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dissertation entitled

A TALE OF TWO SETTINGS:
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS' LITERACY EXPERIENCES
AT CHURCH AND AT SCHOOL

presented by

Gwendolyn Michele Thompson McMillon

has been accepted towards fulfillment
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Date July 11, 2001

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A TALE OF Two SETTINGS:
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS’ LrTERACY EXPERIENCES
AT CHURCH AND AT SCHOOL
By

Gwendolyn Michele Thompson McMillon

AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Teacher Education
2001

Professor Patricia A. Edwards

 

ABSTRACT

A TALE OF TWO SETTINGS:
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS’ LITERACY EXPERIENCES
AT CHURCH AND AT SCHOOL
By

Gwendolyn Michele Thompson McMillon

The development of a more sociocultural view of literacy has resulted in the
need to investigate out-of-school literacy experiences. Examining students’ outside
literacy experiences, may assist in understanding the difficulties that some African
American students have inside their classrooms at school. The African American
Church has historically taught African Americans successfully, but its voice is
excluded from the conversation concerning effectively educating African American
students. While some research has reported on African American church history and
theology, few studies have focused upon educational aspects. Specifically, little is
known about literacy practices and student/parent/teacher relationships within the
church. Although the African American Church has been accepted as an influential
institution, it has not been considered a resource for educators. In this ethnographic
study, I closely examine the literacy practices and literacy network systems of the
African American Sunday School and first grade public school classes of two African
American boys, by addressing discourse, pedagogical, social, and relationship-
orientation similarities and differences from a naturalist perspective. Classroom
observations, interviews, and student records are sources of data in this study which

utilizes discourse, narrative and social network analysis to locate plausible sources of

 

incongruence between the school and church environments and identify possible
points of connection.
Findings illuminate several plausible sources of incongruence:
0 Issues of power and dominance
o Differing definitions of success

0 Ideas and values that provide cultural capital in the church
environment, but cultural interference in the school environment

0 Tension between providing culturally congruent classrooms
and “gateways” into the culture of power

0 Difference in purposes and responsibilities for the literacy network
systems

0 Difference in providing opportunities to utilize literacy skills in
meaningful ways outside of the classroom

Several possible points of connection were also identified:
0 Teacher awareness through information dissemination & exchange
0 Increased parental involvement
0 Improved teacher education & professional development programs
- Cooperation between school & church to provide increased
opportunities
to display literacy skills
This dissertation study provides insightful information concerning literacy
practices in public school and the African American Church. By developing an
understanding of each environment, teachers in both settings can teach more

effectively, and assist their students in becoming border crossers - successfully

negotiating cultural boundaries between learning environments.

Copyright by
GWENDOLYN MICHELE THOMPSON MCMILLON
2001

 

“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I’ll bid farewell to ev’ry fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.

Should earth against my soul engage,
And hellish darts be hurl’d
Then I can smile at Satan’s rage
And face a frowning world.

Let cares, like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall;
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heav’n, my all:

There shall 1 bath my weary soul,
In seas of heav’nly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.

The Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs
of the Rev. Isaac Watts

DEDICATION

T 0 God be the Glory!

To my soul-mate, Vincent, who has supported me wholeheartedly in words and actions,
especially at those critical times when I doubted my own abilities.

To Morgan, David, and Joshua who have unselfishly shared me with others,
while keeping their focus - growing spiritually, achieving academically,
and developing socially.

Especially in honor of Mama, and in memory of Daddy, who taught me how to “survive”.
Those early lessons in life have kept me on the narrow path of success.

vi

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I shall forever be indebted to my advisor, mentor, friend, and Dissertation
Director, Patricia A. Edwards, who has spent countless hours for the past five years
preparing me for the competitive world of academia, always challenging me to strive for
excellence. Special thanks to my Committee - Ken Frank, David Labaree, P. David
Pearson, and Victoria Purcell-Gates, and other supportive MSU professors for their
numerous contributions to my research. I am especially grateful for the opportunities
afforded me by the Michigan State University Spencer Research Training Grant Program,
and Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program.

Thanks to the schools and churches that graciously allowed me to observe
classrooms and interview teachers, administrators and students. I am especially grateful
to the teachers in my study, the parents of my subjects, and my subjects for their consent
and cooperation.

I want to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement. A
special thanks to my mother (Pecola Thompson) and mother-in-law (Earlease McMillon)
for many hours, days and weeks of babysitting services. Taking good care of my boys
took a load off of my mind and allowed me to aggressively pursue my dreams. Also,
special thanks to the wonderful people at Herig Elementary who cared for my children
while I was commuting to MSU. Ms. Wahnetta (supervisor of the Extended Day
Program), has been like a third grandmother, and Mrs. Schuler (their lst grade teacher)
would not let them stand outside in the snow or rain if I was late coming home from East

Lansing.

vii

Very special thanks are extended to my “sounding boards” - my husband
(Vincent McMillon), and the best Sunday School teacher in the world (Georgia Nettles),
who listened intently to early versions of my research ideas, providing critical feedback
and useful suggestions. Also much appreciation is extended to my nephew, 3]., who
provided a “student’s perspective” for my research project, and acted as my computer
consultant for those difficult to format final drafts.

My love and thanks to “my three sons” — Morgan, David, and Joshua, my
greatest motivators, critics, comedians, and personal cheerleaders. You can finally call

me “.Dr Mom”.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER]: INTRODUCTION............ 1
Researcher’sPersonalStatement... l
ANotetoReaders..................................................................... 4
Backgroundofthe Study 4
StatementofPurpose.......................... 6
TheoreticalGrounding... 7
Conceptual Framework .. 8
AnExpandedDefinitionofLIteracy 10
UnderlyingComplexitiesofthe Study 11
RationaleoftheStudy.................................................................. 18
Significance ofthe Study 20
OverviewoftheStudy.................................................................. 21

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE... 23
Introduction- Chapter Organization... . .. 23
Historical Overview of Public Education for African AmerIcans In the U. S 26

Literacy spreads among African Americans: 1695 — 1739... 27
More than a century of continuous dehumanization: 1740 - 1867 ...... 29
Citizens on “paper” with “limited” access to knowledge: 1869—1899.. 37

The 20th century African American “fight” for literacy: 1900 — 1999.. 40
Summary of the historical overview of public education... 48
Historical Overview ofthe African American Church... 48
WhatistheAfrican AmericanChurch?............................................... 50
WhatisBlackTheology?” 52
Introduction” .. 54
Pre-Slavery West Africa- The Great Awakening 1600 — 1740 ......... 55
The emergence of the African American Church: 1740 — 1800 ......... 69
Acentury ofliberation&organization: 1800- 1900.. 77
The Twentieth Century African American Church: 1900 — 1999 ....... 83
Summary of the African American Church historical overview ......... 94
ExpansionofConceptualFramework................................................ 96
Discoursepattems.............................................................. 96
Pedagogicalissues............................................................. 98
Social norm Issues 102
Literacynetworksystems..................................................... 104
SummaryofRelevantLiterature...................................................... 105

CHAPTERB: RESEARCHDESIGN&METHODOLOGY............................. 107
GrandTourQuestion................................................................... 107
Focus&GuidingQuestions............................................................ 108

ix

Contexts 109
Subjects... 110
DataColleCtion... 112
Classroomobservations 113
Teacherinterviews............................................................ 114
Parentinterviews... 114
Studentinterviews.. 115
Documentationoffailureinschool 115
Documentationofsuccessinchurch....................................... 116
Fieldnotes... 116
Analyticnotes, memos&fieldworkjoumal.............................. 116
DataAnalysis... 117
Discourseaiialysis... 117
Narrativeanalysis... 122
Analysisofdocumentation.................................................. 124
Socialnetworkanalysis...................................................... 125

CHAPTER4: ANALYSISOFSCHOOLDATA......................................... I26
Setting... 126
Subjects 128
AnalySIsofschooldata 136

Discoursepattems 137
Pedagogicalissues... 139
Socialnorms.. 142
Literacynetworksystem.. 151
Summaryofanalysisofschooldata 152

CHAPTERS: ANALYSISOFSUNDAYSCHOOLDATA........................... 154
Settings... 154
AnalySIsofSundaySchooldata 155

DiscoursePattems” 156
Pedagogicallssues... 157
SocialNorms... 162
LiteracyNetworkSystern .. 166
SummaryofanalysisofSunday School data 168

CHAPTER 6: COMPARISON OF SCHOOL & SUNDAY SCHOOL DATA... .. 170
Plausiblesourcesofincongruency................................................... 170
Issuesofpoweranddominance............................................. 173
Opposingframesofreference.......................................173
Differingdefinitionsofsuccess... .176

Cultural capital vs. cultural interference. .180

Culturally congruent classrooms vs. gateways to the culture of power. 183

Literacy network systems... . .. .184

Differing provisions to display literacy Skills outside Of classroom .189
Summary... .190

Possiblepointsofconnection... 190

CHAPTER 7:

Teacher awareness through inforinatiOn eXChangen .. .192
Increased parental involvement... ..193
Improved teacher education & profeSSional development programs. .194
Cooperation between school & church to provide increased to display

literacy skills 195
Summary 195

CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS. . . 198
Conclusions. 198
Implications... 201
Recommendationsforfuturestudies 203
Final Comments 205
Personal Reflections 206

APPENDIX

Ut-bbJNI—I

Parent consent form......... 217
Teacherconsentform...... 218
Teacherinterview protocol.............................. 219
Parent interview protocol............ 221
Studentinterview protocol............ 223

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

LiteracyNetwork System at School......... 186

Literacy Network System at Church............ 188

xii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

I believe that every study reflects the researcher’s ideas about the world in which
we live, and that the conceptualization process is fueled by several contributing factors
including the researcher’s past experiences. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to begin
this dissertation study by locating myself - expressing who I am, and why I am
passionately developing a research agenda with the future goal of creating a home-school
connections model for African American students by utilizing the African American
Church as a connecting link. It is important that readers of this dissertation study
understand the critical role that my past experiences played its conceptualization,
development, and analysis. Throughout the entire process I intentionally established a set
of checks and balances to minimize the amount of subjectivity in this study by soliciting
feedback from numerous sources during the data collection and analysis phases, and by
utilizing multiple readers from various backgrounds. Because of the nature of this study,
extra precautions have been taken to follow rigid research guidelines. It is my hope that
readers will be able to understand why the African American Church must be included in
the conversation concerning the education of African American students, and envision
the significant contributions that can be made by this study and future studies conducted
in the context of the African American Church.
Personal Statement

I enrolled in the doctoral program at Michigan State University seeking to resolve
some issues that had troubled me for many years. I had a passionate desire to find ways
to reach and teach the children from my old neighborhood - an impoverished, innervcity

area with crack houses on every block, where gang violence is common, and

 

hopelessness has overshadowed childhood dreams of success. Growing up in the ghetto
and attending inner-city schools, I have seen firsthand the endless cycles of poverty that
many researchers write about. However, as unlikely as it may seem, the inner-city was
also the place where I learned to set goals that seemed unattainable, rise above the
pressures of everyday life, and exercise faith in a power much greater than my own.

As the daughter of a Baptist preacher and primary Sunday School teacher, 1 was
taught that attaining a good education was the means to liberation - it was the only way
out of the ghetto. After becoming liberated, it was my responsibility to reach back and
help others succeed. To my parents, a good education did not only consist of being
successful at school, but also included biblically-based training at home and church. I
attended church every Sunday with children from many other families. It provided a safe
community for its members, many of whom lived in inner-city neighborhoods. As a child,
I can vividly recall my mother encouraging her Sunday School students who complained
about school problems. My father frequently counseled with parents of children who
struggled academically and socially at school. I often wondered why many of my friends
did not do well at school, but seemed quite successful at church.

My personal interest in this area was rekindled while working as a long-term
substitute teacher at my old high school. I was surprised to learn that some of the star
students from my church were in Special Education classes, and others were at-risk of
failing several courses. When I saw them at school, they wandered about aimlessly,
looking disillusioned, and seemingly quite alienated from the academic process.
However, these some children were considered star students in the church environment.

Some of them were devoted choir members, musicians, ushers, Children 's Church

teachers, Sunday School teachers, and Junior Deacons. They had shown exceptional
acting ability when participating in dramatic skits at church, memorizing their parts
perfectly, and even improvising when necessary. Their leadership abilities were made
evident when they organized their own programs, presided during meetings, and
contributed greatly to the enhancement of ministries in the church. They were greatly
admired by their church teachers, advisors, and members of the congregation for their
skills and talents, but were considered at-risk in school. I was surprised and frustrated to
find students whom I believed had unlimited potential doing so poorly in school, and yet
so well in church.

These first-hand, childhood observations and teaching experiences motivated me
to identifit incongruencies between the church and school learning environments for
many African American students, and understand how these settings might be better
connected. In this study, I have closely examined the literacy practices and literacy
network systems of the African American Sunday School and first grade public school
classes of two Afiican American boys, by addressing discourse, pedagogical, social, and
relationship-orientation similarities and diflerences. This information will be utilized to
develop ways to negotiate the boundaries between these learning environments. My
fixture goal is to create a cultural connections model utilizing the church as the
connecting link between home and school. The African American church is a very
important voice excluded fiom the conversation concerning the education of African

American students. My research emphasizes the necessity of including that voice.

A Note to Readers

As indicated in the personal statement, this dissertation study was conceptualized
from ideas that have been in the process of development since my early childhood days.
As an attempt to provide the maximum amount of integrity to this study, I continuously
challenged myself to think of alternative interpretations and explanations of the data.
Transcripts and ideas were shared with many scholars and colleagues during data
analysis. Several researchers read drafts of this dissertation, making recommendations
for changes including deletions and additions. These “critical friends” were from various
backgrounds with different sets of experiences and were therefore able to provide me
with feedback that challenged any biases. The methodology and data analysis chapters
will more fully address these issues.
Background of the Study

For years educational researchers have attempted to address the academic
difficulties that African American students experience in America's classrooms. These
children have been called culturally deprived, genetically inferior, educationally
disadvantaged, and at-risk, ultimately locating the problem within African American
children and families. Researchers have attempted to develop ways to improve the
success rate of African American students, despite the persistence of academic
underachievement.

Two developments in educational research and theory provide the motivation for
this study. First, there is a growing realization that a mismatch exists between the
cultures of African American students and that of many of their teachers (usually white,

middle-class females) and schools. As Delpit (1995) asserts, differing values, beliefs,

and expectations may cause miscommunication between teachers and students, resulting
in academic and/or discipline problems. This development suggests the need to examine
the nature of incongruencies in specific areas such as literacy, and identify possible points
of connection.

Secondly, the development of a more sociocultural view of literacy, gives
researchers a new lens from which to view these problems. It provides the impetus to
look outside of classrooms to examine institutions that may influence classroom
experiences, and also take a closer look at social and cultural issues enacted inside
classrooms.

From a socio-historical perspective, when assessing the current status of a group
of people, it is extremely important to consider their history - the historical events,
people, and institutions that may have influenced their present state (Elder, Modell, &
Parke,1993). African Americans have a somewhat gruesome history in the United States.
Slavery, segregation, discrimination, and all the ideologies that served to cripple them
across the years have no doubt affected many generations of Blacks. However, there is
an institution that was created from a combination of beliefs, and was specifically
designed to meet the multifaceted, complex needs of Blacks in the United States -- the
African American Church. When developing educational strategies for African
Americans it is imperative that the African American Church be included in the
conversation. It was the site of the first formal learning environment organized
specifically for Blacks. The church was the place where African Americans first began
to learn rudimentary reading skills (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990). Although public

schooling is now available to African Americans, many Black parents believe that the

learning experiences occurring in the church are just as valuable as their childrens’
learning experiences at school. This value of church knowledge/biblical knowledge is
reinforced by many Black parents in their homes, and has been passed down through
many generations. What can we learn from this institution that has effectively taught
African American students for many years? Contrastly, what can teachers in the African
American Church learn from public school teachers that will assist them in their endeavor
to improve the success rate of African American students? Although from a historical
perspective the African American Church has successfully educated African American
children for many years, it has been left out of the conversation concerning the education
of African American students in America’s schools.

The present study emphasizes the need for educators to understand the importance
of literacy practices in the African American Church and the significant impact that these
experiences may have on African American student learning and development in their
classrooms at school. Students who participate in African American Sunday School and
other church activities develop specific values and beliefs concerning literacy teaching
and learning that must be explored and understood in order to develop effective teaching
strategies to improve their academic achievement in the school setting, and assist them in
successfully negotiating the cultural borders between the church and school learning
environments.

Statement of Purpose

This study compares literacy practices and experiences in an African American

Sunday School - the most formal learning environment of the African American church,

with literacy practices and experiences in a public elementary school for two first graders.

The central purpose of the study was to gain insights into why some African American
students are successful in church, but are considered at-risk in school. By exploring
issues concerning discourse, pedagogical values, social norms, and literacy network
systems in both settings, I have examined several plausible explanations for
incongruencies between the school and church learning environments, and located
possible points of connecton. With this information, I want to begin an agenda of
research with the goal of assisting teachers in developing more effective ways to reach
and teach African American students, and supporting their students in the process of
learning to successfiilly negotiate boundaries between their various learning
environments.
Theoretical Grounding

This research is grounded in a sociocultural theory of learning and development
(Vygotsky, 1978; Luria, 1976; Wertsch, 1985; Scribner, 1985) which focuses upon the
ways in which learning takes place within cultural contexts. It is important to examine
students' out-of-school learning experiences, and understand the affect that they have on
in-school, classroom learning (Resnick, 1987). Resnick (1990) contends that school is
only one place where literate activities occur. She states, "To understand the literacy
crisis and imagine possible solutions, it is essential to examine the nature of literacy
practice outside school as well as within" (p. 170). Purcell-Gates (1997) further
emphasizes the importance of understanding outside learning experiences when she
asserts:

When we seek to understand learners, we must seek to understand
the cultural contexts within which they have developed, learned to interpret

who they are in relation to others, and learned how to process, interpret, or
decode, their world (p. 5).

As the daughter of an African American preacher and Primary Class Sunday School
teacher, I contend that for many African American children, this processing, interpreting,
and decoding of their world is often done through lenses developed in the context of the
African American church. While focusing upon the educational experiences of African
American students, I utilized this sociocultural view of literacy, to examine literacy
experiences and practices in Sunday School and public school for two African American
first-graders, as I attempted to locate and understand sources of the incongruencies that
occurred between these two learning environments, and consider possible points of
connection.

Conceptual Framework

To prepare for this dissertation project, I completed two pilot studies (McMillon
& Edwards, 2000; Edwards, Danridge, McMillon & Pleasants, in press) and a
comprehensive review of the literature, which assisted in the development of a viable
framework within a sociocultural perspective of literacy.

Many African American children begin school with multiple literacy experiences
centering around home, church, and community activities. When children attend Sunday
School they participate in rich literacy experiences that may affect their initial literacy
acquisition and development, the way they think about literacy, and ultimately their
literacy development at school (McMillon & Edwards, 2000). The African American
Sunday School has many characteristics associated with high quality education. In
Sunday School, discourse patterns/communicative styles (Gee, 1991), are usually similar
to student home discourse patterns, instruction is often based on unique, African

American learning styles (Hale-Benson, 1986), and behavioral problems are essentially

non-existent because of the close-knit relationships. Many African Americans' cultural
dispositions are reflected in this learning environment where students often have close
relationships with teachers who scaffold their efforts and expect them to succeed (Hale-
Benson, 1986; Edwards, et al., in press).

In the African American church environment the "human side" of literacy
development (Edwards, et al., in press) is often emphasized through the establishment of
meaningful relationships, where adults are addressed as Brother, Sister, or Mother, and
respected for wisdom acquired from life experiences regardless of social status or
educational background (Proctor, 1995). I refer to relational ties between students,
parents, teachers and other key literacy role models - participants in literacy
teaching/learning and/or its facilitation, as literacy network systems. The literacy network
systems within the context of the African American Sunday School, create a trusting,
nurturing environment where students have rich literacy experiences while participating
in classroom activities, helping peers, and sometimes sharing the teaching role
(McMillon & Edwards, 2000). Teachers often enjoy intergenerational relationships with
parents and hold high expectations for student performance (Edelman, 1999). Based on a
positive self-fulfilling prophecy, most of their students achieve (Edwards, et al., in press).

In contrast to the nurturing environment of the church, some African American
students may feel uncomfortable with alienating, individualistic, competitive school
environments (Fordham, 1988). Schoolteachers commonly complain about
disconnections with their students and parents. Current research focuses upon discourse,
pedagogical, and social norm issues as possible sources of classroom conflicts.

Dissimilar teacher-student discourse patterns can cause misunderstandings (Gee, 1991;

 

Heath, 1983; O'Connor & Michaels, 1996). In many classrooms, African American
students' primary language patterns are not used to help them develop literacy skills (Lee,
1991), and the affect of culture on cognition, resulting in learning style differences
among students (Shade, 1989), is often not addressed. Ignoring or devaluing students'
discourse patterns and learning styles can be detrimental. Although unintentional,
teachers can debilitate student learning when they are unaware of how their own personal
biases effect classroom practice (Heath, 1983, Cazden, 1988, McMillon & Edwards,
2000). Classroom conflicts may not only result in academic problems, but may have
critical social implications as well, which may cause student frustration and parental
ambivalence toward school and schoolteachers (McMillon & Edwards, 2000). Como
(1989) contends that it is not only important for students to do well academically, but
they must also be "literate about classrooms." Successful students function according to
classroom rules; however, students who are socially illiterate are often excluded from
social and academic activities (Corno, 1989; McMillon & Edwards, 2000). These
exclusionary methods may lead to strained student-teacher and parent-teacher
relationships.
An Expanded Definition of Literacy

Literacy, for the purpose of this study, not only includes: reading, writing,
speaking, thinking, listening, and spelling; but also includes classroom “social literacy”
which emphasizes a student’s ability or inability to successfully function in a classroom
setting. Lyn Como asserts:

...to do well in classrooms, academic competence must be displayed in

socially appropriate ways. Students must learn “interactional competence”.

They must work within the teacher’s agenda (often, while simultaneously
working within their own), must “read” teachers and peers, and must respond

10

to them in ways that are sanctioned socially (p. 35).

A student who is interactionally competent is described by Corno as one who:

...will share ideas with others, stay on task and listen when necessary, will

volunteer for jobs, will ask and answer “wh” questions, and the like. Such

students do not always become optimally involved with academic tasks.

Studies have shown that teachers reward such self-discipline (many report

cards include grades for classroom participation) and that students who learn

to respond appropriately to classroom participation demands also benefit

academically (p. 35).

Interactional competence is a key element of literacy acquisition and development in this
study, and is explored within the social norms frame.

In this study, the definition of the term literacy not only includes interactional
competence, but is also expanded to include a discussion of the literacy network systems
in the context of school and Sunday School for each subject. It is my belief that the
relationships that students have with teachers and facilitators of literacy in educational
settings are a critical part of the literacy learning and teaching process; therefore, these
relationships are identified and discussed in this study.

Underlying Complexities of the Study

The complexities of this study must be addressed forthright in order to assist
readers with moving beyond the limitation that a superficial glance of public school and
church would provide. This study has been conceptualized to provide both breadth and
depth by including an expansive historical overview of both institutions, developing a
framework that draws from multiple intersecting bodies of literature, and directly
addressing difficult issues that some researchers attempt to avoid. While I realize that

this study is a major undertaking, I also realize that conducting studies of great

significance always require the researcher(s) to take great risks. Intellectual risks,

methodological risks, and reputational risks are but a few of the risks taken in this study.
However, the rewards will far outweigh the risks if by reading this dissertation and/or
utilizing the information presented, some educators realize that the African American
Church is a viable learning institution from which there is much to be learned concerning
successfully educating African American students.

Comparing School and Sunday School

 

In recent years, the schism between the church and state in the United States may
have deterred some educators from actively attempting to identify linkages between the
schools and churches of their students. However, a sociocultural perspective of literacy
requires educators to redefine the lines of demarcation that have impeded the
achievement of some students. When considering why some African American students
are successful in the church environment, but “at-risk” in their school environments, it is
necessary to study the enactment of social and cultural activities within their classrooms
at school. However, we must also look beyond the school classroom environment into
the African American Church to identify literacy practices and closely examine literacy
activities within this under researched, but viable educational context.

There will undoubtedly be some objectors to conducting research that specifically
seeks to find sources of incongruency between two major institutions that at first glance,
may seem to have obvious differences. For example, church attendance is voluntary, but
school attendance is mandatory until a student reaches a certain age. Church classes are
often quite small in comparision to most over-populated public school classrooms.
Sunday School teachers volunteer to teach and rarely receive any compensation for their

effort. They are often not certified teachers, but may have careers in the secular world

12

totally unrelated to teaching. One may assume from this description that Sunday School
teachers are not as “qualified” to teach as public school teachers. Additionally, the
lessons taught in Sunday School are for the purpose of proselytizing, student evaluations
are seldom given, and class periods are only for one to two hours at most. All of these
differences would make a study comparing classrooms in the school and Sunday School
environment quite difficult to conceptualize. School and Sunday School are different in
many ways, but they also have numerous similarities which will be explored in the data
analysis chapters.

The purpose of this study is not merely to compare attendance records, class
sizes, or the other issues mentioned above, (although some discussion of these issues will
occur in the data analysis chapters). The main purpose of this study is to closely examine
the literacy learning and teaching processes in the classroom in order to identify plausible
sources of incongruence between the school and church environments, and locate
possible points of connection. Certainly some of the aforementioned issues may affect
the learning and teaching processes, but this study does not seek to isolate each factor
and/or calculate the significance of them on teaching, learning, or student achievement.
A later quantitative study will follow to achieve that goal after plausible sources are
identified. This dissertation study is meant to serve as a launching pad for a research
agenda that includes identifying sources of incongruence, closely examining each source,
and determining their significance (affect on literacy learning and teaching) in order to

develop a home-school connections model.

13

Issues of Power & Dominance

When conducting research in the African American Church environment it is
critical to openly discuss issues of power and dominance. The African American Church
is the most influential institution in the African American community, and has impacted
many sectors of society including political, social and economic. However, members of
the African American Church are from a non-dominant culture, and their values and
beliefs are not considered "main-stream" in the United States. It may be difficult for
some educators with “main-stream” mindsets to grasp the importance of understanding
literacy experiences in the African American Church, therefore this section is written to
directly address this issue.

Because of the numerous negative experiences that Blacks have had in the United
States, it is possible that they have developed "cultural frames of reference not merely as
different from, but as opposed to the cultural frames of reference of their white
oppressors" (Ogbu, 1995). African Americans' unique ways of teaching and learning
may be directly linked with deeply ingrained foundational beliefs and values. These
ideologies must be examined and understood in order to understand the sources of
disconnection and to create connections for African American students between their
culturally congruent church environments and incongruent school environments.

Additionally, because the majority of the teacher population in the US. are white,
middle-class females educated at predominantly white institutions in Teacher Education
programs predicated upon white oriented values, beliefs, and standards, it is necessary to
carefully access how teachers’ past experiences may influence literacy learning and

teaching within the classrooms where they teach. Just as literacy experiences outside of

14

the classroom influences how students learn inside their classrooms at school, teachers
enter the classroom with a set of values and beliefs based on past experiences that
influence their literacy teaching and other daily decisions that they make. If teachers are
unaware of their own biases and limitations, they could possibly perpetuate white
dominance and power values within their classrooms, alienating African American and
other minority students and parents who may have a different set of values. Cultural
dissonance can result in the classroom of a teacher who is not cognizant of these
possibilities and unaware of the importance of continuous self-evaluation. Cazden (l 98 8)
asserts that it is the teacher’s responsibility to adjust their strategies each year to meet
their students’ needs. In this study, the school and church teachers are closely monitored
to identify ways that they exert power over students, attempts to empower students, and
how these actions provide supporting evidence to determine the teachers’ intentions.
Classrooms: culturally congruent environments or “gateways” into the culture of power?
This study is not an attempt to transform public schools into culturally congruent
environments for African American children by changing classroom discourse patterns,
pedagogy, and social norms from those currently established, to those utilized in the
African American Sunday School. As previously discussed, although church and school
learning environments share similarities, there are some distinct differences. Sunday
School serves as the main educational arm of the African American church. It is the
moral teacher (Ward, 1998) and values perpetuator. The most important purpose of
Sunday School is to understand and internalize biblical principles through Bible stories,
which is not difficult because attendance is voluntary, and attendees understand the

importance of values and beliefs perpetuated in this context. On the other hand,

15

 

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schooling in the United States is mandatory until a certain age. According to Labaree
(1997), school has three main goals: democratic equality, social efficiency, and social
mobility. For many years, Afiican Americans have grasped on to the social mobility goal
- the possibility of improving their social status through education (Woodson, 1990;
DuBois, 1995; Edelman, 1999). Delpit discusses the importance of Afiican American
students acquiring literacy skills that will improve their ability to compete successfully
within the "culture of power" (1997), and holds teachers of minority students accountable
for these acquisitions. If public schooling is expected to provide the knowledge and
skills that will prepare students to successfully compete in their adult lives, thereby
improving their chances for social mobility, high standards must be established for all
students - Black and White. There is a tension between the desire to transform public
school into a place that is culturally congruent for a diverse population of students, and
the expectation for school to teach a diverse population of students what they need to
know to become successful within the culture of power. Classroom teachers make daily
decisions that determine the types and quality of literacy skills that their students will
acquire based on various factors, such as social class (Anyon, 1981) gender (Kunj ufu,
1985), culture and race (Heath, 1985; Irvine, 1990), which are related to teachers'
expectations of their students' future needs. During data collection and analysis, it was
crucial to address and revisit the tension between cultural congruence and incongruence.
I tried to determine if teachers were aware of this tension, and if so, identify the types of
literacy experiences that they provided to enhance their students' future chances for

success within the “culture of power” (Delpit, 1995). On the other hand, if the teachers

16

were not aware, I wanted to identify ways that their lack of knowledge influenced their
literacy teaching and their students' literacy learning.
Cultural Capital vs. Cultural Interference

Within the context of the African American church, the connection between
learning and development, and close relationships, creates a nurturing environment for
students to acquire cultural capital while simultaneously developing literacy skills. Some
of these students come from homes with parents who may not be able to provide their
children with the cultural capital needed to successfully negotiate the cultural boundaries
between home, church, and school. Although some parents may not have successful
educational histories (Edward et al, 1999), and/or their occupations may not be
professional positions that positively influence their children’s' study habits (Lareau,
1989), the African American church has historically provided cultural capital for its'
members through adult and peer role models (Edelman, 1999; Proctor, 1995).

Many Sunday School teachers and other adult role models in the church setting,
attempt to provide students with viable coping skills to help them succeed in school and
in their adult lives (Edwards, et al, in press). However, in the alienating context of
classrooms at school, the connection between learning and development and close
relationships that African American students become accustomed to at church, may be a
source of cultural interference/incongruence (Fordham, 1988; Edwards, et al, in press).

Research conducted in the context of the African American Church can inform
classroom teachers by helping them understand the complex nature of Black theology and
literacy practices in the African American Church. In particular, they can learn how to

utilize this information as a resource in classroom teaching and learning, rather than

17

allowing it to become a source of cultural interference. Additionally, teachers and other
adult role models in the African American Church can utilize information from this study
to develop strategies that can assist African American students to more successfully
negotiate the cultural boundaries between their church and school environments. In this
study, I looked for evidence of cultural capital and interference in each environment. A
discussion of this issue occurs in Chapters 5 and 6.

Issues related to comparing school and Sunday School, power and dominance,
cultural congruence, cultural capital and cultural interference are further explored in the
analysis chapters in order to clarify the intent of this research, further justify its rationale,
and especially promote its utility.

Rationale of the Study

When addressing issues of power and cultural/social capital, which are directly
related to the African American education experience, a need to closely examine the
school and church environments becomes apparent. Frank (1997) asserts that there are
multileveled perspectives in addressing questions concerning schooling and the processes
related to schooling. He believes that the school and the individual are two different
levels of research that must be addressed in order to fully understand the process of
schooling. Studying the social network system in a school and comparing it to the social
network system in an African American church could improve our understandings of
teacher-student and teacher-parent relationship in both settings, and illuminate the
similarities and differences. This macro perspective could help identify the social
networks - relationships between members of the African American church, and how

these relationships affect literacy teaching and learning. A study of this sort might utilize

18

survey data from an identified group of pe0ple within the context of the church, and
would answer the research question by focusing on issues pertaining to the difference in
the relationship orientation of African Americans within the church setting and the
relationships developed in the context of public school. However, this research design
would be limited in identifying other plausible causes of the incongruencies between the
church and school environments for many African American students.

As the initial study of my research agenda, in this study I have taken a micro
approach by focusing upon the individual level of research (Frank, 1997), in order to
identify the maximum amount of plausible causes for the incongruencies between the
church and school environments. Studies have been done that look at the culture and
overall environment within the African American church (Shade, 1989; Lincoln &
Mamiya, 1990; Myers, 1991; Freedman, 1993; Franklin, 1997). Literature about the
history of the African American church (Frazier, 1963; Meltzer, 1964; Nelson, Yokley, &
Nelsen, 1971; Nelsen & Nelsen, 1975; Sernett, 1975; Mukenge, 1983; Washington,
1984; Smith, 1988; Baldwin, 1991; Billingsley, 1992; Montgomery, 1993), Black
preachers and the Black sermon (Proctor & Watley, 1984; Swift, 1989; Mitchell, 1990;
Baldwin, 1991; Freedman, 1993; Moyd, 1995), Black theology (Burkett, 1978; Cone,
1989; Felder, 1991; Copher, 1993; Hopkins, 1994; Cone, 1997; HOpkins, in press), Black
religion (Asante & Vandi, 1980; Baer, 1984; Sobel, 1988; Proctor, 1995; Wilmore,1998),
Black gospel music and observations during programs and worship services (Williams,
1974), have been written. This literature describes historical perspectives and the overall
environment of the African American church and/or examines specific beliefs. However,

there is very little literature written specifically about the church's role in the education of

19

African Americans (Hale, 1994; Kunjufu, 1989), and none specifically examining
Sunday School - the most formal learning environment within the church. Therefore, I
have taken a micro approach in this study in order to complete a detailed, descriptive,
exploratory study that uncovers multiple layers of data including experiences, events, and
relationships that helped me locate plausible sources of incongruence (Goetz &
LaCompte, 1984) and possible points of connection between the two enviromnents. My
future plan is to further explore each cause and their interrelationships.

Significance of the Study

My research utilizes afresh, new approach to an old educational problem.
Researchers have addressed African American students’ educational problems in various
ways. However, the African American Church has not been considered a resource for
researchers and educators when addressing the education of African American children. I
believe this research is timely and will make an important contribution in the fields of
education and religion. In the spirit of the old African proverb “It takes a village to raise
a child,” my research seeks to improve the education of children in the United States by
integrating community resources. These community collaborations have vast
implications for connecting faith communities and public schools to support improved
academic achievement and social mobility possibilities for all students.

My research challenges all teachers to step out of their comfort zones - created by
their past experiences, values and beliefs, to consider how their pedagogical beliefs and
classroom practices might disable children who are different from themselves. Because
teachers are expected to teach children from diverse backgrounds, teacher education

programs must equip teachers with knowledge and skills that prepare them to teach all

20

children. However, educational institutions cannot solve literacy problems alone. As
stated earlier, literacy problems must be approached from the inside and outside of
school. By understanding the literacy practices and literacy network systems of the
African American church, classroom teachers will better understand the cultural frame of
reference from which many African American students operate. With this knowledge,
teachers will be better prepared to develop creative ways to more effectively teach
African American students. Additionally, by locating sources of incongruence between
these two environments, I can begin to create a cultural connections model to help church
and school teachers assist African American students in negotiating the cultural borders
between their home, church and school learning environments.
Overview of the Study

This introductory chapter has placed the present study within a historical context,
and provided the theoretical grounding, conceptual framework, and rationale for the
study. The following chapters will expound upon the issues presented in this chapter.
Chapter 2 - The Review of Relevant Literature - will give an in-depth, detailed
explanation of current literature relevant to this dissertation study. It is organized into
three parts and includes multiple intersecting bodies of research. A complete explanation
of the chapter organization will be given in its introduction section. Chapter 3 - Research
Design & Methodology - includes specific information pertaining to the ethnographic
methods utilized to design the study, and subsequently collect and analyze data. Because
this study compares two learning environments, Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are organized to first
analyze data collected in school (Chapter 4), followed by analysis of data collected in the

context of two African American Sunday Schools (Chapter 5), and Chapter 6 will discuss

21

plausible sources of incongruence and points of connection between the school and
church environments. Chapter 7 will discuss important conclusions and implications of
the study, and end with recommendations for further studies that might increase

awareness in the area of literacy development for African American students.

