Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males (Techner)

Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males
By: H. Techner
February 6, 2007

Resource: Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Male, by Alfred W. Tatum

Alfred Tatum, who is a Literacy Education professor at Northern Illinois University, wrote this book to help teachers close the achievement gap in reading and literacy, specifically in black males. Tatum started his career as a teacher in South Side Chicago where he saw how large the achievement gap was in reading for black males and how these males’ life struggles contributed to their problems in education and literacy.
In inner city schools (such as DCPS) the students often have hard ships that extend beyond the classroom. The male students in these schools are usually from low socio-economic backgrounds, live in poor neighborhoods, and many are involved in territory gangs. The strategies Tatum has come up with to help black males become more literate stems from understanding the culture they grow up in. In regards to education an eighteen year old named Craig said he “had thought about his future, something most of the young men in this neighborhood rejected- often for good reason- as a waste of time” (pg. 14). The reason so many of Tatum’s students did not care about school or learning how to read was because it did not seem important for survival. Many of the boys’ interviewed said they were probably going to die or go to jail before they were eighteen so why bother learning anything?
Tatum says in order to effectively teach literacy to black students, we as teachers need to acknowledge their culture and experiences and use them as motivation and interest. The most important thing black adolescents need to experience “flow” of learning is control. The student needs to feel in control of his learning, and if he feels like he has no power then he will probably reject the education. To give black males the sense of control in literacy it is suggested that teachers choose male-oriented texts that have characters that the males will become emotional engaged with, such as stories that have characters they can relate to. In addition, the text should expose boys’ to nonfiction they can learn something new from, by drawing on their own experiences, this way the boys will feel like their experiences are legitimized.
The literacy gap in black males will not close over night, and thus the amount of challenge in each assignment needs to be appropriate for where the student is and where he needs to be in the next step in closing the gap. Tatum says that males need to see exactly what is expected of them (clear goals), and also need feedback immediately; therefore, don’t make the student feel like the goals are unclear or that the work they do is ignored. Since many black males are focused on the present, they will reject literacy if it is not related to their immediate interests and needs. Tatum says we should have our students learn about real events and situations because that is what young boys want, and will create a passionate learning environment. At the secondary level teachers need to make sure their lessons address the cultural, emotional, and social needs of black males, as well as the academic needs.