Beyond After-School Activities: Toward a Theory of Pertinent Endeavors for Black Males

• In Event: Counternarratives: Voices From New Scholars of Color

Abstract

Purpose
In this paper I will propose a theory called “pertinent endeavors.” Pertinent endeavors provide students, especially those with non-dominant cultural capital, an opportunity to have a more expansive and complex vision for present and future life-outcomes. While students need not lose their non-dominant cultural capital (Carter, 2003, 2005; Delpit, 1995) or rather the manners of speech, gestures and preferences for certain clothing or musical styles valued in their own localized communities, pertinent endeavors can encourage students to dismantle previously held attitudes and beliefs about the possibilities that exist for their lives outside of restrictive neighborhood contexts. I will argue that four fluid spheres trace the development of an individual student creating an identity shaped by a pertinent endeavor – Exposure, Experience, Experiment, and Expression. Through exploration of this theory, I hope to engage scholars in a dialogue about the hollowness in stimulating an academic identity for students focused solely on the test-centered skill-building found in afterschool tutoring. This is a perspective which has dominated the discourse of what after school activities consist of in an NCLB environment (Farkas & Durham, 2007).
Theoretical Framework
Scholars have written extensively about the benefits that come with participation in extracurricular activities, especially at the high school level (Camp, 1990; McNeal, 1995; 1998). However, Heath (2001) notes that little is known about the actual learning that happens in these spaces. And far less is known about the benefits or the learning for African American males (Fashola, 2003; Woodland, 2008).
Conceptually, I draw from Heath (2001), who posits the importance of individuals developing a well-rounded identity for achievement. In addition, I situate identity formation (Nakkula, 2008), with the importance of broadening students’ perspectives through cultural capital building activities (Bourdieu, 1977a; 1977b; 1986; Carter (2003).


Pertinent Endeavor Framework
Methodology & Data
[See Figure 1 above]
Data for this paper was drawn from an ethnographic study, including interviews, conducted in an urban Mid-Atlantic charter high school. The five African American males interviewed for this study participated in school and community-based pertinent endeavors which will be expanded upon in the final paper.
Tentative Results and Scholarly Significance
As noted in Figure 1, ethnographic observation and interviews permit four distinct, yet fluid spheres evolve as ideal pertinent endeavors to shape the individual identity of a student. In the final paper these four concepts will be further developed.
Educational stakeholders at all levels should consider more closely the benefits that come from meaningful student engagement in afterschool, out-of-school, and out-of-classroom activities. Overall, my goal is to encourage scholars and school leaders to approach differently the more “pertinent,” supplemental learning opportunities that stimulate school engagement.

Author

• Roderick LaMar Carey, University of Maryland - College Park