Educating African American Students: And How Are the Children?

289 Pages·2022·41.546 MB·English

by  Gloria Swindler Boutte

i
EDUCATING AFRICAN AMERICAN
STUDENTS
This straightforward and reader-f riendly text provides strategies for P–1 2
educators who are interested in ensuring the cultural and academic excellence of
African American students. It presents a careful balance of published scholarship,
a framework for culturally relevant teaching, and research- based cases of teachers
who excel at teaching Black children. Examples from multi- ethnic teachers across
P– 12 grades and content areas (e.g., ELA, science, mathematics, social studies, arts)
are presented so that others can extrapolate in their respective educational settings.
This book explains Black culture, anti- Black racism, African Diaspora Literacy,
African American Language, and pro- Black and actionable steps that educators
can adopt and implement. Examples of culturally relevant family and community
involvement are provided.
As with the previous edition, readers will appreciate a multitude of resources.
After reading this book, educators will view educating African American students
as exhilarating and rewarding and Black students will flourish.
Gloria Swindler Boutte is an Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
and a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. For
more than three decades, Dr. Boutte’s scholarship and teaching have focused on
equity pedagogies. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for
the Education and Equity of African American Students (CEEAAS).
ii
“The Masai of East Africa begin their regular greeting with the question “Kasserian
Ingera?” which translated means, “And how are the children?” This is exactly the
question Dr. Gloria Swindler Boutte asks because she knows that when the chil-
dren are well, the society is well. This book addresses this question at just the right
time. It provides us with the answers we need to move our children successfully
through their education. A must read!”
Dr. Gloria Ladson- Billings, Professor Emerita and the former
Kellner Family Distinguished Professor at the University
of Wisconsin- Madison, Past President of the American
Educational Research Association (AERA)
“Imaginative, instructive and truly inspiring, Educating African American Students
was ahead of its time and this edition remains essential, incomparable and the most
comprehensive culturally centered pedagogical resource available for educators
who are determined to make sure our children are well. In so doing, those who
take this book to heart will contribute to the well-b eing and humanity of all of us.
Harambe! ‘Let’s pull together’!”
Dr. Joyce E. King, Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for
Urban Teaching, Learning & Leadership, Georgia State
University and Past President, The American
Educational Research Association
“Once again, Boutte poses perhaps the most important question any educator
committed to equity must pose every day: And how are the children? Boutte has
produced a seven- course meal— an intricate and delicate feast— that is sure to sat-
isfy the appetite of educators working toward justice and joy with Black children,
their families, and communities. A tool to help educators build knowledge, beliefs,
attitudes and skills necessary to learn from their Black students while teaching,
this book should be in the library of those committed to cognitive, academic, psy-
chological, behavioral, affective, emotional, and social well-being of young people
living and learning in challenging times.”
H. Richard Milner IV, Author, Start Where You Are, But
Don’t Stay There; President- Elect, The American
Educational Research Association; Cornelius
Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University
iii
EDUCATING AFRICAN
AMERICAN STUDENTS
And How Are the Children?
Second Edition
Gloria Swindler Boutte
iv
Cover image: Aldric Morton, Adjunct Professor of Art, University of South Carolina,
MFA Drawing/Minor in Printmaking, aldricmortonart.com
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Gloria Swindler Boutte
The right of Gloria Swindler Boutte to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2016
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Boutte, Gloria, author.
Title: Educating African American students : and how are
the children? / Gloria Swindler Boutte.
Description: Second edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021042628 (print) | LCCN 2021042629 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367758936 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367758929 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003164456 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: African American students. |
African American students–Social conditions. |
Academic achievement–United States.
Classification: LCC LC2717 .B585 2022 (print) |
LCC LC2717 (ebook) | DDC 371.829/96073–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042628
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042629
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 75893- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 75892- 9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 16445- 6 (ebk)
DOI 10.4324/ 9781003164456
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
Access the Support Material: www.routledge.com/ 9780367758929
v
CONTENTS
Foreword vi
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiv
1 And How Are the Children? Seeing Strengths and Possibilities 1
2 Liberty and Justice for All? Breaking the Code 42
3 Critical Literacy: Providing Mirrors and Windows for
African American Students 79
4 African Diaspora Literacy: Helping African American
Students Become Literate About the African Diaspora 101
