Educating the African American and Latino Male Childby Jawanza KunjufuAaron ShelbyDescatur PotierDanny LoraRebecca Johnson
Tufts Colleagues with Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
ProfessionsDoctors, Dentists,
Engineers or Teachers
AfricanAmericans
Other
NFL
African American
Other
NBA
African American
Other
1%
67%
84%
NBA: What are the odds?
1,000,000 boys and girls wish to be in the NBA
400,000 make their high school basketball team
4,000 play in college 35 make it to the NBA ONLY 7 starters Average NBA career is 4
years
What’s your back up plan?
What’s your back up career?
African American Males in Penal System
100,000
1,500,000
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
1400000
1600000
1980 Today 70% drug related
Difference in spending United States
$28,000 annually per prisoner with 85% recidivism
Europe
$6,000 on drug treatment programs with 66% efficacy
What’s the cost?
In Maryland…
Mentoring one youth in a one-to-one program for $1000-$1500 per year
Vs. Spending up to $80,000 a year to house one
youth in a correctional or rehabilitation facility.
Raising expectations for every student
Curriculum
Create culturally relevant curriculum for all students in the classroom.
Use current trends and ideologies to your advantage in terms of lesson plans.
Have students play an active role in creating curriculum.
How should you create your lessons? Tailor your lessons to the characteristics
and needs of the young, Black male children: High activity Hands-on learning Non-verbal and verbal communication, Colorful language Link it to social context
What else should be in your lessons? Character education must be included in
the curriculum
Teachers must know the students are intelligent
Avoiding Special Education Assessing for right brain learners and plan a
proportional amount of lessons them If 50% are right-brain learners then 50% of lessons should be
right brain lessons
Non-traditional forms of assessment Oral presentation of knowledge for projects rather than
written testing of knowledge
Teach how to study in groups Looping Teachers Incorporate Multicultural Curriculum
Application in School
Multi-cultural history courses as electives Incorporate multicultural perspectives into
lessons when missing from current curriculum.Help plan and teach a non “white man’s
history” course. Focuses on the contributions of African, African American, and Latin societies.
Application in School
Cut achievement or curriculum gap?Replace questions with predetermined
answers with open ended questions in all classes, not just the honors and AP classes
Multicultural friendly atmosphere in school office makes parents more receptive to involvement.
What is the schools’ job?
PSAT/NMSQT in the10th and 11th grades Assure curriculum back mapping from
high school to middle school instructional supports first time AP
students professional development for middle
and high school teachers
Exposure to positive male role models
Mentoring Programs
Be developmental in nature Provide for the presence of competent adult
Black males (mentors) Capitalize on the strengths of African
American families Incorporate African/African American culture Include a Celebratory/"Rites-of-Passage"
experience
What should be in the Rites of Passage Program? Culturally relevant curriculum that empowers
students Teachers must re-teach what it means to be a
man Developmentally appropriate Responsive to cultural diversity Provided by high-quality teachers Nurtures social-emotional competence
Nguzo Saba
Unity Self Determination Collective Work and Responsibility Cooperative Economics Purpose Creativity Faith
Results of Mentoring Program
Better attendance Improved academic performance, Positive relationships with peers and
adults Reduced criminal acts, substance abuse,
and suspensions from schools for youth who participated in mentor programs
How to support mentoring programs? Become an ambassador for mentoring Create a mentoring program through a club,
association, fraternity/sorority, Faith-based institution or place of employment
Hold National Mentoring Month events on campus
Hold a Job/University Shadowing Day Consider supporting mentoring programs with
financial or in-kind resources
Mentorship Call Me Mister Program
The Call Me MISTER program is an effort to address the critical shortage of African American male teachers particularly among the State's lowest performing schools. Program participants are selected from among under-served, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities. The project provides:
Tuition assistance for admitted students pursuing approved programs of study at participating colleges.
An academic support system to help assure their success. A cohort system for social and cultural support.
