Matters of the Heart: Understanding Racial Interpretations & Cultural Perceptions in the Classroom for African American Students

By Monica L. Marks Ph.D.

This book is a qualitative study on the influence of race and culture in the instructional planning within classrooms in a suburban school district. The study was designed using a focus group of teachers in grades four through eight who demonstrated successful growth for African American students using growth measures on state assessments. The focus group members met to answer predetermined research questions that tied to exploring the role of race and culture in the classroom. The group met regularly over a period of time and conducted discussions centered around activities to help generate reflective thinking on instructional pedagogy. This book provides readers with insight into the successful practices used when working to develop meaningful relationships using culturally responsive teaching practices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504934299

Monica L. Marks Ph.D.

Born Monica Lynn Marks on November 21, 1970, into modest yet comfortable beginnings, Dr. Marks was unsuspecting of the gifts placed in her path. Acquiring a BS in management from the Central State University, Dr. Marks continued a career with the federal government. As she advanced within her profession and her education—completing programs at Central Michigan, Wright State University, and the University of Dayton—Dr. Marks was compelled to give back through the espouses of education. With over fifteen years of service in public education from the classroom to administration and with a lifetime experience of being a parent of one daughter and one son, Dr. Marks has plenty of passion and motivation for the education of African American children as she matriculates our nation. Recognizing the commitment to excellence needed in the growth and the achievement of all students, Dr. Marks submitted and published her dissertation, “Matters of the Heart: Understanding Racial Interpretations & Cultural Perceptions in the Classroom for African American Students.” After successfully defending her dissertation, Dr. Marks returned to her school district, motivated to be a transformational Educator. Amidst numerous professional opportunities and speaking engagements, the young lady, once known simply as Monica, remains humble as she pursues her calling to bridge the gap between theory and practice. —Dr. Monica L. Marks

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© 2015 Monica L. Marks Ph.D. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/18/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3430-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3429-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015913999

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction

Description of Research Topic

Importance of the Research

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Racial Interpretations – Beliefs About A Racial Group

Cultural Perceptions – Behaviors Based on Beliefs

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Chapter 3: Research Design & Methodology

Theoretical and Methodological Lens

Research Design

Location of the study

Process, procedure and sample

Chapter 4: Research Findings

Focus Group Members

Focus Group Research Themes

Exploring Values and Beliefs about Practices

Teacher beliefs and values

Classroom strategies and practices

Incorporating student experiences

Navigating Experiences with Race

Cultural experiences

African American students in our classroom

Resolving Racial and Cultural Differences

Race and culture with instructional planning

Culturally Responsive Teaching

What is culturally responsive teaching and what does it look like?

Chapter 5: Discussion

Research Focus Questions: Exploring Values and Beliefs About Practices

Research Focus Questions: Navigating Experiences

Research Focus Questions: Resolving Differences

Research Focus Questions: Culturally Responsive Teaching

Other Outcomes: Colorblindness and Reflective Practices

Limitations and Future Implications of the Study

FOREWORD

By Dr. Rashida Savage & Dr. Shelia Burton

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Courage faces fear and thereby masters it: cowardice represses fear and is thereby mastered by it. We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

What matters most in education? What’s at the heart of a successful educational experience for minority students navigating the landscape of suburban schooling? When educators are faced with these questions, how do they create conditions and structures, craft strategies and lessons, implore content and curricula that best serve the minority students they teach and build pathways for their educational success. The weight of their decisions in response to these questions in lesson planning and delivery should not be taken lightly. It matters. Restricting educational practices to educator’s lenses without regard to the culture and values of marginalized students is often at the heart of what does or does not happen educationally to minority students. Giving voice to the cultural values of these students can alter their common trajectory curving it upward, producing outcomes many believe to be improbable. Dr. Monica Marks recognizes the significance of educational decisions shaped and informed by minority students’ culture and values and further has the courage to force educators to examine how our mental models and lack of understanding of cultural proficiency, may negatively impact students as well as who we are and how we function as a society in Matters of the Heart.

Born and raised in Ohio, a lifelong learner, who directly or indirectly continues to experience many of the challenges she writes about, Monica uses the multifaceted contexts of her corporate America and public education experiences to pen an informative narrative. Using research to validate the significance of this work, readers will be astonished by the book’s depth and complexity, as Monica integrates insights regarding instructional delivery, and further provides a road map of how meaningful relationships with students can evolve by incorporating culturally responsive teaching practices. The knowledge shared in the book can serve as a backdrop to conversations on what minority students in predominantly white suburban schools need to succeed in their educational environment and compete in a global economy.

