Standing Outside on the Inside is a report of a six-year longitudinal
study conducted by Welch and Hodges. The book was introduced to me
by a friend who thought it may be a good introduction to African American
adolescent education as I was starting a new position in the United
States. I read the book with great interest and found it to be informative,
critical, and insightful.
Standing Outside on the Inside consists of an introduction
and five chapters. The introductory section of the book is a presentation
of research problems, the conceptual framework, research questions,
and the methods applied to conduct the study as well as an overview
of the five chapters. Chapter 1 is a critical discussion of many reforms
designed to focus on academic preparation to promote equality of educational
opportunity. It challenges the prevailing notion of academic achievement
and achievement motivation with regard to African American students.
It calls for a re-evaluation of such a notion in light of the school
climate and students' career aspirations. Chapters 2 through 5 report
and discuss several case studies. Specifically, Chapter 2 addresses
the notion of scholarship as a basis for scholar ethos. According
to the authors, scholar ethos refers to "an attitude of total
commitment to learning, and considers its relationship to the preparation
of African American students aspiring to college" (p. 14). Chapter
3 presents one of several case studies on scholar ethos. It discusses
a phenomenon that the authors call "The Lana Turner Syndrome"
that emerged from their data analyses. Chapter 4 addresses the issue
of underachievement through an examination of classroom climate combined
with the issue of "intellectual inferiority". It focuses
on discussions of teacher expectation, classroom management, and instructional
delivery. Chapter 5 presents an historical overview of impediments
to equal access and their impact on identity construction among African
American students and their academic achievement. The chapter also
offers insights into and calls for alternative discourse and reconstruction
of knowledge on school reform in light of findings about students'
perceptions towards Project EXCEL.
The rationale for conducting these studies was based on the authors'
concern that African American students continue to fall behind their
white counterparts in terms of educational achievement after three
decades of supplementary social and educational programs (e.g., Irvine,
1990). Using symbolic interactionism and critical theory perspectives,
Welch and Hodges mainly wanted to know (1) "whether providing
an 'enriched' learning environment assured that disadvantaged youth
would be admitted to and graduated from colleges and universities"
(p. 1); (2) how some southwestern American students, their parents,
and teachers participating in a pre-college enrichment program called
Project EXCEL "interpreted the meaning, expectations, and motivations
related to academic achievement" (p. 7); and (3) how disadvantaged
students approached academic work and how these approaches related
to their definition of scholarship and to themselves as scholars.
Data sources for the study included interviews with 11 EXCEL students
(9 black females and 2 white females) and their parents, the student's
school records, observations of EXCEL and non-EXCEL classes, school
curriculum, writing samples from students, GPA information, and admissions
to colleges or vocational schools/careers.
A number of findings emerged from the data analyses. For example,
an enriched learning environment for development of academic skills
alone did not necessarily account for or ensure admission to or completion
of college for African American adolescents. Welch and Hodges suggest
that highly developed academic skills plus development of an academic
self-concept may ensure success in college entrance and graduation.
Second, the approach some of the students and their parents applied
towards academic work was that of waiting to be discovered, a phenomenon
that the authors call "The Lana Turner Syndrome" (p. 15).
For the authors, this "captures the conviction held by these
students and their parents that potential alone is a more viable determinant
of successful college admission and matriculation than demonstrated
academic performance" (p. 59). They say this is a "syndrome
that stifles the drive needed to sustain achievement motivation and
thereby hampers development of an academic ethos" because it
"denies the connection between efforts to excel and eventual
college admission" (p. 15). According to the authors, the absence
of academic image in the media and in society contributes to such
a syndrome because it sends a message that success in sports and entertainment
are more reasonable, attainable, and desirable goals for blacks than
academic achievement. Third, there was a correlation between high
expectations of teachers and high achievement by the students and
increased scholar ethos. That is, students whose teachers expected
them to do so excelled in their studies and developed stronger study
skills and more commitment to learning.
As stated earlier, this is an extremely informative, critical, and
insightful book for developers and evaluators of enrichment programs
as well as other educators who are interested in minority education
in general and African American adolescent education in particular.
However, the conclusions could have been more provocative. For instance,
the book ends with a citation from Freire's (1994) Pedagogy of
Hope and the authors' expectations of learning a great deal from
an EXCEL model that they were field-testing. The quotation from Freire
(1994) is as follows:
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Without a minimum of hope, we cannot so much as start the struggle.
But without the struggle, hope, as ontological need, dissipates,
loses its bearings, and turns into hopelessness. And hopelessness
can become tragic despair. Hence the need for a kind of education
of hope…. One of the tasks of the progressive educator, through
serious, correct political analyses, is to unveil opportunities
for hope no matter what the obstacles may be. After all, without
hope, there is little we can do (p. 9).
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If Irvine (1990) is correct in stating that after three decades
of supplementary social and educational programs African American
students continue to lag behind their white counterparts in their
educational achievement, a pedagogy of hope seems to be inadequate.
What African American adolescents need is a pedagogy of action.
A pedagogy that encourages them to take action on the bases of the
pride built on many glorious achievements and accomplishments of African
American people, accomplishments that include the contributions they
have made to world civilization in general and American civilization
in particular. A pedagogy that acknowledges and takes pride in the
fact that African American people have come a long way since the civil
rights movement and takes action to show the achievements of not only
the African American heroes in the sports and entertainment industry,
but other hardworking African American heroes in all walks of life.
Such pedagogy should not only acknowledge potentials and inequality,
but also empower African American adolescents to take actions by learning
from numerous hardworking and accomplished African American scholars,
economists, entrepreneurs, and politicians and by building a strong
self-esteem and scholar ethos. Only such pedagogy can empower African
American adolescents with cultural capital that can be used to fight
inequality and improve their own lives and eventually those of the
whole African American race. This may be an issue that the authors
will discuss in their next book, which I look forward to reading.
References
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the
oppressed. (R.R. Barr,
Trans.). New York: Continuum.
Irvine, J.T. (1990). Black students and school failure: Policies,
practices, and
prescriptions. New York: Greenwood Press.