Post #9: The Power of Black Experience in the Classroom TED Talk

The Power of the Black Experience in the Classroom TED Talk

Link to TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ZSd7H1aV4

This week, I watched a TED talk called The Power of the Black Experience in the Classroom, given by a man named Keith Mayes in August of 2016. Keith was a professor in African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota. He identified his race as African American.

Link to Picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ZSd7H1aV4

Keith started the TED talk by discussing his high school experience in Bronx, New York. He was a poor student in high school, partially because he could not personally identify with the information he had learned in classes and he had a difficult time relating to his teachers. Keith said that most of the information he had learned in school was related to white people, and he felt that there was little acknowledgement of African Americans in his classes. Most of Keith’s high school teachers were white, which created misunderstandings between himself and his teachers, due to issues that primarily African Americans have to face.

In my education classes, we have discussed the importance of teaching information to students that are represented in our classroom. Research has proven, and Mayes pointed out, that students learn more in school when they see or hear about people that are similar to themselves, especially racially and ethnically. If a student learns information about individuals that they have a challenging time relating to, then they are questioning why they are learning this information. It increases the chances of individuals being bored in their classes, and students are less likely to retain information. After this TED talk, I understood why it is important to teach information that is related to all races and ethnicities.

Application of The Power of the Black Experience in the Classroom:

Photo Link: https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/picture-this-reflecting-diversity-in-childrens-book-publishing/

·      Having books in classrooms with nonwhite characters: Providing a variety of books in the classroom, especially present-day stories. Many elementary school classrooms have books with nonwhite characters that are related to historical events, not necessarily giving general information on individuals in that racial group today. If students, whose race is different than the majority of the characters, are only exposed to historical fiction or nonfiction books on them, they may not realize that they are surrounded by individuals who related well with the characters. 

·      Importance of Nonwhite Guest Speakers come into the classroom: Guest speakers are an effective way for children to be exposed to different types of individuals. This can give all students perspective on how life in the United states is for black people. This provides a level of reliability that may not be given between a white teacher and a student who is nonwhite.

Blog Post #8: The Baby Doll Test

Throughout the semester, I have been thinking about doll test. Researchers use this test to ask children of many ethnicities subjective questions about the dolls, including “Which one is the nice doll?,” “Which one is the pretty doll?” and “Which doll looks like you?”. It is interesting that fifteen out of twenty one of the black children, when asked their preference of which doll they wanted to play with, preferred to play with the white doll. Throughout the video, children generally spoke positively of the white doll and negatively of the black doll. Many of these children see the black doll as “bad,” “hurtful,” and ugly.

The children’s reasoning for their opinions on the doll included their perceptions and stereotypes of individuals that they know or they have seen in the media. Young children are some of the most honest individuals in society, and if they have these types of feelings towards people of different races, that must be that adults have these feelings too. Also, they are not born feeling a certain way about an individual due to their skin color, rather these feelings evolve by listening to adult conversations and getting to know individuals of that skin color.

As a future educator, I want my future students to challenge these perceptions and stereotypes. There are always people who fit racial stereotypes accurately, but I want them to learn how to challenge these stereotypes. I want them to realize that humans do not all fit in the same cookie cutter, especially when discussing race, rather each one has parts of their life that are unique to themselves. Children I hope that young children will learn that race shapes parts of individual’s identity, but to not assume that all people of the same race behave in the same ways. I hope that my future students will gain awareness on race and learn how to interact with students who are of a different racial identity than themselves.

Link to The Doll Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZPw-9sJtQ 

Blog Post #7: Thoughts on The American Promise Documentary

In one of my education classes on Friday, we watched a documentary called The American Promise, a documentary that followed two black boys from Kindergarten until Twelfth Grade. From Kindergarten to Eighth Grade, the boys went to a predominantly white private school, called The Dalton School. The parents of these two boys, whose names are Idris and Seun, are sent to this private school because it was one of the highest academically achieving schools, and these parents wanted their sons to be highly educated. They did not want their children going over hurdles related to being economic disadvantaged, because they had to go over those hurdles. Idris and Seun were pushed very hard by their parents so they would become successful individuals.  In fact, Seun was sent to this school because his Mom wanted him to learn how to be comfortable around white people, something that Seun’s mom had not learned as a child.

