One Thousand Words (Teacher Brutality)

Teacher Brutality

One Thousand Words (After Graduation)

After Graduation

Come on Home Mr. Graham

You are Not Their Kind of People

Recently, Lawrence Otis Graham wrote a blog that appeared in the Washington Post titled, "I Taught My Black Kids that their Elite Upbringing Would Protect Them from Discrimination. I Was Wrong." 

At the foundation of Graham's blog are a number of ideas that are both false and debilitating for African people. Dr. Timothy Knight unpacks some of these ideas. 

Translation of Graham's Essay:  I hoped by working hard, achieving individual success, separating myself and my family from the other Negroes, and behaving white, that whites would treat us as they do affluent whites.  

What Graham demonstrated, was the deeply held untruth that the lack of individual goal attainment, skills development, and self-actualization are the root causes of the African American low-status dilemma.  It isn't.  We fear pointing the finger at the culprit: (a) white institutions (from government to individually owned businesses) that are founded and ran by whites, and (b) whites themselves.  Think about it for a moment; protected classes (in the workplace) are not protected from what, they are protected from who. They are protected from whites.  

Few Blacks rise or fall in this country due to their individual persistence, hard work, and talent.  Success in this country is, in my opinion, primarily the by-product of likability, acceptance, and the opportunistic nature of whites who seek to capitalize on Black talent.   Anecdotal and scientific opinion make it clear that whites need no special talents, skills, or abilities to excel in this country.  I think that, while education, goal attainment, and individual self-ascendance improve the quality of our lives in many ways, it is not key to success for blacks in our country - the kind of success that white men frequently enjoy.  The the so-called gateways to success (clean arrest record, high levels of education, socially innocuous, hard working, etc.) are for blacks, in effect, barriers to success: part and parcel of an exclusionary system.  If racism, sexism, and classism didn't exist, all human beings would be valued equally and contributions made by each would be judged on its merit alone.

Whites are required to have no special skill sets or pedigree to access the American dream.  They are shaped for success from the cradle: wired for empowerment and acceptance - plug and play.  As for blacks, particularly blacks of low estate, we spend the first thirty years of our lives outfitting ourselves for acceptance (and wrestling with our sense of identity), only to learn that we are yet incompatible.  In this respect, I think that Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X had it right: the ticket to African American ascendancy is Black nationalism - entrepreneurship, the patronage of Black owned businesses, Black run education for Black people, and an end to seeking acceptance, affirmation, and valuation from white institutions and whites themselves.  Self-love is an attractive trait.  Once we stop expecting whites to love us and do right by us and begin to love ourselves, our social, cultural, and economic capital will increase.  Until then, we will never take our place in the world.

Timothy A. Knight, Ph.D. is a 22-year veteran of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). With IMPD he served 8 years as a homicide detective where he specialized in police action shootings and in-custody death investigations. He also co-founded the O.K. Program of Indiana, a program designed to improve the education and life conditions of adolescent African American males. Dr. Knight's research focuses on the etiology of African American male dysfunction, racial inequity and theological social ethics. He is president of Knight Life Solutions, which is a counseling firm for persons navigating educational, career, and personal challenges. He is also a member of the (ES)² Research Program. To learn more about the (ES)² Research Program visit: www.ES2RP.org.

STEM Education, Love and Hospitality

A Lesson from GLAM

This was the best camp I went to because I feel loved and welcomed here instead of a regular kid who joins a camp. I am glad that I was able to be in this camp because there are no funny acting teachers. Like what I mean is ...everybody is treated the same.

~ African American female STEM camp participant

The quote above is from a participant in my summer STEM camp that I implement in partnership with Guidance, Life-Skills, and Mentoring (GLAM). GLAM is a program for young ladies of African American descent. During this camp, providing a loving and hospitable environment was not optional but mandatory, everyday. A loving and hospitable environment made engaging with mathematics and science concepts easy.  The ladies, even those who did not enjoy mathematics and/or science, were always willing to work.  They were excited about learning!!!

As mathematics and science educators, we sometimes proclaim that we teach mathematics (or science), forgetting that we really teach students. However, we should never forget the students we teach and the power of love and hospitality.  We all know how great it feels to walk in someone’s home for the first time and be treated like we have lived there for years. We understand how great it feels to walk into an establishment and receive wonderful customer service.  We also know how it feels to walk into a home and feel unwelcome or walk into an establishment to only be followed or ignored. These feelings often lead us to say, “I will never come here again”.  So now lets replace the word home and establishment with learning spaces or classrooms.  

How do we expect our kids to learn if they are in environments that are not loving and hospitable? Our kids deciding to “never come here (classroom/learning spaces) again” can have a detrimental impact on their lives. We can integrate engaging, relevant, and challenging learning activities in classrooms but if the environment is not loving and hospitable we cannot expect kids to show up either physically or mentally.

