The Paradoxes of Motivating and Engaging African American Males at a Single-Gendered School

• In Event: Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Negotiating Identity: Religion, Language, Race, and Place

Abstract

This case study of a single gender school (Excel Academy for Boys) details a series of instructional and socio-cultural paradoxes that emerged as stake holders sought to build a school promoting academic and social excellence among urban African American males. The results evidence four academic and social complexities among African American male learners that may be unique to schools with measurable commitments to excellence. Yet, left unresolved these paradoxes threatened the development of academic and social agency among learners and educators. We conclude with a series of recommendations for resolving the paradoxes inherent in building school cultures of excellence, specific to the needs of urban African American males.

Author

• Valerie Hill-Jackson, Texas A&M University