22

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
“The eighth wonder of the world is that Blacks, after
being enslaved for more than 200 years have become
a ‘literate ’ race” (Henry Louis Gates, Harvard Professor).

The literature review for the present study encompasses multiple intersecting
categories. To give depth to this study, I will begin with the history of the public school
system in the United States as it relates to African Americans, subsequently followed by
a comprehensive historical overview of the African American Church. This information
will lay the foundation for the analysis of data collected in each setting, and especially be
helpful in more fully understanding the sources of incongruencies discussed in the
comparison chapter. By utilizing the periodization method, I will summarize the
historical development of the institutions of public school and church. Emphasis will be
placed on significant events and places, along with some influential people who played
critical roles. The purpose, goals, foundational values, and beliefs of school and church
will be discussed, which will provide a mechanism for adequately comparing the two
settings from the past to the present at the macro level, ultimately focusing in at a micro
level on the specific school and churches in this study.

The history of the African American in the United States is a history of a
toilsome, humiliating, cumbersome, struggle for liberation continuously combating an
antagonistic system created by a group of people, including some who believed that
African Americans should not have access to the human liberties referred to in the
Constitution. The institutions within this antagonistic system were developed by

founding fathers including several that supported the slave trade and considered blacks as

property similar to cattle - purely in terms of economic gain. The founding fathers

23

certainly agreed that an educated citizenry would be most capable of building a nation
that would perpetuate their values and beliefs, and therefore were quite motivated to
develop an educational system early in the history of the United States. However, this
system was originally developed for white males - who the founders considered would be
the leaders of the country (Woodson, 1968). Everyone else - white women and non-
white men and women, had to fight to gain educational opportunities, and was eventually
included in the educational system through various reform movements (Morgan, 1995).
Is it possible that African American students have always struggled in the United
States’ educational system because it was not developed to educate them? This system -
developed by a group of people including several individuals who thought of blacks as
animals lacking the ability to think or make any contribution of significance to society -
has been through many series of reforms. We must ask ourselves: Have these reforms
been simply rhetoric to temporarily appease the current challengers of the system? In
reality, afier experiencing more than two centuries of reformation, can educators now
assure African Americans and other non-whites that the educational system in the United
States is adequate enough to create a learning environment that offers equal access to
knowledge, equal preparation for social mobility opportunities, equal chances to develop
students’ personal strengths, interests, and talents, and equal treatment from teachers who
were educated in programs that did not know how to prepare them to teach students from
diverse backgrounds? I contend that the answer to this critical question is no. In fact,
African American and many other students including poor whites are still suffering
academically, while middle and upper class whites continue to be successful in school

(Hale-Benson, 1986; Irvine, 1990).

24

In this literature review, my goal is to create a backdrop that portrays a scenery
which allows readers to clearly visualize the sources of difficulties that many African
American students experience in school, and why some of these same students flourish in
the environment of the African American Church. I believe that many of the problems
experienced by African American students today have been predicated upon the tensions,
overt racism, and hypocrisy that have not been effectively eradicated from the
educational system since its origin. Threads of racism have been interwoven in the
institution of education in the United States from the beginning of the common school
movement and remnants remain today (McMillon, 1995). By juxtaposing the history of
public education in the United States with the history of the African American Church, it
will become apparent that the African American Church has always been the place where
African Americans could go to learn in a friendly, nurturing environment. The church
has provided a safe cocoon where African Americans could safely learn and grow when
the outside world (including public school) was hostile and unwelcoming (McMillon &
Edwards, 2000). Literature shows that many African American students still experience
inhospitable surroundings in their school and classroom environments (Irvine, 1990;
McMillon & Edwards, 2000; O’Connor & Michaels, 1996; Shade, 1989; Delpit, 1995;
Hopkins, 1997).

The framework presented in Chapter One includes discourse, pedagogical values,
social norms, and teacher student relationships as the main foci for discussing literacy
development in both the school and church environments, however, the following
detailed discussion of the school and church histories add some additional context to this

multilayered issue.

25

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Historical Overview of Public Education for African Americans in the U.S.
Despite fundamental elements of truth in the standard story of

literacy development in the United States, the story does not prepare

one to understand the distinct experiences of Afiican Americans or to

gauge the impact of their experiences on the nation ’s complex and

contradictory attitudes regarding the rights of individuals to literacy.

(Anderson, 1995, p. 20).

This statement was taken from a critical chapter that highlights the history of
public education in the United States as it relates to African Americans. James Anderson,
a well—known historian, stated these words in his introduction to prepare the readers to
understand that the history discussed in his chapter would be in contrast to “the standard
story” of public education that one may be accustomed to reading in history textbooks.
This story has different versions, depending on who is telling the story. Slave narratives
(Meltzer, 1964; Jacobs, 1987) give one perspective, while history textbooks discussing
the accomplishments of the founding fathers give another perspective. Research
literature offers several interpretations of history. This section of the literature review,
utilizes several resources to paint a picture of reality that provides readers with a story of
history filled with pain experienced by a group of people who were stolen from their
homeland and sold into the dehumanizing institution of slavery. This story describes the
struggles experienced in their quest to first of all, be considered humans and not animals;
and their continual fight to gain rights that were supposedly provided for in the
Constitution. However, policy changes, biased court interpretations, and outright refusal
to adhere to laws often disallowed African Americans from exercising freedoms in the

United States. Access to education was one right that was not provided without

numerous fights and many setbacks. Still today, African Americans struggle to gain

26

access to knowledge that will prepare them to meet challenges and overcome obstacles,
ultimately gaining entry into the “culture of power” (Delpit, 1995).

This section will utilize the periodization method to highlight significant events,
peOple and places that influenced public education for African Americans. Victories,
setbacks, tensions, overt acts of racism, and hypocrisy will be illuminated to portray the
mountainous terrain traveled by those who believed that African Americans were human,
United States citizens, who should receive human liberties based on the Constitution
prior to the laws passed to exclude them, including a free public education.

Literacy spreads among African Americans — (1630 — 1739)

Many early advocates of slavery favored the education of Blacks. They used the
argument that they were helping Blacks by enslaving them to enlighten them concerning
the Gospel message of Christianity. Missionaries were the first educators of Blacks
because their responsibility was twofold: to teach Blacks to read and most importantly to
proselytize them, often using Bibles as textbooks (Woodson, 1916).

The African American struggle to acquire literacy began during the 17th century.
Their education in early America was based on three main principles: 1) To educate
slaves for Bible reading, to make them Christian; 2) All people should be free and should
support Christian efforts to abolish slavery and provide equal access to education
(supported mainly by Quakers); 3) Slavery should be abolished to enable Africans to take
their rightfiil place among the other citizens because the country emerged from a concept
of individual freedom. “Rightful place” did not necessarily mean “equal status.” Many

well-known abolitionists, such as John Jay, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Benjamin Franklin,

27

and others supported the latter view of education for Blacks, based on their words and
actions (Morgan, 1995), while Thomas Jefferson vacillated on his beliefs.

State records show efforts of various individuals and organizations that attempted
to assist African Americans in their quest for literacy acquistion and development. As
early as the 16303, French Catholics were providing an education for all laborers,
regardless of race, in Louisiana. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts financially supported missionaries and schoolmasters who taught slaves
and free persons of color how to read and write. The Society sent Rev. Samuel Thomas
to South Carolina where he began teaching African Americans around 1695 (Gordon,
1971). By 1705, he had assisted more than 20 Negroes in their efforts to become literate
(Woodson, 1916). The Society also supported the opening of a school in New York in
1704 under Elias Neau (Harley, 1995), who held evening classes in his home after
students completed their daily tasks. By 1708, he was teaching approximately 200
hundred students, and had moved classes to a church building (Morgan, 1995). Neau’s
school was temporarily closed following an insurrection in 1712. It was believed that the
28 Blacks involved in the slave revolt were students of Neau’s school. The school was
reopened after investigators learned that the armed slaves had met secretly in the center
of the city, and were not students. Their plan was to set fire to the home of one of the
slave owners as a distraction. Whites who came to help battle the blaze were shot. The
New York State Militia was called in to find the plotters and as a deterrent to other slaves
who may have desired to join the revolters. They were eventually captured and put to

death. When the school’s name was cleared, slaves were actually encouraged to attend

28

Neau’s school because slave holders began to believe that the school would occupy the
slaves and serve as a deterrent to other conspiracies.

What was considered “progress” to African Americans and advocates for their
education, was threatening to the economic futures of some slaveholders and they set out
to desist the rapid growth of literacy development among Blacks.

More than a century of continuous dehumanization (1740 — 1867)

In 1740, South Carolina enacted a law prohibiting the teaching of slaves and from
using slaves as scribes (Woodson, 1916). South Carolina’s reaction began a plethora of
responses by slave and free states during the early 18th century. However, missionary
groups fought hard to provide Blacks with an education. By 1773, Quakers in Rhode
Island had opened a school for “Colored” children, with a ministerial group from London
providing the financial backing. Another school for “Colored” children was opened in
Boston with Elisher Sylvester, a White teacher, in charge (Morgan, 1995). In 1780,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey allowed Black and White children to attend school
together. The Quakers were especially active in setting the stage for this phenomenon,
opening schools for poor children and making no racial distinctions (Morgan, 1995).
Philanthropic giving from their membership supported the education of Blacks on a local
basis. They encouraged fellow Quaker members to duplicate their efforts throughout the
country, but they were more successful in the North than in the South (Morgan, 1995).

The Quakers formed the Manumission Society in Philadelphia, and later in New
York, to protect slaves from bounty hunters. The trustees of this organization read like a
“who’s who list” of important people. Alexander Hamilton, one of the authors of the

F ederalists Papers, and John Jay - the first Chief Justice of the United States, were

29

trustees. Jay suppported anti-slavery movements and schools for African Americans. He
felt that slavery diminished the national character. The African Free School started with
40 students, most having slave parents (Morgan, 1995). Cornelius Davis left a White
school to become the first teacher. In 1791, girls were admitted after a female teacher
was hired. By 1796, the school had its own building which was lost to a fire. The City of
New York contributed land for the construction of African Free School Number 1, and
African Free School Number 2 was built in 1820 to accommodate 500 pupils (Morgan,
1995). The powerful trustees of the schools were not very involved during the early
stages of the school. Administrators had to develop ways to increase their interest.
Scholars and educators from around the world were invited to observe the school’s
program. Programs including poetry, prose and essay reading by the pupils were
presented to the international scholars, who were quite impressed. Morgan (1995)
describes some of the school’s accomplishments:

This pragmatic mission of empowerment for free Blacks gave rise to a

concentration on direct instruction in reading, writing, natural history,

astronomy, arithmetic, navigation, and moral education. Joseph Lancaster

had developed a unique approach to instruction, materials, and supplies in the

teaching of poor children in England, and the Lancasterian system was adopted

by the African Free School. The African Free School gave to education some

of our earliest examples of special classes for the gifted, called “Merit” classes,

and the use of pupils to tutor younger pupils in lower grades. In later years the

school expanded its curriculum to include globe use, composition, map making,

and linear drawing (p. 42).

Some of the graduates of the African Free School became quite successful leaders
in the African American and White communities. Ira Aldridge became known in Europe
as one of the greatest interpreters of Shakespearean characters; James McCune Smith

became the first Black pharmacist in New York City, later graduating from the University

of Scotland and becoming the medical director of the Colored Orphan Asylum in New

30

York; Edward A. Jones graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1826,
becoming the first African American college graduate. John B. Russman was the editor
of the first African American newspaper, Freedman ’s Journal, later becoming the
superintendent of schools in Liberia, and the governor of the Colony of Cape Palmas in
Liberia. Martin DeLaney graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1852, and practiced
medicine in Pittsburgh. He participated in halting a cholera epidemic, but could never
develop enough support for private practice. He served in the Union army during the
Civil War, and eventually worked for several newspapers including his own The Mystery,
and Frederick Douglass’ The North Star.

Although some Africans Americans were successful after completing the African
Free School’s programs, many were not successful in attaining positions in their areas of
training. The American society was not ready to allow Blacks access to employment,
regardless of their schooling experiences. Blacks who were not fortunate enough to
participate in special schools such as the African Free Schools especially suffered at the
hands of a prejudice society.

With the forming of a new nation, there were questions concerning the status of
African Americans which addressed their “legal” citizenship with rights as set forth in the
U.S. Constitution. Free African Americans were especially concerned with this issue
because access to public schooling was based on citizenship status. From the beginning,
the United States was founded on a belief in white supremacy, and was considered a
white man’s country. Illuminating this belief, the “founding fathers” limited
naturalization to white aliens during a meeting in the First Congress of the United States

in 1790 (Takaki, 1979). Although this limited the citizenship of “newcomers”, it did not

31

address the issue of people who were already in the country during its inception, such as
African Americans.

Individual states were left to make their own decisions, and the northern states’
their belief in white supremacy became evident. In Indiana, African Americans could not
testify in court against whites, participate in the military, nor vote, based on laws passed
by 1811. In 1807, Ohio excluded them from state residency unless they posted a $500
bond for good behavior (Gerber, 1976). Illinois ordered every free Black to leave the
state or receive 39 lashes, which would be repeated every 15 days until their evacuation.
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa refused Blacks the right to vote (Berwanger, 1967).

Midwestern laws set precedence for the western territories. In 1849, California
voted to adopt restrictions on African Americans including not being allowed to
intermarry with whites. In 1857, Oregon was admitted to the union as the only free state
to have a black exclusion clause in its original constitution. Oregon demanded that all
Blacks leave the state or receive floggings, and ultimately servanthood to Whites. In
Kansas many antislavery advocates voted to exclude Blacks from living in the territory,
which illuminated the belief that many antislavery advocates fought slavery in the name
of white supremacy only. Many of them voted to bar Blacks from office holding and
militia service. This belief was also prevalent in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and
Nebraska.

It was difficult to understand why the western territories were especially anti-
African American because few Blacks actually lived in these areas. It is believed that
anti-slavery movements in these states won their fight against slavery by agreeing to

preserve the areas for whites only. In 1831, Prudence Crandall established a girl’s

32

boarding school in Canterbury, CT. She admitted one African American girl a year
latter, which resulted in the withdrawal of most of the white students. Crandall
responded by opening an all Black school with the help of some abolitionists. In
response to the Quaker woman’s successful endeavor to open a high school for African
American females, Connecticut agreed to limit the African American population in the
state in 1833. Locals attempting to close the all Black school took Prudence Crandall to
court based on the allegation that she was violating the new law prohibiting providing an
education for colored persons who were not citizens of the state. The school was
eventually closed after a series of trials and arrests.

Although laws to gradually abolish slavery had become effective by 1804 in many
northern states, African Americans were still not allowed access to education for the most
part. Their education was left up to the benevolence of whites in their state and often
depended on their citizenship status. This connection of citizenship and rights to
education provided the rationale that many whites needed to feel comfortable limiting
Blacks’ access to literacy.

The federal government supported the degrading actions of the states by
continuously allowing them admission to the union. However, the legal status of African
Americans was not defined by the federal government until the Dred Scott decision of
1857, which outlined the government’s belief that the founding fathers never intended to
include descendants of Africa, whether slave or free. Unfortunately the issue was not
settled until 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to people of

African American descent, thus allowing better access to literacy.

33

Access to literacy was very limited from the nation’s inception to the Civil War.
Even when free states admitted African American children they were sent to separate
facilities away from white children. In Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and New England
states, African American children were usually sent to segregated schools when they
were allowed to attend (Litwack, 1961). In 1835, Noyes Academy in Canaan, NH
admitted several African Americans. Protests of whites displayed their belief that they
did not want Blacks in public or private schools with their children. Noyles Academy
passed a policy in 1835 that stated they would allow anyone who qualified to attend their
school regardless of race or color. The local magistrate stOpped a white mob who
intended to destroy the school in July, 1835. During the same month, an “official” town
meeting appointed a committee to destroy the school. In August, the committee used
nearly 100 yoke of oxen to remove the building from its foundation (Litwack, 1961).

In many states African Americans were excluded from educational opportunities.
Although African Americans were taxed locally to support the public schools in Ohio,
their children were not allowed to attend school. Finally, in 1829 the state tried to
provide an education for blacks, but it was delayed for 2 years resulting from local
Officials’ refusal to provide schools for “Blacks. Even though these schools were all
Black, Whites were not satisfied. In Zanesville, Ohio Whites entered the African
American school and destroyed books and furnishings, eventually driving the institution
out of town. Teachers were exposed to insults and violence in many other Ohio cities.
Although legislation was eventually passed in 1849 to use a portion of common school

funds to provide for Black schools, most African American children were educated in

34

private schools financed by private contributions, and often located in churches or shacks
(Gerber, 1976).

Because Illinois legislators feared the prospect of Blacks attending school with
white children, they voted down an education article in 1848, and avoided discussing
public education altogether until 1870 (McCaul, 1987). School districts progressive
enough to admit African American children had to incur additional costs without state
aid, because state funds were only provided for white children. Consequently, most
school districts opted not to provide an education for African Americans. During the
school year 1865-1866, there were approximately 300 or 5% out of 6,000 African-
American children attending school in Illinois; in comparison to 614,000 or 80% of
759,987 White children (McCaul, 1987). Interestingly, Illinois along with many other
states denied African American access to education during the pre-Civil War period, but
continuously used illiteracy as the reason for denying voting and other rights.

Despite efforts to inhibit Blacks from becoming literate, they gradually managed
to gain access to education especially in the heavily populated urban areas. Many opted
not to attend schools which were made available to them because they were continuously
harassed. Also, public schools for the poor carried the stigma of education for “paupers”,
and many Blacks refused to be categorized as such. Instead, they found other ways to
provide an education for themselves, their children, and other Blacks. African American
churches were utilized as educational societies and began Opening their own schools in
the 17908. By the mid-18205 African American Sunday schools were teaching basic
literacy skills to many Northern Blacks. Many free Blacks made great sacrifices to

provide an education for other Blacks. In 1807, Bell School, the first school for Black

35

children in Washington, DC, was established by George Bell, Nicholas Franklin, and
Moses Liverpool - free Blacks. In 1811, Christopher McPherson, a wealthy free Black,
opened a night school for free Blacks in Richmond, Virginia. Because he refused to yield
to the threats of prejudice Whites in powerful positions, he was eventually jailed and sent
to the Williamsburg Lunatic Asylum, and the teacher was run out of town (Harley, 1995).
In 1814, the Afiican Free School in New York City was burned, but reopened in a new
location in 1815. Philadelphia free Blacks established the Pennsylvania Augustine
Society for “the education of people of colour” in 1818 (Harley, 1995).

Although some Blacks were receiving an education, literacy learning was mainly
limited to the elementary level. In 1850, Gilmore High School in Cincinnati was the only
secondary institution for African Americans in a major city. African Americans made
great sacrifices to obtain an education for their children. In the school year 1849-50,
African American children attending school ranged from 38% in Cincinnati to 79% in
Boston (Curry, 1981). Blacks continued to strive for increased access to literacy for their
children, and gradually made great gains in spite of the danger and harrassment it caused.

On the eve of the Civil War most states refused to recognize African Americans
as citizens (Wood, 1968), and did not provide an education for Black children. Some
states, including Indiana and Iowa, excluded them from settling in their state, and every
Midwestern state denied them the right to vote or serve in the military (Voegeli, 1967).
Many urban areas that allowed African Americans to attend school separated them into
unequal, poorly furnished facilities. However, after the war states began to change their

“black laws” (Wood, 1968).

36

After the emancipation of 4 million slaves in the South, with a 90% illiteracy rate
in 1865, African Americans organized with determination to gain access to literacy
during the postwar period.

Citizens on “paper” with “limited” access to knowledge (1869 -— 1899)

After the war, men, women, and children enthusiastically gathered in schools to
acquire basic literacy skills. Children hurried to school after their work was over, and
men rushed home from the fields to get in an hour of study time before dusk. African
Americans utilized their “newfound” skills to improve life for themselves and others.
Soldiers, some who were former slaves, wrote to Washington to complain of inadequate
medical treatment, or to request protection for their enslaved family members. Newly
freed slaves wanted to learn to read so they could read the Bible. Others realized the
importance of understanding labor and property contracts. In several states, some
freedmen were tricked into signing contracts making them indentured servants right after
the war. Literate people in the Black community were often called upon to decipher
contract terms as a precaution.

In the North, there were basically two schools of thought concerning the
education of Blacks. Some voices in the Freedmen’s Bureau believed that Blacks
aspired to become literate because they understood the power and influence that Whites
had was connected to education, and therefore desired to acquire the same education.
However, others in the organization recognized that one of the conflicting functions of
literacy created a “double-edged sword” of liberation and control that created confusion.
Still others believed that education was the only viable way to integrate a previously

enslaved race into a racist society (Anderson, 1988).

37

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In
06..

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far.
15)

i

This belief in acquiring a “White” education as the best way of improving one’s
life was not shared by all Black Southerners. Some believed that they were better off
being separate from Whites, and making a life of their own. In January, 1865, a group of
educated Savannah African American ministers organized the Black Education
Association and founded their own schools, with their own teachers and curriculum. By
1867, they had organized 120 schools in 40% of Georgia’s counties, with staffs
consisting of Black teachers only.

Many Northemers, Black and White, did not share the belief that Blacks could
run their own literacy program. They were often astonished at the accomplishments of
Black Southerners concerning literacy development. Although they were enslaved, most
Black Southern ministers were literate — having secretly learned to read and write.
Although Northern missionaries and freedmen’s aid societies preferred to employ
northern teachers, they hired Southern Blacks out of necessity. Schools were expanding
quickly and there was a dire need for teachers in the North and South. Some Blacks who
escaped slavery were determined to go back South to make a difference amongst the
recently emancipated group. Harriet Brent Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a
Slave Girl (1987), was among them. She was taught to read by her mistress and hid from
her master’s sexual advances before escaping to the North. Jacobs and her daughter
returned to the South and taught in Savannah.

Tensions mounted in the educational efforts of the postwar period, as Blacks
made it clear that they preferred Black teachers. They continuously chose Black schools
over White ones that were made available to them. Some African Americans felt that

Whites lowered the standards for teachers that taught Black students, and they did not

38

bel ieve that White teachers were as adamant as Black teachers about providing
exceptional educational experiences for their students that including encouraging them to
f‘i ght for equal rights. Several white philanthropists refused to support Black schools that
advocated civil rights. In response to such attitudes, the Fort Scott Kansas Colored
Citizen published the following in 1878:
While we believe it is an outrage upon the civilization of the age to carry
on the caste schools, yet if they must be forced upon us and if our children
are always to be reminded by them that they are not entitled to the privilege
of going to the same school that every other class of Americans are permitted
to attend, then we shall insist upon it, that our educated sons and daughters
are placed in them as teachers and not always content with sending them to
some poor white man or woman who would not be permitted to teach in the
white schools, but are put off on the colored people (Berry & Blassingame,
1982, p. 278).
In addition to hiring unqualified White teachers to teach at Black schools as a roadblock
to B 1 30k education, some White churches licensed Black preachers to persuade Blacks to
attend their church and schools. Many of the Black preachers were found to be illiterate,
Whi Ch infuriated ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal organization, who prided
them Selves in establishing high standards for their ministers.
Although much credit is given to northern missionaries and philanthropists,
African Americans, themselves were responsible for founding and perpetuating most of
the educational efforts in the South after the war. Ex-slaves were the leaders who were
lainly responsible for the entire late 19th century public education movement in the
South who carried with them from slavery into freedom the belief in universal learning as
the foundation for freedom and citizenship (Anderson, 198 8). By the end of the 19th

Cetl'ltury African Americans had made great accomplishments toward their goal of

elilIrinating illiteracy among their people.

39

to help their people included Jeremiah Sanderson, Mifflin W. Gibbs, and other California
Blacks who organized a statewide conference to work for integrated schools in 1871.
Mary Jane Patterson became the first principal of Preparatory High School (later Dunbar
High School), Washington, D.C.’s premier school for Blacks. Many Black colleges and
universities were founded by churches during this period. In 1890, Emma Frances
Grayson Merritt principal of the Garnet School, established the first kindergarten for
Black pupils in the United States, in Washington, DC.

Although Blacks made many strides during this period, the eve of the 19th
century brought a terrible blow to the struggle for academic access and freedom. In
1896, the Supreme Court ruled in the famous Plessy v. Ferguson case that there can be
separate, but equal public accommodations. Wounded, but determined, Blacks would
continue their fight for literacy, fighting tirelessly some of their most difficult battles in
the early 20th century.

The Twentieth Century African American “fight” for literacy (1900 — 1999)

In 1900, the literacy rate for black males ages 10-14 was 64%; for black females
ages 10-14, the rate was 71%; and adult black men ages 45-54 had a literacy rate of only
36%. Illiteracy remained high among adults because of slavery, but African American
children were becoming more literate, with approximately 65% ages 10-14 attending
school in 1900 (Margo, 1990). Blacks seemed to be progressively improving their plight
- striving to achieve universal literacy. However, it was at this time that Whites decided
to display their feelings of discontentment by mounting a campaign of massive resistance
to the educational progress of Blacks in the South. They used their old, slavery rationale

that educated blacks were “troublemakers” and “discontented laborers”. Moreover, they

40

were considered a threat to the region’s social order. Govemer James K. Vardaman of
Mississippi stated: “The Negro isn’t permitted to advance and their education only spoils
a good field hand and makes a shyster lawyer or a fourth-rate teacher” (McMillen, 1989,
p. 72). The ex-govemor of Alabama, William Dorsey Jelks agreed:
The education of the Negro has made him a burden, or, to express

it differently, far less valuable as a citizen. The farm is the one opening for

him, and this, when he has acquired a smattering of letters, he leaves. He

congregates in the towns and leads for the most part an idle life, and in large

numbers, a vicious life. Teaching him to read has thus far proven a curse to

the material interests of the South, and this beyond the costs of the schools.

The hope many had lay in the expectation that a second and third generation

that could read would mark a distinct improvement on the first. We are yet

to learn if this hope is ground-less. Books have given us a larger proportion

of vagrants and a larger proportion of thieves as well (Jelks, 1907, p. 391).
Whites had varying ideas concerning Black public schooling, but the most pervasive was
the fear that it would change the economic and social order (McMillen, 1989). This fear
combined with the outspoken opposition of men like Vardaman and Jelks resulted in state
and county policy changes that “reversed the pattern of advancement that had
characterized black public education from Reconstruction to 1900. During the first half
of the 20th century the dominant white South would use state power to repress the
development of black public education, a process of repression so severe that it continues
to affect the shape and character of black public education throughout the region
(Anderson, 1995, p. 32).

While some Whites were trying to impede access to public education for Blacks,
some Blacks were fighting amongst themselves concerning the best way to educate their

race. Two of the most prominent voices were WEB. DuBois and Booker T.

Washington. The following poem written by famous Black poet Dudley Randall (1972)

41

describes the contrasting educational philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B.

DuBois:

Booker T. & W.E.B.

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,

“It shows a mighty lot of cheek

To study chemistry and Greek

When Mr. Charlie needs a hand

To hoe the cotton on his land,

And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”

“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,

“If 1 should have the drive to seek
Knowledge of chemistry or Greek,

I’ll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Another place for hand or cook.

Some men rejoice in skill of hand,

And some in cultivating land,

But there are others who maintain

The right to cultivate the brain.”

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,

“That all you folks have missed the boat
Who shout about the right to vote,

And spend vain days and sleepless nights
In uproar over civil rights,

Just keep your mouth shut, do not grouse,
But work, and save, and buy a house.”
“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,

“For what can property avail

If dignity and justice fail.

Unless you help to make the laws,
They’ll steal your house with trumped-up clause.
A rope’s as tight, a fire as hot,

No matter how much cash you’ve got.
Speak soft and try your little plan

But as for me, I’ll be a man.”

“It seems to me,” said Booker T. -

“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.

The philosophies of DuBois, Washington and several of their supporters will be further

explored in the next section of this literature review - the African American church

historical overview.

42

Several other Blacks spoke out concerning educating the Black race during this
time, including Horace Mann Bond, who documented the shift in black public education
in an essay featured in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Negro Education (Bond,
1932). He discussed the shift from relative equality in the late nineteenth century to gross
inequality in the early twentieth century. He focused upon common/elementary
schooling because blacks had yet to receive fair treatment in secondary and higher
education institutions. Bond discussed the changes that had occurred in Alabama from
the 1889-1890 academic school year when African American children were 43.8% of the
population and received 44% of state funds to schools, to 1929-1930 when they were
40% of the school population, but only received 11% of the state funds. This shift also
occurred in the other Southern states.

Funds were not only limited for African American students, but teachers as well.
In Mississippi, a law was passed that allowed the school board to pay white teachers the
maximum $55, and pay African American teachers at the same grade level, the minimum
$25 (Bond, 1932).

Because public education was established to be funded by equal taxation to
everyone who owned property (with or without children), African American landowners
were receiving a raw deal. They had to pay taxes for white children to attend schools,
and had to pay for their children to attend black schools that were funded privately. In
Alabama, out of 1,056 schools for black children, 426 were publicly owned in 1915.

This situation became progressively worse over time. In 1938,only 730 out of 2,407

school buildings for blacks were publicly owned.

43

The outlook was even more grim for blacks who wanted to receive a secondary
education. From 1880 to 1930, America’s high schools transformed from elite private
institutions into public schools attended by many. The South kept up with the changes
that were occurring in secondary education. In 1934, 54% of White high school aged
children attended high school in the South; whereas only 18% of African American high
school aged children attended high school, (except in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and
Mississippi, where only 10% attended) (Anderson, 1988). Anderson emphasizes:

...by the early 19305, when rural whites, urban working-class whites, and

the children of European immigrants had been brought systematically into

the public high school, black children as a class were deliberately excluded

(Anderson, 1995, p. 35).

This pattern of exclusion continued until the 19605. Only 23% of high school aged
African Americans were attending public high schools when World War II began, and
only 20% attended in Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama. Throughout the
19405 enrollment trends vacillated, initially decreasing until 1946, and finally increasing
to approximately 33% by 1948. Finally in the 19605 public high school education was
considered universal (Anderson, 1995).

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
tackled the problem of discrimination in schooling and won a landmark case - Brown v.
Topeka Board of Education in 1954. After 58 long years, the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson
decision was finally reversed, when the Supreme Court ordered the integration of public
education. The courts allowed time to desegregate schools, which allowed some places
to organize massive resistance efforts. For example, Alabama paid a psychologist to

“prove” that Blacks had lower IQs than Whites, and in 1956 nineteen Senators and

eighty-one Representatives signed a Southern Manifesto, which addressed their resistance

44

to integration (Berry & Blassingame, 1982). Many Blacks who allowed their children to
attend integrated schools 1055 their jobs and were threatened. In some areas such as Little
Rock, Arkansas and Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools were closed to
prevent Black children from attending school with Whites. In other areas, state funds
were used to open private White schools. Between 1954 and 1963 Whites rioted or
bombed schools nine times, to display their disagreement with school integration. During
this time, Black teachers and principals were systematically fired or downgraded. Some
areas were still not desegregated as late as the 19705.

In the North, Whites moved out of the cities into the suburbs, as Blacks migrated
to urban areas. This resulted in the creation of public school systems that were
predominantly Black or White. The tax base in the city dwindled, and fewer and fewer
dollars were allotted to the large metropolitan populations within the city. By the 19605
many Blacks in the urban areas were taught by White teachers who lived in the suburbs
and sent their children to suburban or private schools. In the 19705 the increasing
population of upper- and middle-class Blacks joined White suburbans, sending their
children to suburban or private schools, leaving the urban school districts in a more
deteriorated state.

Blacks began to realize that integration was not necessarily as beneficial as it was
initially perceived to be. Edwards (1993) addresses this issue when she states:

It is not surprising that today’s school districts are faced with a second

generation of desegregation problems. Many of these problems have

surfaced because trying to attack racism within the school system was

never a part of the desegregation package. Simply put, desegregation

put African-American children in a racist context hoping that they would

learn anyway because, at least they then could share in the same material
benefits of an integrated school 0). 343).

45

The consequences of desegregation have not all been positive. Lightfoot (1980) raised a
critical question: Can a desegregated school maintain segregation in how it treats its
students, their community, and their parents? After a decade, Bates (1990) answered this
question:

These problems stemmed from inequities within schools rather than between

schools. They included such educational matters as unequal access to classrooms

and programs and the disproportionately high rates of suspension and dropping
out among minority students. At the same time it was becoming very clear that,
in addition to segregation by race, in-school segregation was also occurring by

gender and national origin (p. 10).

Experienced Black teachers and principals were the first to feel the brunt of
integration when they were downgraded or fired. However, new Black teachers found it
difficult to gain employment in integrated schools. Black students also had a difficult
time, frequently being expelled, suspended, and placed in the lowest educational tracks at
much higher rates than Whites. Black parents did not have a voice in the curriculum,
staffing and other goals of the schools where their children attended. Black students were
counseled into vocational or general education programs, seldom being allowed to pursue
college preparatory courses. James Forman describes his typical experience as a black
youth:

The whole argument about us being Negroes and all the implications

of this, and our not being able to get jobs and we should get some

security and four years of shop would give us some basis for getting

a job if we do not go to college and we might well not go to college

because we don’t have much money --- all those arguments were too

much for me. At no point in this debate did anyone consider my

personal aptitudes (Berry & Blassingame, 1982, p. 283).

Although Blacks were being allowed in public schools, they were still not receiving an

“equal education”. As Bates (1990) indicated above, in—school segregation was

prevalent.

46

During the 19605 and 19705 the largest and oldest school districts became
progressively “Black”. By 1970, the 100 largest school districts in the United States
serviced half of the 3.4 million Black students. By 1980, two-thirds of the Black students
in the U.S. were attending predominantly Black schools which were often ignored by
public officials. Many of these schools were overcrowded and understaffed, and seemed

to do more harm than good. In 1965 Harlem students were described:

Little is expected of them; they are rewarded for mediocre performance,
and consequently accomplish increasingly less than pupils at their grade
level should accomplish. It is an ironic and tragic inversion of the purpose
of education that Negro children in ghetto schools tend to lose ground in
IQ. as they proceed through the schools and to fall further behind the
standard for their grade level in academic performance. The schools are
presently damaging the children they exist to help (p.283).

Social mobility (Labaree, 1997) has always been one of the goals for schooling
that Blacks pursued. However, as a result of the caste system, Whites gained much more
economically than Blacks. An inverse relationship between the amount of education an
African American man had and the likelihood that his income would equal that of a
White man with the same amount of education developed over a period of time, and still
exists today. The battle for equal educational opportunities still has not been won.
National and state test scores on reading and mathematics reveal that African American
children still linger behind their White counterparts. The following statement made by
Rev. Jesse Jackson is indicative of the feelings of many African Americans today:

The challenge of this generation is to protect the gains of the past and close

the education and economic gaps in our society. This generation must run

faster in order to catch up. It must excel because we are behind. There is

one White attorney for every 680 Whites, one Black attorney for every 4,000

Blacks; one White physician for every 649 Whites, one Black physician for

every 5,000 Blacks; one White dentist for every 1,900 Whites, one Black

dentist for every 8,400 Blacks. Less than one percent of all engineers are Black,
Blacks make up less than one percent of all practicing chemists.

47

The New Generation must excel because resistance to our upward
mobility has increased. Bakke and “Bakkeism” has convinced White America,
erroneously, that Blacks are making progress at the expense of Whites. The
mass media has conveyed to White America that Blacks have gained too much,
too fast and have come too far in their quest for equality. There is resistance to
our upward mobility.
The New Generation must excel because the sickness of racism, in
too many instances, forces us to be superior in order to be considered average.
A White high school dropout still has greater job opportunities than a Black
high school graduate....Our goal is educational and economic equity and parity
(Berry & Blassingame, 1982, p. 293-4).
Summary of historical overview of public education

The history of the African American experience in the public school setting has
been one of turmoil, frustration, and humiliation. Over the years, educational
opportunities have been provided and then retracted, offered and then taken away,
promised and then not given. African Americans and other minorities have had to fight
for literacy. These negative experiences within the educational system of the United
States for African Americans are in stark contrast to the positive learning experiences that
the African American Church has provided. While comparing the histories of these two
significant institutions, it becomes apparent why African American students have
historically had difficulties excelling in their public school environments, but have been,
and continues to be successful in the learning environment of the African American
Church.
Historical Overview of the African American Church

Because of the unique approach being utilized in this project, I believe that it is
necessary to establish the African American Church as one of the most influential

institutions in the African American community by discussing the significant role that it

has played in every aspect of African American life (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990; Frazier,

48

1963; Weems, 1991). In the learning environment of the church, many cultural values
are taught, reinforced, and perpetuated (Delpit, 1995), especially black theological
perspectives of the Christian Bible (F elder, 1991; Moyd, 1995; Cone, 1989; Hopkins,
1994; Proctor, 1984). It is my hypothesis that this unique way of interpreting the Bible is
the basis of the teaching and learning (internalizing) of literacy in the context of the
African American church; and regardless of the literacy experiences that African
American children have or do not have at home, when they attend church, they
participate in numerous literacy experiences that are based on Black theology. I further
hypothesize that these experiences affect their initial literacy acquisition and
development, the way they think about literacy, and ultimately affect their literacy
development in their classrooms at school (Edwards, Danridge, McMillon & Pleasants, in
press). By simultaneously discussing the historical development of the African American
church and the literacy acquisition and development of African American people
affiliated with the church, it will become apparent that the two portray a direct
relationship. As the African American church grows, African Americans become more
literate; and as African Americans become more literate, the African American church
grows. I will show how this growth was based on a foundation of black theology which
developed from the initial need for a unified response to the slavemasters’ efforts to
justify slavery with the Christian Bible, and a continuous need to fight racism in the
United States.