5 We Be Lovin’ the Language (African American Language) 142
6 Culturally Relevant Teaching: Views From Classrooms 182
7 Communalism: Thinking About Families and Communities
Inside and Outside of Schools 241
8 Revisioning the Teaching of African American Students 260
Index 267
vi
FOREWORD
Among the myriad scholarly work—a veritable cottage industry— that offers
absolutely necessary “how- to” guides for successfully teaching those “failing
urban kids” (e.g., “at- risk” inner- city African American children) comes this soon-
to- be classic culturally authoritative, empirically informed publication for edu-
cation professionals. It shows us that one of the things that academics can do
better is to make our scholarly work accessible to wider audiences— especially
to P– 12 educators. Educating African American Students: And How Are the Children?
accomplishes much more than this: it is a paradigm-s hifting exception. The book
is intended to mobilize and inspire P– 12 teachers and teacher educators to engage
in informed action— transformative teaching on behalf of African American
students: transformative, liberating pedagogical action. Engaging readers with an
allegory based on the traditional greeting among the Maasai people of Kenya, the
book poses the question, “And how are the children?”—d enoting that when the
children of a society are well, then peace and prosperity will prevail. This deeply
rooted African/ African American cultural ideal can and should inform teacher
preparation and pedagogy.
Presenting numerous social and academic indicators that show the extent to
which Black children are not faring well in schools, for reasons not inherent in them-
selves, their culture, or communities, this book provides opportunities for discus-
sion on decolonizing conceptual frameworks and strategies such as critical literacy,
diaspora literacy, contrastive analysis, which can be transformative for Black chil-
dren, educators, and schools. The strategies and activities provided in this book are
not prescriptive but are certainly powerful alternatives to the still prevalent def-
icit mindset that pervades schools and universities, and the basic tenets are elastic
enough to be applied to different content areas and grade levels.
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Foreword vii
Using compelling arguments and examples of teachers who are successfully
teaching African American students, Gloria Swindler Boutte invites educators to
move beyond conventional approaches which have not been effective with Black
children and encourages them to teach in an emancipatory manner that is liber-
ating for students and teachers alike. These examples include liberating approaches
for classroom management, parent engagement, and critical thinking. Knowing
that the vast majority of P–1 2 teachers want to make a difference in the lives of
the children whom they teach, Dr. Boutte asks teachers to step outside their com-
fort zones on behalf of the children. Acknowledging that many African American
students are in uncomfortable educational and social spaces for most of their
school careers, she lovingly explains that educators who seek to protect the chil-
dren, nurture their cultural well- being, and ensure their success, can certainly be
uncomfortable as they discuss difficult issues.
This book provides enough examples that teachers can immediately extrapo-
late and tailor to their classrooms. This book will also be instructive for teaching
all children in liberating, humanizing ways. Indeed, the goal that most of us have
as educators is to assure that the students in our respective educational spaces are
well. Doing so will contribute to the humanity of all of us.
Joyce E. King, Ph.D.
Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban
Teaching, Learning & Leadership
Georgia State University and Past President,
The American Educational Research Association
viii
ix
PREFACE
This book focuses on preparing teachers to teach African American students. It
is written in straightforward, teacher- friendly language and makes theoretical and
research information accessible to educators in P–1 2 schools and teacher educators.
The larger goal of this book is to activate and energize educators so that they will
view teaching African American students as exhilarating and rewarding rather
than as problematic and laborious. Additionally, the book seeks to help educators
develop proficiency using culturally relevant pedagogy and other effective educa-
tional strategies for teaching African American students. It provides examples from
classrooms of teachers who are effective in teaching African American students.
This book goes beyond recounting the well- known and oft- cited problems
and provides case studies and sample lessons that showcase teachers who are
committed to effectively teaching African American children. It draws from
the experiences of a cadre of teachers who served as “model teachers” for The
Center of Excellence for the Education and Equity of African American Students
(CEEEAAS).1 These teachers are/ were committed2 to the quest for effectively
teaching African American students.
As part of the orientation for the CEEEAAS model teachers, they completed
a course titled, Educating African American Students. The course was typically taught
on site at an urban school and has been offered to more than 200 teachers since
2003. Many aspects of the course have been adapted for this book. In addition to
building on the examples from CEEEAAS teachers’ classes, this book also draws
from my professional expertise as a scholar who has studied and taught about
issues relating to African American students for more than three and a half decades.
This book also draws from the extensive body of academic literature on the topic