Frank Simpkins's Blog (5)

Many Black youth have barely mastered the norms of their own culture when they are confronted with teaching styles that are incompatible with their accepted learning patterns (Benson)..In her book "Black Children: Their Roots, Culture, and Learning Patterns," Hale Benson suggests that formal education has not worked for many Black youth because it has not employed teaching styles that correspond with student's learning styles..When this incongruity between teaching and learning styles…

If Black non-mainstream children wish to make their way successfully in mainstream society, it is necessary that they learn Standard American English...In a complex  technological, highly impersonal society such as the United States of America, a great deal of information must be shared by means of the printed word..The ability to read well is a prerequisite for navigating one's way through such a society..Without the acquisition of basic reading skills, the…

Like all of us, educators bring their own cultural beliefs to their schools..Data from the National Research Center reveal that in general, Americans evaluate minority groups more negatively than Whites..Respondents were asked to evaluate on a scale of 1-7 characteristics of Whites, Jews, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Southern Whites..These characteristics included intelligence, laziness, and motivation to be self-sufficient..African…

The failure of our public school system to adequately address and substantially reduce the academic achievement gap between Black non-mainstream students and their White counter-parts is deplorable..This is due, to a great degree, to the educational system's inability to effectively bridge the cultural difference which exists between Black non-mainstream and White cultures..When teachers are educated to their students' cultural styles and world views, they are…