Also related to the development of black theology is the similarity between
discourse patterns of the African American church and home, which in my opinion,

originated from a historical phenomenon that demonstrates the interconnectedness of

49

religion and language for African American people. This section will discuss in detail
the historical phenomenon from which these discourse patterns evolved. I believe the
complex relationship between religion, language, literacy, and politics for African
Americans continues to be interconnected and is the foundation upon which the fictive
kinship system (Fordham, 1988) is built. This social network system serves as a resource
of cultural/social capital for its members (especially within the church environment),
aiding in the perpetuation of social norms, and the facilitation of negotiating cultural
boundaries between various environments outside of the church. However, the fictive
kinship system can also be a source of cultural interference in the classroom of an
uninformed teacher who is not aware of its existence (McMillon & Edwards, 2000), and
do not understand the influence that out-of-school experiences can have on classroom
learning (Resnick, 1987; Heath, 1983; Purcell-Gates, 1995; Edwards, Pleasants &
Franklin, 1999)). This section of the literature review will vividly explain the frame of
reference from which many African American students are operating, thereby showing
evidence of the importance of conducting research in the context of the African American
church, and the necessity of including its voice in the conversation concerning the
education of African American students.

What is the African American Church?

In order to fully grasp the nature of my argument, it is necessary to first
understand what the African American church is to African American people. It has no
counterpart in the United States. The separation of church and state does not exist for
most African Americans, because they believe that religion plays a significant part in

every aspect of their lives. Broadly conceived, the African American Church is often

50

represented as the most successful and influential institution in the African American
community. As such, many metaphors have been used to describe the African American
church. Historically, it has taken the leadership role in the community by serving as the
mouthpiece, advocate, and defender (Proctor, 1995). The African American church has
always been the clearing house for the community. Whether the issues were social,
political, or economic, the African American church has been the place where
conversations occurred, ideas were shared, problems were solved, and actions were taken
(Nelson et al., 1975). To African Americans, the church is not just a place of worship. It
is a safe haven for wounded spirits, a firm foundation for unstable families, and a fortress
in a community that is constantly under attack by outsiders trying to promote their own
agenda by attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others (Mukenge, 1983). The African
American church is the only institution that African Americans own and control without
having to answer to outsiders (Freedman, 1993). It is one of the few institutions that
endured through slavery. After worshipping with their masters, slaves would secretly
attend their own church, an “invisible institution” located in the backwoods of plantations
or in their own slave quarters, where they would hear a liberation gospel that taught them
that God created all men equal (Montgomery, 1993). The African American church
continues to be the place where African Americans go to receive encouragement,
reaffirmation, and validation. The African American church is the “mother womb” of
black culture (Lincoln et al., 1990). It has given birth to schools, banks, insurance
companies, and low-income housing; and has nurtured young talent for musical,
dramatic, and artistic development (Lincoln et al., 1990). E. Franklin Frazier’s

description, “nation within a nation” represents the multiple levels of involvement of the

51

African American church in the black community (Frazier, 1974). There is an old cliché
that is well known in the black community that states: “anything worth anything came
out of the black church.” Within the numerous metaphors used to describe the African
American church, there lies the opportunity to discover how the positive atmosphere of
the church can support the learning of African American children. However, it is first
necessary to understand what they are taught in this setting.

What is black theology?

 

The African American church as indicated above is a very powerful institution. It
is a place where theological perspectives are taught and developed. Theology is the study
of man’s beliefs about God. When a group of people has similar beliefs, those beliefs
facilitate the deveIOpment of a sense of community among them (Frank & Yasumoto,
1998). Because of the dehumanizing way that most blacks were brought to the United
States, they shared a common slavery experience, and many brought African religious
beliefs and practices that had similarities. These commonalities between blacks created a
unique “social location” from which to develop a cohesiveness that would continue to
unify them forever (Weems, 1991). Dr. Renita Weems, an African American Vanderbilt
theologian, defines social location as: past experiences, values, and beliefs from which a
person develops his/her perspective which becomes the foundation of their decision
making process. In an effort to develop strategies for survival, slaves created a black
theology that met their needs based on their social location. This black theology was the
impetus that compelled black men and women to separate from white Christian churches

and start their own church - the African American Church. Although slavery no longer

52

exists, black theology continues to thrive and is the foundation upon which African
American churches are built today.

Black theology is a liberation theology, (also called a liberation gospel) (F elder,
1991; Moyd, 1995; Cone, 1989; HOpkins, 1994; Proctor, 1995), based on three goals: 1)
Fighting racial discrimination; 2) Building black resources; and 3) An undaunting,
unrelentless faith in freedom. First, fighting racial discrimination refers to the efforts to
restructure the power relations between blacks and whites in the United States. Much
energy is spent on attacking restrictions caused and imposed by the white-male
dominated power structure. This goal intertwines religion and politics in the African
American church, and “is identified with black self-determination for political power,
claiming one’s space” (Hopkins, p. 5). A5 I previously stated, there is no such thing as
separation of church and state in this context. As a matter of fact, the African American
church was birthed in response to oppressive political strife (Cone, 1997). Secondly,
building black resources refers to the church’s commitment to building black people,
institutions and movements. This goal is associated with the cultural beauty of blackness
and self-identity. The church has invested much time, energy, and other resources
focusing on the arts. Many famous musicians, actors and singers first performed in the
African American church setting. The African American church spearheads numerous
community and economic development programs in an attempt to build black institutions.
Also, the African American church has been and continues to be a resource of human
capital for movements that strive to improve the status of blacks in this country, including
the NAACP, and countless other organizations. Lastly, an unrelentless faith in freedom

has been the bricks and mortar that cemented the African American church together for

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centuries. A belief in their own destiny of freedom has always been based on the unique
African American interpretation of the Christian Bible. The core message of the
Christian Bible and the lived experiences of African Americans are uniquely similar in
that they both exemplify the struggles of the poor and demand justice, equality, and
liberation for all. The very existence of the African American church has been based on
the three aforementioned goals and the belief that it is God’s divine will to continue to
pursue attainment of these goals. Thus, pursuit of these goals have shaped the belief and
value system within the context of the African American church which affects the beliefs
and values of its members. When children attend African American churches they learn
from explicit and implicit teaching of these values and beliefs. They attend classes and
participate in activities that teach them to process, and interpret their world according to
the African American church value system, which becomes internalized after continuous
exposure. These values are learned and reinforced socially, politically, psychologically,
spiritually, and economically. Therefore, African American children, many of whom
attend African American churches, have a unique pre-established frame of reference from
which to build (in the case of a teacher who understands their culture) or that can be a
source of cultural interference (if their teacher is uninformed).

Introduction

 

The unique, pre-established frame of reference described above has a long,
toilsome history of development. The following section traces the historical development
of the African American church and the interrelated literacy development which resulted
in the development of black theology and the fictive kinship system. Utilizing the

periodization method, the inception, organization and development of the African

54

American Church will be discussed. 1 will specifically focus on the two largest black
Christian denominations - Baptists and Methodists. Although one of the churches in this
study is considered non-denomination, it has Baptist and Methodist influences because
the pastors and the Sunday School teachers grew up in African American Baptist and/or
Methodist churches. Therefore, understanding the historical development of these two
denominations will give readers an in-depth perspective of the data collected at the
churches in the study. For organizational purposes this section is divided into four parts:
Pre-slavery West Africa - The Great Awakening (1600 - 1740); The Emergence of the
African American Church (1740 - 1800); Liberation and Organization (1800 - 1900); and
The Twentieth Century Church (1900 - 1999).

Pre-Slavery West Africa - The Great Awakening ( 1600 - 1740)

The history of the African American church is not a history of consensus. E.
Franklin Frazier (1974) asserts that all traces of African heritage were erased by the
inhumane experiences of slavery. For many years this belief was accepted as part of the
story of African Americans. While other ethnic groups could utilize their hyphenated
labels with pride because they shared a history and culture to help define who they were,
African Americans according to Frazier, had severed their African historical and cultural
ties as a result of their inhumane slavery experiences. Several scholars agree with
Frazier’s ideas. “The Negro is only an American and nothing else”, they concluded. “He
has no history and culture to guard and protect (Billingsley, 1992, p. 83).” However,
Frazier’s beliefs have been challenged by some scholars. “Contemporary scholars have
demonstrated that the history and the heritage of the African-American people does not

begin or end with slavery. It goes far back into ancient Africa, back to the origins of all

55

humankind and the rise of civilization (p.84).” The question is: Where did the African
American church come from? Did it begin after slaves were evangelized by white
Christians as a way of coping with the new environment -- a way of sensemaking for a
group of enslaved people in a strange land? Or did it derive from an intersection of three
influences: a combination of West African religions that endured the savage impact of
slavery, white Christianity, and the common experiences of slavery? A closer look at the
historical events surrounding the story of the African American church will clarify these
issues.

How did Africans get to America?

Contrary to the past teachings of many historians, most Africans were not sold by
their brutal, barbaric brothers as slaves to white Europeans in exchange for tobacco,
alcohol, clothes, and other material gain. Most slaves were sold by chiefs and other
powerful decision-makers as prisoners of war from intertribal wars (Sobel, 1988).
Because many tribes did not believe in killing their prisoners, they held them hostage for
many years and made them work as slaves. When Europeans offered them tobacco,
alcohol, clothing, and other items, they sold their prisoners of war for economic and
personal gain.

The first 20 slaves were brought to the United States in 1619 as indentured
servants (Harley, 1996). The difference between slaves and indentured servants was that
servants served a limited amount of time and were eventually freed. The first 20 slaves
gained their freedom after several years of bondage. However, a slave market was
created as Europeans brought more African slaves to the United States. Farmers and

plantation owners were unable to cultivate large pieces of land alone, and they made

56

requests to slavetraders for large amounts of slaves. After a period of time certain
plantation owners made requests for slaves from specific geographical locations because
they seemed to be better “fit” for certain types of work (Sobel, 198 8). Some plantation
owners refused to buy slaves from certain areas because they were not “fit” for the work
on their land. Depending on the nature of the work (i.e. cotton fields, housework, etc.),
slaveowners believed that slaves from certain areas worked better in various capacities.
Because large amounts of slaves from specific geographical locations were brought over
to work on the same plantation, some of them were able to salvage their beliefs, values,
languages, and religious practices. The African slaves taught their first generation
American born children, thus perpetuating some of the African religious practices.

What were some of the common religious practices of the African slaves?

Most slaves brought to the United States were from West Afiica. When they
arrived, they already had West African values and beliefs based on their West African
culture. Sobel (1988) discusses the Sacred Cosmos, which he defines as the African
“world View.” Sobel states: “Every culture can be said to have a world view, by means
of which the potential chaos of the social world is ordered and evaluated. This construct
can be used in the study of American slaves through analysis of the developing world
views of black Africans as they came into contact and interacted with the changing world
views of white Europe-Americans (p. 3).” Sobel believes that the world view of a people
is their way of making sense out of their environment. He discusses five categories that
assist in the canalization process of the West African Sacred Cosmos: time, space,
causality, purpose, and concepts of being. According to Sobel, these categories create a

system of meaning making for the West African culture.

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Sobel’s concept of “world view” is especially significant in terms of searching
for the origin of the African American church and its relation to the people who assisted
in its creation and development. From their world view , West Africans had to form new
identities in the United States. Sobel states:

The relationships between the world view, individuals, and social

structure in a given culture are dialectical. In part, the world View routinizes
and stabilizes the individual’s memory, thinking, conduct and structuring of

, significance provides taxonomy, models, and goals in relation to which the
individual must evaluate reality and choose action. The individual’s pattern
of priorities is, in part, given to him by the world view, but the individual is, at
one and the same time, a participant, a co-producer, and a dialectical taker and
giver. He finds a system. In his taking it, however, he changes it, making it both
his own and something different. The world View that emerges is changed by
each and every view and products of it; yet, they, too, transform and then transmit
further a somewhat changed world view. By stabilizing or institutionalizing
cultural elements, institutions change the relative importance of these very
elements and create the need for new responses or new understandings. Thus,
the world View of any culture holds within itself dynamic elements. Its
transmission by individuals and institutions must lead to its change, although
clearly different world views regularly generate change at different rates (p. 4).

Sobel’s explanation of the Sacred Cosmos assists in understanding how West Africans
learned to cope with their new environment. Many of the slaves that came to North
America spoke different languages and had various religious practices, however, the
social trauma of slavery motivated them to search for commonalities, and combine their
commonalties to create a West African Sacred Cosmos which captured the essence of
their most significant values and beliefs. The creation of the Sacred Cosmos was
possible because there were foundational similarities between the West African belief
and value systems. Some of the foundational West African beliefs that were similar

included:

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God as Supreme Being

West Africans believed in a Supreme God who was in total control, and they
understood the importance of being in touch with Him. They desired to commune with
Him and live in peace. To achieve that end, they were committed to living a certain way.
Prayers and Worship

Prayers to the Supreme God were common among all West Africans. Prayers
were offered daily, and at some ritualistic occasions such as planting, harvesting, and
before a battle. Extemporaneous prayers were frequently spoken throughout the day.
Some groups had professional priests who dedicated their lives to serve in their formal
temples. Altars were built in the temples and smaller versions were found in every
family compound. God’s name indicated a connection with spirit, force or power, and
also meant glory, dignity, majesty and grace. When trying to make sense of slavery most
West African people viewed God as having removed Himself for various reaSons. Some
believed that man broke some kind of rule. Others believed that man was making too
many minor requests and God become irritated and withdrew. While there were various
beliefs concerning God’s distancing Himself, most believed that they would one day be
in constant communion with Him again. After death man would live in peace again.
“The Yoruba and the Mawu maintain an expectation of personal contact with God, but
only after death. The Yoruba believe that when we die we shall have to state our case in
the hall of heaven. The good will be sent to the good heaven, and the wicked to the

heaven of pot sherds (Sobel, p.12).”

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Spirit: Nyam or Do

Nyam was used to refer to the Supreme God and in relation to spirit, force, or
power. Nyama was characterized by the Bombora as “a force, a power,...an
energy...possessed by every man, every animal, every living being...which never
disappears, for even afier death it continues to exist. This energy, this fluid, is the envoy,
the messenger of hatred, of vengeance, of justice, and it goes where a directing and ruling
will send it, taking, rightly or wrongly, misfortune, poverty, sickness, death (Sobel, p.
13).” Among the Fon of Dahomey, Da was “a force which manifest himself in the world
in a number of ways (p. 13).” It is “androgenous and the source of the gods that create
men (p. 13).” According to Sobel no one has been able to adequately translate this
concept into Western terms. He states: “It is the essence of being; it can be used for
good or evil; it is the recognition of the presence of universal spirit; and it must always be
taken into account. It can be in words (curses or blessings) and things, animals, people,
spirits and divinities; it is God (p. 13).”
Man

“Becoming is a basic West African principle (p. 14).” The soul is seen as being
separate from the body. It is gift given and its’ destiny is in the hands of the body that
possesses it. There are two natures within each soul and it is the responsibility of the
individual to resolve the evil vs. good conflict so that he/she can emerge empowered to
fulfill their purpose. If they do not fulfill their purpose, they may have to be reincarnated.
At death, the soul returns to its source and it is a happy time for the soul that has
completed the requirements. Names are given and have meanings. To call a person’s

name is to summon the entire essence of the individual, which includes their spiritual

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connection. Naming a child is considered very important and is usually celebrated. “It
identifies the individual and establishes his or her clan relationship (p. 15).” Clan
relationship is extremely important. Their descendants established a person’s place in
society. Many privileges and responsibilities were linked to their positions. A second
birth, which established their position usually, occurred at puberty. Various rituals
marked the celebration of a person being placed in their position of authority, after which
they were required to learn how to connect with God by communicating with the
divinities and living dead.
The Living Dead and Divinities

The living dead and divinities were seen as middle men who were mediators
between God and humans. They were created by God according to the West African
Sacred Cosmos. The two terms were characterized as follow: “(1) the divinities who are
based on real or mythical personalities from the unknown distant past, and (2) the living
dead, the spirits of those who have died relatively recently and who are still recalled by
name and character. (When those who knew them in life are all dead, these spirits move
into the general class of divinities, becoming more dangerous because of their lack of
direct ties to the living) (p.16).” The spirits were believed to have the same personalities
that they had when they were alive. “They have likes and hatreds, weaknesses and
strengths, and must be dealt with as one deals with living persons, but they also have far
greater power over spirit (p. 1 7).” Because they were considered dangerous, professional
help was needed to find out what they wanted so that a person could try to fulfill their
requests. The trained profession practiced witchcraft, Juju, and Voudou. When a slave

was known to be a median, the slaveowners were required to tell another slaveowner

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before he purchased the median. Whites and blacks were afraid of the medians who
seemed to have mystical powers.
Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is defined as the ability to leave one’s physical environment to
visit another. Africans often had visions and would visit other places for a period of time.
Tribal leaders would have visions and inform other tribal members of their experiences.
These experiences were considered a form of prophecy, and depending on their positive
or negative aspect, the vision might be celebrated. Visions that allowed slaves to visit
heaven and other beautiful places kept them alive during traumatic experiences, such as
severe beatings, separation from family, etc.

Spirit possession

Africans believed that good and evil spirits could possess individuals, animals,
and objects. Trained professionals were often asked to mediate in order to find out the
Spirit’s desires and purposes. Witchdoctors or medicine men were also asked to exorcise
the spirits at various times if the spirits were causing sickness or pain. However,
individuals were sometimes thought to have offended the spirits in some way and brought
their problems upon themselves.

This detailed explanation of West African religious beliefs and practices
illuminates some similarities to White Christian beliefs (e.g. belief in God as the Supreme
Being and the necessity of daily prayer). Some West African practices were adopted by
White Christian churches who believed that blacks had a special relationship with God
unlike their own. Some Whites believed that Blacks could connect with God through

prayer and meditation, and could speak on behalf of God when preaching. Acceptance of

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some West African beliefs and practices affected the White Christian worship services,
ultimately influencing the method of worship in African American churches as well.
Problems Encountered in Practicing African Religions

Although some historians claim that West African religious beliefs continued to
be practiced after slaves arrived in the United States, it is certain that some problems
were encountered. Many plantations had homogenous groups as a result of the plantation
owners’ requests for slaves from specific geographical locations. On these plantations, it
was much easier for slaves to continue their old ways in a new land. However, contrary
to popular belief, most slaves did not work on large plantations (Frazier, 1974). Most
slave owners lived on small plantations and farms with as few as 1 to 5 slaves. These
slaves often worked in the field next to their masters on a daily basis. Because they were
alienated from large groups of slaves, these slaves were more apt to adapt to American
life. They were pressured by their masters to assimilate, and were also frequently
pressured by other slaves who had a good relationship with the master, or who did not
want to be disciplined because another slave was not conforming. The slaves on the
smaller plantations and farms often became totally submerged in American life because
they were always around their slave owners. In some cases, the slaves and slave owners
had very close relationships. These were usually the slaves who learned to read and
sometimes were given an opportunity to gain their freedom. On the other hand, slaves
who were on large plantations usually had their own slave quarters and did not interact
very often with their slave owners. The overseer who reported to the slave owner

governed them. Although the condition of their houses, clothing and food may not have

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been as good as the slaves who lived on smaller estates in their masters’ houses, the
slaves on large plantations had a greater chance of retaining some of their old practices.
When attempting to preserve their African religious practices, slaves who resided
near other slaves originating from various geographical locations encountered another
difficult barrier -- language differences. Being in locations with slaves who did not speak
their language made it difficult to communicate initially. Although there were 600
different languages spoken in Africa at the time (Sobel), they can be categorized in four
strands. Within the strands and across the categories, foundational similarities in their
value systems can be found, which some scholars believe made it easier for the African
slaves to understand each others’ languages. Not having established concepts related to
their values and beliefs, the African slaves found it difficult at first, to communicate.
However, they were forced by the trauma of slavery to overcome these barriers for
survival, thus they worked diligently to communicate, eventually recognizing many
similarities in their languages. The language similarities that were found helped them
create common languages. After learning some English, they combined their West
African language similarities and developed their own style of speaking (Sobel). I
believe this newly developed, original style of speaking that combined West African
language similarities and some broken English (they were never formally taught how to
speak English), was the origin of what is referred to today as Black vernacular English.
This dialect was utilized by slaves and passed down through generations. When the
African American church was established, black ministers used the “created language” to
teach and preach. I believe that this historical phenomenon is the reason that many

African American homes and churches utilize similar discourse patterns today.

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Although some language barriers were encountered and overcome by creating a
new black dialect, it is documented that many Africans could speak more than one
language, and they utilized their language skills for interpretation purposes. W.E. B.
DuBois (1963) believed that there were a number of slaves who spoke more than one
language, which was manifested in the Amistad revolt and on many other occasions.
Scholars have learned that several tribes were known to barter and exchange goods and
services, in which case a common language was used to communicate. Although they
were probably unaware of the slaves’ language skills, some slave owners intentionally
tried to impede slave communication for fear of slave revolts. These slave owners tried
to force slaves to assimilate to their new conditions. They did not want the slaves
speaking African languages or practicing African religions. Slave owners with this
mindset often disciplined slaves. Some Africans were afraid of the torture that they
would have to endure if they disobeyed. Slaves who did not want trouble alienated the
slaves who refused to assimilate. This division among the slave population put more
pressure on the slaves who tried to retain parts of their culture. Although some of the
slaves spoke many languages and many slaves overcame their language barriers by
creating their own language, Whites perceived slaves as barbaric people and felt that they
needed to become civilized by being proselytized into Christianity.

Slaveowners Find an Answer

Many slave owners did not want slaves practicing their uncivilized religions. As
mentioned previously, they were afraid of the Voodoo ministers, and even some of the
slaves who did not practice Voodoo seemed to have strange religious practices. There

was a difference of opinion among slave owners concerning the possibility of offering an

65

alternative religion to their slaves. Some slave owners were skeptical about introducing
Christianity because European law required that slaves who were baptized be set free.
There is documentation that one of the original 20 slaves brought to America in 1619 had
a grandchild who was baptized and set free (Sobel). In response to the slave owners’
skepticism, England passed a law that slaves did not have to be set free when baptized in
North America (Harley, 1995). Some slave owners did not share the baptism concern.
Many of them greatly desired that their slaves accept Christianity. They allowed the
slaves to worship in their churches and black ministers were welcome to preach to all
white and integrated congregations.

The evangelical outreach to slaves was especially prevalent during The Great
Awakening, which began in 1740. White Christians established goals to “save the lost”
regardless of skin color. During this time however, another major disagreement occurred
among white Christians. Although they wanted to introduce slaves to Christianity, their
purpose for evangelizing differed among the various groups. Quakers advocated
evangelizing and teaching to read in preparation for freedom. Baptists and Methodists
spoke out vociferously against slavery but did not advocate educating slaves.
Interestingly Baptist and Methodist missionaries were required to free their slaves before
evangelizing as an outward manifestation of their stance against the institution of slavery.
However, they did not agree with the Quakers’ belief that slaves should be taught to read.
Because of the mixed signals that slaves received from their slave owners concerning

their well being, there were various reactions to the introduction of Christianity.

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Slave Reaction to White Christianity

Some slaves accepted Christianity wholeheartedly, turning away from their old
beliefs. This total acceptance was especially seen on the smaller plantations by slaves
who had close relationships with their masters. Many slaves accepted Christianity, but
kept some of their African values, thus creating an intermixture of Christian and African
beliefs and practices. Other slaves totally rejected Christianity as a white man ’s religion
(i.e.. spiritualists and Muslims). This occurred more frequently on very large plantations
where slaves had opportunities to socialize and worship in their own way because their
interactions with the slave owners were limited. Some slave owners did not concern
themselves with slave life as long as the slaves fulfilled their labor requirements. In this
environment, slaves were free to continue their African religious practices, speak their
own languages, and develop a separate society. This was also the location of many all
black churches.

Although some slaves were encouraged to worship with their masters, they were
forced to accept undesirable seating arrangements in the churches. The slaves usually sat
in the back or in the balcony of the churches, and were forced to give up their seats for
white latecomers. Also, slaves who could read began to read the Bible for themselves
and realized that the white ministers were not telling the whole story. They read passages
that taught equality and liberation in Christ. These stories were told to slaves who could
not read, and the messages were repeated over and over again. Eventually the slaves
became unwilling to ignore the hypocrisy of their slave owners. The slaves recognized
that the slave owners were using the Bible to justify their acts of oppression. As slaves

learned more about Christianity from other slaves who could read the Bible, they

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developed their own theological interpretations of the scripture. Words like captivity,
liberation and God’s chosen people took on greater personal meaning. As indicated by
Landes (1989) scripture passages like the Exodus empowers the oppressed to become
revolutionary. The slaves saw themselves as God ’5 chosen people and felt the need to
develop a new theology - a liberation theology - a Black theology.

Slaves began to have their own private worship services. Most slave owners
responded in one of two ways. Some of the slave owners became concerned that the
private worship services were meetings to plan revolts. A law was passed that a white
man must be present if 5 or more slaves were together (Harley). Other slave owners
encouraged their slaves to have their own services. Some of them thought that the slaves
were ignorant and too emotional during worship service. They needed to have their own
services so that they could stop interrupting the white services. In this case, the slave
owners were well aware of the private services and actually documented slave baptisms
and special programs in their white church records (Sobel). However, in situations where
the slave owners did not want slaves to have private services, the slaves created the
“invisible institution” that Frazier speaks of (1974). These services were held secretly in
the backwoods or in slaves’ quarters. According to Frazier, this was the first African
American church. This invisible institution was also the site where a secret
communication system was developed. Slaves would sing songs while in the field
working or when they came in contact with one another that delivered secret messages
about private church services or slave escape plans. The songs were also sung as a means

of spiritual edification (DuBois, 1963).

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The Emergence of The African American Church: 1740 - 1800

The African American Church emerged during the period between 1740 and
1800. Although many West African slaves continued their religious practices and taught
them to their American born children, the introduction of Christianity had a great impact
on these religious practices. This section highlights the influence of Christianity on the
slave population, and the emergence of The African American Church.

White Resistance to the Introduction of Christianity

 

The introduction of Christianity to the American slave population did not occur
without conflict. Many Whites were against the proselytizing of black slaves. Even after
England responded to their concern by changing the law so that slaves were not
considered free after baptism, some Whites continued to have a problem with sharing
their religion with their slaves. When a convert joined the Anglican church, for example,
it was customary to give them godparents who would accept the responsibility of being
their spiritual guardians (Sobel). Many ministers had serious difficulty finding
godparents who were willing to stand up for Blacks who they considered “property” and
might sell for profit the next week. It became a serious moral dilemma for some white
slaveowners. One response to this dilemma was documented concerning Hugh Jones,
rector of William and Mary Church in Maryland. He allowed Blacks to become
godparents, “thereby making an important statement about their spiritual equality (p.
63).” He also performed marriage ceremonies for Blacks in his church. Although some
white Christians were interested in the spiritual well-being of the black slaves, others had
to be coaxed into introducing their slaves to Christianity. One plan to encourage

slaveowners to share the Gospel with their slaves was a proposal to defer a head tax that

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was levied on every slave 14 years and older. If the slave was a Christian, the tax could
be deferred for 4 years (Sobel).
The Great Awakeniig

Through the message of the Great Awakening, Christianity was offered to all,
including black slaves. “The revivals of the Great Awakening stressed a religion of the
heart rather than of the mind; emphasis was on the conversion experience rather than on
spiritual growth through study and discipline (Smith, 1988, p. 29). The appealing
ideology of the Great Awakening crossed denominational and racial lines, thus creating
new religious communities (Smith, 1988). Blacks began to worship in previously all-
white congregations. Some received the call of God and were ordained to become
missionaries and preachers. White Baptists and Methodists gained the most converts
from all races. Initially, they spoke out vociferously against slavery and they de-
emphasized the importance of an educated clergy. These ideas were especially appealing
to Blacks because many were uneducated, but had a burning desire to preach God’s
message.

West African religious practices were incorporated into some of the Baptist and
Methodist revival meetings. “For example, the shout, introduced into camp meetings by
blacks, reflected the influence of the so-called danced religions of West Africa. During a
shout, those struck by the spirit threw their arms into the air and began to shuffle about.
A circle (known as a ring shout) would often form as the pace of the movement
quickened. The shout might continue for some time, and shouters would often collapse

in a state of ecstasy or exhaustion (Smith, p. 31).”

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The Christian Education of Slaves

Once the black slaves became converted at revivals many joined white churches.
These new converts were met with some animosity from Whites. Some of the white
pastors were not interested in the Christian education of black converts. Several
ministers included adult Blacks in weekly classes with white children. This combination
was demeaning and disturbing to the black adults. They recognized that many Whites
believed them to be imbeciles. Some pastors responded to the needs of Blacks by
offering Saturday classes, but these classes did not guarantee that the mindset of Whites
was any different toward the slaves. The following quote from a white minister
summarizes a widely held sentiment: “As for the Negroes I have been at pains, for I
sometimes at the Church Porch teached them the principles of religion, though many are
very dull, and when I am not employed, I catechise the Children” (Sobel, p. 61).

Several examples of Whites who genuinely made an attempt to assist Blacks can
be found. In Virginia, William Black of Accomako made rounds to instruct slaves at
their masters’ houses. Because of his vigorous efforts over 200 blacks attended the
Lord’s Supper three times a year. Whites and Blacks overflowed the churches in his area
to worship together. Anthony Gavin, also from Virginia traveled over 400 miles per year
praying at twelve places. He baptized 229 Whites and 172 Blacks during his first year of
service between 1737 and 1738 (Sobel). During the 17505, Hugh Neil from Delaware is
documented to have met with slaves every Sunday evening to instruct them concerning
the Christian doctrine (Sobel). “These early isolated cases of Anglican efforts to reach
adult Blacks may well have built up a reservoir of Christian faith that provided the

groundwork for some early Baptist conversions and all-black churches (Sobel, p. 62).”

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Independent Efforts to Evangelize and Educate Blacks

Because of the hypocritical actions of white slaveowners, some missionary
organizations were formed for the purpose of evangelizing and educating the slaves. The
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts of London was one such
organization. Because they were financially independent, they did not depend on the
approval of slaveowners. They appointed Thomas Bray as a leader in Maryland. With
assistance from over 300 missionaries, he set out to convert Blacks to Anglicanism. Bray
and his associates were much better educated and more dedicated men than the local
ministers. They were met with much resistance from the ministers and the slaveowners
“due to the white attitude toward educating blacks (Sobel p. 65).” A school was opened
in New York, but Whites threatened to close it because of the possibility of black
rebellion. Several other schools were opened by the Anglicans for both slaves and free
Blacks. They successfully taught some Blacks to read and write, but often their owners
would not cooperate. “The owners who cooperated generally sent slaves to learn to read
and write so that they could use these skills, and then withdrew them (Sobel, p. 65).” In
Williamsburg, Virginia a school was run for about 30 students per year between 1760 and
1774. Fredericksburg, Virginia was the site for another school from 1765-1770. “The
school in Charleston, South Carolina, Commissary Garden attempted to circumvent one
problem by buying slaves to be trained as teachers, but it too functioned no more than
twenty years (1743-1763) (Sobel, p. 65).” Although the Anglicans taught many slaves to

read and write, they did not successfully convert many slaves to Anglicanism.

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Most attempts to educate Blacks was for the purpose of proselytizing them. Free
Blacks also took a leadership role in trying to establish a means to educate themselves
and their people:

As early as 1790, the Brown Fellowship Society in Charleston maintained

schools for the free Negro children. An important fact about the schools

which the free Negroes maintained was that many of them were Sunday schools.

On the eve of the Civil War, there were then in Baltimore Sunday schools

about 600 Negroes. They had formed themselves into a Bible Association,

which had been received into the convention of the Baltimore Bible Society.

In 1825 the Negroes there had a day and night school giving courses in Latin

and French. Four years later there appeared an African Free School, with

an attendance of from 150 to 175 every Sunday. Although the Sunday Schools

represented before the Civil War one of the most important agencies in the

education of Negroes, nevertheless the churches through their ministers

urged parents to send their children to whatever schools were available

(Frazier, p. 44).
Christian education was really emphasized during this time. The first Black Sunday
Schools were established to teach morals and values while teaching literacy skills. They
had four basic characteristics: 1) they were modeled after public schools; 2) their
students were members of the congregation; 3) they existed for training in morals; and 4)
they were sponsored by a local church (Ward, 1998). The African American Sunday
School took on the task of nurturing and caring for the moral teaching of Blacks. Before
public schooling was offered to Blacks, many of these children attended Sunday School
on Sunday, and returned to the same building - the African American Church building -
to attend school Monday through Friday, because it was oflen the only building in the

community owned by Blacks.

Prominent Figures in the History of The Negro Church

 

Although attempts by Blacks and Whites to educate Blacks may have seemed

unsuccessful on a large scale, many Blacks learned to read and write in the process. The

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more educated men seemed to rise to leadership positions in the black community. They
often became ministers and were well respected in the black and white communities.
Some of these ministers were allowed to preach in the white churches and there is
documentation of several black pastors of all-white congregations. The Reverend
Lemuel Haynes became the first black ordained minister in the Congregational church,
and between 1785 and 1833 he pastored predominantly white congregations in New
York, Connecticut, and Vermont (Smith, 1988). Harry Hosier, better known as Black
Harry, accompanied Francis Asbury, a Methodist evangelist sent by founder John Wesley
to build Methodist societies in America. Black Harry and Asbury traveled over 300,000
miles by horseback. Because of their strenuous travel schedule, Black Harry was
frequently called upon to preach at camp meetings (Smith). “A Methodist bishop once
described Black Harry as the best preacher in the world (Smith, p. 35).”

Due largely to the efforts of Asbury and Black Harry, the first Methodist meeting
houses were organized in 1772. By 1785, black congregants were restricted to sit in
certain pews in the church. Between 1785 and 1787, Blacks began to leave the white
Methodist societies to form a colored Methodist society (Smith). The first black
Methodist churches in the South emerged from this society: Sharp Street Methodist
Episcopal Church, and Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The extent of the conunon practice of within church segregation can be
understood from close examination of Saint George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia.
Blacks had been a part of the church since its establishment in 1767. Blacks were not
only restricted to sit in certain pews in the church, but church classes were segregated by

race. Some Blacks were not satisfied with this type of treatment. Richard Allen, a local

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Philadelphia black Methodist preacher suggested in 1787 that Blacks form their own
church. Few blacks agreed with Allen. Instead of forming their own church, they formed
the Free African Society “to foster moral character and render assistance to members in
times of need (Smith, p. 36).” In the summer of 1791, the society asked several white
philanthropists to help them purchase land for a church building. “These plans acquired
greater urgency after an incident at Saint George’s during the summer of 1792. The
gallery had just been erected, and Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and other Blacks were
directed to sit there. Just as prayers began, the Blacks were pulled from their knees and
ordered to the rear of the gallery. Instead of retiring to their seats in the rear, Allen states
that ‘all went out of the church in a body and they were no more plagued with us in the
church’ (Smith, p. 36).” The majority of Blacks who walked out of St. George’s erected
a new building -- St. Thomas’ African Episcopal Church -- and Absalom Jones, after
being ordained the first black Protestant Episcopal priest, became the pastor (Lincoln &
Mamiya, 1990). Allen, committed to maintain the Methodist form of worship, organized
Bethel Church of Philadelphia in August 1794, which became the mother church of what
was to be a new denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (Lincoln &
Mamiya, 1990). By 1800, there were 12,000 - 15,000 black Methodists.

The first known black Baptist was listed as one of fifty-one members of the
Newton, Rhode Island church in 1743 (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990). By 1762, the church
had 19 black members. Blacks were also received as members of the First Baptist
Church of Boston in 1772. However, most of the black Baptists were in the South.