Throughout Seun’s and Idris’ time at Dalton, their teachers had a challenging time trying to understand them. To be an effective educator, one has to learn how to understand and accept students who have had different personal issues than oneself. At the time, The Dalton School had mostly white students and white teachers. The Dalton school was starting to admit students who were not white, to “diversify their student body.” Most of the teachers at The Dalton School did not understand well how to relate with Seun and Idris. Seun’s and Idris’ parents were constantly getting letters from the school, recommending them for tutoring services. Both sets of parents were insulted, because they found this as an indirect communicated message from the school, assuming that their child needs help in school, because they are black. Contradictory to The Dalton School’s Thoughts, Idris was one of the highest achieving students in his grade. These educators assumed that Seun and Idris were not as good of students as the average student at The Dalton School, because of their skin color.

This documentary has caused me to think about ways for me to be an effective educator for students who are not of the same skin color as myself. One way I can do this is not assuming that two people of the same race are very similar: there are millions of kinds of white people in the United States, and this is the same for other races prevalent in the classroom. Look at each child as an individual, instead of in a collective group, because will encourage me to not make inaccurate assumptions related to my student. If I see the child as an individual, I can see the most effective ways for them to learn in my classroom and find out their interests. I also would be able to see how my student’s racial identity has influenced their personality, instead of identifying my student’s personality through their race.  

Idris and Seun were put into the same metaphorical “box” several times while they were at Dalton, even though Idris did very well in school and Seun had a difficult time in school. Both of them had quite different academic challenges in school; they are not supposed to be put into a metaphorical “box,” because both students needs are not meet when educators do that. In relation to the tutoring services, one of the boys may have found it helpful, while the other boy may of found it to be an unproductive time. Teachers have to take in each individual’s experiences to consider what would be most beneficial for them, instead of considering what would be best for people of the same race and ethnicity.  

Blog Post #6: A Prevalent Stigma in Public School Classrooms

In most United States public schools, there is a preconceived notion that all black boys are troublemakers who do not work hard in academia. Black boys are most likely, out of all racial and gender groups, to qualify for special education, because they are more likely to act out and pay little attention to the teacher. There are many factors that contribute to this, including the child’s home environment, temperament, and past school and child care experiences. Generally, black boys have less school readiness skills than white boys, because they tend to not have the same resources as the typical white boy. 

I have seen this stigma applied by teachers in public school classrooms. Generally, black boys are watched more closely by their teachers than black girls, because they are seen as individuals who are more likely to cause trouble in the classroom. Also, if a child acts in an inappropriate manner, it is more likely to be caught by the teacher if this child is a black boy, than if the child was of a different gender or race.

 One of the reasons for this is because black men tend to be stereotyped in the media as violent and mean. Frequently, there are stories on the news about black men committing a crime and/or murdering another person, especially if it was a white person that was murdered. Most Americans are not involved or going through something because of one of these news stories, rather they are used to grab the attention of news watchers.

It shocks people because these are bad actions, but it is usually considered as not a big deal, because it is considered casual and popular for black men to do. If a white man murdered someone or committed a crime, they would be frowned upon by general society, because they are expected to know better than that. But there is a perception out there that black men do not know better, because black men generally come from households of lower income, where it is not expected to be enforced by parents. However, not all black men fit these stereotypes, that they are trying to attack white individuals, rather the United States has millions of black men who have different values and beliefs. 

This pressing stigma against Black men and boys in the United States public school system is important to be aware of as a future educator, because it affects all of the future students that I will work with. Children, of all backgrounds and races, come into school with preconceived notions about black boys; some of them may have never been around a black boy or man in their life. This stigma tends to not be as strong in younger children, because they usually look over skin color when choosing their friends, but each race represented in a classroom is real to that individual and all of their classmates. Children question race in society throughout their public education, and it is important that I give them a critical and open mindset towards themselves and individuals from different backgrounds.