Booker T. Dubois Role Model Program Schools can provide a time and space for Black and Latino
males from a variety of professions to speak to and mentor students.
Identify outside organizations and businesses to work with the schools in regards to a mentor/tutor program.
Understand your students
CultureLearning Strategies
Is this the Ideal student?
Quiet Can sit still for a long period of time Works independently Long attention span Likes ditto sheets Left- brain learner Passive Teacher pleaser Mastered reading before second grade Neat Well developed fine motor skills Well organized Likes multiple choice exams Mature White Female Middle-class Two parent home Mother works at home
Post- Traumatic Slavery Disorder:
Is there a correlation between internalized racism (self hate) and black on black violence?
If so, how are schools as institutions perpetuating a “white is right” and or white is the norm culture?
Hip Hop VOCAB: Can you identify at least five of these words? Bling Bling Audi 1812 Benjamins Buggin’ Crew Five finger discount Jack Juice Wack
Glory Jimmy Hat Of the hook Crash Dog Frontin Ill or illin’ Forc’in Step off Up North
Hip Hop: Rank’in or the Dozens
Yo mama so fat when she has wants someone to shake her hand, she has to give directions! Oh ok…
Yo mama so fat she got to iron her pants on the driveway
Yo mama so stupid that she tried to put M&M's in alphabetical order!
Hip Hop: N…word
Latin word for “Black.” Used during slavery and Jim Crow by
whites to insult African Americans. Adults have not properly taught history so
that is why HIP HOP artists use the word. Hip Hop has tried to embrace the word as
a term of endearment.
Hip Hop: N…word
You know enough about the word to stop those outside of the race from using it!
You use it to refer to people you don’t like, which is the same way white people used it 200 years ago.
Questions: When people outside of
the black race use the word, why do they feel comfortable enough to use it?
Do you think you have the right to use it?
Should you use the word in front of your elders?
... in Special Education
African American
Youth
Other
... in Gifted and Talented
African American
Youth
Other
African Americans in School
African American
Youth
Other
Program Breakdown in Schools
17%
41%
3%
Staff Training
Role Play Exercises Black Intelligence Tests/Teacher Opinion Survey As a staff, discuss and cultivate the strategies of a Master
Teacher Reflect on personal beliefs versus your own practices Books to read: Black Students Middle Class Teachers and
Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys (Vols. I-IV) Characteristics of at Risk Schools Develop a Fourth Grade Intervention Team Discuss solutions
What is a Master Teacher?
Knowledgeable about subject matter Provides congruent lessons plans between pedagogy and
learning styles using written, oral, pictures, artifacts, and fine arts
Bonds, motivates, enhances self-esteem, listens to students and is in close proximity to all students
Décor of classroom is inspirational and culturally reinforcing. High level of self-respect; therefore, students are not
distracting or sleeping. High expectations transcending race, income, gender, and
appearance. Equitable response opportunities for all students.
What is a Master Teacher
Maximizes time on task Assertive, consistent, complimentary and clearly
established rules and consequences. Provides cooperative learning experiences. Attempts to make curriculum relevant, provides practical
experiences, field trips and role models. Students ask more questions than the teacher. Develops critical thinking skills by asking open-ended
questions.
Characteristics of At-Risk Schools Ineffective administrators Low expectations Incongruence between pedagogy and learning styles Irrelevant and inaccurate curriculum Tracking Lack of parental involvement and support Low student self-esteem and motivation Negative peer pressure Lack of African-American male teachers and role models Lack of safety
“Judge the success of your schools based on the success of your African American and Hispanic male students.”- Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
The Mis-education of the Negro
“If you can control a mans thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.”
Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Critical Points
Understand your students CultureLearning styles
Raising expectations for every studentAll students graduate at college entry level
Exposure to positive male role models
Resources
https://www.education.umd.edu/institutesandcenters/MIMAUE/
Hip Hop Street – Curriculum: Author Dr. Juwanza Kunjufu