The ancestry of the National Baptist Convention reaches back to the
first known black churches in America, generally acknowledged to have been

the African Baptist or “Bluestone” Church on the William Byrd plantation
near the Bluestone River in Mecklenberg, Virginia, in 175 8, and the Silver

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Bluff Baptist Church, located on the South Carolina bank of the Savannah

River not far from Augusta, Georgia. Although historical records indicate

that the Silver Bluff Church was established by a slave named George Liele

sometime between 1773 and 1775, the cornerstone of the present church

building claims a founding date of 1750 (Lincoln & Mamiya, p. 23).

George Liele, a slave born in Virginia became converted while accompanying his
master to church. His master freed him so that he could carry on his work in the ministry.
However, when his master was killed and the heirs questioned his free status, Liele
evacuated with the British. Before leaving, he baptized Andrew Bryan, a slave, who
organized the African Baptist Church of Savannah around 1788. Another slave, Jesse
Peters, who had previously been a member of the Silver Bluff Church, assisted Bryan,
and became the pastor of the Springfield Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, which was
organized around 1787 (Lincoln & Mamiya).

While Blacks were organizing black churches, there were some black preachers
who were pastoring white congregations, and several white preachers ministered to black
congregations. Josiah Bishop at Portsmouth and William Lemon at Gloucester are
known to have pastored white Baptists in Virginia. Robert Ryland was the white pastor
of the first African Church of Richmond for 25 years. At the turn of the century the
number of black Baptists was estimated to be in excess of 25,000 (Lincoln & Mamiya).
White Response to Negro Church Growth

Although Baptist churches were organized independently, the degree of
independence diminished as more slaves became members. Regulations were increased
in fear of insurrections. Many slaves were only permitted to attend white church services

of their masters or black churches pastored by white men. These white responses to the

emergence of black churches forced slaves to retreat to their “invisible institutions” in the

76

slave quarters or backwoods of the plantations for their worship services (Frazier, 1974).
“Even when secrecy was not mandated, under no circumstances were the scattered
independent churches allowed to develop formal black associations, though some of them
did seek to join with existing white Baptist organizations (Lincoln & Mamiya, p. 25).
A Negro Baptist church was somewhat independent in the

North, although associations like those in Philadelphia and New York

could appoint preachers for Negro churches. In the South a large

congregation of colored people could lay no claim to sovereignty

apart from the white people. This point is illustrated in the First African

Baptist Church, Savannah, whose membership of seven hundred was

divided into three churches by the Savannah Association in 1802. Only

after emancipation can complete autonomy be called a distinguishing

mark of a Negro Baptist Church (Lincoln & Mamiya, p. 25).
Although Blacks were frustrated with the mindset of white congregants, they could not
truly separate from them in the South because of slavery laws that impeded the free
worship of Blacks. As the quote above states, black churches were not liberated until the
liberation of slaves in the form of the Emancipation Proclamation.
A Century of Liberation & Organization: 1800 - 1900

As tensions increased aggravated by slave uprisings engineered by Gabriel
Proseer in 1800, Denmark Vesey in 1822, and Rev. Nat Turner in 1831, restrictions
became more severe concerning black congregations. White Baptists split in 1845 over
the issue of slavery, while the number of black Baptists continued to grow. By 1850
there were 150,000 black Baptists and nearly 500,000 by 1870 as a result of
independence from slavery restrictions.
Baptists

In the north, the move toward more racially separate churches was a protest

against discrimination in the white Baptist church setting. Blacks wanted to be treated

77

equally and refused to accept unequal and restrictive treatment. During this time several
historic black churches were started. Thomas Paul founded Joy Street Church originally
organized as the African Baptist Church in 1805, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church in
1808 (latter pastored by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Dr. Samuel D. Proctor). Henry
Cunningham organized the First African Baptist Church in Philadelphia in 1809. Black
Baptists also attempted to organize a national denomination with much difficulty. From
1815 to 1880, many black Baptists affiliated with existing white Baptist organizations
such as the American Baptist Union. However, after the division of white Baptists over
the issue of slavery, most black Baptists associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
The first all-black Baptist associations were organized in the midwest:
Providence Association in Ohio in 1834; Union Association in Ohio in 1836; Wood
River Association in Illinois in 1839; and Amherstburg Association in Canada and
Michigan in 1841. Unlike their white counterparts, the black associations spoke out
vociferously against slavery, and were active in the Underground Railroad in Ohio and
Canada. As a result of this heightened race consciousness, and in response to the
discrimination from southern white Baptists, and the paternalism of northern white
Baptists, the independent church movement among Blacks intensified. “Though in
tension with a competing school of thought which favored working on a cooperative
basis with whites within the existing northern Baptist organizations, the separatist
ideology prevailed and ultimately culminated in the establishment of an independent
Baptist denomination” (Lincoln & Mamiya, p. 27). Although some Blacks wanted to
affiliate with white national organizations, I believe that they chose to organize separately

because they recognized the need to hold fast to their black theological perspective.

78

The Consolidated American Baptist Missionary Convention was the first national
effort at consolidation, but inadequate financial support and internal class conflicts
between the educated northern Blacks and the southern ex-slaves concerning emotional
fervor and political activism caused its demise. From this convention three new
associations were organized. In 1880 the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the
United States met with 151 delegates from 11 states in Montgomery, Alabama. Rev.
W.W. Colley headed the convention, which sent missionaries to Africa and addressed
domestic social issues such as the use of alcohol and tobacco. In 1886 the American
National Baptist Convention was organized by Rev. William J. Simmons with 600
delegates from churches in 17 states. This convention eventually grew to include 9,000
churches with 4,500 ministers in spite of resistance from northern white Baptists. The
National Baptist Educational Convention of the USA, was organized in Washington,
DC. in 1893 by Rev. W. Bishop Johnson to educate and train clergy and missionaries.
At the 1894 annual meeting of these conventions in Montgomery, a proposal was set
forth recommending a merger of the three bodies. A committee was appointed to report
on the proposal the following year. The merger was accomplished September 28, 1895 in
Atlanta, Georgia at a meeting attended by over 500 delegates. The new organization was
the National Baptist Convention, USA, with subsidiary Foreign Mission, Home
Mission, and Education boards, to which a publishing concern was added in 1897. Rev.
EC. Morris was the first president of the new convention.

This display of unity was timely because African Americans had entered a new
era of intensified discrimination. From 1890 to 1910 laws were passed by all southern

states which effectively disenfranchised African Americans, and gave license to

79

 

lynchings and other forms of racial suppression. The Supreme Court ratified the Jim

Crow segregation by approving “separate but equal” railroad cars and other public
facilities in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. In the process, the ranks of the black churches,
which constituted the sole place of sanctuary, expanded accordingly. Between 1890 and
1906 the number of black Baptist ministers increased from 5,500 to over 17,000.

While the black church national organizations were growing, they not only
focused on political issues, but addressed educational issues as well. Many black
institutions of higher learning have Baptist origins and maintain Baptist affiliations.
Many of them were founded by black church organizations and continue to be supported
by them today. Among them are Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina; Virginia
Union University, Richmond; Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina; and Morehouse
College and Spelman College in Atlanta. Some schools such as Tuskegee Institute were
closely connected to Baptists organizations through the influence of leaders like Dr.
Booker T. Washington. The American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville is
jointly operated by the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention,
Inc.

African Methodist Episcopal (AME)

Methodists were more conservative than Baptists about allowing Blacks to preach
in their churches. Their attitude about Blacks emanated from a belief in maintaining an
educated clergy, and their belief that allowing uneducated Blacks to preach would give
them an opportunity to introduce barbaric ideologies and practices. Most white
Methodists would not ordain Blacks, but allowed them to serve as lay preachers or

exhorters (Montgomery, 1993).

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Early in the nineteenth century when the African Methodist Episcopal church
tried to penetrate the South, Whites did not welcome it. They were becoming more
suspicious of all independent black churches and correctly believed that the AME church
was involved with the antislavery movement. African Methodist Episcopal churches
remained mostly in the border states and in cities such as Mobile, New Orleans, and
Charleston. Like some of the early Baptist congregations, the AME churches were
considered elite among southern Blacks, and most of the members were free Blacks. A
free, rich black man, Morris Brown, founded an AME church in Charleston in 1817, but
local Whites became frightened after the slave conspiracy led by Denmark Vesey and
burned it to the ground in 1822. In 1841 Jordan W. Early organized St. James AME
Church for free Blacks in New Orleans. John M. Brown, an Oberlin College graduate,
also organized Morris Brown AME and Trinity in New Orleans.

The AME church organized nationally in 1830, when Richard Allen organized the
first of several Negro Conventions “for the purpose of bringing the common efforts of the
Black Church leadership and other potential sources to focus on the galling issues of
slavery” (Lincoln & Mamiya, p. 52). The abolition of slavery, relief for the needy, and
encouraging education attainment were the goals on which the AME church focused.
Although many of the church leaders were not educated, they understood the importance
of education to the advancement of blacks. Bishop Daniel Payne, a previous
schoolmaster in Baltimore, established the AME goals by insisting upon a trained clergy
and encouraging pastors to organize schools in their communities. In 1864 at a General
Conference of the AME Church Bishop Payne stated: “We assure you, dear brothers, this

is not time to encourage ignorance and mental sloth; to enter the ranks of the ministry, for

81

the education and elevation of millions now issuing out of the house of bondage, require
men, not only talented, but well educated; not only well educated, but thoroughly
sanctified unto God” (p. 53).

Payne was instrumental in founding Wilberforce University in 1856. Other AME
colleges include Morris Brown founded in 1881 in Atlanta, Georgia; Allen founded in
1870 in Columbia, South Carolina; Paul Quinn founded in 1881 in Waco, Texas; Shorter
Junior College founded in 1886 in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Edward Waters founded in

1901 in Jacksonville, Florida. The A.M.E. Review , the oldest journal in the world

 

owned and published by blacks, was founded in 1881.

After the Civil War, the Methodist denomination prospered in much the same way
that the Baptists did. Before the Civil War, the AME church had approximately 20,000
members, but by 1866 the number had increased to 75,000 due to growth spurts in the
southern churches.
White response to the African American Church

Whites were concerned about the independent African churches and their
influence on their slaves. They began to intrude more and more into the religious lives of
their slaves. They encouraged slaves to receive Christian instruction and many of the
slave masters taught their slaves themselves. They insisted that the slaves attend their
worship services, although the seating arrangement was segregated. Some slaveholders
required their slaves to attend church, and punished them if they did not conform. The
punishment in some cases was denial of food and tobacco for the week (Montgomery).
The demands that Whites placed on their slaves to attend church was a display of piety

and self-interest. They may have been concerned about the souls of their slaves, but they

82

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also believed that showing interest in their slaves’ spiritual well-being would decrease
pressure from the abolitionists and some religious sects. Also, if Whites required their
slaves to attend church with them, they could control what they were being taught about
the Bible. “Lessons in discipline and obedience were designed to instill in slaves their
Christian duty to accept their appointed station in life” (Montgomery, p. 31). When
instructing slaves white ministers were careful to stress issues concerning duty, and avoid
topics such as liberation. “In their sermons to slave congregations they delivered the
message that slaves were slaves because it was God’s will, and their duty was to obey
their worldly and heavenly masters” (Montgomery, p. 32). In the backwoods, however,
slaves heard a liberation gospel - a black theology - that continued to motivate them to
strive for freedom.
The Twentieth Century African American Church: 1900 — 1999

Even after slaves were freed, the African American Church had to continue to
advocate for its members. The national religious organizations attempted to meet the
needs of African Americans on a larger scale, while the local churches ministered to their
own members and the local community. However, white Oppression continued to wreck
havoc in the lives of many Blacks by refusing to accept them as equal. The African
American Church responded with an unwavering fight for freedom. Their definition of
freedom has changed several times depending on the circumstances. Before
emancipation, freedom meant liberation from slavery, but in the twentieth century
freedom has meant: the right to vote, the right of access to public goods and services, the
right to be educated, and most importantly equal rights. Unwilling to allow Blacks to

participate equally in the American society, Whites utilized the legislative system to

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perpetuate racism. On the eve of the nineteenth century, and the dawn of the twentieth
century, a series of decisions had a great impact on the lives of Blacks in their pursuit of
freedom. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” facilities were
constitutional, in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. In 1898, Louisiana originated the
“grandfather clause” which qualified males to vote if their fathers or grandfathers were
eligible to vote on or before January 1, 1867 (Harley, 1996). This clause excluded most
Blacks, and by 1910, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Oklahoma had
adopted the clause. In 1907, the Supreme Court ruled that railroads could racially
segregate passengers traveling between states, even when segregation was illegal in the
states in which the train was traveling. These court rulings are representative of the
political climate during this time and indicative of the legislative and judicial support for
overt racism in the United States.

While some Whites were fighting against Blacks, some Blacks also fought
amongst themselves concerning the best way to educate blacks. Booker T. Washington
wanted Blacks to get a vocational educational and stop fighting against Whites. He
stated that they should become better trained in vocational areas which would insure
them gainful employment (e.g. blacksmiths, housekeepers, etc.). Many white
philanthropists supported his efforts wholeheartedly. However, many Blacks considered
him a “sell out” to Whites. They felt that he was doing his own people a great injustice in
exchange for the fame and fortune that he received from the white population. Two of
his greatest opposers were W.E.B. DuBois and William Trotter. In 1903, William
Monroe Trotter, a publisher, was arrested for heckling Booker T. Washington at the

Columbus Avenue African Zion Church in Boston (Harley). Trotter explained that he

84

confronted Washington publicly because Washington held a monopoly on the American
media, and opposing views on race relations were not heard. DuBois also spoke out
against Washington’s ideas concerning the education of Blacks. He believed that Blacks
should get a liberal education to prepare them for social mobility. In 1905, W.E.B.
DuBois held a conference for black leaders and organized the Niagara Movement, which
was dedicated to aggressive action on behalf of black freedom and growth. Also, in 1909
W.E.B. DuBois and others, including some Whites, met and advocated a civil rights
organization to combat the growing violence against black Americans. This meeting led
to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP). The national religious organizations were very involved in politics and social
justice, however, it became apparent that an organization was needed that strictly focused
on issues in these areas. The NAACP fulfilled that purpose, and the African American
Church served as a resource for human capital by encouraging their congregants to
become members of the NAACP and actively participate in marches, boycotts, sit-ins,
etc. African American churches were often utilized as NAACP meeting places to
organize and strategize.

While the NAACP was growing as it focused on political issues, the national
religious organizations could attempt to make headway in other areas. The National
Baptist Convention, Inc. created a new board, the Sunday School Publishing Board in
1915 to provide Sunday School material that was more relevant for its members. During
this time, the National Baptist Convention was very active in education, supporting
nearly 100 elementary and secondary schools and colleges, as well as providing for the

education of African missionaries. Although they had a great impact on the education of

85

African Americans through the publication of Sunday School literature, and financial
support of schools and colleges, the convention also continued to speak out against racial
violence and campaigned against segregation in public accommodations, and
discrimination in the armed service, education, and employment. They utilized a self-
help framework and often entertained speakers during meetings such as W.E.B. DuBois
and Booker T. Washington. They strongly supported the NAACP and advocated for the
right to vote and serve as jurors.

While the African American Church was advocating in the political, social, and
educational arenas, it’s membership was undergoing a transformation. Migration from
the south to the north, from rural to urban areas required the African American Church to
adjust some of their ideas about ministry. The 1890 census, the first to give an urban-
rural breakdown of the black population, indicated that 9 out of 10 blacks lived in the
South. By 1980, 85% of the black population lived in urban areas, with approximately
53% living in the South (Lincoln & Mamiya). Blacks migrated to the North in search of
jobs that could finance a better life. Some of the major causes for black migration,
according to Lincoln & Mamiya, were the mechanization of southern agriculture, the boll
weevil attacks on the cotton crops, the lynchings and violence of a rigid system of Jim
Crow segregation, the long-term decline of sharecropping and individual farm ownership,
and the need for cheap labor in northern factories and industries. Some Blacks remained
in the South, but many of them moved to urban areas. Studies done on black urban
churches during the period of the great migrations from 1915 to 1950 indicate that they

grew phenomenally. Membership rolls of older, established churches increased, and new

86

churches were also built - some of which were rented storefront buildings in the poorer
parts of cities.

Some churches did not expand their buildings nor purchase new buildings, but
they utilized their resources to meet the greater needs of the migrants - help with food,
clothing, shelter, and employment. In the 19205 Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., Opened
one of the first soup kitchens for hungry migrants, at Abyssinian Baptist Church in
Harlem. In 1939 his son, Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. involved his church in meeting
the basic needs of the members, assisting with finding employment, and supported strikes
and attempts to unionize by black workers. Powel published a black newspaper, and was
a member of the New York City Council before becoming the first elected black
congressman from New York State. Powell’s quest to gain political clout is another
example of the interrelatedness of religion and politics in the context of the African
American Church.

In the new urban church, class stratification became prevalent, as uneducated ex-
slaves attended church with middle-class, well-educated Blacks. Some churches
understood the advantages that this unique mixture of people could offer a congregation,
and found ways to utilize the talents of all members. The migration period ended in the
late 19505, during the beginning of the civil rights movement. It is quite ironic that E.
Franklin Frazier, the well-known author of The Negro Church in America, who made
negative comments that Negro churches were a hindrance to black assimilation into
mainstream American life, and that the church was responsible for the so-called
backwardness of American Negroes (Frazier), died in 1959. He died before he had a

chance to see the activism of black rural and urban churches in the struggle for

87

integration. He did not have an opportunity to hear black preachers like Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Jesse Jackson exhort and challenge Blacks to fight for what
they believe. Frazier did not get a chance to feel the resurgence of black ethnicity and
pride in the black power and black consciousness movement of the 19605, nor was he
able to witness the various economic and community development programs organized
and spear-headed by many African American churches. I believe that Frazier’s
comments were based on his belief that Blacks did not have a heritage because they
severed all ties with West Africa, including language and religious practices.

The best example of the African American’s level of black consciousness can be
seen in their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. The movement was led by Rev.
Martin Luther King J r., a Baptist preacher, and began with the Montgomery bus boycott
in 1955. From the beginning, the Civil Rights Movement was anchored in the Black
Church. It was organized by black ministers and laity, and financially supported by black
church members. Even secular civil rights groups such as CORE (Congress of Racial
Equality) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) were influenced by
black church culture. James Farmer of CORE was a preacher’s son, and John Lewis of
SNCC was a seminary student. Since the civil rights period, the Black Church has
continued to display support for advancement of the race. It played an integral role in
Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns and the elections of thousands of black
officials in large urban areas and small towns across the United States. This participation
is a sign of the continued political interest that the church has shown. With the church as

advocator, Blacks have made many strides in the U.S., such as an increase in the number

88

of black students attending colleges and graduate schools, an enlarged black middle-
class, and growth in the number of recording artists, movie stars, and sports stars.

One important organization that has contributed to the enhancement of the
educational ministry in the African American Church, by greatly improving the African
American Sunday School and Vacation Bible School is the Urban Ministries Publishing
Company. In 1970, Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr. founded Urban Ministries, Inc. Located
in Chicago, Illinois, Urban Ministries Publishing Company supplies thousands of African
American churches with culturally designed Sunday School and Vacation Bible School
literature. The literature is especially written for the urban church, in that it utilizes
illustrations that are quite familiar to African Americans living in urban American. For
example, in its Black theological interpretations, it discusses unemployment, drugs, gang
violence, teenage pregnancy, racism, discrimination, imprisonment, and other topics of
interest to Blacks who are plagued with these problems on a daily basis. The company
supplies literature for all ages. The beautiful posters, books, and other materials illustrate
all Biblical characters as African Americans. Thus, Sunday School and Vacation Bible
School attendees see Jesus and other important Biblical characters as looking like
themselves. This concept solidifies the Black theological perspectives that are taught in
the African American Church by reinforcing the internalization of the Holy Scriptures
through personal identification with the characters (i.e. considering oneself a part of
God’s chosen people; or seeing the Black fight for liberation in terms of the Exodus
story). Urban Ministries, Inc. has made an especially, significant impact on the literacy
experiences of African Americans because the literature does not utilize the doctrine of

any denomination, but instead presents a general Black theological perspective. This

89

approach has gained the company favor across all African American denominations, and
allowed them to successfully create an “International Sunday School Curriculum,”
followed by most African American churches. Of the 70,000 African American churches
in the United States today, Urban Ministries, Inc. supplies 38,000 of them. A subsidiary,
the Urban Ministries Conference for Black Christian Educators and Pastors, provide
conferences and workshops for pastors and teachers, which keeps them abreast of
significant developments in areas such as education, community and economic
development, and politics.

An improved Sunday School and Vacation Bible School are but two of the
developments that have occurred in the Twentieth Century African American Church. A
broader perspective can be gained by looking at some specific examples. The following
is a description of three African American churches today, and their efforts to meet the
demands of the twentieth century:

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is located in Baltimore, Maryland.
The church is 209 years old and has approximately 6,000 members. Under the past
leadership of Bishop John R. Bryant and his wife, Rev. Cecilia Bryant, and the current
leadership of Rev. Frank Madison Reid, it provides many social-service programs.
Members come from middle and working class families. The Outreach Center Ministry
was established to provide a broad range of services to needy individuals and families.
Its components include a “Faith Store” to provide clothing for the needy, a food pantry,
employment referrals, emergency shelter, Alcoholics Anonymous, and counseling
services. There are eight staff members, including seven volunteers. It is financed

mostly by the church. Formed about 10 years ago, the Teen Parenting Enrichment Place

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is a program that was formed to prevent adolescent pregnancy and to enhance the
parenting skills of male and female teen parents. This multiservice support center
provides assistance to the children of teen parents and to the grandparents on both sides.
The center has 11 paid staff members, and is financed by the church and government.
The Senior Citizens Program provides wholesome social, cultural, recreational, and
educational activities for senior citizens. It is operated by 2 volunteers. Bethel Christian
School was established to provide affordable, quality private education to children of
low-income families. The school also provides spiritual and cultural enrichment. The
school is financed through tuition fees and church contributions. Spiritual enrichment to
prison inmates is provided by the Prison Ministry. Major activities include Bible study,
group discussions, church services, and individual counseling. Other programs include
the Bethel Women’s Center to provide support to abused and disadvantaged women and
the Bethel Bible Institute to provide ministerial training for lay persons.

Shiloh Baptist Church, located in Washington, DC, was founded by several ex-
slaves in 1863. The church, under the leadership of the late Rev. Henry C. Gregory III
built the Shiloh Family Life Center at a total cost of $5 million. It provides a wide range
of facilities for the whole family: a full-scale restaurant, full basketball court, racquet
ball courts, exercise rooms, banquet hall, meeting rooms, rooftop garden overlooking the
neighborhood, all of which are open to the community. Shiloh sponsors a nationally
recognized child-care development center, and conducts a parent-child math and science
learning center. It sponsors a Male Youth Health Enhancement Program in which the
men of Shiloh are mentoring about 100 young men from the neighborhood, many of

whom come from single parent, low-income families. The project has attracted

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foundation support and has a small staff. The mentors and staff work together with the
parents, who are organized into a parent group that meets regularly. They keep in touch
with the schools in order to monitor the progress of the boys. They provide an after-
school program each weekday, weekly seminars on life, drugs, sex, health, and African
American history. They also take local and regional field trips to scientific, educational,
and cultural facilities. These are all in addition to sponsoring a local branch of the Boys’
and Girls’ Clubs or America, the Boy Scouts, and the Girl Scouts. These programs
provide opportunities for volunteers not only from the church membership but
nonmembers as well - particularly for students pursuing careers in education, social work,
or the ministry. It also provides a major bridge between the social classes.

St. Paul Community Baptist Church of Brooklyn, New York is a 69 year old,
2,000 member church, under the leadership of Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood. The
church has many social service programs. The Nehemiah Housing Project is designed to
provide affordable low-income housing and a decent community environment for
residents in the East New York section of Brooklyn. This nationally acclaimed effort is
sponsored by an interracial and interdenominational consortium of churches, which
provides the major source of funding. To date approximately 3,000 homes have been
built. Funding comes from a variety of public and private sources. St. Paul Christian
School was established to provide a quality private elementary school education to
disadvantaged children from nursery through 6th grade. In addition to a strong academic
curriculum, the school provides wholesome spiritual and cultural enrichment. The
school, which has 22 paid staff members, is financed by tuition fees and church

contributions. Share is a program designed to enhance the accessibility of nutritious food

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to low-income individuals and families. Major program activities include facilitating
more cost-effective and nutritious food purchases, and distributing fruits and vegetables
to families in need. St. Paul Corporation is a program established to foster the
development of community-owned small businesses that enhance the quality of the
neighborhood stores and rent them to neighborhood residents at no profit. The
corporation is financed mainly by the church and revenues from their business
enterprises. Increased participation of senior citizens in wholesome social activities is the
goal for St. Paul’s Creative Hands program. Activities include: arts and crafts, Bible
study, field trips, cultural events, and educational seminars.

The goals of the Twentieth Century African American Church have gone from
fighting for the right to vote and integration, to economic empowerment. The examples
above exemplify the broad range of resources that the African American church provides.
Each church represents what Bishop Roy Calvin Nichols characterizes as a vital church.
Nichols defines a vital church as: “one in which the redemptive and liberating power of
the Gospel is applied with ever-increasing effectiveness to the real needs of people in the
context of their personal and social situation in the world (Billingsley, p. 361).
According to Dr. Vincent Harding, professor of religion at the Iliff School of Religion in
Denver, the genius of the African American church is that it sees it’s two missions - the
spiritual and the social - as one. The African American Church has met this challenge,
and in so doing, has established itself as the most influential institution in the African
American community. This influence is based on a history of genuinely striving to meet
the needs of Blacks, successfully educating them in a nurturing learning environment,

and the critical development and perpetuation of a cultural frame of reference based on

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Black Theology. Conducting research in the context of the African American Church is
necessary in order to understand its literacy practices and the impact that they have upon
African American students’ literacy learning in America’s classrooms.

Summary of the African American Church Historical Overview

In this section of the literature review I have shown that the African American
church is one of the most influential institutions in the African American community. It
has played a significant role as advocate, protector, defender, and exhorter for Blacks.
The complex interrelatedness between religion, language, literacy, politics and economics
is shown pervasively throughout this chapter. For example, in their pursuit to make sense
out of their new situation, West Africans combined similar religious beliefs and practices
to create the West African Sacred Cosmos. In the process of creating this new
worldview, they also created a new language - born out of the need to communicate. I
believe this combination of West African languages and broken English was the origin of
Black vernacular English - the discourse often used in African American homes and
churches.

With the West African Sacred Cosmos and a new language created, slaves
continued their pursuit of an acceptable explanation for their situation. When Whites
shared Christianity with slaves, their West African Sacred Cosmos intersected with White
Christianity and an awesome phenomenon occurred. Some slaves were taught to read
and when they read the Bible they learned of the liberating power of the Holy Scriptures
through literacy. Literacy opened up a new world to slaves, and they were no longer
willing to accept the misinformation passed on to them by their slave masters, but

developed their own theology - Black Theology or Liberation Theology.

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By tracing the African American church’s historical development, I have shown
that Black Theology has provided the basis for teaching and learning and the impetus for
growth in the this context. As Blacks became more educated, they met the new
challenges in the political, educational and social arenas by organizing national
organizations that could combine their resources to meet the vast needs of their people.
Members of the churches were taught many cultural values explicitly through sermons
from the pulpit and classroom teaching. Values were also taught implicitly through
involvement in such activities as boycotts, marches, sit-ins, and Afrocentric Vacation
Bible School. All of these activities and classes are based on Black Theology and affect
the literacy development of children who participate in them.

The social network system manifests itself in multiple ways, including providing
manpower to organize the activities and teach the classes mentioned above. The three
examples of the Twentieth Century church exemplify the numerous resources that are
provided by African American churches for its members. These resources provide
cultural/social capital that many children and parents would not have access to outside of
the church environment. The existence of this resource system is based on Black
theology in that it reinforces the importance of “building people”. Programs such as the
mentoring program at Shiloh Baptist Church offers students an opportunity to interact
with role models who can encourage and motivate them by helping them understand that
social mobility can be a reality.

In conclusion, the African American Church is a learning environment that
influences many African American children. The Black theological perspective taught

within the context of the church is an unique pre—established framework from which

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many African American students base their daily decisions. Because of the significant
role that the African American Church plays in the lives of many, it must be included in
the conversation concerning the education of African American students.

Expansion of Conceptual Framework

While utilizing a sociocultural theoretical perspective, this study examines two
learning environments while focusing upon discourse patterns, pedagogical values, social
norm issues and relationships between the student, parents and members of the literacy
network systems. This section of the literature review expounds upon issues under each
category in the conceptual framework by discussing additional related literature.
Discourse Patterns

We have to consider how the words spoken in classrooms aflect

the outcomes of education: how observable classroom discourse aflects

the unobservable thought processes of each of the participants, and thereby

the nature of what all students learn. (Cazden, 1988, p. 99).

Research shows that one source of cultural incongruence between many white
teachers and African American students is discourse patterns (Michaels, 1981; Heath,
1983; Gee, 1991; Cazden, 1988; Edwards, 1996; Delpit, 1995; McMillon & Edwards,
2000). Discourse patterns are ways of talking, acting, listening, thinking and being.
Primary discourse patterns are the communicative styles used in the home, and secondary
discourse patterns are those utilized in environments outside of the home, such as at
school or church. When middle-class, white students begin school, they are often at an
advantage over their black counterparts because they usually enter a classroom taught by
a white, middle-class teacher. Because white students and teachers come from similar

cultures, their discourse patterns are likely to be similar. Therefore, white, middle-class

students do not need to learn the teacher’s discourse/communicative style because they

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utilize the same style at home. They can immediately begin to focus upon becoming
comfortable in their new environment, getting to know their new friends, and learning
classroom routines and rules. On the other hand, Afiican American students come from a
different culture and often utilize a different communicative style in their home. When
they enter school, they are required to learn their teacher’s communicative style, while
becoming familiar with their new environment.

Differences in communicative styles of black and white children have been noted
by several researchers. Heath (1983), in her landmark study reported that discourse
styles between black and white children were markedly different. Michaels (1981) found
that White children utilized a topic-centered discourse style which matched the teacher’s
language patterns and her ideas concerning the appropriate way to present a Sharing
Time story. However, black children in the study utilized a topic-associating style that
included “a series of implicitly associated personal anecdotes.” Michaels noted that
when the child’s discourse style was different from that of the teacher, the teacher tended
to interrupt often with negative comments rather than assisting the student with the
process. Michaels stated that “sharing time could either provide or deny access to key
literacy-related experiences, depending, ironically on the degree to which teacher and
child start out “sharing” a set of discourse conventions and interpretive strategies”
(Michaels, 1981, p. 423).

Trying to determine the role of culture in discourse differences, Cazden (1988)
asked a set of teachers to respond to Sharing Time stories of black and white students. In
California and Boston, teachers had a difficult time understanding and appreciating

episodic stories told by black children. In order to determine if cultural differences

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between the black students’ narrative themes and styles and the expectations of the white
teachers were the reason for the negative response, Cazden further explored this issue by
organizing a group of black and white informants. She found that:
White adults were much more likely to find the episodic stories hard to follow,
and they were much more likely to infer that the narrator was a low-achieving

student. Black adults were more likely to evaluate positively both topic-centered
and episodic stories, noticing differences but appreciating both. (Cazden, 1988,

p. 17)

Similar findings were illuminated by McMillon and Edwards (2000) in their
comparative study of the literacy experiences of Joshua, an African American boy, in his
predominantly white preschool and African American Sunday School. Joshua’s
experiences during Sharing Time at school were often negative because his interactional
style did not match the teacher’s expectations. However, in his African American
Sunday School, Joshua was greatly admired and considered a “superstar” by his African
American Sunday School teacher. Cazden’s candid response to cultural differences
greatly challenges educators in the field when she states:

...this close look at some children’s texts and teachers’ responses will

raise anew the question of what sharing time is for and make it more

likely that, when children fail to meet a teacher’s expectations, the cause

will be sought in the complexities of the child’s task, or cultural differences

in our expectations, rather than in deficiencies in the children themselves.

(Cazden, 1988, p. 25)
In this dissertation study, discourse patterns, the role of culture in teacher responses and
ways in which classroom discourse matches or mismatches teacher expectations will be

discussed.

Pedagogical Issues

 

From a sociocultural perspective, literacy learning is influenced by students’

literacy experiences in and out of school, and literacy teaching is influenced by teachers’

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literacy experiences in and out of school. Literacy teaching and learning is influenced by
teacher and student beliefs, values, expectations and experiences. Decisions concerning
various pedagogical issues may be based on teachers’ experiences as students and/or
what they believe about their students. Teachers have “folk theories” about students and
their families, and these folk theories influence the teaching and learning process. In his
work, Bruner (1996) describes folk theories as expectations, beliefs, and assumptions
formed over time through personal and professional school experience. Their gradual
formation gives them a durable quality. Teachers tend to develop theories about
instruction that influence their daily decisions and are consistent with their folk
theories/belief systems (N espor, 1987). It is important for teachers to understand how
their personal beliefs about teaching and learning (Allington, 1991; Carter, 1990;
Calderhead, 1988; Gudmundsdottir, 1991) literacy (Thomas & Barksdale-Ladd, 1997)
certain types of students (Anyon, 1981; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Slaughter-Defoe &
Richards, 1995), and even the type of school in which they teach (Gilbert, 1995), can
influence literacy teaching and learning in their classroom.

In their case study, Thomas & Barksdale-Ladd (1997) found that teacher beliefs
are the most critical factor driving instruction. Their report entitled “Plant a radish, get a
radish” is indicative of their findings, which substantiates that teachers’ beliefs about
literacy are often transferred to their students. They stated:

In looking at the children’s understanding of literacy in this study,

we contend that they reflect well their teachers’ beliefs and practices.

The children’s definitions of literacy processes and their resultant

products mirrored somewhat their teachers’ beliefs of reading, writing,

and learning. The skills-based classroom produced students who viewed

themselves as not comfortable to compose perhaps because they had not

mastered the required skills. Whole language students pursued reading
and writing as communication processes or a search for meaning.

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Whether whole language or traditional skills seeds were planted, children

tended to respond and perform in accordance with their teachers’ instructional

practices (p. 58).

Also emphasizing the importance of teacher beliefs Kagan (1992) concluded, “the more
one reads studies of teacher belief, the more strongly one suspects that this piebald of
personal knowledge lies at the very heart of teaching” (p. 85). Not only is teacher belief
critical, but according to Pajares (1992), it may be “the single most important construct in
educational research”. If teachers base classroom instruction on their beliefs, it is critical
that researchers closely examine this process and its affect on student achievement. For
example, what happens when teachers have beliefs that are bias toward the group of
students that they are teaching? How are teacher expectations factored into this
discussion?

In his assessment of the literature on teacher expectations, Brophy (1983)
contends that teacher expectations influence student outcome, but perhaps not in the
direct way that Risk (1970) suggests. In Risk’s study, the kindergarten teacher divided
the class into reading groups which mirrored the class system of society, and behaved
differently toward each group, thus perpetuating “the self-fulfilling prophecy in ghetto
education.” Brophy’s analysis of the literature on teacher expectations is more reserved.
He does not believe that teachers blatantly decide that some students will receive
preferential treatment, but interactions between teachers and students over a period of
time along with several other factors assist teachers with individualistic evaluations of
students. He states:

...a comprehensive conceptualization of self-fulfilling prophecy effects

of teachers’ expectations for student achievement in ordinary classroom

settings requires attention not only to teacher behavior related directly
to the communication of expectations to students but to teachers beliefs

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about appropriate curriculum, effective instruction, and student

motivation, to the quality of the personal relationship between the teacher

and the student, and to a variety of teacher and student individual difference

variables (p.654).

Regardless of the factors involved in teachers’ assessment of their students, in the
United States it is a known fact that African American males are at risk (Slaughter-Defoe
& Richards, 1995; Siddle-Walker, 1992; Kunjufu, 1988; Hopkins, 1997; McMillon &
Edwards, 2000). The process by which this disenfranchisement occurs is critical in this
study. Ogbu (1995) believes that schools reflect the caste-like system of the larger
society, and that racism encountered over a period of time has caused African Americans
and other involuntary minorities to develop oppositional stances toward school.
According to Freire (1993), the oppressed group must develop ways to liberate
themselves, but the oppressors can offer support. Based on the above discussion of the
historical development of public schools and the African American Church, many
African American students are receiving liberating instruction in their African American
churches, but they are experiencing oppression in the school environment. The teachers
of African American students must become proactive in their students’ struggle for
liberation by beginning to understand the influence that their personal beliefs, classroom
instruction and expectations have on their students’ literacy learning. Villegas (1988)
addresses this awesome responsibility of teachers when she states:

...significant social change can be initiated only by those who are

most adversely affected by the imbalance of power in society. But

as teachers and teacher educators, we can support this process of

social change by promoting the development of sociopolitical

awareness on the part of our students as well as ourselves. After
all, teaching is a political activity (p. 261).

