Reconsidering Black Resilience: A Critical Examination of Urban Middle School Learning Environments Among Resilient African American Learners

• In Event: Do You Really Care? Learning Environments That Shape Student Outcomes

Abstract

This study examines a sample of African American students attending urban middle schools in a Southern city, and considers their perceptions of learning environments within mathematics classrooms. The present research concluded that variables like Academic Self-Concept, Mathematics Anxiety, Satisfaction, Involvement, and Academic Aspiration varied significantly among higher and lower performing students. This analysis confirms that students’ perceptions of their learning environments may contribute to their development of resilience in mathematic classrooms. We conclude by reconceptualizing resilience as a cultural trait common among African American learners that should not be conceptualized dichotomously nor hierarchically in an effort to move resilience theory away from racial ideologies.

Authors

• Marlon C. James, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Hersh C. Waxman, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Hector H. Rivera, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Diana Wandix-White, Texas A&M University-San Antonio

• Willie C.J. Harmon, Jr., Texas A&M University - College Station