial programs; and establishing all-male academies or alternative schools and program designed specifically for African American males.” (Tatum, 2006, P. 44)
How to free African American males from this prison as a teacher? Tatum outlines ways to be responsive to their needs by finding the glaring omissions, developing connections between the students and readings, shape positive life outcomes, and reading relevant. How will you introduce these books within a multicultural classroom? Thus, setting them free from the White, Dominated, Male school system that they are trap within.
Alvin Irby states during his Tedtalk that “There are literally young black boys who have never seen a black man reading.” Recognizing that a change needs to happen he went to where boys go twice a month, the Barbershop. If he could get them to read while getting their hair cut, he could start the change. Listen to hear how he has created a reading environment at a barbershop.
I cannot recall willingly being part of a book club. I have been part of many that were forced upon me by my prior employer. All those self-help, management, leadership and personality books that are collecting dust, because although they wanted change. They did not want to change. It was so much easier to rinse and repeat the processes and ignore change.
Now, if I were subjected to the Project ONEE as described by Jucius and Shealy, I would have retained and utilized information from these books. To have someone/group of people accept your connection, listen to your support assertions and how to work within the communities to promote change would have been great.
Teachers as political agents shares that a teacher is a broker, in this sense, is someone who stands at the boundary between two different communities or system of activity and who actively imports the way of being and doing of one community into the other (Bomer and Bomer, p. 155). Over the years I have been a political agent of change with a community basketball program, Boy Scouts of America, and Rotary Clubs. Through these groups, I have activity developed youth skills and leadership abilities. When I chose to become involved with these group I had no idea how much of my free time they would engulf. Though all of these group I have helped enact democracy. Such as asking “what drills would you like to do?” “What merit badge would you like to focus on over the next two months?” “How do we have more members help at the upcoming fundraiser?” It was always crucial to gather as many peoples input before an outing or event. The more people know that their opinion matters, the more involved they will become. There are so many times that I could have completed the task by myself and a quarter of the time, but by doing this, it would have been all mine and a dictatorship. It is very lonely at the top when every possible as a teacher do not become a dictator.
I am left with many questions about how to become a better teacher through culturally sustaining, book clubs and community involvement. Would you be able to help me grow by sharing your thoughts on these reading? Here is some question that is lingering with me as well:
As a new teacher, how can you help bridge the gap to the minorities within your classroom?
Is Alvin Irby provide a solution or a barrier to reading for black boys?
Many of you shared that you have or are currently members of a book club. Would the Project ONEE work within your current book clubs?
How could you use multimodal to develop community involvement within your classroom?
Are you currently involved in your community? Where? Why?
Jocius, R., & Shealy, S. (2018). Critical Book Clubs: Reimagining Literature Reading and Response. The Reading Teacher, 71( 6), 691-702.
Tatum, A. W. (2006). Engaging African American males in reading. Educational Leadership, 63 (5), 44.
Bomer, R., & Bomer, K. (2001). For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action. Heinemann, 88 Post Road West, PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881. (Chapter 9)
Jay, it's great that you're involved with your community. I used to volunteer more where I used to live, and this has reminded me that I need to be more actively involved. I also think it’s great that you involve the kids you work with by asking them questions. It seems like such a simple thing, but a lot of teachers don’t value inquiry. So many of the questions on websites like Scholastic and teacherspayteachers only ask questions about basic plot details. Our current state standards don’t require that students be active readers. Things like plot for instance, don’t necessarily need to be taught in such a uniform way. These are things that students will pick up on as they’re reading. I was impressed by the class discussion demonstrated in the reading. Worksheets and definitions about the structure of a story don't generate this level of discussion (or any discussion). Creating lesson plans, like the one we did for this week, seem like a great starting point to get teachers thinking about the types of questions they're asking their students. If the question can we answered after doing a quick google search, it probably doesn't need to be asked.
ReplyDeleteThe quote from the reading about how there are young black boys who have never seen a black man reading reminded me of an article we read last semester. In it, a little girl said she couldn’t grow up to be a writer, because there were only male writers. It was only then that the teacher realized all of the texts she’d assigned for that semester were written by men. When I reflect on the books I read in school, many of them were critical texts. Since I went to an international school, we read texts from authors around the world. However, not many of the books were written by African-American men. It may seem like a small detail, but children definitely notice who the authors of their texts are (and who they aren’t).
Addie, As I learn more about your high school opportunities, I become excited. Reading text/stories for authors from around the world must have been exciting. I didn't experience that at all. If it didn't come for the required list, we didn't talk about it. Our experiences are the polar opposite. Because of this, we can see the gap in learning that Tatum shares through the internal and External factors. I can't believe how lucky we were growing up in our white privilege world. I think of the wall full of book shelves and books my parents had in one of their houses. Then the statement from Alvin Irby makes that “There are literally young black boys who have never seen a black man reading.” As a teacher in an urban school, I will be reaching out into the community, libraries, retirement homes to seek out these black male role models. I will have the come into the classroom as mystery readers. I want to be part of this change and break this crazy cycle that has perpetuated in the educations system.
DeleteIt's hard to volunteer. No doubt! Where do you find time to squeeze it in between work, college, and family? As a parent, my focus is to make sure my children have more comprehensive experience than what I had growing up. I can't expect my children to change unless I'm a role model for them. Intern their interest I made me step in uncomfortable situations. The more I interact with people of other cultures the more I learn. I know that as a teacher I will become involved within the school's extracurricular activities. I think by doing this a teacher becomes more connected with the students and in some cases, they will be connected to a student that they might be having a hard time relating to within the classroom.
Jay, I really like how you introduced the list that Tatum created, and your comment right after. "A teacher that is not aware of these factors will be setting up the student to fail in many ways inside and outside of the classroom." I think this is so important because as a white teacher, whether you are male or female, you haven't faced this exact struggle. Everyone has faced an internal or external struggle, but if you are white you haven't experienced what a person of color has. A teacher not aware of these factors will be setting up the student to fail in and out of the classroom. Making yourself aware is the first step in creating change.
ReplyDeleteYour lingering question, how could we use multimodal to develop community involvement within your classroom? I think there are many ways to do this, but it will take time and planning. In this age of technology, there are so many avenues on the internet to get people involved in the community. There are so many Facebook groups and blogs and podcasts and websites that are very positive and community based. Of course, you have to carefully plan how you introduce these things into your classroom. Also, for students who don't have unlimited access to the internet, simply introducing these community groups to them inside the classroom and giving them ways to still be active in their community are ways we can give opportunity for all.
Thank you Will, I like how you shared all the internet resources (Facebook groups, blogs, podcasts and websites) that are positive and community based. It would be great to watch a podcast that has to do with community resources and engagement. Then have a parent from the organization come into the classroom and teach a skill or lesson. I did a quick search and found that the Indiana Public Library is just a 10 minute walk from the school. There might be a way to borrow resources with the school to benefit a lesson plan.
Delete