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In order to become politically active in the struggle to liberate African American
students, their teachers must become cognizant of the explicit and implicit ways that
schools disempower African Americans, especially African American males.

Teachers of African American students need to become culturally responsive
teachers (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Becoming culturally responsive does not mean that a
teacher must be from the same culture as their students, but it means that the teacher tries
to learn about each student as an individual. Additionally, becoming culturally responsive
means that teachers approach their students from a sociocultural perspective, valuing
their home, community and other out-of-school learning experiences. Gaining an
understanding of students’ cultures will assist teachers with developing instructional
methods that map onto student learning styles (Hale, 1986; Shade, 1989). It is my
contention that teachers of African American students can learn a tremendous amount
about the culture, learning styles, and the struggle for liberation of African Americans
through research conducted in the context of the African American church. The purpose
of this study is to inform teachers of African American students concerning these issues.
Social Norms

Classroom rules are also influenced by teachers’ cultural frames of reference, and
conformity to the rules is influenced by students’ cultural frames of reference. When
these two cultures clash, cultural dissonance often occurs in the classroom (McMillon &
Edwards, 2001). Rules of conduct are necessary in order for teachers to teach and
students to learn, however, it has been found in classroom research that many of these
rules are implicit (Cazden, 1988) and may be the source of misunderstandings concerning

discipline (Delpit, 1995). Cazden (1988) refers to teachers’ implicit expectations as the

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hidden curriculum in the classroom. Based on their cultural frames of reference, teachers
may have certain ways of talking, acting, and interacting that they expect to occur in their
classroom. Anything outside of these expectations is considered undesirable to them, and
they may respond accordingly. Varied styles of discourse have already been discussed in
the section above, but this section focuses on the actions of students.

Communicative competence (Hymes, 1974) focuses upon academic ability,
content knowledge — being able to give the right answer based on a student’s knowledge
base. Mehan (1979) expounded upon that concept by adding interactional competence to
the literature discussion, which emphasizes the importance of students not only knowing
the answers, but also being able to participate in classroom conversations appropriately.
In other words, students must know the answer and know how to appropriately share
their knowledge in the classroom. Turn taking and participatory structure were critical
issues discussed in Mehan’s study. In this study, I want to take communicative
competence (academic knowledge) and interactional competence a step further to place
more emphasis on “culture”. Culture can be defined as a “social system that represents
an accumulation of beliefs, attitudes, habits, values and practices that serve as a filter
through which a group of people view and respond to the world in which they live”
(Shade, Kelly, & Oberg, 1997, p. 12). Ideally the culture of the classroom should include
a combination of the teacher’s culture and the students’ cultures. Unfortunately, the
students’ cultures are not always taken into consideration when establishing the
classroom environment, which leaves students “at-risk” if they do not develop the ability
to “read” and understand the culture of the classroom. The term classroom cultural

competence is “the ability to read and understand the culture of the classroom (including

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rules of conduct) and negotiate these cultural boundaries successfully”. The term
negotiate was specifically chosen because classroom cultural competence is not
necessarily attained through passive, total submission to the teacher’s culture, but
requires a student to function successfully in class while retaining their own cultural
identity.

The term classroom cultural competence suggests that classrooms have cultures
and one may be competent or incompetent in understanding this culture. Teachers are
agents of the classroom culture and they can choose to include their students’ cultural
contributions, or they can decide that their students’ cultures are not welcome in their
classroom. Students who share similar cultures with the teacher are at an advantage in
terms of attaining classroom cultural competence because they may share similar values,
beliefs and expectations concerning educational issues. Also, the parents who share
similar cultures with the teacher will probably have an easier time communicating with
the teacher. Thus, the hidden curriculum of a classroom is quite explicit for students and
parents who know about and understand the teacher’s culture. However, students who do
not share similar cultures with their teachers must develop classroom cultural competence
in order to be successful.

Literacy Network Systems

The term literacy network system is an original phrase combining literacy, fictive
kinship systems, and social network systems. It involves investigating who participates
in literacy teaching and learning in various environments. The relationship between the
students, parents and members of the literacy network system in the African American

church environment was the subject of a pilot study conducted two years ago (Edwards,

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et al, in press). It was found that the literacy network system within the context of the
church formed a close-knit group whose members shared similar beliefs and cultural
capital was provided by the members to students that assisted them with negotiating
cultural boundaries in their school environments. This dissertation study will compare the
literacy network systems in the church and school for two African American first grade
boys as a basis for a future quantitative study which will examine the affect of teacher-
student relationships on literacy acquisition and development.
Summary of Relevant Literature

Sometimes it is easier and possibly more politically correct to ignore or
intentionally refuse to include topics that may cause conflict or disagreement. As a part
of the first major study of my educational research career, this literature review could be
specifically organized around my conceptual framework. However, the nature of this
study requires that difficult to discuss issues be addressed directly and succinctly. I
believe that there is an overarching theme of power, dominance and racism across
the relevant literature and within this study. Although I am emphasizing the need to
include the African American Church in the conversation concerning the education of
African American students, I understand that some people may not immediately embrace
my ideas because the African American Church is an influential institution from a
minority, non-dominant culture. The values and beliefs of its members are not
considered “mainstream” in the United States. Regardless of the historical and current
impact of the African American Church in all aspects of society, including political,
economic, social, psychological, etc., its powerful voice is diminished by the fact that

racism exists in the United States, and profoundly affects the thinking of the culture of

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power - the policymakers and other decision makers, in our country. However, the mere
existence of these significant injustices injects a serum of motivation, determination, and
drive to actively promote the importance of including institutions that perpetuate cultural
values in our society thereby affecting the cognitive structures utilized by many “non-
dominant” cultures/ minority races in our society. I believe that most teachers love and
sincerely desire to help all children. These teachers can choose to build or destroy the
academic lives of students because they have the power to decide how and which “true”
curriculum will be implemented in their classroom on a daily basis. If these heroes - the
teachers of African American students - can understand the real value of acquiring
knowledge concerning outside influences on in-school learning, policymakers and other
members of the “culture of power” will have to take heed to increased numbers of
African American students achieving academically.

By thoroughly examining relevant literature, in this literature review, I have
specifically attempted to show evidence that research done in the context of the African
American Church will uncover many productive literacy teaching and learning practices
that will increase our understanding of the frame of reference from which many African
American students are operating. The African American public school experience has
been devastating for many, and continues to be overladen with remnants of racism -
mirroring a society that diminishes the importance and benefits of truly embracing
diversity. Despite these inadequacies, many African Americans have become successful,
especially those who have received undaunting support from African American churches.
Literacy teaching and learning continues to be a priority in the context of the African

American church. There is much to be learned from research conducted in this setting.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY

In order to find the maximum number of plausible sources for the incongruencies
between the church and school environments for African American students, I utilized an
ethnographic study approach. Goetz and LaCompte (1984) assert:

Ethnographies are analytic descriptions or reconstructions of intact cultural

scenes and groups. Ethnographies recreate for the reader the shared beliefs,

practices, artifacts, folk knowledge, and behaviors of some group of peOple.
I wanted to examine how African American students acquire and develop literacy in a
setting that is culturally congruent for them. An ethnographic study allowed me to
closely examine the students and teachers to uncover the explicit and implicit ways that
teaching and learning occurs in the natural enviromnents. While studying the two
students in their settings, I attempted to capture their experiences from a holistic
perspective by constructing "descriptions of total phenomena within their various
contexts and generate from these descriptions the complex interrelationships of causes
and consequences that affect human behavior toward, and belief about, the phenomena"
(Goetz & LaCompte, 1984). Additionally, the ethnographic method allowed me to
utilize a number of research techniques to collect and analyze my data (Hammersley &
Atkinson, 1995).
Grand Tour Question

Why are some African American students successful in the African American Church
environment, but considered "at-risk " in their classrooms at school?

Creswell (1994) refers to the main question in qualitative research as the "Grand-
Tour Question". Focus questions help answer the Grand Tour question, and guiding
questions are more detailed, in-depth questions that assist in answering the focus
questions. Below are the Focus questions for this study, and the more detailed Guiding

questions.

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Focus Questions & Guiding Questions

1) How does literacy teaching and learning occur in each setting?
What are the discourse pattems/communication styles utilized in each setting?
Do the teacher and students utilize the same discourse patterns?
Do the students seem to understand the teacher?
Does the teacher seem to understand the students?
What are the most prevalent pedagogical styles utilized by each teacher? (i.e..
scaffolding, repetition, response to mistakes, use of peer teaching, etc.)
Do teacher include various methods that would address learning style differences
among her students? Describe them.
What are the social norms in each setting?
Are these social norms made explicit to the students?
Do parents understand the social norms in each classroom?
Do parents agree with and/or support the social norms expectations in each
setting?
What types of assessment tools do each teacher utilize?
Do students understand the assessment process?
Do parents understand the assessment process?
Do teachers utilize various means of assessment that address learning style
differences?

2) What are the "norms of success" in each setting?
Who establishes the criteria for "success"?
How are these "norms" communicated to the students?
Do teachers understand the criteria by which they are evaluating students?
Can teachers communicate the standards "clearly" to students?...to parents?
Do students understand the "standards" by which they are evaluated?
Do parents understand the "standards" by which the students are evaluated?
What are teachers', students‘, and parents' perception of the standards in each
setting?
What type of support do students receive to assist them in achieving "success"
in each setting?
How is the support that students receive "activated" in each setting?
What are teachers', students', and parents' perception of the "support" given
in each setting?

3) What types of opportunities to acquire cultural/social capital are students provided in
each setting?

Describe these cultural/social capital attainment experiences?

Who provides them?

How are they provided?

Why are they provided?

Do students understand the purpose of the experiences?

Are goals made explicit?

Are parents aware of the experiences? Do they understand them?

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Are teachers involved in the experiences?
What are the teachers', students', and parents’ perceptions of the experiences?

4) Do teachers purposefully attempt to help students make connections between their
various learning environments?

If so, how?

If not, why not?

5) Who are the participants in the literacy network system in each setting for each child?

6) What are the plausible sources of incongruence between the church and school
environments?

In order to answer the research, focus and guiding questions, it was necessary to
identify students and teachers in two contexts — school and church, who could
successfully participate in this study. This chapter provides a general description of the
school context where the initial recruitment process began, and describes the process
utilized to identify subjects and gain entry into their church environments. Specific
information concerning the school, churches and subjects will be discussed in the data
analysis chapters.

Contexts

After completing a request form detailing information concerning my research
study and sharing my dissertation proposal, I was given access to three first grade classes
(approximately 60 students), at a predominantly black school in a Midwestern state. The
teachers are white, middle-class females and the principal is an African-American female
with more than 20 years experience as an elementary school teacher. According to the
principal, many of the students attended African American churches and were having
difficulty in school.

Two African American male students were chosen to participate in the study

because they were considered the most “at-risk” first grade students. They were students

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flax: 7+

in Mrs. Rudolph’s classroom. She was considered the best first grade teacher at the
school.

In addition to conducting research in Mrs. Rudolph’s first grade classroom, I
collected data in two African American Sunday School classes. One church was a
Baptist church and the other was a non-denominational church. The school and church
contexts will be further described in Chapters 4 and 5.

Subjects

In order to find my subjects, I initially planned to ask teachers to rank their
students in four groups in 25 percentile rankings, from their best to their most at-risk
students. The teachers were not to be given any criteria to utilize when establishing the
students' ranks, but would be questioned concerning the criteria that they decided to use
after the process was completed. This would have given me a sense of the teachers'
perceptions of "success" in each classroom. The teachers' perceptions of success is
critical when establishing which students are successful, and which are not. According to
Risk (1970), some students can be successful in one classroom and not in another. In this
study, it is important to understand what the teacher considers "successful" because she is
the one who determines the level of "success" for the students in her class.

Although my initial intention was to only include teachers in the ranking of their
students, during my introductory conversation with the principal and assistant principal,
they shared the names of nine first grade students whom they felt were the most “at-risk”.
However, they also asked the teachers to rank their students and provide them with the

names of students in the lowest 25th percentile, based on their (the teacher’s) definition

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of a “successful student”. Not surprisingly, the teachers provided the same names that
the principals provided during our first meeting.

Because I am studying a phenomenon where students are doing well in one
setting, and not in the other, I wanted to find students who were at the extreme in both
environments. I believed the plausible causes of this phenomenon would be more readily
identified by studying these students. The principal assisted in locating students who
attended Sunday School regularly and their parents were contacted immediately. From
the initial list of nine students, six were identified as possible subjects. After speaking
with the teacher and parents concerning the students experiences at church and school,
two students were chosen to participate in the study. Their parents were asked to sign an
agreement to participate in the study (See Appendix 1). This agreement included
information about the study, and requested permission to contact the students’ pastors
and Sunday School teachers. Additionally, permission to retrieve student records, to
evaluate and interview students, and interview parents, was requested.

After collecting this information, I called the churches to speak with the students'
pastors and Sunday School teachers to verify which students were doing best in their
Sunday School classes, and to request permission to collect data in their Sunday School
classes. Ideally, I hoped to find two students who were in the same class at school and in
the same Sunday School class. This design would have been the most simple, and would
have required the least amount of data collection. However, I was unable to find this
ideal combination. I found two students who were in the same class at school, but in two
different Sunday School classes. There is an adequate amount of literature concerning

the experiences of African American students in school, but very little literature which

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focus upon learning experiences in the African American church, and even less on
literacy experiences specifically in the context of Sunday School. Therefore, I chose
students in the same first grade classroom at school and triangulated the data with data
from the literature which speaks to literacy experiences of first graders. Collecting data
from two African American Sunday School classes allowed me to compare the two
Sunday School classes to look for similar patterns and trends. It is understood that
studying only two classes may not allow me to generalize to a larger population, but it
did afford me an opportunity to take a microscopic look at the intricacies around literacy
teaching and learning in each setting.
Data Collection

After locating the two subjects in my study, and gaining approval from their
parents to participate in the research study, I began collecting data. I utilized several
methods of data collection including: classroom observations; videotaping entire Sunday
School Class sessions; videotaping literacy activities during classroom sessions at school;
retrieval of docmnents from the school and church setting that relate to student evaluation
and referrals; videotape any extra-curricular activities in which students participate at
church and school during the data collection period; video- and audiotaping interviews
with school teachers, Sunday School teachers, parents, and students; informal interviews
with other significant literacy role models; also, fieldnotes, daily analytic notes and
memos, and a fieldwork journal. I videotaped all of the data collected because I not only
planned to analyze the discourse, but wanted to focus upon actions, reactions,
interactions, and other behaviors, such as eye gaze, gestures, and other movements that

might be considered manifestations of the teacher-student and parent-teacher relationship

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(Dr. Jeffery Schultz, personal communication, Data Analysis Session, Penn Ethnography
Conference, March, 1998). Videotaping also provided an opportunity for me to share
segments with others for their perspectives concerning the data. I closely examined the
literacy practices in each setting, to identify pedagogical, discourse, and social
similarities and differences. Additionally, I examined the literacy network systems in
both settings to determine who talks to whom, and who influences whom around literacy
issues. Because I wanted to compare and contrast the data from the school and church
settings, I utilized the same data collection methods in both settings.

Classroom observations

 

While collecting classroom data I utilized Mehan’s (1979) concept of
“constitutive ethnography”, focusing on the social organization of routine literacy events.
I wanted to provide a description of the interaction during these events, as well as
examine the discourse. Before beginning data collection, I visited the classrooms to
allow the students to become accustomed to my presence. During these visits, I took
observation notes, but I did not assist the students because I did not want them to ask for
assistance once data collection began. I videotaped during these initial visits, to help the
students become familiar with the camera, and hopefully lose interest in the idea of being
taped. After the initial visits, I videotaped twenty hours of classroom sessions when the
teacher was working on literacy oriented activities, such as reading comprehension or
vocabulary skills. Videotaping these activities captured how literacy teaching and
learning takes place in each setting. I focused upon teacher-student and student-student
interactions. The camera was operated from a corner of the room, in a non-intrusive

position.

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Teacher Interviews

During teacher interview, I obtained the teachers' perspective of their pedagogical
styles, the discourse/communication patterns utilized in the class, the social norms
established in the class, the criteria for success in their classroom, and the student/teacher
and parent/teacher relationships. (See Appendix 1 for Teacher Interview Protocol).
Information was collected from the teachers during a formal ninety minute interview, and
several informal interviews conducted while the classes were in session.

I also interviewed the Reading Resource teacher who provided useful information
concerning tests and other evaluative measurements utilized for first graders at Paradise
Elementary, and specifically shared her knowledge of the subjects’ tests and evaluations.

Parent Interviews

 

In addition to interviewing school teachers and Sunday School teachers, I
interviewed parents to gain their perspective of the students' educational experiences.
Parent stories (Edwards, et a1, 1999) were collected in order to gain a better
understanding of the literacy experiences that each student had prior to attending school.
This information is critical because it provided information that allowed me to consider
how home literacy practices map on to (are similar to or different from) school and
church literacy practices. Some of the questions were taken from the "Edward-Pleasants
Parent Stories Questionnaire" (Edwards, et al, 1999). (See Appendix 2 for Parent
Interview Protocol).

Parents were interviewed in their homes to insure their comfort. These formal
interviews were ninety minutes in length. The questions were designed to get a clear

indication of the parents' perspective of the student/teacher and parent/teacher

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relationship in each setting, the value of education in each setting, the amount of
support/reinforcement given to the literacy teaching and learning in each setting, and the
understanding that the parents have concerning the curriculum in each setting. Literature
points to the fact that many parents are not knowledgeable about what their children are
doing in school, and do not understand how they can support the school's curriculum at
home. I wanted to determine if this could possibly be another plausible cause of
disconnection in school and connection in church.

Student Interviews

 

Because the students were mature, I had several opportunities to informally
interview them to ask about their progress in school, to inquire concerning their
perception of the school teacher and Sunday School teacher, to ask their opinion of the
environments, and to ask how they believe others perceive them in each environment.
These questions are important because Risk (1970) asserts that students tend to enact
their teachers' "self-fulfilling prOphesies”. Therefore, what students perceive that their
teachers believe about them, could become a reality. (See Appendix 3 for Student
Interview Protocol). These interviews took place at various times and places, including:
in class, in the hallway while students walked from class to the lunchroom or to music or
gym class, during recess on the playground, in the principal’s office after being sent out
of class, and in the Reading Resource Room before and after testing.

Documentation of Failure in School

I examined the school records of the focal students, including report card grades,

standardized test scores, parent-teacher conference student evaluation forms, any student

referral forms for special services, and emergent literacy evaluations. This data provided

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a more complete picture of how the child was perceived as successful on in-school based
tasks. Also, I videotaped extra-curricular activities in which the students participated
during the data collection period. These activities included an awards assembly, a school
carnival, and a church youth program.
Documentation of Success in Church

Students were not formally evaluated by their Sunday School teachers, therefore
the evaluations made concerning their church experiences are based on interviews and
videotaped classroom sessions. I also videotaped any programs or church-related
activities in which the students participated during the period of data collection.
Fieldnotes

F ieldnotes were taken during each observation session and were as concrete and
descriptive as possible. The fieldnotes notebook was divided into 2 categories:
description and analysis/inference. Analytic and inference oriented statements were
categorized as such, next to the description of the observation. Spradley's (1980)
checklist for making field records was utilized as a guide:

1. Space: the physical place or places.

2. Actor: the people involved.

3. Activity: a set of related acts people do.

4. Object: the physical things that are present.

5. Act: single actions that people do.

6. Event: a set of related activities that people carry out.

7. Time: the sequencing that takes place over time.

8. Goal: the things people are trying to accomplish.

9. Feeling: the emotions felt and expressed.

(Spradley, p. 78)

Analytic notes & memos, and fieldwork journal

While making fieldnotes, transcribing videotaped data, and reading documents, I

made note of analytic ideas as they developed. These analytic notes were reviewed bi-

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monthly, and used to write analytic memos in the form of short working papers which
assessed my progress and discussed emergent ideas (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995).
This process of preliminary analysis helped alleviate the problem of becoming
overwhelmed with the massive amount of data later on, by developing ideas concerning
emerging themes and patterns to organize the data. Additionally, I kept a fieldwork
journal which provided a record of all of my fieldwork, and my personal feelings and
involvement. Personal feelings of comfort, anxiety, surprise, shock or repulsion was
especially helpful during the actual data analysis phase.
Data Analysis

During data analysis, I specifically looked for patterns within and across settings,
and especially focused on literacy practices, student/teacher interactions and behaviors. I
employed three types of data analysis: discourse and narrative analysis, and sociograms
and matrices. This section is organized to address analysis issues for each type of data
collection method.
Discourse analysis

In order to answer my research questions, it was necessary to examine the words
spoken in each classroom. Discourse patterns/communicative styles of teachers and
students is one possible source of incongruence in classrooms (Gee, 1991; Delpit, 1995;
Heath, 1983; O'Connor & Michaels, 1996; McMillon & Edwards, 2000). Discourse
analysis examined the structure and type of language used (Cazden, 1988). For example,
I determined if the teacher used the same types of language patterns that the students
used, and considered if there were marked differences in the teacher talk register and the

student talk register. I attempted to determine if students manifested their understanding

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of the teacher talk register by utilizing certain terms when talking to other students, (i.e.
during peer tutoring). Analyzing the structure and type of language used in the classroom
assisted in determining if teacher-student communication was a possible source of
incongruence.

After transcription, the data was coded in several different ways to assist with
analysis. The IRE (initiation—reply-evaluation) lesson structure pattern utilized by
Mehan (1979) in his constitutive ethnographic classroom study was helpful in examining
the literacy lessons data and the tumtaking process during classroom discussions. These
participatory structures were examined to determine how classroom membership is
attained, and how the floor is defined in each setting (Mehan, 1979; O'Connor &
Michaels, 1996). In addition to coding the transcripts based on the IRE lesson structure
pattern, I considered the following questions while analyzing the data: Have all students
attained membership status within the class? Who are the excluded students? On what
basis are the exclusions made? Does teacher comments seem to affect students'
membership status? Does student comments seem to affect membership status? Do the
teachers attempt in any way to include the excluded students? How? Do any students
attempt to include the excluded? Are students required to raise their hands, or does a
natural tumtaking take place? Who decides who has the floor? Does everyone
understand how to get the floor? Are there some students who are excluded from the
floor? Why, or why not? How does the teacher respond to children with different
communicative styles? Do they get opportunities to have the floor as frequently as the
students who have communicative styles similar to the teacher's? I believe focusing on

class membership status and participation structure increased my understanding of the

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intricacies of implicit and explicit exclusionary and inclusionary actions, the role that
teachers and students play, and upon what basis these decisions were made.

It was necessary to utilize several other ways of coding the data in order to gain a
clear understanding of what was going on in the classroom. The categories included:
CC=classroom control (statements relating to misbehavior), SC=teacher scaffolding
(teacher using one of the scaffolding techniques), RV=revoice (teacher revoicing for
various reasons in different ways), Dl=direct instruction (teacher making a direct
command), AF =affirmation (affirmation from teacher that the answer is correct),
PR=preparation for learning activity, SRB=student rebuttal in response to directives,
SQ=student initiated question, SA=student answer given in response to a question
unrelated to the lesson structure pattern, and SRS=student responding to another
student’s question, request, statement, etc. Additional questions addressed during data
analysis included: How do the teachers respond to mistakes? Do teachers utilize
pedagogical styles such as revoicing, repetition, and scaffolding? (Tannen, 1989) I
looked for specific examples concerning issues such as: Do students seem to feel good
about themselves when teachers respond to their mistakes? Why, or why not? What type
of voice inflection does the teacher use when responding to mistakes? Is it ridiculing?
How do students respond? Analyzing teacher response to mistakes can help determine
why some students may or may not be successful in a particular classroom setting. If a
student feels threatened he/she may not take the intellectual risks that are necessary to
develop literacy skills. For example, if a student is a poor reader, and the teacher uses a
ridiculing tone of voice when helping them, the student may become embarrassed and

refuse to read aloud again. Other students may also become ridiculing because the

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teacher established a ridiculing classroom environment (McMillon & Edwards, 2000).
Teachers establish the tone of their classrooms, and students may quickly embrace the
idiosyncrasies of the teacher. These issues became vitally important during data analysis,
and are discussed in the data analysis chapters.

Questions addressed in the pedagogical section of the analysis included: Do
teachers utilize various methods of teaching literacy? What methods do teachers use?
How do students respond? Are students interested? Are students engaged? Is peer
teaching utilized? Are varied learning styles considered? What are some of the unique
ways that the teacher tries to improve reading skills? If teachers were not engaging the
students by utilizing various methods that would match different learning styles, it may
be difficult for some students to learn. Teachers may focus on methods that worked for
them when they were children, or methods that worked for last years' class. It is the
teacher's responsibility to adjust their teaching style to their students every year, and it
was important for me to assess the teachers’ efforts in doing so.

Other important questions included: What types of terms of endearment do
teachers use? (I.e. sweetie, honey, buddy, etc.). Are the terms used to encourage
students? Are other terms used to ridicule students? What types of gestures do teachers
make? Do they use their hands? Do they touch students? (Le. Pat on the back for
encouragement; a hug when they’re hurting; extra smiles when they're gloomy, etc.) How
do students respond to the terms ofendearment? How do students respond to the
gestures? How do teachers use their eyes? Do they look students in the eye? Do they
get down, bend, or stoop in order to get on the students' eye level? Do the students look

at the teacher? During lessons? During discipline? During encouragement?

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The physical appearance of the classroom was also considered in this study. I
specifically asked: Is the classroom decorated interestingly? Are students overwhelmed
with the stufl on the walls? Do students know how to utilize the resources in the
classroom? (I.e.. word wall, dictionaries, Bibles, pencil Sharpeners, etc.)

Within the social norms frame several questions was answered: What are the rules
in the classroom? Do students seem to understand the rules? Does the teacher enforce
the rules? What exceptions are made? What are the discipline methods used in class?
Are there any implicit rules? Do misbehavior effect academic Opportunities in class?
How? Does the teacher talk about rules in other environments in order to help the student
understand? (I.e. utilizing the student's participation on sports teams to encourage
teamwork for a classroom group project; emphasizing the importance of obeying rules
when swimming, playing on the playground, etc.; or for the Sunday School teacher - the
importance of good behavior at school; taking turns; making straight lines, etc.) Are any
cultural rules emphasized? (I.e. The importance of helping others; encouragement to be
the best despite the odds, etc.). What are the cultural rules manifested in the classroom?
How are they taught?

One way to address the tension between creating culturally congruent classrooms,
and the expectation for school to prepare minority students to compete within the culture
of power, is to study how Sunday School teachers and parents of African American
students talk about school. Therefore, I tried to answer the following questions: Do
Sunday School teachers attempt to assist their students in negotiating the borders between

their culturally congruent Sunday School and incongruent classrooms at school? Are

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Sunday School students taught how to behave in school? Are the differences between the
environments discussed with students?

As discussed above, the videotaped classroom data was transcribed and organized
according to emerging patterns and themes discussed in the fieldnotes, analytical notes
and memos, and the fieldwork journal. Sections of transcript were chosen for closer
analysis and divided into IRE (initiation-response-evaluation) patterns (Mehan, 1979) and
other coding categories to assist with analysis of classroom data. Timelines were utilized
for close examination of patterns, and for comparison purposes.

Narrative Analysis

 

The purpose of the teacher, parent and student interviews was to get their story
concerning the incongruencies between the church and school environments. Teachers
were asked questions concerning their personal beliefs about these incongruencies, their
criteria for success, their evaluation of the two students, their pedagogical beliefs,
expectations, values, methods, and their opinion of their relationship with the student and
parents. They were also asked if they attempted to assist students to negotiate cultural
borders, and the methods that they utilized in trying to help students. Their ideas about
literacy development and the sociocultural view of literacy were also explored during the
interviews. These areas were all very important in trying to answer the focus and guiding
questions of the study, and in triangulation of the data.

Parent interviews were analyzed carefully to determine if their educational
histories, beliefs about education, and/or home literacy activities were a possible source
of incongruence or congruence in the two environments. Their relationship with the

teachers, and their beliefs concerning the importance of literacy development in both

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settings were also discussed. Parents were asked to identify other significant literacy role
models. This information assisted during the process of examining the literacy network
systems of each student. More specifically, parents were asked to identify who
influences their decisions concerning educational issues. Additionally, they were asked
to evaluate the effectiveness of the facilitators of literacy in the school and church
settings based on their child’s experiences.

Student interviews gave me an opportunity to get the students' perspective of the
sources of incongruency. They allowed me to test my inferences concerning student
understanding of classroom rules, expectations, exclusionary measures, and participatory
structures. I made value-laden inferences in my fieldwork journal, and during the student
interview I checked with the student to determine if my assessments were correct from
their perspective. It was especially important to refrain from leading the students to
answer the way that I wanted them to answer, thereby having inaccurate data, and
incorrect analysis. I practiced my questions beforehand on two first-graders who were
not included in the study before actually collecting and analyzing my student interview
data. In addition to sharing their perspectives of the issues listed above, students also
assisted with identifying members of the literacy network systems in each setting. The
student’s opinion of the effectiveness of each facilitator of literacy was critical, and was
often shared without prompts. Students honestly and openly shared how they felt about
the members of the literacy network systems in each setting. In my opinion, the student
perspective of the literacy facilitators may be the most important because the student
opinion seemed to be focused upon the type of relationship that they had with the literacy

facilitator.

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Narrative analysis (Riessman, 1993) was used to analyze interview data, which
was in the form of short stories/narratives. I began with a rough draft of the entire
interview that focused on the words and exceptional features that stood out, such as
crying, laughing, or very long pauses. Then, I chose specific portions of the interviews
for detailed analysis. Quotes and vignettes were especially useful in analyzing and
organizing the interview data. After specific parts of the interviews were retranscribed, I
wrote down quotes and vignettes on a poster board. This process allowed me to display
the data (Wolcott, 1994), so that I could look for patterns and categories. Quotes and
vignettes were reorganized on the large poster as themes emerged. This process was the
initial stage to determine the specific data that would be used in the final write-up of the
study.

Analysis of documentation

The purpose of including the documentation of student success in church, failure
in school, and student evaluation was to discover why the students are doing poorly in
their school class. Questions addressed included: Is the child actually capable of doing
better work as indicated by test scores and other evaluative methods? Or is the child
lacking in some area and in need of special assistance? If so, has assistance been
requested? Is the child receiving special help? If so, what kind? How does the parent
feel about the support? How does the child feel about the support? Are children
degraded by the teacher and/or student peers concerning the additional assistance? All of
these questions helped identify possible points of connection and disconnection between

the teachers, students, and parents.

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Social Network Analysis

Based on information from student documents and evaluations, the interviews and
classroom observations, a series of circles of influence were produced which collectively
illustrate the literacy network systems in each setting (Wasserman, 1994). These circles
of influence visually display the relational ties within the context of each setting, with
connecting or disconnecting lines indicating the types of relationships that exist within
the literacy network systems as indicated by the data. This information will assist with
conceptualizing how this micro-oriented, detailed study of literacy experiences will
connect with a larger macro study of social network systems of the church and school
environments. Some of the information gathered in this analysis will be used to design

the next study (see Chapter 7 - Recommendations for further study).

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CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL DATA
Setting

Paradise Elementary School is located in a well-established inner-city
neighborhood in a Midwestern city. Several African American community leaders
including retired teachers, principals and politicians, live in the vicinity with their houses
concentrated on two streets. The rest of the neighborhood includes several middle-class
homes and many low income family homes. Paradise serves 485 students from pre-
school to fiflh grade. Approximately 92% of the students are African American with 86%
receiving free or reduced lunch. Paradise has 22 teachers; four African Americans, one
African America male; two are Hispanic, and the remaining 15 are White.

Several years ago, student enrollment dwindled down to 307 resulting from
students moving out of the neighborhood, and parents deciding to utilize their “school of
choice” option, which had gone into effect. However, since the current principal was
hired two years ago the enrollment has steadily increased. Mrs. Chamberlain attributes
the increase in student enrollment to the major school improvements that have been made
since she became principal. Paradise Elementary currently has a computer lab, and
provides music, physical education and art for all students. A full time reading resource
teacher is on staff, offering Reading Recovery to students who are in need. It is also one
of five schools in the school district which offers a foreign language. “All of these
programs have helped increase enrollment here at Paradise,” Mrs. Chamberlain stated,
“but many parents also bring their children to this school because they know who I am
and what I stand for.” Mrs. H.Q. Chamberlain is a well known, Afi'ican American

woman, with 24 years experience as an elementary school teacher in urban schools. She

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' was recruited to become an assistant principal at one of the local middle schools before
being promoted to principal of Paradise Elementary. She grew up in the community as a
pastor’s daughter and has taught music at the local community college. Mrs.
Chamberlain has definitely made a difference at Paradise Elementary.

Mrs. Chamberlain welcomed me into Paradise Elementary School and told me
that she has “the most wonderful teachers and students in the city.” Her effervescent
personality and beaming smile warms the hearts of her faculty, staff, and students on a
daily basis. She can be found answering the phone, helping students open milk cartons in
the cafeteria, giving a teacher flowers and words of encouragement, or hugging a student
on the playground on any given day. Her professional philosophy is that she wants
Paradise Elementary School to become “the place that the name implies - a paradise for
the employees and students.”

During the initial visit with Mrs. Chamberlain, she shared a list of nine first grade
students whom she felt were the most “at-risk” first graders in the school, and introduced
me to the teacher whom she considered “the best” first grade teacher. The teacher - Mrs.
Rudolph, is a white, middle-class woman with 18 years experience teaching in urban
schools. Her class included eighteen students - six girls and twelve boys. Mrs. Rudolph
was asked to rank the students in her class, and provide us with a list of the “most at-risk”
students. Not surprisingly, most of the names on their lists were identical.

After explaining the dissertation study to Mrs. Rudolph and receiving her consent
to participate in the study (See Appendix 2), she and Mrs. Chamberlain asked each child
on the list if they attended Sunday School. Six children were identified as possible

subjects. I called each student’s parents to explain the research project and to ask if their

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child attended Sunday School regularly. Of the three students, two were chosen to

participate in the study based on my discussion with their parents and Sunday School

teachers concerning their success in the church environment.

Subjects

Tony is a friendly seven year old, African American first grader who lives with
his mother and four siblings. Until the recent birth of his younger brother, he was the
“baby” of the family. In many ways Tony’s family life is similar to the stereotypical life
that many people have come to expect for an African American student in an inner-city
neighborhood. His mom, Ms. Donaldson, is a single parent mother and his father is
incarcerated. He rarely hears from his father, however, his grandmother, aunt and uncle
stays in touch with him. One could easily pass judgment upon the Donaldson family
based on their family status, but they would be very incorrect in their assessment unless
they personally spoke with Ms. Donaldson. She is a very articulate woman in her mid
thirties who is employed full-time at a group home for troubled teens. She owns her
home which is located in a well established neighborhood two blocks from Paradise
Elementary School. Upon entering her house for the parent interview, I immediately
noticed that her home was well furnished with items that would encourage learning. For
example, an expensive set of Britannica Encyclopedias were neatly placed on a beautiful
wooden bookshelf, with many other books in sight including several spiritually-based,

self-help books. The big screen television set was on one side of the living-room and a

few educational toys were on the floor. Ms. Donaldson mentioned that the family owned

a computer, and her oldest son wanted to show me the similarities and differences

between their video camera and the one that I was using to collect data.

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Tony was obviously not experiencing an impoverished childhood based on an
immediate assessment of his home. His mother explained that he had some difficulties
afier the baby was born because he had been the youngest in the family for so long. She
said that she’s trying to help him become comfortable with his new position of “next to
the youngest”.

Ms. Donaldson felt that Tony was an exceptionally bright child because he
benefited from having older siblings. She required her children to read every day after
school. Before he became a reader, Tony’s older siblings were required to read to him.
His mother also explained that she began reading to Tony when he was a very small
infant, and was intrigued by his keen interest in books. To her surprise, however, Tony
does not necessarily choose books that one would expect a first grader to read. For
example, while at the doctor’s office a few days before the interview, Tony picked up a
National Geographic and started reading aloud to his mother. She was amazed at the
words that he was reading and double-checked the article to make sure he was reading
the words in the magazine, and not “making up” words. To her amazement, he had
decoded every word correctly in the article.

