Hale-Benson, a black, argues that since black children grow up in a distinct culture, they require “an educational system that recognizes their strengths, their abilities and their culture, and that incorporates them into the learning process.” It all sounds reasonable.īut even if the research she urges proves her correct, prodigious problems will remain. In addition, teachers may underestimate the need for young black children to be touched and held and given frequent compliments and praise, all features of the African child-rearing style. Black children, boys in particular, are more likely than whites to be labeled “hyperactive” or “aggressive” because white teachers don’t understand the difference between verbal “fighting” and “woofing,” a verbal ritual that may actually reduce the likelihood of a fight. Nor is it only in learning and testing that the cultural differences work to the disadvantage of blacks, Hale-Benson believes. It is only when high levels of analytic abstraction are required that their ability to compete is inhibited.” It appears, therefore, that given concrete settings with intelligence held constant, high-relational pupils can compete with analytic ones.

“Highly intelligent high-relational pupils were found, in fact, to communicate best with the demands of the school on the concrete level. Their ability to reach higher levels of abstraction through relational pathways takes them farther away from the higher levels of abstraction reached through analytic pathways. “The most intelligent relational pupils score the worst of all. And although she freely acknowledges that she has not discovered final answers, she believes that enough is known to warrant serious research into the question. Hale-Benson thinks that learning style is the key, a theory she explores in her book, Black Children: Their Roots, Culture, and Learning Styles. Is it really a socioeconomic gap revealing only the unsurprising fact that children of the middle-class do better in school than the children of the poor? Is it the result of home or societal factors that predispose white children toward academic exertion? Or are there really “learning style” differences between black and white children that can be productively exploited? But is it likely to produce results?Ī good deal depends on the nature of the racial gap. It is a commendable attitude, an example of America’s can-do spirit. Record 001 - Black Children by Janice E.A number of school systems, reluctantly conceding a consistent achievement gap between black and white students, have committed themselves (and, in some cases, significant dollars) to closing the gap. Box 10 - Cards, Programs, Letter, Meeting Minutes, etcĬards, Programs, Letter, Meeting Minutes, etc

Black Children by Janice E. Hale-Benson