“ In fact, most recalled parents and other family members conveying to them at a young age powerful messages about the value of schooling. ”(Harper,2014, P15)
The research touches on a few questions I am interested in: why there are certain stereotypes on Black and Latino students. Black/Latino students are so easily be viewed as actively involved in gang activities, having poor academic performance while being good at sports. Their parents are considered to be less educated and have no caring on their kids’ education. The research completes the picture of Black and Latino students and proves that some of our impression on them are not right. I was surprised that actually those parents value education, they use their economic situation to remind their kids of the importance of education and encourage them to lift up themselves from poverty through schooling. In addition, I am shocked to realize that students, even low functioning groups care about education and study. They want to be better students and reluctance to put hard work to make them better students leads to their poor academic performance.
“ Most did not perceive themselves as smarter or better than their peers – they just had stricter parents and made different choices, had clearer goals, and were more firmly committed to actualizing those goals.” (p 19)
I love how the article rephrase those questions, like why Black students are so easily lured into gang activities to more positive ones, like how students get themselves from danger. Also, instead of asking why some students are performing so poorly, it asks why some students could be more successful. Sometimes, we need to change the mindset and view questions from opposite views. Getting to know what makes some students successful (“the secret of success” ) is much more beneficial and helpful to protect young kids from getting into the trouble and achieve success. Also it makes us more subjective when facing those questions.
As the quotation said, the secret of success is revealed. The reason why some students are more successful academically is that they know how to make good choices and have the commit to work towards their goals. In the previous paragraphs, the article mentions that all the students want to be better students, but some are reluctant to put hard work to make that come true. So as educators, I am thinking besides teaching students content, we should work on developing their skills on setting goals and have the stamina to get the work done no matter how hard it is.
Hi Junfeng,
I whole-heartedly agree with your concluding thoughts: we as educators need to commit to teaching students the personal skills they need to succeed. How can we expect them to process and absorb the content if they have not been taught the strategies to do so? How can we expect them to complete homework and prepare for assessments if they have not developed the organizational skills and motivation? I think students need to learn life and behavioral skills just as much as they do academic content, and for certain students, school may be the only place where they learn these skills in a positive way.
At the same time, as you strongly stated, we cannot make assumptions as to what values are being reinforced at home based on racial stereotypes. The reality, however, is that even educators fall prey to these stereotypes, even subconsciously, which can be institutionally damaging to a student who feels that a teacher is dealing with him or her based on a stereotyped belief.
To combat this, I really appreciated your emphasis on positive questioning: rather than ask why a student is failing, ask in what areas he, as an individual, is successful and what makes that so. I’d like to think that this positive, personal energy will transfer to the student as well and break down any stereotypes that may have been at play.