Characteristics of African American Learners

The basic models of learning, development, and program planning in adult education have often been developed with little concern for the unique needs of African Americans (Colin 1994). Current theories of adult learning have also been criticized for their lack of cultural understanding and the role that race, economics, and gender play in the learning transaction. For example, Flannery (1995) argues that three of the main theories of adult education--andragogy, self-directed learning, and perspective transformation--focus heavily on the individual and do not recognize the value of groups. She observes that some racial and ethnic groups, such as African Americans, place greater emphasis on "communal values." Flannery explains, "communal values include knowledge which is valued, how learning occurs, [and] communication patterns of working together for the good of the community" (pp. 153-154). Flannery contends that adult learning theories must be mindful of the influence of social, historical, and economic roles in adult education and "must acknowledge that people and cultures vary in how they learn" (p. 156). Theories "must become inclusive and give voice to all people and groups, allowing missing voices (women, working-class persons, persons of color) to narrate their diverse stories of how and where they learn, and about their values of learning" (p. 156). In our own text, Bell's (1994) research with African Americans found that African Americans support a "holistic relational style".


At one point in our educational history, there was a great debate amongst the ideology of WEB Duboise and Booker T Washington as to the need of education. Self-help and adult education are part of the African American cultural heritage, as exemplified by such men as Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. But much debate arose in the different methods by which each man proposed the education of African Americans should take place. Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans needed first to take care of their survival and safety needs and then worry about the more complex needs of belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The humanistic efforts of adult educators like Booker T. placed the personal needs of the learners first; learning for personal change was a secondary but essential characteristic of adult education. Washington advocated self-help within the race and engaged African Americans to pursue "industrial" education, which he felt would allow them to be more independent. Denton (1993) asserts that today's adult education programs are in fact modeled after Washington's principles and his contribution to the field of adult education. Denton describes how Booker T. Washington's philosophy of adult education led the way for the mainstream white American writer Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
W. E. B. DuBois believed in self-help for African Americans and understood the social dynamics that race played in America for blacks. DuBois was concerned with the activism that African Americans needed in order to gain social and political freedoms. DuBois proposed a group classified as the Talented Tenth. Du Bois used the term "the talented tenth" to describe the likelihood of one in ten black men becoming leaders of their race in the world, through methods such as continuing their education, writing books, or becoming directly involved in change. He strongly believed that blacks needed a classical education to be able to reach their potential, rather than the industrial education promoted by such people as Washington. DuBois's self-help philosophy is therefore more aggressive than Booker T.'s. As with the work of Booker T., DuBois's book, The Souls of Black Folks (1903), can be regarded as one of the early books on self-help education in America because it promotes survival skills acquired through education.

The Stats: This excerpt was taken from the Dissertation of D'Andra Mull, M.A.

STILL….THEY RISE: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF

RESILIENCE IN FIRST GENERATION AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE

STUDENTS

"Statistics from The Condition of Education 2005, assembled by the U.S. Department of Education, substantiate the discrepancies that exist in the educational attainment of African American students when compared to White students. The divide between African American and White students in pursuit of higher education continues to exist in the United States. Sadly, the percentage of African American students who go on to educational pursuits beyond secondary school falls far behind that of their White peers (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005094); in 1994, the numbers were evident of the gap between Black and White students in college aims: 49.6% of African American students versus 69.2% of White students finished one or more years of college, during the same duration of time. In that same year, 16.2% of Black students versus 29.7% of White students completed four or more years of colleges, although neither group is necessarily indicative of the total percentage earning an undergraduate degree (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/nativetrends/index.asp) However, the statistics shown only two years later, and up to 2005 serve to illuminate the great divide in degrees completed between the groups: in 1996, African American represented a mere 7.9%, while White students comprised 77.8% of bachelor’s degree recipients. In 2002, African American students comprised 9% compared to74.2% of White students completing similar academic programs (http://nces.ed.gov/das/epubs/2003165/path.asp). In 2005, the number of African American students completing bachelor’s degrees when compared to White students contribute to illustrate a great disparity, as African Americans comprised only 10.6%, while and Whites made up 75.1% of all baccalaureate degree recipients, (http:// nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72). Notably, the problem between academic degree attainment between African American and White students lends grounds for the researcher’s notion that the current trend of educational achievement of Black students is a cause for concern, and moreover, an issue that educators must address if they truly seek to educate all students, and help reverse the trend of high attrition in higher education pursuits." (source:http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Mull%20DAndra%20I.pdf?acc_num=osu1180467362)

References:

Bell, Y.R. (1994) A Culturally sensitive analysis of Black Learning Style. Journal of Black Psychology, 20(1), 47-61

Colin, S. A. J., III. "Adult and Continuing Education Graduate Programs. Prescriptions for the Future." NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION no. 61 (Spring 1994): 53-62.

Denton, V. L. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND THE ADULT EDUCATION MOVEMENT. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993.

Flannery, D. D. "Adult Education and the Politics of the Theoretical Text." In CRITICAL MULTICULTURALISM: UNCOMMON VOICES IN A COMMON STRUGGLE, edited by B. Kanpol and P. McLaren. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey 1995.