Ms. Donaldson stated that Tony has always been an exceptional child. He walked
and talked early, and carried on detailed conversations with adults as a very young child.
According to Ms. Donaldson, Tony could recognize and say the letters of the alphabet at
the age of one, and continued to advance at a fast pace until his kindergarten experience.

Several years ago, Ms. Donaldson was married to Tony’s father, Tony Sr. They
moved the family from their current locale to a larger metropolitan area to find better

jobs. Her children excelled at first, while attending schools in the first school district in

129

 

 

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which they lived. However, after a few months they moved into a predominantly white
apartment complex in a different neighborhood. Her older children, ages 11, 9 and 7,
were constantly harassed by white teenagers who called them “niggers”, and warned
them that they were not welcome in the neighborhood. The Donaldson family’s toys
were often destroyed and their family car was also vandalized. Ms. Donaldson tried to

talk with the parents of some of the teenagers whom her children accused of harassment,

only to be harassed herself. She stated:

I had heard of racism, but I had never experienced it. I have several close
white friends with whom I stay in touch, and I knew that I wasn’t prejudice.
We weren’t doing anything to deserve the type of treatment that we received
from the white people in that neighborhood. It was overwhelming! We had

a very hard time!

Tony’s older siblings were able to find some refuge in their classrooms at school

because they had good teachers, but he was not so fortunate. She explained:

Tony’s kindergarten teacher was extremely prejudice. She would do little

things in the classroom to hurt Tony, like intentionally ignore him. I complained
to the principal who asked me for concrete evidence. It was difficult for me to
prove that the teacher was not treating Tony equally until their Valentine’s Day
celebration. I stayed up all night cooking cupcakes so all four of the kids could
have a special Valentine treat for their classmates. That was a lot of work, but

I wanted them to have something nice. When Tony and I arrived in his class,

he was excited and immediately began to pass out his Valentine cards and
prepare his treat. The teacher told him that they would pass out the cards

and treats a little later. When I arrived at the school to pick Tony up, he met

me at the door, tears in his eyes with the cards and the cupcakes. I was so angry
that I immediately went to talk with the principal. I knew that I had the evidence
I needed to confront the teacher. When asked, the teacher claimed that she didn’t

know Tony had Valentine cards and treats.

It took a long time for Tony and his family to recuperate from the damages that
occurred during that time in their lives. As a matter of fact, Ms. Donaldson stated that
she is still trying to help her children rectify some of the affects of those traumatic

experiences. She noticed that Tony’s whole personality changed during his negative

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kindergarten experience. At first he loved school, but after several weeks he did not like
it any more. His conversation also changed. Ms. Donaldson noticed that he began to
describe people based on their race, specifically detailing if they were “black” or “white”.

Afier returning to his home town, Tony began first grade. His teacher, Ms.
Rudolph described him as “an introvert who carried a lot of bottled up anger”. He cried
everyday when his mother dropped him off at school, insisting that his mother let him
stay home with her. Mrs. Rudolph explained that Tony would not interact with her or his
classmates for more than a month when school first began. Ms. Donaldson shared
information about Tony’s negative kindergarten experience with Mrs. Rudolph, who
patiently waited for an Opportunity to connect with him. Mrs. Rudolph explained:

I remember one day after about a month of not talking to me or anyone

else in the class, we were doing some type of activity and the students

were having fun - laughing and enjoying themselves. Tony looked at us
and I kindly invited him to join us, just as I had done everyday from the

beginning of school. But this time he slowly got up and sat with the group.
He didn’t say much that day, but when he got ready to leave he gave me the
biggest hug. It absolutely made my day. I knew then that he would be alright.
You know that’s why he received the “Hug Award” this year. No matter
what happened between us during the day, he never left school without first

giving me a hug. He’s a very special child.

According to school records, Tony did not know all of his alphabets when he
began first grade. However, during the parent interview with Ms. Donaldson, it was
discovered that Tony has known his alphabets since he was only one year old. His
mother felt that Tony did not do well during the initial testing because he was still
suffering from the trauma he experienced during kindergarten. She also explained that

she was having a hard time coping with life circumstances resulting from the relocation,
and perhaps her feelings were affecting his interest in school. Whatever the reason,
Tony’s test scores showed that he only knew 18 of the 26 alphabets.

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Not only did Tony do poorly on his test scores, but he remained on the retention
list for two marking periods. Mrs. Rudolph expressed her concerns about Tony and her
belief that he was not working up to his potential with Ms. Donaldson during a parent-
teacher conference early in the school year. Mrs. Rudolph explained that she did not feel
Tony should be on the retention list, and requested that his mother work with him more
diligently at home. Ms. Donaldson assured Mrs. Rudolph that she would follow her
instructions for the plan devised specifically to bring Tony up to par.

After the conference, Mrs. Rudolph immediately saw improvement in Tony’s
work. He got off the retention list, passed the students in his first reading group, and was
placed in the next group where he soon passed the students, ultimately ending up in the
top reading group with two other students. At the end of the first grade Tony was
decoding at a Level 30, (which is a 5th grade reading level), according to the Reading
Resource teacher. Mrs. Rudolph attributes Tony’s success to his mother:

I wish I had more mothers like Tony’s mother. I told her what she

needed to do to help her son, and she followed through. Tony ofien

told me that he was required to read every night. I believe him because

the proof can be seen in the way he progressed. I couldn’t have done

it without her. I just don’t have the time during class to give individual

students everything they need. I need more parental support.

Tony became successful academically because his mother and teacher approached
his literacy learning as a team effort. However, within the social norms frame, Tony was
not nearly as successful in his classroom at school. This chapter will expound upon his
academic and social experiences in the school enviromnent.

Travis is an interesting six year old, first grader who lives with his father, mother,

and two older brothers. Travis has always had very advanced motor skills and is an avid

basketball player. According to his mother, Mrs. Cunningham, who is a teacher

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education student at the local university, learning has always come easy for Travis. He
walked at ten months old and spoke in complete sentences at an early age. As young
children, all of the Cunninghams were read to by their parents and grandparents. The
importance of receiving a good education is often stressed in the Cunningham home. Mr.
Cunningham, who was also a student and full time employee, decided that he would “put
school on hold for a little while” until his wife finishes. He felt that having both parents
working and in school was causing too much stress for the family. Mr. & Mrs.
Cunningham participates wholeheartedly in their children’s educational activities and he
wanted to insure that their sons did not suffer in any way. Therefore, he voluntarily
postponed his pursuit of a degree “to focus on the kids”, while his wife focuses on
finishing up her college program. Both parents believe that their attending school have
had a positive impact on their sons’ ideas about schooling. Travis likes the idea of his
parents having to do homework. Mrs. Cunningham challenges her sons by competing
with them for good grades. This competition seems to motivate the two oldest sons, but
Travis is a “different type of child”. He is strong-willed and decides when he will make a
genuine or a half—hearted effort. He gets good grades in school and is the “top student in
his class” according to his teacher Mrs. Rudolph, who feels that he does not have to give
his best in order to get good grades. She feels that he is naturally talented in reading and
math. He “zooms through the work and then has too much free time on his hands while
waiting for other students to catch up”.

All of the people interviewed in this study agreed that Travis is an exceptional
child. Mr. Cunningham stated, “As a young child Travis always seemed to notice things

that children don’t usually pay attention to. You would think he’s playing with the other

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children, and a few days later he’d say something to let you know that he was fully aware
of what was going on”. During data collection, Travis displayed this unique ability. He
was very relaxed during videotaping, and rarely looked directly at the camera, although
he was aware that he was one of the subjects in the study. After taping, he would often
ask his mother questions about the study. He was especially interested in knowing how
his classroom experiences would be utilized to help other children like himself. Mrs.

Cunningham made a special effort to thoroughly explain the study to Travis and make

him feel comfortable about participating.

Having in-depth conversations is a routine practice in the Cunningham home.
Mrs. Cunningham believes that parents should allow their children to ask questions about
anything. She wants her sons to feel comfortable expressing their feelings and
articulating their beliefs. Travis’ contributions to these conversations oflen take the

Cunninghams by surprise. Mrs. Cunningham stated:

Travis will just be sitting around while his brothers are talking to me
about something...acting like he’s not even listening. Then all of

a sudden he’ll just chime in and say something that’s he’s too young to
say. He’s just so deep, sometimes we don’t even know how to respond to

him.
These “spurts of maturity” displayed by Travis makes it difficult for the Cunningham

family because from day-to-day they are never quite sure if Travis is going to be “a six

year old” or a “sixty-year—old”. When he is not dazzling his family with his brilliance,
Travis acts like most six year olds who are the youngest in the family. His brothers tend
to cater to his needs because “he’s their baby brother”. “He always gets his way”, stated

Mrs. Cunningham. “He’s so spoiled!” she continues, “He has everybody’s number. He

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knows just what to say and do to get us to do whatever he wants. He’s a good child and
we love him.”

When their children were younger, Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham took them to the
public library often. They would read to their sons, and let them explore on the library
computers. Now that they have their own computer, their sons prefer to utilize the one at
home. Although they encourage Travis to read, they admitted that he is very strong
willed and it is difficult to get him to do something that he does not want to do. “Travis
has to be interested in a book to read it. If he’s not interested, you can forget it,”
explained Mrs. Cunningham.

Travis’ educational experiences had been positive until he entered the first grade.
For some reason he and Mrs. Rudolph were unable to get along for an extended period of
time. Travis had been suspended eight times when the study began, and was suspended

twice during the data collection period.

Mr. Cunningham was disappointed with the ineffective discipline methods being

used at Paradise. He stated:

I can’t understand what they think a kid can learn if they’re constantly
sending him home. I think Mrs. Rudolph overreacts to Travis. Once she

let him see that he could frustrate her, it was over. He will win every time
in his mind, because she doesn’t know how to deal with him. I’ve spanked
him several times as a last resort, trying to get him to act right at school,

but Mrs. Rudolph has let it go too far. He’ll never listen to her now because

she tries to force herself on him.

Mrs. Cunningham agreed with her husband:

That’s right. Travis has a very strong personality for a child and you have
to let him think he’s in control. He’ll shut down every time when someone
tries to “make” him do something that he doesn’t want to do.

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Unfortunately, Mrs. Rudolph was unable to develOp effective strategies to
convince Travis to change his behavior. She tried several ideas but to no avail. For
example, Mrs. Rudolph implemented a positive behavior lunch program. If a student
finished a day without any major behavior problems they would get a star. After a
certain amount of stars were accumulated, she would take them to McDonalds for lunch.
Several times Travis almost made it, but he would get into trouble with one or two stars
to go. Mrs. Rudolph decided to give him one more chance. Mrs. Chamberlain, the

principal, described what happened:

It seemed that everybody in the whole school was pulling for Travis, trying

to motivate him to win a trip to McDonalds. The office secretaries and I

would encourage him everyday to “be good” so he could win his McDonalds
lunch. Mr. Adams, the janitor, would also remind him to be a “mannerable young
man” in class. The day finally came that would determine if he would go. Mrs.
Rudolph ran into the office and announced, “He made it!” All of us started
jumping and clapping...rejoicing! We were so happy for him!

Travis went to McDonalds and got into trouble again the next day. Although Travis was
exceptionally successful academically and his parents were involved in school activities,
he was incredibly unsuccessfully socially in his classroom at school. Possible sources of

his behavior pattern will be explored in this Chapters 4 and 5.

Analysis of School Data

Mrs. Rudolph’s class was very stimulating. When I entered the classroom I saw
about fifteen cloud mobiles hanging from the ceiling. On one side of the room an entire
wall was filled with colorful words in alphabetical order. The title, “Word Wall” was
neatly centered on the large bulletin board. In one corner, an overhead projector and flip
chart were neatly stored. On the other side of the room were several shelves of books on

top of a colorful large rug. Other learning tools including a computer were organized in

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various parts of the room. Next to the sink was a large orange sheet of paper on the wall,
with a “Handwashing Rap” printed on it. The individual student desks were arranged in
groups of twos or fours, with the exception of a three desks, which were about three feet
away from the groups of desks. Two round tables with chairs were near the sink, which
students used when they needed to work alone away from their groups.

During analysis of the school data, four important themes became illuminated
within the framework previously set forth. These themes are discussed below.

Discourse patterns

Three patterns emerged within the Discourse patterns frame while analyzing data

collected in the school context:

The teacher provided cultural capital to her students through exposure to Standard
English.

The teacher understood her students’ discourse patterns and scaffolded their language
acquisition skills through revoicing methods.

The subjects were able to negotiate cultural language patterns within the classroom
setting.

In his work, Gee (1991) argues that white, middle-class students often benefit
from sharing similar discourse patterns with their white, middle-class teachers. Minority
students, on the other hand, must overcome difficulties associated with language barriers
between them and many of their teachers. Mrs. Rudolph, the first grade teacher in this
research study, felt that she had learned to communicate effectively with her students.
After 12 years of teaching experience in urban schools, she considered herself an
“expert” on African American language and culture. During her interview she shared:

When my family and I are at home watching a movie and some

African American star begins using slang and cliches unfamiliar to my
family, they always ask me what the person is saying. It’s really kind of

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funny, but I can always answer them. After being around African American
students for so long, I pretty much understand whatever they say. I guess
I’m somewhat of an expert in a way. (smiles)

Most of the students in Mrs. Rudolph’s class utilize Black vernacular English.
Mrs. Rudolph understands Black vernacular English, but she utilizes Standard English in
her classroom. By using Standard English I believe that Mrs. Rudolph is giving her
students an opportunity to “hear” and “understand” the discourse that will help them
enter into the “culture of power” (Delpit, 1995). In other words, Mrs. Rudolph is
providing cultural capital to her students through exposure to Standard English.

Although Mrs. Rudolph uses Standard English in class, she does not degrade or
devalue the discourse patterns that her students use. Her response to them is not
ridiculing or demeaning in any way. Instead, she carefully, and almost unnoticeably
scaffolds their language acquisition skills through revoicing methods (O’Connor &

Michaels, 1996). For example, during a classroom discussion about antlers, Mrs.

Rudolph asked the students:

Mrs. R.: Boys and girls what are antlers? O.K. Lorisa.

Lorisa: ‘Dey lit’le sticks up on his head.

Mrs. R.: They look like sticks on the moose’s head. Very good Lorisa. And what
are they used for?

Mark: ‘Dey grow big!

Mrs. R.: Yes Mark. Some antlers are very large. But what are they used for?

Tony: I know Mrs. Rudolph (waving his hand in the air). They’re used for
protection.

Mrs. R.: That’s right Tony. Antlers are used for protection.

As discussed above, most of the students in the class utilized Black vernacular
English, however, Tony and Travis were able to negotiate cultural language patterns
within the classroom setting. During observations, it became apparent that more

capable students such as the two subjects, used words that displayed a much broader

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i

 

vocabulary, as indicated by Tony’s response in the above example. During formal

instructional time, question & answer periods, or when talking directly to the teacher,

Tony and Travis often used standard English, and frequently used words from the

“teacher-talk register” (Cazden, 198 8), indicating strong language skills and an advanced

comprehension level. However, during play time or whenever addressing their peers,

they would revert to Black vernacular language patterns.

While talking to the students seated near his desk, Travis speaks one way, but

when asking the teacher a question he uses “teacher talk”:

Travis:
Miranda:
Travis:
Tiffany:
Travis:

Mrs. R.:
Travis:

Mrs. R.:
Travis:

I ain’t go say nothin’ else ‘til ‘um done with dis’ stuff.

Mrs. Rudolph said we gotta get done.

We got gym today. ‘Um ready to be done.
You almost done ain’t chu (you)?

Uh huh. Almost. I gotta question...

Mrs. Rudolph, can I ask you something?

Yes Travis...

I wrote a two in the tens place and a three in the ones place which makes
23, right?

That’s right Travis. Are you finished?

Yes I’m finished now. That was my last problem.

(Looks at Miranda and Tiffany). ‘Um done.

I told yall ‘um ready to be done and ‘um done.

Yall slow (jokingly). ‘Um ready to go to gym.

Pedagogical issues

Two major patterns emerged under the Pedagogical issues category, which are

highlighted and supported below.

The teacher facilitated a classroom-learning environment based on

reciprocity, which helped her develop applicable teaching strategies in response to

the varied learning styles of her students. During her twelve years of experience in an

urban setting, the teacher realized the importance of learning from her students. She had

developed very effective instructional methods, which were continuously adjusted

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according to the needs of her students. A variety of approaches were utilized in the
classroom which appealed to students with different learning styles, such as: lecture,
overhead projectors, hands-on projects, peer tutoring, collaborative learning, field trips,
exposure to different types of literature, and playing soft background music while
students completed assignments. She provided creative opportunities to learn, such as
word wall bingo and writing sentences on desks with shaving cream. Also, reading
groups based on ability allowed more individualized attention.

Word Wall Bingo was a vocabulary word building game that all of the students
seemed to enjoy. As described previously, an entire wall was devoted to the “Word
Wall”. The letters of the alphabet were displayed across the wall, and words that began
with that letter were neatly written under the letter. The display was quite colorful and
caught my attention immediately when I first visited the room. To play Word Wall
Bingo each student was given a card and several chips. Some students were allowed to
have more than one card if they had previously proven they could keep up with more than
one card at time while playing the game. Tony and Travis were given three cards and did
not have any problems checking all three cards for the words that Mrs. Rudolph called.
She had each word on the Word Wall written on a piece of paper in her bingo box. She
would shake the box and pull out a word. Students would have to look on their cards for
the word and cover it with a chip. If they covered five words in a row, column or

diagonally, they would say “bingo” and win a prize. This activity encouraged the

students to learn the vocabulary words while having fun.

During another classroom observation, Mrs. Rudolph sprayed shaving cream on

each students’ desk and had them write sentences with the shaving cream. Each time

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1.!7‘.‘ -\ a_fl
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they completed a sentence, they had to raise their hand and wait until Mrs. Rudolph
checked their sentences. It was a pleasure to watch students having so much fun! Mrs.
Rudolph explained that she utilizes the shaving cream activity especially when the desks

need cleaning because she stated, “the students learn and clean at the same time without

even noticing.”
In addition to using innovative instructional methods such as Word Wall Bingo

and writing sentences with shaving cream, Mrs. Rudolph also implemented reading
groups based on ability. Because of the well-structured literacy network system at
Paradise Elementary, she received the support that she needed for implementation. A

member of the Grandmother’s Tutoring Group, the Reading Resource teacher, and

sometimes a teacher’s aide, was available to assist with focused reading activities. Mrs.
Rudolph would request to be placed on their schedules at least once per week in order to
have her students work in their reading groups. She believed that ability based reading
groups allowed her to give much needed individual attention to various students. For
example, the lower reading group could work on phonics word attack strategies while the
highest reading group could be challenged to read books on their reading levels.

Mrs. Rudolph, like many teachers believed that the most successful students were
the ones with parental support. She had higher academic expectations for students
with parental support and they thrived academically. Mrs. Rudolph tried to connect
with the students’ parents in several ways including sending a weekly letter home every
Friday encouraging parents to reinforce classroom lessons. She offered to meet with
parents to recommend specific home literacy activities that could help improve their

child’s academic success. Mrs. Rudolph had high academic expectations for Tony and

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—_.—._~_..n —-—n—— _

Travis because their parents were very involved in their learning in and out of school.

They responded by becoming the two top first grade readers.

As previously mentioned, Mrs. Donaldson worked with Tony on a daily basis at
home to improve his reading skills. However, she explained that she was not as active in

the school setting as she should have been. Initially she had every intention of

participating in the PTA and other activities, but she was experiencing some personal

difficulties that she allowed to get in the way.

Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, on the other hand, were quite involved in school
activities. Mrs. Cunningham was the PTA president, and they both volunteered to
chaperone field trips for the class. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham often stopped by the school
just to check up on their children.

Mrs. Rudolph recognized and valued the importance of parental involvement.
She welcomed parents wholeheartedly to visit the classroom, but very few responded.

Mrs. Rudolph attributes Tony’s and Travis’ academic achievement to their parents whom

she feels made every effort to insure that their children were successful.

Social norms

The old cliche’: “There is always room for improvement ” was my foremost
thought when identifying the themes within the Social norms frame for this study. Mrs.
Rudolph certainly lived up to her reputation as the “best” first grade teacher when
focusing upon the Discourse patterns and Pedagogical issues categories - areas in which
many white, middle-class teachers fail to excel when working with African American

students. However, Mrs. Rudolph, whom I truly believe had the best of intentions for her

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students, was utilizing several debilitating methods to establish social norms within her
classroom. Two major patterns emerged under this category.

Mrs. Rudolph had low behavioral expectations for Tony and Travis and they
acted accordingly. Although Tony and Travis were the two top first grade students
academically, they were considered “at-risk” because they were often disciplined for not
obeying classroom rules. They were suspended from school eight to twelve times during
the school year for negative behavior, which left the teacher and parents quite frustrated.
The parents’ frustration eventually became ambivalence after hearing numerous negative

reports without being given effective strategies concerning how to help improve the

students’ behavior.

During my first classroom observation, I noticed that Mrs. Rudolph utilized
several different classroom control and disciplinary methods. To deter students from
“shouting out” an answer during classroom discussion, she would hold a large card up,
which was a picture of an African American hand with the fingers stretched out, similar
to the way a hand looks when its raised to answer a question. When students would

began to answer out of turn without being called upon, she would wave the card to

remind them to raise their hands.

Depending on one’s perspective, using the card was effective if it was supposed
to remind students to raise their hands without Mrs. Rudolph saying “raise your hands”
repeatedly. However, it did not totally stop students from “yelling out” answers.
Interestingly, whenever Mrs. Rudolph decided that it was alright for a student to give an
answer without being called upon, she had another card that displayed the face of an

African American child with their mouth open. This card indicated to the students that

143

 

they could speak out without raising their hands. Tumtaking and participatory structures
will be further expounded upon in Chapter 6.

Another method of classroom control utilized by Mrs. Rudolph was writing the
names of students with negative behavior on the chalkboard. After warning, and
sometimes threatening a student by suggesting something that might be taken away such
as recess, she would write their name on the board. The class was considered an “active”
class by Mrs. Rudolph. She had several students who were constantly on the move, and
frequently displayed negative behavior. Because my observations were conducted
toward the end of the school year, it was difficult to gauge how student behavior
progressed or deteriorated over time. Based on her interview, Mrs. Rudolph explained
that certain students had been given ample warnings over the course of the school year,
and by the time data collection began for this study, she had become frustrated with their
continued misbehavior. Whatever the reason, it became immediately evident to me that
certain students were disciplined excessively more than others. Their names seemed to
remain on the board throughout my observations.

For example, Tony’s name was on the board every time classroom observations
were made. He was a very social student and often conversed with other students. The
classroom was set up with individual desks pushed together to make small groups. Tony
and two other students were not in groups. Their individual desks were placed on the
periphery of the small groups. Tony often got into trouble for trying to get a friend’s
attention across the aisle, or for getting caught talking to another student when he should
have been listening to the teacher. Unfortunately, it seemed that Tony was being

disciplined excessively for doing things that may not have happened if he had been

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fl.. u-w. I 9".-' .

placed in a group with other students. Students who were in groups were able to
communicate with one another during times when they were not supposed to be talking.
They would whisper or gesture and would not be disciplined.

Not only was Tony excluded from being a part of a small group like some of the
other students, but he was often placed in “time out” which required him to sit on the
floor on the other side of the room, further away from students. During one classroom
observation, the students were completing a math assignment and Tony was in “time
out”. Mrs. Rudolph was walking around answering questions for students as they worked
on the assignment. Tony held his hand up several times without a response from Mrs.
Rudolph. He tried to get her attention by shaking his hand fiercely, but she still did not
respond. Finally, two students who had been watching him got up out of their seats, went
over to the “time out” section of the room, and started playing with Tony. For a while
Tony would look up to see if Mrs. Rudolph was looking, but she seemed to be absorbed
in the math activity. Finally, she told the two students to sit down in their seats or their
name would be placed on the board. Tony asked her if she could check his paper, and
she told him to raise his hand and wait his turn. He responded by saying that he had his
hand raised for a long time. She cut him off with, “You have to wait for your turn.” He
dropped his head and started checking over his paper. When he raised his hand again,

Mrs. Rudolph told him that it was time for gym and he would just have to complete the

assignment later.

This missed opportunity could have been detrimental to Tony. He was being
disciplined for his behavior and the discipline was not working. In my opinion, methods

of exclusion go beyond social discipline and extends to academic exclusion as well.

145

Tony’s experience above is a case in point. However, it was not the only time that I
observed this type of action. Tony was the type of student who raised his hand often, but
he was not called upon as much as some of the other “better behaved” students. The
more behaved girls were given the most opportunities to answer questions. After
watching Tony, it did not seem to bother him that he was rarely called upon because he
continued to raise his hand, and whenever he was given a chance his answers were
usually correct.

Travis’ classroom behavior was different from Tony’s. Tony seemed to get into
trouble over little things continuously throughout the day, whereas Travis would get into
trouble over things that escalated into a major stand-off between he and Mrs. Rudolph.
Travis sat in a group with three girls who were mild mannered and highly regarded by the
teacher. Mrs. Rudolph explained that she was unable to sit Travis next to anyone other
than Miranda. She stated: “For some reason, I don’t understand it, but Miranda really
likes Travis, and he doesn’t get along with anybody but Miranda.” By being a part of a
group Travis was able to quietly communicate with his group members all the time,
unlike Tony. During observations Travis’ name was placed on the board two times for
misbehavior, however, he was suspended twice. As indicated above, the observations
were made toward the end of the school year, therefore it is evident that Mrs. Rudolph
had decided that she was not going to allow certain types of behavior any more. She was
understandably quite frustrated with student behavior in her class. However, as discussed
above, she seemed to respond to negative behavior in some students differently than

others.

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For example, once during observations, I noticed that Miranda, Travis’ group
member was “passing licks” (hitting). She tapped his shoulder several times, and he
smiled at her. Finally he returned the “lick” (hit) smiling. Mrs. Rudolph rushed over to

him, placed her hand on his shoulder and sternly said:

Mrs. R.: You apologize to her right now this instant!

Travis: She hit me first!

Mrs. R.: Don’t you lie on her. You apologize!

Travis: I didn’t do anything. (Speaking a little louder)

Mrs. R.: Apologize now!

Travis: No! I didn’t do anything. (A little louder, shaking her hand off his
shoulder).

Mrs. R: Either apologize or go to the office.

Travis: (Frowns angrily, twisting his body out the chair, and walks slowly to the
door).

After this episode in class, Travis was eventually sent home because he became so upset.
He continued to say that he did not do anything, but nobody believed him because of the
low expectations that they had for his behavior. Miranda was never questioned
concerning the incident, and she never voluntarily told that they were just playing.

Later during the day I asked Mrs. Rudolph if she thought Travis could have been
telling the truth this time. She responded, “No way. Miranda is a perfect student. She
never does anything wrong. I know that she did not hit Travis. He needs to learn to keep
his hands to himself.” Mrs. Rudolph had high behavioral expectations for Miranda, and
Miranda “always” lived up to those expectations. On the other hand, she had low
behavioral expectations for Travis and Tony, and they “always” seemed to live up to
those expectations as well. According to Risk (1970), students tend to live up to the self-
fulfilling prophecies of their teachers. Travis, Tony, and Miranda were not exceptions to

this “rule”.

147

Although Ms. Donaldson and the Cunninghams were very supportive of Mrs.
Rudolph’s academic curriculum, they were not supportive of her disciplinary
techniques and their ambivalence influenced their sons.

Tony and Travis were very perceptive and understood that their parents were
quite frustrated with the social norm issues occurring in the classroom. During
classroom observations Tony and another student (Tony’s cousin) had a disagreement,
which escalated into a pushing match. This altercation occurred two days before the
class’ final field trip. I was planning to videotape during the fieldtrip to gain insight by
studying the subjects in a more relaxed setting. When I asked the teacher for permission
to make observations during the field trip she told me that she did not expect Tony and
Travis to attend the field trip. Tony had not been allowed to go on any field trips all year
because of his behavior, and Travis had been sent home from the last field trip. Although
Travis’ parents were chaperones, he refused to follow the rules of conduct on the field
trip and his parents were asked to take him home. She expressed her low expectations of
their behavior by telling me that she would be surprised if Tony and Travis were not
suspended before the field trip. Tony and his cousin began arguing in class and were sent
to the office. I followed them to the office to continue observations. The following

conversation took place in the office lobby while waiting to see the principal:

Mrs. Me: Do you realize that you may not be able to go on the field trip?
Marquis: I can’t go noway. I don’t care.
Mrs. Me: Do you think that it was nice to get Tony in trouble and prevent him

from going to the picnic, just because you can’t go?
(Tony had been sitting there with a terribly angry expression on his face, as if he might
burst at any moment. He immediately chimed in when he thought I was “scolding”
Marquis).
Tony: That’s ok Ms. McMillon. l-ain’t wanna go no way. Mama told me that
we go go on our own picnic if Mrs. Rudolph won’t let me go. We gonna

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Marquis:
Mrs. Mc:

from
Tony:

Mrs. Mc:

Tony:

Mrs. Mc:

you
Tony:

Mrs. Mc:

Tony:

Mrs. Mc:

Tony:

Mrs. Mc:

Tony:

Mrs. Mc.:

Tony:

have barbecue and everything! Mrs. Rudolph just go have sack lunch. I
want some barbecue and stuff.

Yea barbecue is way better than some old sack lunch. (Grins)

Tony, don’t you think that you would enjoy hanging out with the kids
your class at the picnic.

They don’t like me no way. They think I’m too bad.

Are you bad Tony?

Nope.

What will your mother say about you getting suspended again? Won’t
get in trouble and maybe be put on punishment or something?

Nope. Mama usta’ ground me when I got kicked out. But now she just
say, “oh well”, and tell me to go play.

Why?

Cuz she said that she tired of Mrs. Rudolph puttin’ me out. She say they
don’t know what they doin’ up here.

What do you play at home when you’ve been suspended?

Nintendo, Play Station and Game Boy.

Your mom let’s you play games when you’re suspended?

Yep! She just say, “Well I guess you got another vacation.”

Do you read or do other school work while you’re kicked out?

Mama read to me everyday....when I’m kicked out and when I ain’t. Then
I have to read to her. Then we done. Then I just go play.

Although she tried not to negatively influence her son’s educational experiences, Ms.

Donaldson’s frustrations had turned into ambivalence, and her conversations with Tony

were indicative of her feelings.

The expectations that Mrs. Rudolph had for her students seemed quite simple at

first, such as raise your hand before joining the conversation, walk in a straight line in the

hallway, pay attention during classroom lessons, etc. However, afler careful analysis it

became apparent that Mrs. Rudolph, Tony, Travis and their parents were Operating from

different cultural frames of reference concerning issues of student behavior and

discipline. Mrs. Rudolph was implementing a hidden curriculum (Cazden, I988)

(implicit rules of conduct) that Tony, Travis and their parents did not agree with. These

invisible rules were debilitating to both Tony and Travis because they were based on

cultural values which they did not have in common with their white, middle-class

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teacher. In their homes and other settings such their churches, they were taught to speak
out, be assertive, energetic, and openly share their opinions. Mrs. Rudolph valued
students who were passive and did not challenge her authority. Students who challenge
their teacher’s authority are often considered “behavior problems.” Unfortunately, these
issues were not resolved early in the school year, and the entire year was spent in a power
struggle between the teacher and Tony and Travis. Because Mrs. Rudolph made such an
impact upon Tony by helping him through his difficult time, he seemed to be more
willing to give in and let her have control from time to time. Their student-teacher
relationship seemed to influence Tony’s actions in a positive way. But Travis never
allowed her to control him, nor develop a wholesome teacher-student relationship with
him. He fought all year and refused to let her reach him. During one of her interviews,
her words provided support for this belief: “I could never reach Travis. I feel as if I’ve
failed him. I didn’t teach him anything all year.”

Ms. Donaldson and the Cunninghams were very frustrated with Mrs. Rudolph’s
disciplinary techniques. They felt that it was ridiculous to send a first grader home for
some of the reasons that the school sent their children home, and they were upset that the
principal supported the teacher’s decisions. Ms. Donaldson stated that she believed at
one time Mrs. Rudolph was a good teacher and she still does some wonderful things
academically, but she has gotten too old to handle the students in her class, and should
retire. Mrs. Cunningham was a bit more sensitive because she was aware of personal
problems that Mrs. Rudolph was experiencing with her family. She stated:

I know that Mrs. Rudolph is a good teacher because she taught my oldest

son. She was just going through a lot with her husband and daughter

being sick. She was under a lot of pressure and it makes sense that it was
hard for her to handle a class like the one she had. It was a odd mixture of

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kids in that class. Their personalities never really came together. They didn’t

mix well at all, and she couldn’t help that. I’m sure if she hadn’t had all the

problems, things would have been better between her and Travis, but she said

that she couldn’t never really figure out how to get next to him...you know his
interests and stuff. I told her that he liked dinosaurs, and I knew he was really

bored in that class because he already knew all the stuff. But it’s hard on a

teacher to give students individual attention, so I just work with him here at

home.

The Reading Resource teacher and Travis’ parents wanted Travis to get into the
“gifted” program in the school district, but Mrs. Rudolph refused to refer him because she
said that students in the gifted program needed to be able to work independently and
Travis’ behavior would be a problem for the teacher. Travis’ parents and the Reading
Resource teacher were disappointed with Mrs. Rudolph because they felt that part of the
reason for Travis’ behavior was because he was bored. He would finish his assignments
before everyone else and have time to get into trouble. Mrs. Rudolph’s refusal to refer
Travis could effect his future educational experiences.

Literacy Network System

The school provided a strong academic support system and attempted to
provide a support system to assist with behavioral issues. The literacy network
system consisted of several adults who were committed to assisting the subjects
academically including: a Reading Resource Specialist, Grandmothers Tutoring Group,
and the school librarian. The social worker also organized a support system for the
subjects to assist the teacher with behavior problems to try to avoid suspension, which
included: the principal, assistant principal, the custodian, the office secretaries, and a
kindergarten teacher. Whenever the behavior of the subjects became overwhelming for

the teacher, she would ask someone from the “support system” to assist her. Often,

assistance required removing the subject from the classroom.

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In the school setting the academic literacy network system was effectively
working for both Travis and Tony, however, the social literacy network system (which
was a different set of people) was not successfully helping them learn strategies to adjust
their behavior and stop getting suspended. In other words, the social literacy network
system had failed Travis and Tony.

Summary of analysis of school data

Tony and Travis were academically successful in school, but socially “at-risk”.
They displayed linguistic competence — the skill and ability to produce and understand
well-formed sentences (Chomsky, 1965); communicative competence — the capacity to
acquire and utilize language correctly in various situations (Hymes, 1974); and a level of
interactional competence — “employing interactional skills and abilities in the display of
academic knowledge (Mehan, 1979, p. 133); but they did not have classroom cultural
competence — the ability to “read” and understand the culture of the classroom and act
accordingly. These competencies will be further explored in Chapter 6. At this point it is
important to note that the subjects’ inability to successfully negotiate the cultural
boundaries within the social norms frame was frustrating to everyone involved, including
the teachers, administrators and parents. After being suspended eight to twelve times,
Tony and Travis eventually became ambivalent and indifferent, reflecting their parents’
feelings. Unfortunately, although Paradise Elementary successfully provided for them
academically, their behavior placed them in the “at-risk” category at the end of the school
year. During her interview, Mrs. Rudolph expressed the belief that Tony “would be
alright” because he had “come a long way” and she had been able to “reach” him.

However, she did not have such a positive prophecy for Travis. She expressed her

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feelings through tears as she stated, “I feel that I’ve failed Travis...”. She did not believe
that she had successfully prepared him for the second grade, and was concerned that he
might continue to be “at-risk” socially.

Tony and Travis are exceptions to the usual story of academic underachievement
in African American boys, often resulting in being placed in Special Education classes or
remedial programs (Irvine, 1990; Hopkins, 1997). However, their behavior caused them
to be considered the two most “at-risk” students in the first grade at Paradise Elementary.
Although a Literacy Network System was established and provided them successful

support academically, it had failed them socially.

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CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS OF SUNDAY SCHOOL DATA

Similar to their ancestors in the United States, Tony and Travis have experienced
some difficulties in the public school setting, but are considered successful students with
unlimited potential within the environment of their African American church.

Settings

When this study began Tony attended church with his aunt, who was also his
Sunday School teacher. The church is located about 20 minutes from his school in a
quiet, township neighborhood. Ephesians Baptist Church has approximately 75 members
and is pastored by Rev. Coleman who grew up in the vicinity of Tony’s school. The
church and Sunday School is small, but growing. Unfortunately, Tony’s Aunt Denise
decided to change churches during data collection, and he was never Observed in this
setting. However, after he stopped going to church with his aunt, his father’s cousin
began to pick him up for church. An important value within the African American family
is to make sure family members’ children are being “raised” in church.