This book is replete with a case study that reveals the voices of teachers, who were systematically posed with challenging questions, in an effort to create practical applications to an increasingly perplexing problem. Monica effectively exposes the one size fits all, approach to education, while exploring the duality between teachers and students and how racial interpretations and cultural perceptions may impact academic performance. Raising two children, who both had varying academic experiences, further provided Monica with the perspective of how children are challenged to assimilate into what European American society may consider the norm, versus suffering in silence, and the long term implications both paths may have on minority students.

Matters of the Heart inspires educators to have the courage to reflect on their own experiences and teaching practices, awakens the need for educators to consider the lenses of all the students they teach and stirs the desire to ensure all students are academically engagement. The author’s validation of the significance of racial and cultural dialogue between all stakeholders should force educators to ponder the devastating impact of praxis absent of such discourse. Because many educators’ implicitly, without a second thought, express their values in the way they teach, the conversational fibers outlined in this book can help to transform the racial fabric in schools impeding every child from achieving a democratic society. Working collaboratively to attain educational success for all children, including minority students in predominant white school, is a matter of the heart.

DEDICATION

I dedicate my work to my family and friends for their love and support through this process. I appreciate and value their trust and encouragement to reach beyond what I think I know and to always be open to new and different ways of looking at things. I would like to give a very special thank you and show of love to my mother, Shirley Garmon for her whispers and prayers to always go after things in life that bring fulfillment. Thank you to my children (Morgynne Marks and Jamard Richardson, Jr.) who have never doubted my ability and willingness to achieve my professional and educational goals. Thank you to Jamard Richardson, Sr. for his patience and backing throughout my entire educational journey. Thank you to my special and dear friend, Beth Wyandt for her gentle, yet firm push to believe in myself and to continually work hard to complete and achieve my professional goals.

To the DIVAs – Dr. Shelia Burton and Dr. Rashida Savage-Gentry, for their side by side journey with me through this adventure and life in general. We are DESTINED by faith, INSPIRED by the struggle, VALUEABLE beyond measure, and an ASSET to anything we are a part of together! DIVAs!

I send a very special thank you to Dr. Michael Dantley for his leadership, wisdom and insight and Dr. Denise Taliaferro Baszile for her passion, knowledge and guidance through the doctoral process – I could not have completed this journey without them both!

I also dedicate this work to the African American children whose voices need to be heard and their educational needs better met. I share in the work of those many researchers who have come before me and will come after me to contribute to the advancement of the social justice agenda.

Forever committed ~ JColmaanMoor

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the support of Dr. Sarah Zatik for trusting me to conduct this study while fulfilling my professional responsibilities and for her advice and wisdom through the process. I appreciate the work of the participants in this study and their dedication to the experience (G. Carter, D. Frantz, C. Stallard, E. Russell, K. Cunningham, S. Moore, M. Schreiber, K. Henderson, and N. Mengerink). Your valuable input is what made this study rich and full of content to share.

I would also like to acknowledge the love and support received by Amy Anyanwu, Rita Tilton and Maureen McCormick and for their continued discussions and sharing of experiences to help me stay encouraged and focused on the greater good of this work. Thank you to Kelly Lucas for her attention to detail and her tenacious spirit through the revision process with me. I also appreciate the patience, prayers, and efforts of Peggy Augusten, Paula Eifert, and Martha Orndorff – who lived with me (figuratively) through this process. They were privy to the moans, groans and happy cries. Thank you to my sister and brother, Michelle Marks and Marvin Marks, Jr. - who have always been my sideline cheerleaders in every journey in my life.

I appreciate and have enjoyed working with a supportive committee. Their guidance has given me an immeasurable level of respect for them and the work they do daily – Dr. Lisa Weems, Dr. Paula Saine, and Dr. Karen Beard, under the leadership of Dr. Denise Taliaferro Baszile.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The minority population in suburban school districts went from 19% in 1990 to 27% in 2000, and as high as 43% in suburban areas in large cities such as Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York (Frey, 2001). The rapid growth in numbers may have made it increasingly difficult for suburban districts to be ready to meet the academic and social engagement of minorities (Evans, 2007). African American students in suburban school districts face academic and social challenges different from their European American peers. Suburban schools that primarily educate European American students fail to address the academic and social needs of African American students because of racial interpretations as well as cultural perceptions (Evans, 2007). An additional cause is the lack of staff preparation in dealing with students of color cultural backgrounds. Understanding racial identity as well as the role of culture in the classroom setting can help educators of African American students better address academic performance. This can ultimately lead to closing the achievement gap in student learning for people of color.

