“Reality Pedagogy” to Engage Black Male Students

From the Marshall Memo #425

“To address the low achievement of black males,” says Teachers College Columbia professor Christopher Emdin in this Kappan article, “schools must be willing to accept that there are ways of looking at the world, modes of communication, and approaches to teaching and learning that are unique to black males. At the same time, educators must also acknowledge that these unique ways of being are just as complex as those of other students. The tie that binds all students is the desire to be academically successful.” 

It’s not racist to point out differences in black males, says Emdin. These differences aren’t genetic or developmental, but are “social and psychological baggage” that these young people bring to the classroom. “A wide variety of black male images in media – music, movies, and television programs – take characteristics of black culture, tie them to anti-school identities, violence, and misogyny, and use them as forms of entertainment. This means the world is inundated with scenarios that leave a false perception of black males that these youths must deal with when they enter classrooms… [B]lack males are being socially typecast and face a constant internal dilemma of fitting into expectations embodying these false characteristics or finding spaces where they can engage in practices that are counter to the perceptions.” 

The struggle to figure out who they should be in the classroom prevents many black male students from engaging in learning and often manifests itself in rudeness and disruption – this from boys who, says Emdin, are quiet and attentive in church or community events “where their true selves are welcome.” The “cool pose” of disinterest in academics may be at war with their true selves, but many students are trapped by perceptions, especially if they have played a certain classroom role for years. 

Emdin has developed the “five Cs of reality pedagogy” – tools for teaching black males that he says have produced positive results:

• Cogenerative dialogues – Voluntary, academically mixed groups of 4-6 black male students talk with their teacher (before or after school or during lunch) about how the teacher can better meet their specific academic needs – in a climate that allows them to “present their true selves to the teacher.” Ground rules ensure that all participants have an equal chance to speak, that all discourse is respectful of other participants, and that an action plan is generated.

• Co-teaching – The teacher preps a black male student to teach a class, observes him teaching it, asks questions as a “student” during instruction, debriefs afterward, and uses techniques from the student’s lesson in his or her own classes. 

• Cosmopolitanism – By this, Emdin means getting all students to take on roles that make them responsible for each other and help the class run smoothly. Making black male students part of this process and shifting roles periodically during the year helps them become an integral part of the classroom culture.

• Context – Teachers integrate artifacts from black male culture into their lessons – for example, creating rap songs about academic content, using pictures from local parks to explain science concepts, and using pop culture magazines to enhance English lessons. “There must be a willingness to visit their neighborhoods, watch the television programs that they watch, and listen to the music that they like,” says Emdin. 

• Content – This involves teachers encouraging black male students to pose questions about academic content and being willing to say, “I don’t know” and “That’s a good question.” “Acknowledging that education isn’t about a completed body of knowledge and that the teacher does not have all the answers expands student perceptions about the nature of learning,” says Emdin. “When black males understand that they aren’t merely being expected to memorize material from an accepted body of information, they become more willing to behave differently in this new classroom environment.” 

“Yes, Black Males Are Different, but Different Is Not Deficient” by Christopher Emdin in Phi Delta Kappan, February 2012 (Vol. 93, #5, p. 13-16),

http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/93/5/13.full; Emdin can be reached at ce21650@columbia.edu