Recognizing Blind Spots and Resisting the Deficit Paradigm: Reaching and Teaching U.S. Black Male Students

• In Event: 33.069 - Moving Beyond the Bricks: Using Educational Documentary and Dialogue to Address the Challenges of Reaching and Teaching Black Male Students in the United States and England

Abstract

In this age of increased educational accountability, providing high-quality teachers for all students is critical because the single most important factor affecting student achievement is teacher quality (Darling-Hammond, 2004). Indeed, the difference between an effective and ineffective teacher can be a full grade level of achievement in the course of a single school year (Hanushek, 1986; Vandevoort, Amerein-Beardsley, & Berliner, 2004). There is limited research that centers the voices of teachers who discuss their experiences teaching Black male students. More qualitative studies conducted from the perspective of teachers of Black male students can offer insight into the ways in which teachers and schools can support Black male achievement.
This paper presents the findings from a qualitative case study of 22 teachers of African American males who participated in a screening event of the documentary Beyond the Bricks as part of a community engagement project in three cities: New Orleans, New York, and Oakland, CA. Through the lenses of critical race theory and the Matrix Achievement Paradigm typology, this paper highlights three major themes connected to teaching Black male students: 1) Recognizing and removing the Blind Spot, 2) Resisting the normalization of failure, and 3) The need for (practicing) culturally responsive educators. This paper seeks to contribute to the scholarly discussion on the use of film in urban teacher education, and puts forth Beyond the Bricks as a critical, solutions-oriented discussion tool that offers concrete ideas about what Black males need to achieve social and academic success in America’s schools.
Results will contribute to the field of teacher education in the following ways: (1) discussion of how teachers understand the challenges and obstacles to academic success that their Black male students face in international contexts, (2) discussion of how teachers understand their role in promoting the academic success of their Black male charges, and (3) probing the use of educational documentary in urban teacher education with respect to Black male students, particularly noting the potential for documentary film to enhance urban teacher education.

Author

• Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Teachers College, Columbia University