Crystal Hill Morton, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at the Indiana University School of Education in Indianapolis and North Central Region Representative for Benjamin Banneker Association. She is also a member of the (ES)² Research Program, which works to advance STEM curricula that position people of African descent to improve their current social condition. To learn more about the (ES)² Research Program visit: www.ES2RP.org.

Creating Children's Books for African American Learners

(ES)² Researchers Filling a Void

Each year the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison gathers statistics on the number of children's books published by and for people of color. For the past 30 years, the numbers have been exceptionally small. For example in 2013, CCBC received 3,200 children's books. Of these only 93 (about 2.9%) featured African or African American people. An even smaller number, 63 (about 2.1%) were by African or African American authors. 

The above graph shows five years of data from the Cooperative Children's Book Center on the total number of children's book received and reviewed by the center and the number of those books that feature African Americans. A more complete report of this data can be found here. 

Members of the (ES)² Research Program have been working to develop a curriculum unit on Food Origins aimed at meeting the STEM learning needs of African children. As part of this curriculum we are also developing leveled readers. The first series, Kayla's First Chickens, is comprised of four books designed for early readers. The series follows the adventures of Kayla as she (a) visits a farm, (b) raises her own hens, (c) accepts that it is normal to eat chickens, and (d) learns to prepare chicken for food. Both the unit and this series of readers are aimed at helping children to develop better understandings of where our food originates. Kayla's First Chickens - Book One is now available at Book Patch.

In Kayla’s First Chickens - Book One, Kayla expresses interest in learning how to make chicken. In response, Kayla’s father takes her to visit a farm so that she can learn more about chickens. To learn more about this reader visit Book Patch.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Socially Transformative STEM Education (ES)² is a research program aimed at advancing STEM education as a vehicle for improving the social condition of African people. To learn more about the (ES)² Research Program visit: www.ES2RP.org.

27 Fun Science Activities for Black Families

Family Activity #1 - Sunday Morning Jam Session (Making Strawberry Jam)

Science and African People. Black parents often say to me, "I know that science is important, but I was never very good at it. I don't know enough science to help my child." My response to this plea is usually two-fold. First, as parents we are fortunate that being good at science is not a prerequisite for helping our children to do well in science. In fact, our ignorance might be our greatest advantage. Second, most people (especially people of African descent) are not aware of how much science knowledge they actually have.

At its core, science is the study of the natural world. African Americans in particular (and African people in general) have a rich history of studying and mastering the natural world. In this sense, the ancient African Dogon who charted the course of Po Tolo (known to europeans as Sirius B) centuries before europeans even knew it existed, were very much like our grandmothers and great grandmothers whose mastery of vegetables, tubers and herbs kept our families healthy and whole.

My Mistake. I remember one year my own grandmother noticed that a pear tree in a church parking lot had a good yield of pears. She asked the minister of the church if she could pick and keep some of the fruit. He agreed. I suppose if my grandmother had not gotten the fruit, it would have gone to the worms. We spent the better part of a Saturday picking and packing pears. Not long after that, one wall of my grandmother's pantry was lined with pear preserves. We ate on it for over a year. It would take another thirty years for me to appreciate the opportunity that I missed to learn the simple, yet empowering skill of making preserves. What's worse, I had to learn from a book, what I could have learned at the side of my grandmother. Parents, don't allow your children to make my mistake. Making jam is a simple, fun and immediately beneficial activity. It is also a great way to help children excel in science.

The Simple. With practice, a batch of strawberry jam can be made in less than 1 hour. I often do this activity with groups of students and teachers. Whether my group is as small as 5 or as large as 50 I have always been able to complete it in less than 1 hour. It is also very inexpensive. Aside from the cost of a large canner (which runs about $25) the total costs are about $18. You would need 3 pints of strawberries ($6), 7cups of sugar ($3), 1 pack of pectin ($2), and a case of 8oz mason jars ($7).

The Fun. Children don't typically care as much about what they do as they care that they can do it with you. Black children love to spend time with their parents. Making jam may not sound as exciting as going to an amusement park or playing laser tag, but it is the act of spending time together around a meaningful activity that is fun and memorable for our children.

The Beneficial. The obvious benefit you have after doing this activity is the strawberry jam itself. The $18 you spend on materials is less than you would spend on jam had you purchased it from the grocery store. What's more, the mason jars can be reused, s it is not a recurring expense. Among the less obvious benefits you have are (a) the new skill that you have helped your child to acquire, (b) the time spent and memories you have made with your child, and (c) the opportunity you have given your child for improved science learning.

