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Carolyn Beyer

Book Review: Change is Gonna Come, Transforming Literacy Education for African American Students - 10 views

TEMS520 African American Literacy education culture bookreview

started by Carolyn Beyer on 18 Feb 12
  • Carolyn Beyer
    #1 Carolyn Beyer on 18 Feb 12
     
    Edwards, P. A., McMillon, G. T., & Turner, J. D. (2010).Change is gonna come, transforming literacy education for african american students. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Introduction: "Hope, Literacy, and the State of African American Education Today"
    The introduction starts out with narratives from African American students who express the struggles that they faced in education. In their own words, all of the students expressed the feeling, "I hate school," even though they are in elementary school! The intro also addressed the definition of "literacy" and how many African American youth and families are classified as "disadvantaged" or "at-risk" in the category of literacy because they do not share the traditional practices that may be valued in education and in White middle-class families.

    Chapter 1: "The Fight for Access to Literacy"
    In order to move forward, you have to look back and understand the past: This chapter gives a historical account of African American literacy issues, how the government intervenes and the struggles that students and educators currently face, including students being placed in Special Education where they don't belong. Each chapter after this also includes a section that explores the history of African American education and literacy.

    Chapter 2: "The Multiple Meanings of Success: Tensions, Conflicts, and the crises for African American Students"
    Even though English is their first language, African American students still struggle with the concept of "tryin' to make it in two worlds." One of the very real challenges that students face is the idea of trying to be "cool" in the classroom setting. This chapter has stories from students addressing this issue. The chapter also discusses how there are multiple kinds of success.

    Chapter 3: Teaching African American Students: Approaches and Best Practices
    This chapter has one of my favorite sections, a narrative written by David Benjamin McMillon titled, "I'm a Brotha' Who Can Dance, Play the Drums, and Win the Science Fair." It also includes a section for teachers: "Teaching African American Students."

    Chapter 4: Village of Villain: The Role of African American Families
    Education didn't always have parent involvement. This chapter gives a bit of history of those times, and also discusses the roles that American American parent's have towards their children's' education. It also talks about how the American Family is a "changing institution" and is different in many situations, including poverty. There are many cultural issues that involve the core family and the surrounding community that teachers need to know in order to be effective teachers for African American students.

    Chapter 5: The Road to Redemption: Moving from Victims to Victors
    The message in this chapter is that together we are all smarter than just one of us. Teachers need to work together in order to "build and maintain a healthy village". As this is the last chapter in the book, it ends with a call to action to transform our African American students from "victims to victors" by transforming ourselves into effective teachers who have a better understanding of the impact of culture on education. The idea is that we have talked about race and culture issues for a long time, and now is the time to move from talk into action.

    Overall Review:
    This book is one that I think all teachers should actually read. It offers a lot of personal stories from students, and to me those are always the most valuable: most of us want to work in education because we want to make a positive impact on students' lives, and in order to truly do that we need to know what students expect and think. This book also addresses some key differences between teaching white and African American students, but it doesn't simply talk about these differences: it offers ways to handle these differences and tips for teachers. During my undergrad at Oakland University I took a linguistics class that addressed the differences in English dialects in the United States, and it was especially fascinating for me to learn about different African American dialects. These dialects are different than what a middle-class white teacher may be used to, but they still have their own forms of syntax and grammar, and these make up their own versions of literacy that can be used to improve general education of African American students. These are differences in cultures that teachers need to be aware of, appreciate and learn to work with, so that they can relate to their students better.

    You can find the book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Change-Gonna-Come-Transforming-Education/dp/0807750840/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330296180&sr=8-1
  • Anthony Stewart
    #2 Anthony Stewart on 23 Feb 12
     
    This sounds like an interesting read. I have a couple of journal articles you might like. I have always been interested in this subject, because part of my own journey toward literacy has been based on growing my language skills through an interest in the poems and songs of African American culture. Rap music, lyric writing, and eventually poetry helped me to build my vocabulary and writing abilities. Looking back on my education, this same music helped me to form a positive self-image when my social environment made me feel like an outcast. My father's literacy skills limited my own, and verbal expression dominated our household. As a result I think that I can relate to many of these issues that African American students face.

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