Teaching Race Explicitly in the Classroom Essay - 4727 Words

Teaching Race Explicitly in the Classroom Many literacy experts point out the fact that at the college level, black students who attend all-black schools tend to be more successful than those attending predominantly white schools. Even though these schools often lack resources and financial stability, they nonetheless produce more high achieving black students than predominantly white schools. For instance, according to Fleming, black students attending Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBUC) have higher graduation rates than those attending predominately white institutions. Also, students who graduate from a HBUC and go on to attend predominantly white graduate schools do just as well as students who have graduated from†¦show more content†¦Now, we were mainly taught by white teachers whose lessons reinforced racist stereotypes. For black children, education was no longer the practice of freedom (2-3). Gloria Ladson-Billings, author of The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children shares the same sentiments: †¦School seemed a lot like home. Everyone there was black†¦The teacher was an attractive, neatly dressed African American woman who told us how much fun we were going to have and how much she expected us to learn. I thought school was a pretty neat place. It was safe and clean, with people who cared about you: again, a lot like home (4). From the perspectives of hooks and Ladson-Billings, segregated schools offered black students a more empowering education because it was free of racist stereotypes and run by black teachers and administrators who cared about the welfare of black students. The one ingredient that black educators and black institutions share in the successful teaching of black students is teaching race explicitly. In other words, black educators share a consciousness of race that is reflected in their personal philosophy, teaching instruction, and curriculum. According to hooks, black teachers were on a mission. She says, Teachers worked with and for us to ensure that we would fulfill our intellectual destiny and by so doing uplift the race (2). In order to successfully teach black students one must careShow MoreRelatedThe Freedom Writers1584 Words   |  7 Pagesthe experiences they had to undergo due to the racial tensions and violence existing in the society. The movie is an enrapturing representation of the way in which a teacher revolutionizes the process of classroom teaching to bring about integration among students divided in terms of colour and race. The movie also emphasizes the importance of social capital and associational or inter-communa l form of civic engagement for harmony and development. 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