Tony immediately fell in love with his new church home. Mount Olivia Baptist
Church was much larger than his first church, but the people treated him as if he had been
around a long time. He seemed very comfortable in his new environment. When asked if
he liked the new church he stated, “I like it here. It’s a lot of fun stuff to do, and I learn a
lot about God.”

Tony’s Sunday School class included six to eight students each week. The
classroom walls were decorated with large posters of biblical characters who looked like
African Americans. They utilized literature from the publishing company discussed in

the literature review - Urban Ministries Inc., which provides a culturally based

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Afrocentric approach to Bible lessons. His Sunday School teacher was a middle-class,
African American woman with almost 30 years of Sunday School teaching experience.

Travis’ Sunday School class was not a traditional type of class. Instead of
meeting before church, his class met during Sunday morning worship service.
Approximately 15 to 20 students attended class with Travis at the New Testament
Christian Center. The pastor and wife team at New Testament emphasizes the
importance of the family and teaches many cultural and biblical values. Their phiIOSOphy
is to reach for the “spirit of excellence.” This philosophy is pervasive in all of their
activities, including their Sunday School class for children.

Travis’ Sunday School teacher is an African American male who stated that
Travis is one of his favorite students because he reminds him of himself. The Sunday
School lessons at New Testament church were centered around a monthly theme.
Teachers were expected to be well prepared to teach the lesson and provide a related
activity for their students.
Analysis of Sunday School Data

Although Tony and Travis attended two different Sunday School classes, there
were many similarities between the classes. Most importantly, both environments
utilized a Black theological approach to biblical interpretation and emphasized the
importance of strengthening relationships within their “community”. These teachings
provided the core foundation for the literacy network systems within each context.
During analysis of the church data six important themes became apparent, and are

expounded upon below.

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Discourse patterns

Teachers and students utilized similar communicative styles. Teachers and
students utilized African American communicative styles that included patterns such as:
hand gestures, nodding, affirrnative mumbles during discussions, emphasized voice
inflection and Black vernacular English. Students frequently used words from the
“teacher-talk register” (Cazden, 1988), which indicates strong language skills. Some
“teacher-talk” words were quoted from a scripture or Bible lesson.

While teaching the story of Joseph, Mr. Willis provided a good example of the
discourse patterns commonly utilized in African American Sunday School classes:

Mr. Willis: There was a famine in the land. Do you know what a famine is?

Students: No.

Mr. Willis: A famine is when there is no food. PeOple had to come to Joseph for food
because the king put him over everything. So when they needed food they
came to Joseph...when they needed to eat. Everybody understand what
‘um sayin’?

Students: Yea.

Mr. Willis: Good. ‘Cause you know everybody gotta eat. You like to eat don’t you?

Students: Yea.

Mr. Willis: Even though they had to bring money and what not, what I’m sayin’ is
Joseph still had to provide the food. He was the chief giver next to God.
Yall understand what ‘um sayin’?

Students: Yea.

The discourse in this setting was similar to the common call-response patterns utilized by
many African American speakers, especially in the church setting (Proctor & Watley,
1984)

In Tony’s Sunday School class students utilized “teacher talk” when participating

in the Opening prayer. For example, one of the students said:

OK. Everybody. Let’s prepare fO’ prayer.

Bow yo’ heads, fold yo’ hands, and close yo’ eyes.
(With her eyes closed)

Thank you God fo’ everythang you done fo’ us.

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F o’ the clothes on our back, and the shoes on our feet.
Amen.

Mrs. Neal frequently reminds the students of the correct prayer posture. If the student
leading the prayer does not give the proper instructions, she scaffolds their efforts by
suggesting that they “prepare for prayer.” Students display their understanding by
utilizing her words when speaking to the other students.

Pedagogical issues

Teachers utilized various instructional methods that helped students develop
various literacy skills, especially those that perpetuate the oral tradition of the
African American church. Teachers made a special effort to accommodate the unique
learning styles of many African American children. The use of memorization was
especially emphasized in this setting. Students were expected to memorize Bible verses,
Bible stories, and songs. Activities that helped students develop oral language skills were
also stressed.

Literacy practices during Sunday School focused in two specific areas: pre-
reading/reading skills and oral language development. While participating in these
classes, students acquired and developed various skills that could be utilized in their
classrooms at school. Pre-reading/reading skills included: print awareness, concepts of
print, site reading, vocabulary building, comprehension and application. Oral
development was emphasized while learning Bible stories and memorizing scriptures.
Most of the literacy experiences reinforced religious and/or cultural values, and provided
“authentic” learning experiences.

In the church setting, print awareness is developed when students have

experiences with print in the Bible, songbooks, class literature, and weekly church

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bulletins. Students understand the importance of print in the cultural community of the
African American Church. They see many adult role models utilizing these tools, and
they are taught from a very young age to “read” their Bibles, and bring them to church to
use while in class and during worship service. In class, students receive take-home
literature each week. Teachers have been taught to use the literature as an evangelistic
tool to encourage students to attend classes, remind them to apply their lessons during
their everyday lives, and as a way to keep parents informed concerning what their
children are learning in class.

At Mount Olivia Baptist Church, The Lesson Sheet for preschoolers,
kindergartners, and first graders usually have a beautiful picture on the sheet that is
related to the lesson. Under the picture is a Bible scripture (called the “memory verse”)
which students are expected to memorize during class. The scripture is Often short and
students follow along with their fingers as the teacher reads it first. Concepts of print,
such as directionality and spoken/written word correspondence are reinforced during this
activity. Teachers often ask if a student knows any of the words in the Bible verse. The
students have an opportunity to decode the words with scaffolding from the teacher. All
students repeat the verse several times, as if reading the words. Each week students have
an Opportunity to learn sight words, which they are expected to “read” to their parents
when they get home. Their vocabulary increases tremendously over a period of time, and
they become very familiar with words that are related to various Bible stories. To
reinforce this activity, Mrs. Neal places large “poster size” Lesson Sheets on the
classroom wall. Students are able to see pictures and “read” words from previous Lesson

Sheets. The posters assist Mrs. Neal with content continuity by helping students

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remember past lessons and understand how lessons are interrelated within a specific unit.
Additionally, “requiring students to memorize scripture passages from the Bible helped
them to develop print awareness and concepts of book print” (McMillon & Edwards,
2000, p. 113). Students were aware that the memory verse was from the Bible, which
contained many verses. They understood that letters were used to make the words in
those verses (an important pre-reading skill). Mrs. Neal frequently included the scripture
reference when teaching the memory verse, and often explained that the Bible is divided
into books, chapters and verses. Concepts of book print is an important pre-reading skill
that was being developed each time students referenced scriptures in the Bible; especially
when they were encouraged to find the scriptures for themselves - an activity in which
they participate often during mid-week Bible study classes.

At New Testament and Mount Olivia students receive an Activity Sheet to
complete each week, which relate to the Bible lesson. Students are expected to utilize
various literacy skills when completing the Activity Sheets, which are given after the
Bible lesson is completed.

In addition to the previously mentioned literacy activities, the Sunday Schools in
this study place great emphasis upon oral language development skills. In the tradition of
the African American Church, students are expected to speak clearly and articulately with
voice inflection and emotion. The oral tradition of the African American church often
requires members to give extemporaneous prayers, testimonies, and Speeches. Sunday
School is utilized as a type of “training ground” to develop and refine oral language

skills, and to prepare students to participate in the worship services with the adults.

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Several of the literacy practices utilized in Sunday School enhance oral language
skills. For example, in the African American Church the importance Of memorization is
emphasized. Bible stories are frequently retold and students memorize the stories after
hearing them repeatedly. The Sunday School teachers in this study utilized story telling
as a way to help students understand abstract concepts. For example, two difficult to
understand concepts are Jesus dying on the cross to the save the world (John 3216,17; and
Jesus’ return for His people (also called the “Rapture”) (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17). In
order to scaffold student learning and comprehension, Mrs. Neal involved students in an
ongoing project in which she required them to learn the “Story of Jesus dying of the
cross”, and the “Story of the Rapture”. Approximately two to three times per month after
the Activity Sheet is completed, students were asked to retell these two stories utilizing a
poster board and heaven box as mnemonics to assist with details of the stories. The
stories could also be told by following the beautiful posters on the walls, which Mrs. Neal
intentionally placed in sequential order to reinforce student learning. Regular class
members are expected to remember these stories and be prepared to share them with
younger students and new students until they learn them also. Requiring students to
memorize and retell stories, helps develop oral language as a bridge to reading (Searfoss
& Readence, 1985), and it fosters the beginning of metacognitive strategies for reading
comprehension (Mason, McCormick, & Bhavnagri, 1986). Students are able to ask
questions that address specific issues about the story. Teachers provide clarification on
these issues and help students think about ways to apply the story to personal
circumstances. Story telling activities also build confidence by giving students

Opportunities to share “their knowledge” with others. During the story-telling activities

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students utilize “storybook terms” which are a part of the “teacher-talk register” (Cazden,
1988).

In addition to teaching many literacy skills, the Sunday School teachers made a
special effort to create a nurturing, all-inclusive environment. The Sunday School
teachers “required” student participation, which was more likely in this environment
because of the unique way that teachers responded to mistakes. They rarely told a student
that their answer was “wrong,” but utilized revoicing and scaffolding strategies to support
students’ efforts, which guided them to the correct answers. Students were comfortable
in this environment and seemed to be more willing to take risks, which resulted in
increased Opportunities to practice literacy skills.

Travis is the type of student that knows the answer to most questions, but he
rarely volunteers. Mr. Willis did not wait for him to volunteer in his Sunday School
class. He would call on all the students at various times to insure that everyone
participated in the discussion and as an evaluative method to check their comprehension
of the Bible lesson. He did not stand in one place while teaching the lesson, but walked
around requiring students to answer questions as he pointed tO them or called them by
name. A tremendous amount of energy flowed from him as he discussed the lesson with
a great sense of sincerity, placing his hand on a student’s shoulder, or patting the back of
another. He gave each student individual attention during the Bible lesson and offered
his assistance with their Activity Sheet.

It was interesting to Observe Tony as he became a “member” of his new Sunday
School class. Mrs. Neal welcomed him and made him feel comfortable by including him

in the discussions and activities. Tony was one of two readers in the class, and Mrs.

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Neal, immediately recognizing an Opportunity to assist him with his transition from his
old, familiar Sunday School where he was considered successful, asked him and his
cousin to be the “readers” for the class. A big smile flashed upon Tony’s face. He was
proud to be considered one of the “more knowledgeable” students, and read fluently for
the other younger students. He became even more comfortable, and began to raise his
hand for every question, just as he probably did in his old Sunday School class. After
raising his hand a few times, and realizing that other students were anxiously answering
questions without being called upon, he understood that it was not necessary to raise his
hand in Mrs. Neal’s class.

Mrs. Neal does not require her students to raise their hands before answering
questions in Sunday School. She feels that all students remain more motivated when they
are allowed to enthusiastically respond during a class discussion. Interestingly, a natural
turn taking seemed to take place. Students remained polite, but excited about the
discussion. Everyone had an Opportunity to get his or her point across. Tony joined in
and shared his opinion as well.

Social norms

 

Teachers and other adult role models have high expectations of student
behavior and utilized “every” opportunity to explicitly teach cultural values.
Students are expected to behave appropriately at all times. The connection between
cultural values and behavior is made explicit for students and they are rewarded
frequently for positive actions.

During data collection there were numerous opportunities to observe how Mr.

Willis and Mrs. Neal taught cultural values to their students.

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At the end of class Mrs. Neal’s students line up to wash their hands and receive a
snack. She alleviates any problems concerning who is first or last in line. Students are
required to line up according to the way that they came to class. For example, the first
person to get to class will be the first person in line for refreshments. In this way,
students are rewarded for being on time for class, a value that she emphasizes and
reinforces each week.

In order to encourage students to bring their Bibles to class Mrs. Neal gives them
stickers to put on their Bibles. The most valued artifact and important learning tool in the
African American Church is the Holy Bible, which is considered “God’s Word” - the
roadmap for life. Students are taught that it is the most important book that they will ever
read, and are admonished to read it frequently, and obey (apply) what they read.

The importance of prayer is also emphasized in class. Sunday School begins and
ends with prayer similar to church worship service. Students are taught that praying is
simply having a conversation with God. They are given many Opportunities to practice
extemporaneous prayers, and told that they need to “talk” to God every day.

During data collection one of the themes for Travis’ Sunday School class was
“Giving”. Mr. Willis taught his students that “God loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians
9:7). He explained that giving not only consists of giving money and toys, but also
includes giving compliments, and giving their teachers and other adults their undivided
attention when they are talking to them. He helped the students understand that when
they are kind to others, and when they pay attention in class, they are honoring God.

Mr. Willis also taught his students the importance of “always doing their best.”

He encouraged them to color their Activity Sheets carefully, staying inside the lines. He

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stated: “You must always try to do your very best, even when you’re coloring.” Mr.
Willis also spoke with his students’ parents about the importance of the students taking
pride in their work and doing their best at all times. He wanted them to reinforce these
values at home during various activities. Mrs. Cunningham stated:

Mr. Willis told me that he liked the way that Travis colors, but he wants him

to work a little harder to stay right inside the lines. He said that Travis has to

take pride in his work and learn to try harder. I told him that everything has

always come easy for Travis, so we may have to work on him a little more.

Mrs. Neal and Mrs. Willis feel that it is important to teach values as opportunities present
themselves. “You have to be able to think on your feet at all times because you may not
get that opportunity again,” explained Mrs. Neal, who has felt fortunate to experience
teaching two generations of Sunday School students. She continues: “It’s a challenge,
but I love it!”

In the church environment, teachers and parents share cultural beliefs
concerning student behavior and wholeheartedly reinforce those values. Sunday
School teachers received support from parents concerning the social norms utilized in the
classroom setting. Whenever a behavior problem occurred, students understood that their
parents would support the teacher, and therefore usually altered unacceptable behavior
immediately.

One Sunday while waiting for the Sunday School teacher, who had been detained,
Mrs. Barber, the Director Of Christian Education at New Testament, welcomed the
students to Sunday School and gave the opening prayer. She asked several students to
get extra chairs from the other side of the room because all of the seats were taken.

Travis decided that he wanted to be upset about not having a seat. She kindly asked him

to get a chair for himself, but he just stood there sulking, opting to challenge her

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authority. Mrs. Barber is a high school teacher and understands how to handle strong-
willed students. She told him that he had one minute to make a decision. He could either
get a chair or go find his mother. Just as Mrs. Barber told him to go find Mrs.
Cunningham because he had not gotten a chair, Mrs. Cunningham entered the classroom.
Travis was shocked that she had been standing there listening to the conversation. Mrs.
Cunningham immediately removed him from the class and had a stern discussion with
him about his behavior and his responsibility to God and others in his class. He was told
to apologize immediately and not to cause any more disruptions. Travis, being the
“strong-willed” “man” that he is, walked slowly toward Mrs. Barber, who kept talking
with the class to take pressure off Travis. When he finally reached her, she smiled at

him, placed her hand on his shoulder and said:

Mrs. B.: Yes Travis. Do you have something to say, honey?

Travis: I’m sorry. (He said very softly)

Mrs. B.: I know honey (hugging him with both arms). I know you didn’t mean any
harm.

Travis: I’m sorry, Mrs. Barber (he said loudly).

Mrs. B.: OK. I accept your apology, and I love you. OK?

Travis: I love you too Mrs. Barber. (Slight smile)

Mrs. B.: Now get you a chair and sit right here for Mrs. Barber. Sometimes we just

seem to be having a bad day. But we can make it better if we decide to,
can’t we? We can decide that we’re going to have a good day, right?
(Smiling)
Class: Right!
Mrs. Cunningham continued to watch the interaction between Travis and Mrs. Barber,
smiling approvingly when Mrs. Barber hugged him. After he sat down, she got his
attention and waved good-bye. He waved back with a smile.
Instead of having a power struggle in the class between she and Travis, Mrs.

Barber was able to have a parent address his behavior. Because they all shared the same

beliefs about Sunday School, the importance of good behavior, and student responsibility,

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the situation was addressed immediately and did not escalate. Mrs. Barber understood
that Travis was not going to obey her unless he wanted to, therefore she gave him an
opportunity to make his own decision and deal with the consequences of his decision.
Even though he did not make the correct decision immediately, when he decided to
become a “responsible student”, she embraced him wholeheartedly and used the
opportunity as a “teachable moment”. She explained that things may not always work
the way one may want them to, but a person can decide to respond positively and keep
the situation under control. One can choose to have a “good day”. Having a positive
attitude was often emphasized at New Testament. In order to strive for excellence, one
must be optimistic and refuse to succumb to pessimism.

Literacy network system

The literacy network system of the church provides academic and social
support for students. The church provides a forum for students to practice and refine
literacy skills. Adult role models also provide cultural capital through mentoring
relationships. Supporting children and youth is considered a responsibility in the African
American Church environment where the cultural value “helping others” is taught and
reinforced.

The African American Church provides a forum for students to display their
talents in a nurturing, supportive, all-inclusive environment (Edwards, Danridge,
McMillon & Pleasants, in press). One of the most important aspects of the African
American Church is their commitment to children. The value of children and emphasis
on their development is illuminated in a traditional cliché oflen utilized in the church

environment when discussing children’s issues: “Our children are the Church of

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Tomorrow”. Church teachers and adult role models spend a tremendous amount of time
training and preparing students to become leaders in the church community. Biblical
training and explicit instruction of cultural values are an integral part of all church
activities organized for students. As previously stated, Sunday School is considered a
training ground for students to prepare them to participate in the adult worship services.
In addition to these classes, students are given an “authentic” opportunity to display their
talents and utilize their literacy skills every second Sunday morning during the regular
worship service.

Traditionally, in many African American churches, the second Sunday of each
month is set aside for children and youth to participate in every aspect of Sunday
morning worship. During data collection, second Sunday service at Mount Olivia began
with the Children’s Choir walking in enthusiastically singing:

Oh, it’s a highway to heaven.

None can walk up there,

but the pure in heart.

Oh, it’s a highway to heaven.

I am walking up the King’s highway.
Members of the Children’s Choir were dressed in black and white - starched white
blouses and shirts with fancy black skirts and dress pants. The pastor and ministers lead
the procession down the aisle with Bibles in hand, as they took their places on the dais.
The Children’s Choir (approximately 35 children), continuously singing, filled the choir
stand and turned to face the audience. Their faces were beaming with excitement - it was

their time to shine. Adults responded by returning smiles, nodding their heads in

approval, swaying, clapping, and singing along with the choir.

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Second Sunday service at New Testament Christian Center also included
Children’s Choir performances. However, New Testament also provides other
Opportunities for youth and children to display their talents. Youth and children present
skits and sing solos at various times during Sunday morning service. Audience response
was similar to the audience response described above. They smile, clap, stand, wave
their hands and say “hallelujah”, in response to young people using their talents “for the
Lord.”

Sunday School teachers and other adults in the church serve as role models for
many African American students. They reinforce the cultural values discussed above and
others that they feel might be useful to the students. It is considered a responsibility of
members of the church community to assist young people in any way they can. Mr.
Willis willingly serves as a role model for Travis. Travis displays a tremendous amount
of respect for him in the way he pays attention and the way he responds to him when he
is speaking. Mr. Willis lets Travis know that he expects great things from him, and
Travis tries his best to meet those expectations.

Summary of analysis of Sunday School data

Although Tony and Travis were considered “at-risk” in their school environment,
they excelled in the nurturing environment of their African American Sunday School. In
the process of learning biblical and cultural values they develop many literacy skills.
Teaching and learning in the church environment is based upon beliefs that are shared by
teachers, students and parents. These shared beliefs are the basis for the close
relationships that develop within the church “community”. A critical part of the belief

system within the context of the church is the requirement for members to manifest their

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beliefs through their conduct. This belief is addressed in an old saying that many older
African Americans express during their testimonies:

“If you got good religion, you oughta show some sign.”
How one “acts” is emphasized continuously, and internalized by the young and old.
Tony and Travis understood what was expected of them in this setting, and they acted

accordingly.

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CHAPTER SIX: COMPARISON OF SCHOOL & SUNDAY SCHOOL DATA
Plausible sources of incongruency

The sources of incongruence found within this study were not readily identifiable.
They were not the expected emphasized areas of concern that many researchers discuss in
the literature such as issues concerning dissimilar discourse/communicative patterns
between classroom teachers and students, or the negligence of teachers basing instruction
on students’ learning styles; nor were they the lack of teachers trying to make
connections by devaluing the importance of building relationships with their students.
The conceptual framework included categories that literature points to as being pervasive
in urban school studies. However, the findings in this study reach beyond several of the
initially anticipated problems because the subjects chosen to participate reduced the
possibility of finding problems in certain areas. Tony and Travis were the two top first
grade students at Paradise Elementary School and Mrs. Rudolph was considered the best
first grade teacher. The students had excellent communication and reading skills with
exceptionally impressive vocabularies. Mrs. Rudolph utilized many innovation teaching
techniques and challenged her students to reach their individual potential. With the
combination of exceptionally intelligent students and an excellent teacher, it seemed that
it would be difficult to locate any incongruencies. However, because the principal and
teacher insisted that Tony and Travis were the most “at-risk” students in first grade, I was
hopeful that this study could produce some helpful information concerning a unique

situation.

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Unfortunately, I have found that Tony’s and Travis’ stories are not as unique as
one might suspect. Labov (1995) addresses the “social dimension of educational failure”
in one of his studies. He states:

Young children from the inner city do not start out with the grave
handicap that they end up with. In the 19603, efforts to explain reading

failure concentrated on the concept of a cultural and verbal disadvantage

that was the result of an impoverished home environment and a lack of

motivation from the family. Yet, the overall picture is that young black

children arrive at kindergarten full of enthusiasm for the educational

adventure, with a strong motivation to succeed from their parent or parents.

The pattern of reading and educational failure that follows is progressive and

cumulative. Though it may be conditioned by early handicaps, it is largely the

result of events and interactions that take place during the school year.

(Labov, 1995, p. 43-44)

Hale-Benson (1986) agrees with Labov when she discusses the unfortunate way
that many African American students are treated in school. During a conference (Urban
Ministries, October, 1999, Chicago, Illinois), I heard Dr. Hale-Benson share personal
frustrations stemming from experiences that she had with her son’s teachers in a
predominantly white private school. She felt that his teachers were operating from a
white, dominant cultural perspective, which her African American son was rejecting. A
member of the audience asked her why she allowed her son to attend a predominantly
white private school. Several people in the audience wondered if Blacks are “looking for
trouble” when they send their children to predominantly white schools. She explained
that she chose her son’s school based on its academic reputation. She further explained
that many people believe that Black boys only have problems in urban schools. In her
opinion, the problems reach far beyond the inner-city, encompassing the entire institution

of schooling. Suburban, rural, inner-city, public and private schools neglect to

accommodate Black boys successfully. Kunjufu (1984) believes that there is “a

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conspiracy to destroy Black boys”, and there is additional literature that mentions the
negative schooling experiences of Black males, supporting the notion that public schools
are often unaccomodating to Black boys’ learning styles and behavioral patterns. It
seems that some African American students are beginning school “ready to learn”, but
dislike and distrust develop over time toward school and school teachers. These feelings
often result from interactions and reactions that occur within the classroom. Some
students eventually become devastated by these occurrences and never bounce back, but
continue down the path to educational failure. Many of these students are capable of
achieving academically based on assessments outside of the classroom. They often
display their ability in other learning environments, such as the African American
Church, but they do not exhibit the same skills and behavior in the school setting. What
are the sources of these incongruencies especially those experienced by Travis and Tony
in this study?

The sources of incongruence in this study seem to stem from several underlying
issues. These sources are concentrated within the social norms and literacy network
systems categories, but they also go beyond the framework to encompass the study in its
entirety. It is important to reiterate the author’s sociocultural perspective at this point.
The process of identifying the sources of incongruence between the public school and
African American Sunday School environments for the subjects in this study was
certainly influenced by the author’s past experiences and cultural frame of reference.
Therefore, each source of incongrence was identified based on triangulation of data and
feedback from readers with varying cultural frames of reference. A special effort was

made to consider alternative interpretations of the data.

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Issues of power and dominance

The first source of incongruence is related to issues of power and dominance.
The frame of reference from which Tony and Travis are operating is not merely different
from, but in many ways in opposition to Mrs. Rudolph’s cultural frame of reference
(Ogbu, 1995). Although Mrs. Rudolph can successfully negotiate black discourse and
understand unique learning styles, she may be operating within a white, oppressive
teaching paradigm (Freire, 1993). Based on the data, her idea of a successful student is
one who is passive and does not challenge authority. She expects students to obey her
without question, and rewards those students with compliments, high expectations, and
increased academic opportunities. On the other hand, students like Travis, who is strong-
willed and frequently engage her in power struggles, cause her a sense of frustration. She
expressed her feelings when she stated:

Travis is a very manipulative child. You know how you can give some

students an inch and they take a mile? Well, Travis takes ten miles.

You just can’t give in to him.
Travis does not fit within her definition of success although she realizes that he is
academically talented, and she describes him as “borderline gifted”.
Opposing frames of reference

During Mrs. Rudolph’s formal interview and several times while talking
informally, she expressed her concern that Tony’s and Travis’ parents needed to provide
more support for her disciplinary methods by “setting limits” at home. Although they
listened to Mrs. Rudolph’s academic counsel, they refused to support her decisions
concerning their sons’ discipline. It seems that the parents were operating from an

“opposing” cultural frame of reference (Ogbu, 1995). They all agreed that Mrs. Rudolph

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had difficulty handling black boys. Although they admired and appreciated her academic
instructional methods, their frustration with their sons’ continuous suspensions had
become ambivalence, and was almost at the point of creating an adversarial relationship
between Mrs. Rudolph and themselves. During their interviews when they were asked
questions related to issues of discipline and classroom management within the social
norms frame, all of the parents specifically stated that “Mrs. Rudolph did not know what
she was doing”. Where could this “opposing” frame of reference originate?

While Observing at New Testament Christian Center (Travis’ church), I noticed
how well behaved Travis was during the Opening worship service and in his Sunday
School class. At New Testament, the pastor often exhorts men to take their rightful place
in their homes, at church, and in society. This message is repeated often and internalized
by the church community. Based on his actions at school, church and home, it seems that
Travis may be displaying what society labels as a male-chauvinistic attitude toward
women in authority. At church, he has been told that men are the head and women
should be protected and honored as the “weaker vessel” (1 Peter 3:7) During the
interview, I specifically asked Travis’ parents if they noticed that he responds better to
men. They both laughed and said “yes”. According to Mr. & Mrs. Cunningham, the
only women that Travis really obeys are his grandmothers. He often tells his mother that
his dad is the head of the house, and he’s going to be the head of his house someday.

The issue of power and dominance in this study has two sides that Often collide
causing adversity. Mrs. Rudolph wants to exert power and control over Travis because
she believes that teachers should have control of their students. Travis is refusing to

submit to Mrs. Rudolph and become a “passive” student, because he believes that he is a

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“man” and does not have to submit to her. Because Mrs. Rudolph did not properly
address the source of this clash during their initial confrontations early in the year, she
was not able to win him over. The power struggle between the two of them frustrated
Mrs. Rudolph, but was more damaging to Travis. His behavior and suspension history
caused him to have a bad reputation with students and teachers. He was unable to excel
as much as he could have academically because he and the teacher never connected.
Also, he was not seriously considered for the “gifted” program because he did not have a
teacher recommendation. These incidences could have life implications for Travis.

An alternative explanation for the lack of bonding between Travis and Mrs.
Rudolph could simply be that they experienced a personality clash between them. Some
students can be successful in one class, but “at risk” in another (Slavin, 1989). In some
cases, the relationship between a teacher and a student is strained for various reasons, and
it is difficult for them to develop the type of relationship that many students respond to
positively (Edwards, et al, in press). Another way to look at Travis’ experiences is to
consider that the struggle between he and Mrs. Rudolph was an issue of gender, and not
race. Because most teachers are white, middle-class females, boys (white and especially
black) often have a difficult time gaining classroom cultural competence, because their
male-oriented behavior is not acceptable to their female teachers. In these cases,
examples of white boys being disciplined more often than their female classmates can be
found (McMiIlon & Edwards, 2000). When considering the alternative explanations of
gender and/or personality conflicts, it is important to note how ideas about gender and
personalities develop. Development of ideas concerning both of these issues is directly

related to the teacher’s cultural frame of reference. Teachers should be responsible for

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the damage that results from allowing their cultural frame of reference to interfere with
student learning and success. Whether the source of incongruence is power and control,
gender-oriented or a personality conflict, the student’s sense of identity is at stake.
Students are aware of their teachers’ and fellow classmates’ feelings toward them. For
example, Tony knew that his fellow classmates considered him “bad” and expressed it
during the informal office interview discussed in Chapter 4. In a pilot study (McMillon
& Edwards, 2000), a preschool student’s classmates spoke to him in ridiculing ways,
similar to the teacher’s tone of voice when she spoke to him. Teachers influence the way
students feel toward one another based on the classroom atmosphere that they create.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Rudolph had created an adversarial atmosphere for Tony and Travis.

Differing definitions of success

 

Another source of incongruence found in this study is the different definitions of
success within the school and church environments. In school, Tony and Travis were
expected to raise their hands before speaking, stand in a straight line, participate in class
discussions, and passively obey all of the classroom rules without questioning the
teacher’s authority. They were also expected to complete assignments, read at grade
level, and understand certain math concepts and several other basic principles. However,
success in school was only partially defined by their academic achievement. “A
successful student follows classroom rules,” according to Mrs. Rudolph during her
interview. Based on her definition of success, Tony and Travis were “unsuccessful”
students. They had not achieved classroom cultural competence.

In their church environments, however, Tony and Travis were considered

successful students. Mrs. Neal, Tony’s Sunday School teacher, stated: “A successful

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student is one who participates in class, learns the Bible verses and what they mean, and
then shares their knowledge with others.” Mr. Willis, Travis’ Sunday School teacher
described a successful student as: “...one who keeps coming and keeps trying because if
they keep showing up, eventually they will understand and internalize the Word (Bible).”

Teachers in the church environment seemed to place greater emphasis on insuring
that students learn and understand the information taught in Sunday School, rather than
focusing on lists of rules and consequences. They believe that student behavior will
change as they mature and understand what they are being taught. On the other hand,
teachers in the school environment tended to focus on student behavior and seemed to
expect students to alter their behavior in response to verbal demands and threats. In
church, students learn why and how they should change their behavior because of who
they are (Christians), and whom they represent (Christ). This approach seemed to be
much more effective and allowed students an opportunity to choose to act appropriately
because they understood, valued, and agreed with the reasoning behind changing their
actions.

Perhaps one of the reasons that Travis continues to “act out” at school is because
he is not accepting of “what” is being taught. Based on his response to the question
concerning which teacher he liked best, it could be concluded that he values what he is
learning at church more than he values what he is learning at school. Travis stated that he
likes his Sunday School teacher the best, - but did not relate this preference to his
relationship with the teacher. Instead, he explained that he liked his Sunday School
teacher because he taught him about “God and love and other stuff.” Travis preferred his

church teacher because of the content of their curriculum and recognized how this

177

teaching connected with his own values and beliefs and the values of his parents who
took him to Sunday School every Sunday to learn more about “God and love and other
stuff”.

Travis’ connection with the Sunday School lessons emphasizes the point made by
Landes (1989) when discussing the affects of internalizing literature. Landes (1989)
discusses the “revolutionary potential” of the Bible when believers identify with certain
biblical stories and characters. African Americans have identified with the Israelites in
the Bible, and especially the way that they were mistreated by many others, and held in
captivity, but eventually liberated and given a “promised land”. Many Blacks relate their
slavery experience in the U.S. to the Israelites’ slavery experience in Egypt. This
internalizing process is the basis for Frank’s (1998) “community” which provides social
capital based on a shared belief system. It is also related to the Black theological
approach to the Bible, in that it provides a shared frame of reference or mindset. Travis
is successfiilly being taught values which he is internalizing and “choosing to” value in
the church setting. However, his schooling experiences are different as indicated when
he stated: “the kids get on my nerves” at school. When asked if the kids get on his nerves
at church, he responded: “sometimes, but it’s different”. I asked, “how is it different?”
He stated: “it just is.” I contend that the difference is the focus upon “God” and “love” at
church that Travis has wholeheartedly bought into requires him to display those attributes
in his “community” - the church community. The content of the material shared in the
church community requires immediate action on his part - which is a vital part of the
internalization process and the foundation of the belief system (especially Black

theology), which teaches that one’s actions should manifest their beliefs.

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At school, the content is less connected with many African American students’
belief systems. Literacy development is not surrounded with value-laden issues, although
sometimes values are discussed. Immediate changes in behavior are not emphasized in
the same way at school. Schoolteachers expect students to improve in academic ways -
which both Tony and Travis do well; but the material is not internalized through a
process of immediate and continuous use based on a belief system, which may have
resulted in improved behavior.

When considering the differing definitions of success in school and church, it is
important to consider the differences between these institutions, such as the ones
discussed earlier. The purposes of school and Sunday School are different. Attendance
is different in the sense that school is mandatory and Sunday School is voluntary.
Students are formally evaluated in school and are not usually evaluated in Sunday
School, which may make some students uncomfortable. Testing and the negative affects
of testing has been the subject of much research. The evaluative, competitive nature of
schooling may seem less nurturing than the often informal, welcoming atmosphere of
many Sunday Schools. Also the mere fact that most Sunday Schools have low teacher-
student ratios improves the possibility of teachers spending more individualized time
with students.

Another way of looking at the differences of success in each environment is that
Sunday School teachers spend much less time with their students, and may be less
judgmental because they are not with students long enough for the students to really “act
out”. Sunday School usually meets once per week for sixty to ninety minutes, whereas,

school meets five days per week for approximately seven hours per day. Within this time

179

frame, schoolteachers are responsible for accomplishing all of their goals, which may
include local, state, and national requirements. Their responsibilities are many and it is
easy to see how difficult their job could become if they allow students to misbehave and
deter other students from listening and learning. In Sunday School, teachers can focus on
teaching content without exerting pressure by implementing evaluative measures, such as
tests. They can utilize creative ways to help students internalize the information,
resulting in a change of behavior. Additionally, Sunday School teachers may be more
willing to try innovative teaching methods in their class because they are not held
accountable for student learning in the same way that school teachers are.
Cultural capital vs. cultural interference

The idea of students internalizing biblical principals and choosing to change their
own behavior brings us to the next possible source of incongruence. Although certain
ideas and concepts taught in the African American Church are extremely valuable and
provide students with coping strategies, learning skills, and even motivation to excel,
some ideas can be considered cultural capital in the church environment, but cause
cultural interference in the students’ classrooms at school. The example concerning
Travis’ understanding of being a “man” (head of the house) is an excellent case in point.

Society often accuse African American men of not providing for their families
and neglecting to take care of other important needs within the community. At New
Testament Christian Center, African American men are encouraged to provide for their
families and fulfill other responsibilities as well. There are many scriptural references
that explain God’s plan for the family. It is clear that men are considered to be the “head

of the house,” and are expected to provide for and protect their families. Although from

180

one perspective, this teaching seems exceptionally beneficial, Travis has taken this
information and is using it in a way that is causing “cultural interference” at school.
Because he believes that men are more powerful than women, and as a child he may be
testing out his “manhood” in a sense, he is causing major problems in the classroom at
school by contributing to the creation of an adversarial relationship with his white female
teacher - who favors students who are passive and non-confrontational.

During data analysis, additional supporting evidence was found that related to the
issue of cultural capital provided in one environment being considered cultural
interference in another. The close relationship that Travis had with his Sunday School
teacher (who happens to be an African American man) may also be a source of
incongruence in his classroom at school. Many people believe that it is important to
“reach” students before one can “teach” them. Fordham (1988) asserts that the absence of
close relationships with teachers in the school setting could be a source of cultural
dissonance for many African American students. This may be especially true for students
who attend the African American church where relationship-building is a major part of
the Black theological belief system (McMillon & Edwards, 2000; Edelman, 1999;
Edwards, et al, in press). Travis’ and Tony’s teacher - Mrs. Rudolph, also believed that
teachers needed to build relationships with their students. During her interview she
shared without being asked, that she did not feel that she taught Travis anything all year.
She went on to talk about not being able to connect with him. “I was uable to find a
hook,” she stated. A hook, according to Mrs. Rudolph, is an interest that a student has
that can be used as a motivating tool in the classroom. For example, Mrs. Rudolph

explained, “When I had Travis’ brother in the lSt grade, I found a hook. I found out that

181

he loved science; so I would tell him if he’s good I would let him work on science stuff,
such as looking at scientific books and magazines. He loved getting the chance to work
on science stuff, so he would behave himself. I was unable to find a hook for Travis this
year.” This is supportive evidence that she believes it is necessary for a teacher tO “reach”
a student, before he/she can “teach” them, and she tried to get to know her students well
enough to identify special interests that could be used as motivating tools. Despite her
persistent attempts, Mrs. Rudolph was unable to find a “hook” that would motivate
Travis to behave in class.

