{"id":131425,"date":"2017-09-17T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-09-17T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truthforteachers.com\/?post_type=podcasts&p=131425"},"modified":"2024-08-12T02:43:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T07:43:01","slug":"principal-kafele","status":"publish","type":"podcasts","link":"https:\/\/truthforteachers.com\/truth-for-teachers-podcast\/principal-kafele\/","title":{"rendered":"3 beliefs that damage teacher relationships with black male students (and how to connect instead)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week on the Truth for Teachers<\/a> podcast: I’m talking to Principal Kafele about 3 commonly-held beliefs that can damage teacher relationships with black male students.<\/em><\/p>\n

The majority of my podcast episodes are on topics that will help improve your teaching practices with ALL of your students, but in some cases, I like to talk about specific student populations. It\u2019s okay to focus for ONE episode on meeting the needs of English Language Learners or students with special needs. And it\u2019s okay to focus for an episode on students of color.<\/p>\n

In this case, I chose to focus even more specifically on that: to talk about black males in particular for a couple of reasons. One is that my guest today is a black male himself, speaks from that perspective, and is a nationally-renowned authority on his work with black male students.<\/p>\n

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Principal Kafele<\/a> has been a middle and high school principal and led transformation of four different urban New Jersey schools, including Newark Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to being recognized three times by U.S. News and World Report magazine as one of America\u2019s best high schools. He\u2019s written a number of books including the best sellers Closing the Attitude Gap<\/a> and Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School & in Life<\/a>.<\/i> Principal Kafele has a special heart and passion for helping black boys and young black men excel, and I didn\u2019t want to water the subject matter down by trying to go broad, though I\u2019m certainly planning to focus on other subsets of students in future episodes.<\/p>\n

Another reason that I want to talk about black male students is because they’re facing unique challenges. There\u2019s a tremendous amount of research showing that many black males in the United States are underserved. They\u2019re four times more likely to be expelled than white boys, and the graduation gap is widening, with only around 59% of black males graduating from high school, compared to 65% of Latino males and 80% of white males. So we do a disservice to our students if we pretend that the outcomes that our students experience from our school system are all the same regardless of race. Our black male students can do better and we can do better by them.<\/p>\n

The question of HOW to do better is what we\u2019re going to tackle today with Principal Kafele.<\/strong> I know that every person listening to this podcast who has black male students in their classroom wants to see those students succeed and we know that the key to helping students succeed is connecting with them, understanding them, and building relationships with them so that we can meet their needs better.<\/p>\n

And sometimes that can be challenging because the majority (more than 80%) of teachers are white, but the majority of kids in American classrooms (more than 50%) are students of color. <\/strong>Because we don’t share the same cultural background as our students, we are likely to have beliefs and misconceptions about working with them that can hold us back.<\/p>\n

As you listen (or read the condensed transcript below), I want you to think about the heart of what Principal Kafele is trying to communicate, which is that we need to be willing to self-reflect as educators and have difficult conversations sometimes about sensitive topics.<\/strong> It takes courage to be willing to self-examine and quite honestly, I am proud of you for showing up to this conversation today and being willing to not only listen, but to think about what you\u2019ll hear and the implications for your teaching practice.<\/p>\n

Being a culturally-responsive teacher is a journey we are all working toward. As white educators, we all, myself included, have implicit bias–biases we aren’t aware of, that affect how we think and perceive and treat our black students.<\/strong> They are blind spots. We don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know. And the way to learn is by listening, taking part in the conversations, educating ourselves. And more than anything, the way to learn is being willing to self-examine and not try to deflect or wriggle out of conversations that are uncomfortable. Growth comes from discomfort.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s okay to hear yourself in Principal Kafele’s words and realize you might not have done all you could do to support black male students. There is no shame in that unless you refuse to learn and grow. When you know better, you do better. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"black<\/p>\n

Want to listen instead of read?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Listen to episode 103 below,
\n<\/strong>or subscribe in your podcast app.<\/strong><\/h3>\n