Education forms an important part in any person’s life. For a long time, the educational spectrum in America had been separated between racial or ethnic lines. Black and white students used to attend different schools. On the same note, students from other minority groups also went to different schools. The situation of racial segregation in public schools received major criticism during the 1954 when Brown v. Board of Education proposed that racial segregation in school does not foster effective academic experiences among students from different races. Moreover, research studies reveal that education in the US still has varied levels of inequalities that follow racial lines. The black Americans have varied experiences in the educational provision and services provided in the country. Therefore, this paper is a research study on the multicultural urban life and the experience of African American students in the education sectors. The paper looks at schools, education, and disability in the provision of education to African American students.
Studies reveal that the schools in America operated along racial times during the slave period (Willson, 2011). The aim to achieve racial inclusion in regional systems was met with resistance from the white people. The need to provide racial inclusive education systems was and still is an important debate in the US. Consequently, several human right activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. staged various protests to ensure that not only did the blacks get the opportunity to go to school but also the leaders provided an academic arena that promotes racial inclusions in class. One important case that voiced the need for a racially inclusive class was the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 (Wells, Fox, & Cordova-Cobo, 2016). The proponent in this case stated that leaders should advocate for the provision of racial equality and socioeconomic integration components in schools to improve performances. Even though many people viewed such assertions with negative attitudes, research studies reveal that racial divides and seclusions had done more harm than good to students from other races (Willson, 2011). Similarly, studies have also proved that the ability to come up with racially diverse classes is an important factor in improving academic performance of African American children.
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Jerome (1992), in his research states that it is important to create a culture of success for African American students in order to improve urban schools. The study reveals that urban schools in most American states have failed to create a structure of success for African American students. The lack of such a structure has negatively influenced performances among African American students. Notably, many black students come from families that are economically challenged. Therefore, the students find it had to access resources that create an environment for success. Hence, it is vital that leaders in such school come up with strategies for creating an environment for effective academic achievements for black students. According to this study, most black students lack the necessary resources that make education effective. For example, some of these students come from families that are financially unstable and hence, live below the poverty lines. This is an indicator that the students are likely to lack important materials such as books and digital resources that help in improving their academic performance; hence, making it impossible for them to achieve better grades in school. The study by Jerome (1992) states that improving urban school requires the leaders to create a multicultural education that teaches both African American and African cultures to the students. Inclusion of studies that touch on these two racial groups has been lacking in many American schools. In fact, black students are forced to learn more about white racial occurrences but not to mention their background in the school curriculums.
There are varied social and educational factors that influence the performances of black students across schools in America. Some of the social factors include racial delineations, poor health, high infant mortality rates, and poverty (Willson, 2011). Consequently, educational factors such as inability ability of young children to make it to pre-K schools affect academic performances and achievements of African American students. Similarly, economic factors also play a role in inhibiting the abilities of black students to complete their educations effectively, like their white peers do. Therefore, it is important for educators to come up with strategies of addressing these factors to ensure effective academic performances among black students in various schools across USA. Social and educational factors make it impossible for African American students, especially boys to finish K-12 grades effectively and transition to college or university education. Research shows that black American students go through various problems that relate to social, economic, cultural, and economic issues, locking them out of school. Moreover, poverty is another factor that plays a role in locking the ability of African American students to progress with education to higher levels. On that note, few students graduate with university or college degrees compared to a large number of students from other ethnic groups in the country. Studies reveal that since most black students come from poor areas in most American states, affluent people and leaders tend to avoid talking to or even visiting these places since they consider poor regions as being dangerous. On the same note, politicians also tend to marginalize such places since they consider them lesser. In the end, the regions experience low or no economic development that can promote areas such as social, health, and educational activities. Such actions lead to poor educational standing for students from such regions. Another issue that plays a role in poor educational experiences for African Americans is child mortality rates and child poverty.
Gay and Howard (2010) state that many European American teachers lack the experience needed in teaching racially diverse students. Therefore, African Americans and their children have to deal with teachers who have no adequate knowledge of their backgrounds. Lack of such knowledge also leads to such teachers providing poor quality education to such students. Similarly, lack of adequate understanding of African American culture and their backgrounds also leads to creation of classes that are not inclusive in nature. On the same note, the educators are also unable to come up with effective means to solving issues that African American students face. In this case, the study calls for the need for teacher education centers to educate European American teachers to be able to teach racially diverse students. This factor will make it possible for such teachers to come up with methods of addressing the diverse needs of students in the classes. The study further reveals that black Americans have and to deal with the la.ck of appropriate education methods that consider their social, spiritual, and economic needs in school settings. Similarly, African American students have also had to deal with educational settings that are not racially inclusive. For example, despite the fact that many leaders across the nation have advocated for the need of school leaders to come up with activities that involves all genders and race, it is still common to find school that create co-curricular activities along racial divides. For example, it is not uncommon to find schools whose teams and other co-curricular activities are divided along racial lines of ethnic group. The study reports that educational leaders should come up with better method to ensure inclusion in their schools with the aim of creating effective learning environment for their students.