Cultural perceptions of African American students tend to be negative because of the resistance to knowledge and lack of experiences of staff within a suburban setting regarding African American culture. The absences of culturally responsive staff members affect the decisions and actions taken by educators in the school environment, which impacts the academic success of African American students (Evans, 2007). This lack of a culturally responsive staff is often a result of negative racial interpretations reinforcing biases about African American student behaviors. As the researcher, I believe educators of all students have a responsibility to practice culturally responsive pedagogical practices that embrace, educate, and promote differences among and between students.

Description of Research Topic

African Americans have historically been subjected to European American ideology that argued African Americans were genetically inferior causing the perceived learning ability and expectations of African American students to be low (Smedley, 2007). Separate and unequal educational practices have also had a negative impact on the education of African Americans in the United States. African American students and European American students (who typically populate suburban school districts) have very different cultural backgrounds and applying the same pedagogical methods will only continue to increase the educational disparities (Ladson-Billings, 2000).

The more we learn about African American students and how to increase their learning, the better we will be able to address their needs through curricular and pedagogical practices (Ladson-Billings, 2000). Evans (2007) conducted research about a suburban school’s response to the changing demographics. The outcome of the study emphasized the impact of the overall belief system of the school and how its racial biases directly impacted how the staff responded to meeting the academic and social needs of its African American students. What the staff and school believed about their African American students was highly based on limited cultural experience with African American students and a resistance to be open to understanding information communicated by these students. The student achievement gap is not decreasing as rapidly between European American students and African American students because of the failure to consider racial interpretations and cultural perceptions in suburban schools. The racial interpretations represent the belief system about African Americans and the cultural perceptions represent how these racial interpretations/beliefs are applied to observations made of the African American student behaviors.

Racial interpretations and cultural perceptions are important concepts to understand for this study and are views to consider when designing instruction that engages all student learners. Racial interpretations are assumptions or ideas based upon prior knowledge of our experiences with a racial group. These assumptions may be formed from actual encounters or from media interpretations and may be used by educators when making instructional decisions. When planning instruction in the classroom, racial interpretations and cultural perceptions must be recognized as an essential factor of culturally responsive teaching.

Racial interpretations are essentially the belief system teachers form about a student based on their knowledge about a student’s racial background. For example, if a teacher has a classroom with primary aged-African American students, she may choose a picture book to read that is about African American children around the age of her students, doing an activity that the teacher knows the students can relate to because of their racial identity. So the teacher considers the age and racial knowledge of her students when making an instructional decision. The key is that these racial interpretations are based on accurate knowledge and not biases or assumptions about the racial identity of students.

Cultural perceptions are applying the racial interpretations to the style, language, behaviors, or actions of a group of people. These meanings - cultural perceptions - are shaped based on an individual’s exposure to and understanding of a racial group - racial interpretations. For example, a teacher may have a classroom primarily of African American teenage students from an urban setting who display an urban style to their language and actions, so when teaching a math lesson he may choose to use examples referencing items or locations from an urban setting to which African American students can connect. So the teacher considers both the age, cultural, and racial experiences of his students when teaching.

Figure 1: The Relationship of Racial Interpretations and Cultural Perceptions in the Classroom

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The relationship between racial interpretations and cultural perceptions is as important as academics to consider when making instructional decisions to impact all students.

This study involved looking at how teachers consider the race and cultural background of their students when they are teaching. Teachers often look at gender, interests, and personal experiences of their students when planning for instruction. Why not consider the lens of race and culture? The role of race and culture is often overlooked and not talked about but the gap in learning clearly shows us there is a difference. This study demonstrates why having culturally responsive pedagogical practices among teachers in a suburban school district working to achieve academic success and curricular engagement of African American students is important. Culturally responsive teaching embraces a way of thinking and being that enables educators to plan for and respond positively to individuals and situations that arise in an environment of diverse learners (Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell, 2003). Culturally responsive teaching is also the ability to find commonalities with diverse groups of people as well as mediate and resolve conflict between individuals while maintaining the integrity of the differences within and between the group members. The research question for this study was: How do suburban schools’ teachers take into consideration African American students’ race and cultural background when they teach?

Importance of the Research

I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be