UNDERSTANDING LEARNING STYLES OF MALE STUDENTS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE Adrienne Foster, Ph.D. West Los Angeles College Spring 2012 Tech Fair April 26, 2012

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage THE PROBLEM: Only 12% of African American boys are proficient in reading. More than 70% of remedial reading students are male. 80% of African American students in K12 are male. 53% of all African American males drop out of high school. Out of the 9% of students enrolled in LAUSD in , 26% of the suspensions were African American students. 242 (18%) of Fall 2011 first time students at WLAC were AA males

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage FRAMEWORK Some of the issues that form the framework, driving force, and foundations of this approach to understanding African American Male student learning styles will include the following: Is there a correlation between the high percentage of White female instructors and the high percentage of African American males that do not succeed in college? Theoretically we know that students learn differently. Do we make those learning style adjustments in our pedagogy, curriculum, and classrooms? If students are not learning the way we offer instruction, are we changing the way we teach? In our classrooms, students are generally asked to perform only one task at a time. The reality is that 21 st century students are multitaskers. How can you say a student cannot learn when he can listen to his iPod, send text messages and make comments on Facebook at the same time?

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage According to Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, there are five types of instructors/teachers :  Custodians – low expectations of students;  Referral Agents – quick to discipline;  Instructors – teach subjects, not students;  Master Teachers – understand and teach subjects and knows the importance of developing a pedagogy that is congruent with students learning styles;  Coaches – in addition to knowledge of subject and learning styles of students, they also know the student’s culture and respects it.

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage

BLACK MALE CULTURE QUIZ 1. What is culture? 2. What is the cultural deficit model? 3. Are you afraid of tall African American male students? 4. Are you afraid of African American male students with sagging pants? 5. What are the “Dozens”? 6. What are the differences between how African Americans and the White Culture view words?

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage Black Male Culture Quiz (con’t) 7. What are language arts skills needed to play the dozens? 8. How many of you have taken a class in African American history or culture? DISCUSSION

Understanding the Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage IDEAL STUDENT* CHALLENGING STUDENT* Quiet Works Independently Left-brain learner Passive Neat Well organized Likes multiple choice tests Mature White Female Middle class Loud Likes to stand or fidget Short attention span Right brain learner Aggressive Slow reader Disorganized Doesn’t like multiple choice tests African American Male Low income

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage Left Brain StudentRight Brain Student As it is in general (Analytical) Rules Standardization Conformity Memory of specific facts Precision Logical Cognitive Linear Hierarchical Deductive As it could be (Relational) Freedom Variation Creativity Memory for essence Approximate Psychological Affective Patterned Democratic Inductive

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage DISCUSSION Where do most African American male students sit in the class? Where are you? Do you ever walk to the back of the room? Do you allow headsets in your class? Where do we go from here?

Understanding Learning Styles of Males of African American Heritage Is this a gang? Would you be afraid of this group of students on the campus?

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage Is this a gang? Would you be afraid of this group of students on campus?

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage Is this a gang?

Understanding Learning Styles of Male Students of African American Heritage In no way am I an expert on the learning styles of African American male students, I just wanted to raise the issue as a discussion opportunity. What’s next? Thank you.