Excelling in Science. One of the challenges children have with science in schools is that it is mostly presented in the abstract. The average child has no clear sense of how most science concepts and ideas relate to anything they would recognize in the real world. Consequently, students spend a lot of time struggling to find a concrete connection to these abstract ideas. They are wondering, "What in the world is this teacher talking about?" For example, a teacher introducing Bernoulli's Principle (which is abstract) often will not give it sufficient context (which is concrete) for children to understand it. Instead they jump right into properties of fluids. So students wonder, "What is a Bernoulli? Is it a person, place, thing, idea, process? Where is it found? What color is it? How big is it?" These are very practical and concrete questions that would help them to make sense of the larger abstract principles.

Students who do well in science tend to get the concrete connections outside of science class, often from their parents and other family members. One of the things that disadvantages Black children is that they do not get the same concrete connections outside of science class, neither do they get it in science class. Experiences like our Sunday Morning Jam Session provide our children with concrete experiences that they can draw from when learning the abstract ideas that are presented in schools.

Now the act a making jam by itself may not be enough to help students bridge the abstract and the concrete. So, during the Sunday Morning Jam Session parents pose a series of questions for children to think about as they make the jam. Now let me give you a word of caution. These are discussion questions, not quiz questions. Don't drill the children with a test on Sunday morning. Remember, it's supposed to be fun. Also, keep in mind that it is ok not to have the answers to these questions. If you don't know an answer and children don't know the answer, it is still an authentic discussion. The goal is to get children thinking about the science behind the jam making process.

Where do strawberries come from? Is pectin a chemical? Why do we boil the jars? What do we do if there's a bug on a strawberry? What does Smucker’s do when there's a bug on a strawberry? What is the difference between preserving and a preservative? These questions form the foundational ideas for a wide range of science topics, including: chemistry, ecology, microbiology, and food systems. It also allows children to see how these science topics relate to many non-science topics such as history, politics, sociology and art. You can download the full description of the Sunday Morning Jam Session from www.es2rp.org.

And remember… Have Fun!

Jomo W. Mutegi, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the Indiana University School of Education in Indianapolis. He is also a member of the (ES)² Research Program, which works to advance STEM curricula that position people of African descent to improve their current social condition. To learn more about the (ES)² Research Program visit: www.ES2RP.org.

The Sick Care Plan and Black America

When reading the newspaper last week, I was reminded of yet another way that standard science curricula fail to meet the needs of Afrikan people. Although Black children take courses in health and biology, these courses do very little to help Afrikan people live healthier lives. Science curricula for Afrikan children should offer substantial instruction in health care and medical treatment.

In the News. Just last week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story about UPMC (the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Apparently the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl, is leading the City of Pittsburgh in a lawsuit against the hospital.

Now before I go any further I should clarify one thing. To refer to UPMC as a "hospital" is a bit misleading. UPMC is a $10 billion enterprise. If a comparison would help, the City of Pittsburgh brought in just under 1/2 of $1 billion in 2011 ($489,317,000). UPMC is also the largest property owner in the county.

What frosts Mr. Ravenstahl is that after taking all this money from the residents of Pittsburgh, UPMC does not give the city an adequate cut. In fact as a tax-exempt nonprofit, UPMC gets a $20 million tax break from the city. Ravenstahl wants UPMC to let the city wet its beak. The city wants 6 years of back payroll taxes and removal of UPMC's tax-exempt status.

The Implications. What does this mean for you and me? Not much. It is a reminder that those who run the "healthcare" system care very little about health. Instead they are stewards of a multi-trillion dollar industry that maintains its revenues by maintaining us in sickness. The unfortunate reality is that as science educators we are largely complicit.

Standard science curricula do very little to teach Afrikan children strategies and techniques for ensuring good health. These curricula do very little to teach Afrikan children about the threats posed by the sick-care system. Given our current condition, Afrikan people should possess the skills necessary to ensure their own good health without reliance on the sick-care system run by whites.

What can we do? Let's start small! Help children to get comfortable making assessments of their own bodies. Teach them to take and record vital signs. The four primary vital signs are: body temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and respiration. These can be taken with minimal equipment and in a relatively short period of time. Additional useful measures to be taken are height and weight.

Teaching children to take these measures can be a fun exercise, but it should be much more. If we are serious about taking control of our health, we would maintain running logs of our vital signs. We would look for correlations between these measures and other life events (e.g. stress level, diet, amount of exercise, etc.). We could also explore with children what we can learn from these measures. What do they tell us about the functioning of our bodies? What is the biological basis for each?

This small step brings Afrikan people a little bit closer to self-determination and true health care. Why? ...because nobody is going to care about our health like we do!

And remember… Have Fun!

Jomo W. Mutegi, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the Indiana University School of Education in Indianapolis. He is also a member of the (ES)² Research Program, which works to advance STEM curricula that position people of African descent to improve their current social condition. To learn more about the (ES)² Research Program visit: www.ES2RP.org.