African American also faces academic problems for cultural inclusivity in educating students with disabilities. For example, a study by Ford (1992) reports those in-service training activities do not address the factors to consider when dealing with African American students. The author states that the in-service training provided to educators need to consider multicultural education. The author states that such training will help in equipping special education teachers in various classrooms to possess addition competencies required for teaching with African American students with disabilities. The study reports further that students with disabilities have some special needs that relates to their cultural backgrounds. Therefore, it is important for teachers to consider the requirements of African American special education students to be able to come up with the abilities to meet their special education needs. The author conducted a pilot study that examined the thought of educators on the need to involve multicultural perspectives on special education needs. Gay and Howard (2010) found out that many educational leaders advocate for multicultural training to education teachers, especially those who deal with African American students. Ford (1992), projects that the personnel providing multicultural training to teachers with students with disability may lack appropriate knowledge of providing multicultural training; therefore, it is important for trainers to possess skills in multicultural training to enable the teachers to acquire effective skills in teaching in the culturally diverse special education classrooms (Irvine, 2012). The study states that more emphasis should be given to special education teachers dealing with students from African American societies because for a long time, the students have not had special education teachers with the abilities, knowledge, and skills to address cultural issue that affect them during academic sessions. The concern follows the fact that most black American students has have to deal with such issues of lack of multicultural perspectives in their learning environments (Ford, 1992).
Some other problems that black Americans have to deal with is the fact that most of them lack effective or adequate education, therefore, it become hard for the parents to instill the required discipline among their children; hence, leading to high cases of school dropouts (Kofi, 1990). Studies reveal that many parents with little education do not award higher values in educating their children. On the same note, many black American parents lived in the era when schools were left mainly for the whites and the capable black Americans. Therefore, they do not accord higher value in educating their children. On the same note, most of these parents also come from poor backgrounds, which lack information on the benefits of educating their children. Studies further reveal that lack of adequate education from parents also hinders the ability of African-American children to go to better schools and proceed to higher educational institutions. This factor leads to a cycle of poor educated people who live in utter poverty due to lack of appropriate education (Kofi, 1990). On the same note, parents with little education also lack skills of ensuring that their children start school at the right time and see them through to institutions of higher learning such as colleges or universities. Many black students lack adequate moral and ethical support from their parents. Such students get discouraged somewhere along their education activities and hence end up dropping out of school at early ages. Therefore, the study calls upon the teachers and other educational leaders to be the instruments of hope in motivating African American students in their quest to finish their educational activities. A side from poor or lower parental educational levels, other factors such as lower wealth, health issues, and the need to need with justice problems are other factors that affect education among African Americans (Kofi, 1990).
There are high levels of increase in the number of students from minority groups in American states in the recent years. However, the educational experiences of African American have not changed in any way. Studies reveal that these students have to deal with issues such as lack of inclusion from their teachers. The students also lack ethical and moral motivation from their parents; hence, greater percentages of them have to drop out of school at younger ages. Consequently, the fact that the curriculum of several states in America is not racially inclusive is another factor that African American students have to deal with. Many educators especially those of European American origins lack the knowledge and skills of dealing with culturally diverse classrooms. Hence, there is a need for such educators to receive such training to be able to deal with African American students effectively. Other experiences that black Americans have hard to deal with are marginalization by politicians and other economic leaders, which has left most of them to live in poverty. Worst still, many parts of the population, and leaders consider people coming from poor regions as dangerous and hence end up avoiding them. Such delineation leads to economic disparities and has negative effects on education outcomes of the students. The fact that many African American parents are poor or lack education is another experience that negatively influences the ability of black children to start and complete their education effectively. Other problems such as child mortality rates and child poverty also play a role in educating children from this racial group.
References
Ford, B. A. (1992). Multicultural trainng for special educators working with African-American youth. Journal of exceptiuonal children. Vol 4. Issue No 1 , 21-29.
Gay, G., & Howard, T. (2010). Multicultural teacher education for the 21st century. The Teacher Educator. Volume 36, Issue No 1 , 1-16.
Irvine, J. (2012). Complex Relationships Between Multicultural Education and Special Education. Jurnal of Teacher Education. Vol. 63. Issue No.4 , 268-274.
Jerome, H. (1992). Create a Culture of Success for African-American Students. Jurnal of Social Policy, Vol. 22, Issue No 3 , 46-48.
Kofi, L. (1990). Going to School: The African-American Experience. Jpurnal oe Education. Vol.4, Issue No. 2 , 4-15.
Wells, A., Fox, L., & Cordova-Cobo, D. (2016). How Racially Diverse Schools and Classrooms Can Benefit All Students. New York: The Century Foundation.
Willson, W. (2011). Being poor bla ck and American: the impac of political, economic, cultural forces. Journal of Race and asocial Problems. Vol. 1, Issue Number 1 , 1-30.
