Black Caribbean Male Pupils’ Experiences Studying Literature Texts: Privileging Young People’s Voices in Research (Poster 15)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 5:25 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Resisting Marginalization: Narratives of Black Student Persistence and Empowerment Across Educational Spaces

Abstract

Through the use of Critical Race Theory and narrative methodology, Black Caribbean male pupils were encouraged to share their experiences with the literature texts studied in the last two years of compulsory education in England’s schools. Between 1940 and 1970, Black Caribbean boys in England were defined as educationally subnormal. Today, only 16% of all Black Caribbean men have progressed to higher education. This paper explores the presentation of Black males in the literature texts on the curriculum, the teaching of texts written mainly by White men, and whether Black Caribbean male pupils’ relationship with literacy practices and the literature texts studied in school might be the reason they are consistently among the lowest academic performing groups.

Author

• Keisha-Ann Stewart, Edge Hill University