Travis seemed to have a much more difficult time in first grade than Tony. After
Mrs. Rudolph helped Tony through the tough transition of beginning a new school, and
starting to recuperate from the damage caused by a prejudice kindergarten teacher, Tony
began to flourish in class. Although he misbehaved Often, Mrs. Rudolph felt that he
made tremendous progress during the school year. She believed by the end of the year
that he had learned how to deal with his “anger” much more effectively, and felt that he
would have a successful second grade year. Although she was not familiar with his
culturally congruent Sunday School environment, she had successfully provided a
“gateway” to the culture Of power for him. She had prepared him for the next level in
school. “Tony has a bright future,” according to Mrs. Rudolph. On the other hand, she
did not have the same prophecy for Travis. She stated that she was concerned that he
might connect with the wrong group in the neighborhood and get into trouble as he got
older. She felt that he would have a progressively more difficult time in school unless he
learned how to change his behavior. Mrs. Rudolph never seemed to consider how her

actions and words may have influenced Travis’ actions.

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Culturally congruent classrooms vuateways to the culture of power

The tension between creating culturally congruent classrooms and classrooms
which prepare students to enter the culture of power seems apparent in the way that Mrs.
Rudolph speaks about Tony and Travis. Tony becomes successfiil in her classroom
environment because he learns how to “submit” to her control. He learns how to
negotiate within his classroom environment eventually displaying classroom cultural
competence. Tony learns how to effectively communicate with Mrs. Rudolph and how to
submit to her implicit rules of conduct - negotiating and communication skills required in
order to enter the culture of power. Travis, on the other hand, had exceptional
communication skills, but refused to utilize them to negotiate. At the young age of six,
he had opted not to display classroom cultural competence. Mrs. Rudolph could have
attempted to learn more about the cultural source that was causing the friction between
she and Travis, however she was unable to properly address this problem, leaving Travis
“at-risk”.

One cannot assume that Travis’ experiences would have improved tremendously
if Mrs. Rudolph had been familiar with his out-of-school learning experiences, especially
those in his Sunday School class. However, it is certain that with an understanding of the
source of his cultural frame of reference, she would have been better equipped to
creatively develop alternative approaches to building a relationship with Travis. It is not
advocated in this study that teachers change their classroom environments to totally
accommodate their students’ culture. After all, schooling is a socialization process
through which students are supposed to become prepared to successfully function in

society. If this is the case, changing the classroom to one of cultural congruence would

183

 

mean that students would not be prepared to participate in the “culture of power”. If
social mobility is one of the main goals pursued by African Americans, it would be
detrimental to change their classrooms at school to one of total cultural congruence,
because schooling would fail to be the means to their desired end. Instead, as Delpit
(1995) contends, classroom teachers must provide the necessary skills that will prepare
African American students to function successfully within the culture of power.
Classrooms must be “gateways” to the culture of power. Does this mean that students
like Travis will be left “at risk”?

Students like Travis and Tony must not be left at risk in the process of attempting
to provide gateways to the culture of power. Just because a student is difficult to reach
and teach is not an excuse for teachers to give up on them. Mrs. Rudolph tried to help all
of her students, just as many teachers do. However, it seems that she was not adequately
trained to address the issues that needed to be addressed when dealing with Travis and
Tony; and the Literacy Network System at school, which was established to provide
assistance and support for classroom teachers, was unable to provide the support and
professional help that she needed to assist Travis.

LllCl‘flCKflCtWOI’k systems

 

The final source of incongruence addresses the difference in purposes and
responsibilities for the literacy network systems at school and at church.
The Literacy Network System at school consisted Of different adults for academic
and behavioral issues forming two distinct networks. The Literacy Network System at
church consisted of adult role models who dealt with both literacy development and

perpetuation Of cultural values (which included behavioral issues).

184

 

As discussed in Chapter 4, the literacy network system at school consisted of an
academic network which supported Travis and Tony academically, and a social network
which was supposed to assist with them socially (See Figure One, p. 186). The academic
network included the principal, the teacher - Mrs. Rudolph, the Reading Resource
teacher, Grandmothers Tutoring Group, the teacher’s aide, and the librarian. The
academic network assisted with reading groups, academic evaluations, special projects,
and other academic oriented activities. The academic network was very successful in
assisting Tony and Travis. The connectedness between the participants on the academic
side of the Literacy Network System is indicated by the solid lines connecting the circles
of influence in Figure One.

The social network group included the principal, Mrs. Rudolph, the social worker,
a kindergarten teacher, Mr. Adams (janitor), and sometimes the office secretaries. The
social network group’s responsibility was to assist Travis and Tony with their behavior
problems, and try to prevent suspension. The disconnectedness between the participants
in the social network is indicated by the broken lines leading to each participant in Figure
One. There was a major breakdown between the members of the social side Of the
Literacy Network System at School. This breakdown may have been the result of the
lack of improvement in the continuous pattern of misbehavior displayed especially by
Travis. However, perhaps the reason for the lack of improvement was the
disconnectedness between the members of the Literacy Network System. Perhaps the
system would have worked better if the successful members of the academic side had
become involved in the social side of the system similar to the system at church. It is

impossible to know what the result may have been if these changes had been made.

185

 

Literacy Network System

 

at School
® Academic Social
Teach ___________ Teach ’
er er
Parents
(Figure 1)
186

l‘.

 

What we do know is that the Literacy Network System at School had failed Travis and
left him at risk. Not only did it fail Travis, but it also failed Mrs. Rudolph — leaving her
at risk as well.

The Literacy Network System at Church was quite different from the Literacy
Network System at School. New Testament Christian Center and Mount Olivia Baptist
Church provided Tony and Travis with a literacy network system that met both their
academic and social needs (See Figure Two, p. 188). In fact, one of the strengths of the
literacy network system in the church setting is the unique way that they combine biblical
knowledge with behavioral expectations, providing a belief system that is internalized by
the members of the “community.” Sunday School teachers, pastors, Bible study teachers,
Directors of Christian Education, Children’s Choir Workers, parents, and other adult role
models voluntarily participate in the literacy network system understanding that it is their
responsibility to assist with, support, and scaffold the learning of the children and youth
in their “community.” They realize that the children and youth are future leaders of their
“community”; and it is imperative that they prepare them to be committed, motivated,
community members, and good decision-makers who have biblical and cultural
knowledge, and use wisdom in their dealings with others. A visual display of the
community that provides academic and social support for students at church is indicated
by the circular shape of the Literacy Network System at Church. Members of the
network “circle” their students with a bond that is sealed through relationships, and based
on cultural values and biblical principles. The connectedness or “community” that bonds
members Of the Literacy Network System together is illustrated by the connecting lines

between the members of the network in Figure Two.

187

 

Literacy Network System
At Church

Academic & Social

 

Sunday
School Pastor
Teacher

   
  
 

Bible Director
StUdy Student C. Ed.
Teacher .
Choir
Workers Parents

 

(Figure 2)

188

‘ “A1

Differing provisions to display literacy skills outside of classroom

In addition to providing an effective literacy network system, the church also
provided a forum for students to frequently display their literacy skills and receive
positive reinforcement for good behavior and redirection for misbehavior. During data
collection, the school did not provide any opportunities for students to display their
literacy skills and receive adult encouragement outside of the classroom. An Awards
Assembly recognized students who excelled in various areas, but students did not
participate in the program. They went to the front of the gym to receive their certificate
when their names were called, but they did not have an opportunity to display their
talents or abilities. On the other hand, the church provided many opportunities for
students to utilize their literacy skills in meaningful ways outside of the classroom. As
discussed in Chapter 5, the church provided an authentic forum for students to utilize
their literacy skills every Second Sunday and at special programs throughout the year.
Students look forward to these opportunities to display their talents and receive
compliments and encouragement from their peers and adult role models. Without
opportunities to utilize their newly developed literacy skills, many students fail tO
understand how the lessons learned in their classrooms at school directly relate to their
interests or their future. Sometimes they cannot understand the purpose Of their
schooling experiences. Furthermore, school does not provide many Opportunities for
students to utilize their skills and talents in meaningful ways, nor receive encouragement
from adults and other peers outside of their classroom. When provisions are not made for
students to utilize their school acquired knowledge and skills, they may have a difficult

time finding meaning and importance in their classroom activities.

189

Summary

Students may begin school ready to learn and motivated to succeed, but an
adversarial school environment may “create” at-riskness in them. In this study, Tony and
Travis were successful in their African American Church environment, but considered at-
risk at school. Several plausible sources of incongruence were identified:

0 Issues of power and dominance
- Differing definitions of success

0 Ideas and values that provide cultural capital in the church environment, but
cultural interference in the school environment

0 Tension between providing culturally congruent classrooms
or “gateways” into the culture of power

0 Difference in purposes and responsibilities for the literacy network systems

0 Difference in providing Opportunities to utilize literacy skills in meaningful ways
outside of the classroom

In addition to identifying sources of incongruence, the purpose of this chapter is to
consider possible points of connection. The following section will discuss possible
points of connection - ways to approach the issues discussed above.
Possible Points of Connection

Ethnographic studies do not necessarily provide concise answers to specific
questions, but they allow researchers to closely examine phenomena while occurring in a
natural environment. While conducting this study, and especially during data analysis, it
became evident that this study may raise more questions than it answers; therefore this
section includes questions that need to be addressed when discussing possible points of
connection in this study. When considering points of connection between the public

school and African American Church environment, one must first understand the

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VAN-u '—

significant role that the Church plays in the lives of many African American students. It
may be difficult for readers from other cultures to envision how powerful the impact of
the Church has been on the African American community. However, once the history of
public schooling is juxtaposed with the history of the African American Church, it
becomes apparent that the Church has provided on-going encouragement, support, and
educational opportunities for the disenfranchized African American race, while schools
have often been unwelcoming, non-supportive and sometimes adversarial environments
for many African American students.

An important question that a discussion concerning the history of the Church and
school raises is: How can teachers of African American students gain this knowledge
concerning the historical perspective of school and church? If teachers were
knowledgeable concerning these histories, they would be in a better position to challenge
themselves to refuse to participate in the perpetuation of racism and white, dominant
issues of power. However, without an understanding of the obstacles that have been
blocking Blacks’ paths to success, they may not understand their critical role as
classroom teachers for African American students. With Black students’ futures in the
balance, several possible points of connection between the school and African American
Church environments have been identified in this study that may assist teachers. They
include:

0 Teacher awareness through information disemination & exchange
0 Increased parental involvement
0 Improved teacher education & professional development programs

0 Cooperation between school & church to provide increased opportunities
to display literacy skills

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Teacher awareness through information disemination & exchange

If teachers become aware of their students’ cultural frames of reference, they will
be better equipped to reach and teach them. It is unrealistic to think that all teachers will
become ethnographers and actively research the backgrounds Of their students. The
burden cannot be left totally on teachers. Two ways to connect teachers to their students
by increasing their awareness is through information disemination and information
exchange.

Studies, such as this dissertation study need to be made available to classroom
teachers to help them begin to think about the complexities and the awesome
responsibilities of teaching. Keeping abreast of current research in the area of teaching
and learning will assist teachers with the development of creative instructional and
discipline methods. Additionally, based on the findings of this study, it would be helpful
to their students if schoolteachers and Sunday School teachers exchange information. As
a team, school and church teachers could work together, providing support for their
students and sharing ideas about instructional methods and discipline techniques. Most
importantly they could assist students with negotiating the cultural boundaries between
the school and church environments. Students would become accountable to both
teachers for their successes and failures in both environments.

A question that must be addressed when discussing dissemination of knowledge
is: How can African American Sunday School teachers and other members Of the
Literacy Network Systems at Church become aware of the ways in which the “cultural
capital” that they are providing, may be “cultural interference” at school? Is it possible

for teachers and Sunday School teachers to develop ways to help African American

192

 

students learn how to negotiate the cultural boundaries between these two important
learning environments? Because church and school often operate from different
ideologies, it might be difficult for teachers in the two environments to honestly critique
each other and provide information that may viewed as portraying one another in a
negative light.

Realistically speaking, it will be quite difficult to convince white school teachers
and black Sunday School teachers that having good intentions is not good enough; but
that their students need them to continuously evaluate their teaching and consider the
ways in which it might be debilitating — interfering with their literacy acquisition and
development. Ideally, if teachers and Sunday School teachers could work together it
would benefit their students tremendously. However, even if they are unable to combine
forces, dissemination of information and serious self evaluation would be a big step
forward from where we are today.

Increased parental involvement

In addition to teacher awareness, parents need to participate in trying to make
connections between the school and church environments. In this study evidence shows
that the parents’ feelings concerning school and school teachers influenced student
learning and response to discipline. Similarly, when parents supported instruction and
discipline in the church setting, students tended to value and accept the teachings and
standards. For years researchers have known that parental involvement plays a vital role
in student achievement. The findings in this study provide additional evidence that
parental involvement is critical. Evidence can also be found that parental support

influences student behavior. Teachers can become frustrated when students experience

193

continuous problems. Particularly, the Literacy Network System at School was unable to
provide the help needed for Travis to become a successful student. Conducting research
in the school classroom and Sunday School classroom environments, provided insight
into the possible benefits of soliciting assistance from the members of the Literacy
Network System at Church for Travis. Unfortunately, they were not invited by his
teacher, parents, or anyone else to participate in his school experiences. What may have
happened if Mr. Willis or the pastors of New Testament Church had been included in the
conversations concerning helping Travis at school? Perhaps the Director of Christian
Education - Mrs. Barber, who was an experienced high school teacher could have made
some recommendations to Mrs. Rudolph that would have been helpful. Because of
privacy issues, schools may not be able to discuss students’ problems with anyone other
than parents and school officials, but the parents could have given permission to the
school, or took it upon themselves to invite Travis’ Sunday School teacher or pastors to
participate in the school experiences. Teachers cannot improve literacy teaching and
learning alone, they need assistance from committed parents and other members of the
students’ literacy network systems.
Improved teacher education & professional development programs

In addition to teacher and parent awareness and commitment, another point of
connection may be found in teacher education and professional development programs.
Based on the data, it seemed that some of the members of the Literacy Network System
at School were not adequately prepared to work with students like Tony and Travis.
Although Mrs. Rudolph was an excellent teacher, she had some difficulty with classroom

management. Are teachers being adequately prepared in teacher education and

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____ 0.!" 0‘... V

professional development programs to work with students like Tony and Travis? One of
the initial statements in this study was that the literacy problem needs to be addressed in
and out of school. If teachers and other members of the Literacy Network System are not
being taught classroom management skills and how to connect with parents and students
who are culturally different, the programs are not adequate.

Cooperation between school & church to provide increased opportunities to display
literacy skills

 

With all of the requirements that teachers must meet in today’s classrooms, it may
be difficult for them to add anything to their already cluttered schedules. However,
Sunday School teachers, pastors, and other members of the Literacy Network Systems at
Church could voluntarily work with schoolteachers to organize opportunities for students
to display their talents in meaningful ways. One simple way to provide these
opportunities is at church during the services and programs that are already established.
If church workers were familiar with the school’s curriculum, activities and special
presentations or performances could focus upon students’ newly developed literacy skills.
Another way to provide opportunities is by volunteering to organize programs at school
during which students display various talents, skills, and abilities.

Summary

All of the above mentioned points of connection address the sources of
incongruence in some way. A “team” effort, including school teachers, Sunday School
teachers, parents, other members of the literacy network systems, and teacher educators is
needed to reduce the affect of the sources of incongruence, and ultimately alleviate them.

Differing cultural frames of reference between teachers, students and parents can

be the source of many classroom conflicts that lead to discipline and academic exclusion.

I95

 

Students can become frustrated and react in ways that result in the development of
adversarial relationships with their teachers. I believe that most teachers have good
intentions and genuinely want to help their students achieve academically and socially.
Unfortunately, they do not realize how their past experiences, values and beliefs create a
cultural frame of reference from which they operate in class, which puts some students
“at-risk”. As the “establisher” of the classroom environment, the teacher can create a
nurturing environment where students feel valued and comfortable enough to take risks,
or they can create a classroom environment in which some students feel that they must
“protect” themselves from the adversity that occurs within the classroom. Unfortunately,
Mrs. Rudolph may have been Operating from a white, oppressive teaching paradigm
(Freirie, 1993) that caused Travis to resist her teaching and reject her “person”. Even
though he “liked” Mrs. Rudolph, according to his interview, there was something about
the school environment that made him feel “uncomfortable.” He manifested this feeling
in his response: “Those kids get on my nerves.” I contend that it was not the students
that “got on his nerves” but the “adversarial environment” that had been established that
made him feel uncomfortable, and made him feel that he needed to “protect” himself.
Mrs. Rudolph’s final words during her interview illuminate the fact that she had
“successfully” established a negative classroom environment for Travis.

Mrs. Mc: I noticed during the Awards Assembly that all of the students in your class
were crowded around you on the floor.

Mrs. Rudolph: You’re right. They started out in a straight line, but by the end of the
program I also noticed that they were all around me, touching me in some
way.

Mrs. Me: I was impressed that you were one of the only teachers who sat on the
floor with their students. Most of the teachers sat in chairs which made
it difficult for the students to see what was going on.

Mrs. Rudolph: Yes, I love my students. I always sat down with them. It just makes it
easier on all of us. Sometimes the programs get kind of long.

196

Mrs. Me: It was a very nice program. I was wondering why Travis seemed to be
sitting all alone. He didn’t seem to be a part of the group.

Mrs. Rudolph: (smiles) Yea. I noticed that too. But you know Travis tried his best to
cause trouble at the program. I watched him go from one student to
another trying to get them to engage him. I was so proud of all of them.
Every one of them decided that they would not respond to his foolishness.
I haven’t been successful with Travis this year but....if I haven’t done
anything else...at least I’ve taught the students in my class how to ignore
people like him.

“Ignoring” people like Travis is the less challenging approach and possibly what many
teachers and other educators resolve to do after fighting endless classroom battles that
may have resulted in feelings of failure and hopelessness. However, we cannot afford to
“ignore” all of the African American students, nor all of the boys, nor all of the strong-
willed students that force us to reach beyond our current understandings to find new

points of connection, innovative approaches, and creative ways to reach them.

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CHAPTER SEVEN:
CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATION

The purpose of this dissertation study was to identify plausible sources of the
incongruencies occurring between the public school and African American Sunday
School classes for two African American male, first grade students. I wanted to explore
each source of incongruence and locate possible points of connection. With this
information, schoolteachers and Sunday School teachers may be better equipped to
develop ways to help African American students effectively negotiate the cultural
boundaries between their home, school, and church environments.

This chapter will begin with general conclusions of the study followed by a
discussion of implications. Recommendations for future studies and personal reflections
will complete the chapter.

Conclusions

Historically African Americans have had to strive to become successful despite
the existence of a white, oppressive teaching paradigm in the educational system of the
United States. Based on this mindset, white teachers have exerted power and control
over students similar to the way it was used in slavery when Blacks were required to be
passive and submissive as a means of survival. The liberating message of Black
Theology was developed by a group of people who refused to blindly accept what they
were being told and taught. They challenged the biblical interpretations of white
oppressors and questioned their motives. Without their assertiveness and commitment to
unearth the “truth,” the African American Church would have never been birthed. These
African American heroes were radical and unwilling to consent to the status quo. The

African American Church and community-at-large consider these characteristics

198

indicative of leadership skills and Often encourage students to develop and refine these
qualities.

Although the quality of life for African Americans have improved, racism still
exists in society-at-large, and more specifically, in our educational system. The African
American Church openly addresses these issues in church during classes, in sermons
from the pulpit, and during programs. Church continues to be the place where Afiican
Americans assemble to discuss politics, health, education and other issues without having
to worry about the way they talk, their economic status, and most importantly about the
“hidden agendas” of information givers and seekers.

This study is not suggesting that all Whites are untrustworthy. Despite all the
friction between Blacks and Whites, there have always been integrated groups of people
who reached beyond their conflicts and came together for a united purpose. One of the
greatest fighters against slavery was the Quakers, a white religious group. Many Whites
died for the cause of the abolitionist movement and others put their lives and the lives of
their families at risk. Similarly, I believe that there are many teachers, White and Black,
who honestly attempt to effectively teach African American and other students on a daily
basis.

In this study, I do not believe that Mrs. Rudolph intentionally tried to cause
temporary or permanent harm to any of her students. I believe that she was sincere in her
attempts to teach and reach lery student and their parents. The question must be asked
however: Are good intentions enough? What happens when caring is not enough?

Like many teachers, Mrs. Rudolph was challenged to address issues in her

classroom for which she had not been adequately prepared. Her teacher training and

199

sociocultural experiences did not equip her to overcome the barriers to teaching that she
experienced when attempting to work with Tony and Travis. She eventually became
successful in her persistent attempts to help Tony, but she realized that she needed help
with Travis. She tried to get assistance from her principal, the social worker, parents,
janitor, and other teachers. She was at a loss. The entire network system became
frustrated and deterioration occurred. Their failure to meet the needs of Tony and
especially Travis resulted in almost total deterioration of the literacy network system.
They began to blame each other for the breakdown. They tried various things, but
nothing seemed to work. Frustration became ambivalence for some members of the
network system, and hopelessness for others. It was much easier to dismiss Travis as
being one of those students who could never be reached. Although they never gave up,
without the reward of seeing at least minor behavioral changes, it was difficult to keep
trying. The social worker attempted to organize a plan to prevent Travis from being
suspended. After continuous failure, each participant in the network began questioning
the plan, the process, and looking for shortcomings in other participants as well as in
themselves.
As previously stated, the sources of incongruence were not readily identifiable.

To locate the sources of incongruency it was necessary to design a study that provided a
lens that looked beyond the usual problems, and approached data analysis from an in-
depth, historical perspective. The specific sources of incongruence identified in this
study were discussed in detail in Chapter 6. They included:

0 Issues of power and dominance

- Differing definitions of success

200

0 Ideas and values that provide cultural capital in the church environment, but
cultural interference in the school environment

0 Tension between providing culturally congruent classrooms
or “gateways” into the culture of power

0 Difference in purposes and responsibilities for the literacy network systems

0 Difference in providing opportunities to utilize literacy skills in meaningful ways
outside of the classroom

These sources of incongruence are not problems that can be approached solely
from a micro perspective. Systemic changes are required in order to totally alleviate the
incongruencies. However, simply making decisions that change policy is not enough.
Teachers must be at the heart of this reform effort. Immediate changes must occur within
the context of classrooms, and only teachers have the power to implement changes in
their classrooms. Thus, teacher participation is a vital part of all of the possible points of
connection discussed in this study which were:

0 Teacher awareness through information disemination & exchange
0 Increased parental involvement
0 Improved teacher education & professional development programs

0 Cooperation between school & church to provide increased opportunities
to display literacy skills

Teacher participation is at the heart of each point of connection. Just as the human heart
regulates the flow of blood that keeps a body living, teachers regulate the flow of
teaching and learning that helps a student thrive in their classroom.
Implications

Students can be “at risk” in one environment and “successful” in another

(McMillon & Edwards, 2000; Slavin, 1989). Although Tony and Travis were at risk in

201

their school environment, they were successful in their African American church
environment. The plausible sources of incongruence illuminate several possible reasons
for their experiences at church and at school. Church teachers need to become more
aware of their students’ experiences at school, and develop ways to asist them with
negotiating between learning environments. The church needs to reach out beyond the
four walls of their sanctuaries and make their presence known in the schools by assisting
with the academic and social development Of the students. Additionally, they must
demand that their voice be heard in the conversation concerning the education of African
American students. The church must reach out to help students like Travis and Tony.

In addition to illuminating ways that the African American church should increase
their awareness about school, this study provides evidence that even the brightest, best
teachers may have limitations that need to be addressed. Teachers have the awesome
responsibility to adjust their instructional methods and disciplinary techniques each year
to meet the needs of their students. Making such adjustments may be difficult, but it is
imperative that teachers be flexible enough to meet their students’ needs. In this study,
the fact that teachers can unknowingly implement a hidden curriculum is illustrated.
These implicit rules of conduct make it especially difficult for students who operate from
a different cultural frame of reference to develop classroom cultural competence.
Although students are academically successful, they may continue to be “at risk” unless
they learn to read, understand and negotiate the culture of the classroom which includes
developing communicative, interactional and classroom cultural competence. Being
smart is not enough. A student must know how to act. A close investigation of these

issues illuminates the fact that teachers need to receive more training in classroom

202

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management, addresing various student behavioral patterns, and connecting with parents.
Additionally, teachers need to have a keen understanding of themselves — the origin of
their ideas about instruction, discipline and especially biases that they may have
concerning various races, cultures, or genders. Being cognizant of their own biases will
assist them with challenging themselves to value students’ out-of-school literacy
experiences, and making special efforts to connect with all of their students, not just the
students most like themselves.

This study provides information conceming literacy experiences in the African
American Church both past and present, that teachers can utilize to develop creative ways
to connect with their students. It provides a clear perspective of the cultural frame of
reference from which many African American students who attend church operate.
Additionally, this study can inform teachers in the African American Church of the
struggles that some of their students are experiencing at school, and serve as an invitation
for them to join forces with their students’ parents and schoolteachers to insure their
students’ success at church and at school. Gaining this knowledge may help teachers
begin to understand why some of their students are resistant to their teaching and
discipline. Classroom teachers and Sunday School teachers can utilize knowledge gained
from this study to assist students with negotiating the cultural boundaries between their
learning environments —— a skill that must be possessed by African American students in
order to become successful within the culture of power.

Recommendations for Future Studies
This dissertation‘study focused on identifying plausible sources of incongruence

between literacy experiences in the public school and Afiican American Sunday School

203

environments. The teacher in this study was a white, middle-class female - representative
of approximately 90% of the United States’ teaching population. I would like to conduct
two more related studies in the near future.

When I initially proposed my dissertation study, it included a detailed study of the
literacy network systems of the school and church environments. Instead, I chose to
conduct a micro-focused ethnographic study to identify as many plausible sources of
incongruence between the church and school environment as possible. I believed that
one source of incongruence would be the literacy network systems in the two settings.
There is much evidence in this study to support my belief, therefore one future study will
be an analysis of the literacy network systems in a set of African American churches
compared to literacy network systems in a set of urban schools. Studying the
environments in these settings will provide a clearer picture of the importance of
relationships. In particular, I want to answer the question: How does the student-teacher
relationship affect literacy teaching and learning in each setting? I plan to conduct this
study within the next two years.

I have received critical feedback from several sources who challenged me to
conduct a study to learn the probability of African American students being successful in
church and at—risk in school. They wanted to know specifically if attending the African
American church increased or decreased the probability of a student being successful in
school. This study would also attempt to identify specific ways that African American
students’ church experiences increased or decreased the probability of academic
achievement. It will be especially helpful for churches to understand how their teaching

affects their members’ educational experiences at school. A study of this type would

204

 

 

 

 

require a mixed methodology design and must be done on a much larger scale. I plan to
contact a large religious organization to request access to their member churches and
support from their governing body to conduct this study. I have already begun to make
contacts to conduct this study, which will take place within the next two to three years.
Final Comments
Children are who they are. They know what they know. They bring
what they bring. Our job is not to wish that students knew more or
knew diflerently. Our job is to turn each student ’3 knowledge and
diversity of knowledge we encounter into a curricular strength rather
than an instructional inconvenience. We can do that only if we hold
high expectations for all students, convey great respect for the know-
ledge and culture they bring to the classroom, and ofi’er lots of support
in helping them achieve those expectations. I
—--P. David Pearson, “Reclaiming the Center ”
The knowledge and values that students bring to the classroom is what we, as
educators have to work with. We must find creative ways to utilize this information to
improve the educational opportunities for our students. The educational system in the
United States cannot right all the wrongs of our society, but it is imperative that we
accept responsibility for operating within paradigms that perpetuate patterns of thought
by which some students are debilitated. It is a monumental task to undertake - the

breaking down of barriers within classrooms in order to improve the literacy learning

opportunities for students who operate from non-dominant cultural frames of reference.

 

However, just as the educational system works hard to help teachers and student teachers
understand the importance of matching their instructional methods to their students’
learning styles, we must provide information and the necessary support that teachers and
student teachers need to develop creative ways to adjust their classroom management and

disciplinary techniques so that they do not create at-riskness in their students. We must

205

 

 

 

 

not wait for policymakers and administrators to approve curricular changes that they
expect teachers to implement. On the contrary, we must attack this problem inside the
classroom, one teacher at a time, developing innovative ways to utilize information such
as that provided in this study. Teachers cannot handle this monumental task alone; they
need assistance from the inside and outside of schools. They need the support of their
administrators and other members of the literacy network systems in their schools. They
also need the support of students, parents, and members of the out-of-school literacy
network systems in which students participate, such as the African American Church.
Blacks and Whites have united around various worthwhile issues in the past. We must
now come together to assist our children in gaining educational opportunities that will
prepare them to enter the culture of power, equipping them to become viable competitors
in our global economy. All United States citizens will benefit from this “Twenty-First
Century Endeavor”.
Personal Reflections

As I conclude this dissertation study, I have mixed emotions. I am excited that I
am nearing the completion of another era in my life, about to embark upon a new era as
an academician. However, I can’t help but feel a little remorse that I wasn’t able to help
Tony and Travis as much as they helped me. Their parents shared some very personal
information that will always be kept in confidence. Mrs. Rudolph opened her heart up to
me and allowed me to critique her as a professional. My goal is to always keep them in
my foremost thoughts...understanding that my motivation is to help students and teachers,
never becoming a student or teacher basher. I am humbled by the fact that I feel well

prepared to take on the challenge that educational research will bring. I am ready to go

206

 

1,

 

 

 

forth into a world of challenges, disappointments, setbacks, and victories. I can do it. To

God be the Glory for the things He has done!

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“t

’— "inn-n-
I

 

 

 

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Appendix 1
PARENT CONSENT FORM A

You are being asked to participate in a research project that focuses upon the
literacy experiences of students in Sunday School and public school. Communication
patterns, teaching and learning styles, and acceptable patterns of behavior will be
examined during classroom Observations. Also, by interviewing teachers, parents and
students, their perceptions of each environment will be better understood. The main
purpose of the study is to attempt to understand why some African American students are
successful in the African American Church environment, but are considered at-risk in
their classrooms at school. Identifying sources of incongruencies occurring between the
two learning environments and considering possible points of connection can heighten
teacher awareness concerning these issues. This study may also help teachers develop
ways to assist their students in becoming border crossers - effectively negotiating the
cultural boundaries between their learning environments.

Data collection for the study will begin April 18, 2000 and end June 1, 2000.
Classrooms will be observed and video-taped approximately 4 - 7 times during literacy
experiences, such as reading, vocabulary, writing, etc. You are being asked to participate
in a parent interview in order to discuss your beliefs concerning your child's educational
experiences, their home literacy experiences, your previous educational experiences, and
issues related to your relationship with your child's teachers. You are also being asked to
consent to allow the researcher to retrieve information from your child's school records
(such as grades and referrals for special services) that might be helpful in understanding
your child's educational experiences. Additionally, the researcher needs consent to an
interview with your child concerning their likes/dislikes about their learning
environments, their feelings about their teachers and classmates, and their understanding
of classroom rules. The video-taped interviews will take about an hour, and will be
scheduled at your convenience.

Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can choose not to participate at
all, refuse to participate in certain procedures or answer certain questions or may
discontinue participating in the study at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to
which you are otherwise entitled. Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent
allowable by law. Data gathered will be treated with strict confidence on the part of the
investigator and you will remain anonymous in any report of research findings. Upon
request and within these restrictions, results will be made available to you.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the study you may call t.-:
Gwendolyn M.T. McMillon at (517) 753-2718. Participants with questions about their
role and rights as a subject of research may also contact David E. Wright, Ph.D., Chair,
University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects at (517) 355-2180.

 

 

Fl-

 

 

l voluntarily agree to participate in this study, and to allow my child to participate.

 

 

Signature of Parent Date

217

 

Appendix 2
TEACHER CONSENT FORM

You are being asked to participate in a research project that focuses upon the
literacy experiences of students in Sunday School and public school. Communication
patterns, teaching and learning styles, and acceptable patterns of behavior will be
examined during classroom Observations. Also, by interviewing teachers, parents and
students, their perceptions of each environment will be better understood. The main
purpose of the study is to attempt to understand why some African American students are
successful in the African American Church environment, but are considered at-risk in
their classrooms at school. Identifying sources of incongruencies occurring between the
two learning environments and considering possible points of connection can heighten
teacher awareness concerning these issues. This study may also help teachers develop
ways to assist their students in becoming border crossers - effectively negotiating the
cultural boundaries between their learning environments.

Data collection for the study will begin April 18, 2000 and end June 1, 2000.
Classrooms will be observed and video-taped approximately 4 - 7 times during literacy
experiences, such as reading, vocabulary, writing, etc. Also, you will be asked to
participate in a teacher interview in order to discuss your beliefs concerning student at-
briskness, issues related to literacy teaching, and classroom rules. The video-taped
interview will take about an hour, and will be scheduled at your convenience.

Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can choose not to participate at
all, refuse to participate in certain procedures or answer certain questions or may
discontinue participating in the study at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to
which you are otherwise entitled.

Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent allowable by law. Data
gathered will be treated with strict confidence on the part of the investigator and you will
remain anonymous in any report of research findings. Upon request and within these
restrictions, results will be made available to you.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the study you may call
Gwendolyn M.T. McMillon at (517) 753-2718. Participants with questions about their
role and rights as a subject of research may also contact David E. Wright, Ph.D., Chair,
University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects at (517) 355-2180.

I voluntarily agree to participate in this study.

 

 

Signature of Teacher Date

218

 

Appendix 3
Teacher Interview Protocol

1. What criteria did you utilize to rank your students during the subject selection
process?

2. In your Opinion, do you communicate well with your students?
Are you utilizing the same language patterns that uses in your class?
Do you find it difficult to understand what _____is saying?
Do you think understands what you are saying most of the time?
What strategies are you utilizing to help ___with language problems?

3. Describe your favorite teacher.
Do you utilize any of her/his techniques in your class?

4. How do you decide what and how to teach?
Do you consider that students may have different learning styles when making these
decisions?
If so, how do you address the issue of learning styles?
If not, why not?

5. What are the rules in your class?
How do you communicate those rules to the students?
Do you discuss the rules with the parents?
Are there any implicit rules that you may not actually "talk" about?

6. Describe a successful student.
7. Describe your idea of an unsuccessful student.

8. How do you evaluate your students academically?
How do you evaluate your students' behavior?

9. What types of discipline methods do you use?
Are certain students disciplined much more than others?
Why do you think those students are disciplined so Often?
Why do you think they misbehave more often than other students?

10. When students misbehave are they excluded from social and academic activities?
Why, or why not?

1 1. How do you determine that a student needs help?
Who can you ask to help your students?

Is receiving any extra help?
How do you think feels about getting extra help from ?
How do the students in your class perceive ?

219

 

 

 

How does '5 parents feel about the extra support?

12. DO you explicitly address issues of cultural diversity in your class?
If so, how? If not, why not?

13. Do you discuss differences/similarities in your students' learning environments?

14. In your Opinion, who are the people in this environment who assist with literacy
skills acquisition and development?
Who helps at home?
Are you aware of anyone else who may play a significant role in '3 life?

15. Is doing well in your class?

In your opinion, why, or why not?

16. Can you share some Of the reasons why you think may be doing well in one
environment, but not in the other?

17. Describe a successful teacher, in your Opinion.

18. Describe a successful parent, in your opinion.

220

 

Appendix 4

10.

l2.

l3.

l4.

. What is a normal weekday routine for you and your child?

. What do you and your child enjoy doing together?

Parent interview protocol

. Tell me about your child at age 1,2,3,4, etc.

What interesting things did he/she do at these ages?
What unique qualities stand out in your mind about your child during early childhood?

Tell me of your observations of your child's beginning learning efforts(i.e.. sitting-up,
walking, talking, playing, etc).

Tell me about early milestones, like sitting-up, walking, talking.

Were any of these delayed?

How did you structure your child's day as s/he was growing up?

What routines were followed (conversations or talk time, television programs,
bedtime, eating, exercise, etc)?

What is a normal weekend like?

 

What does your family enjoy doing together?
What is interesting to you about your child now?

All children have potential. Did you feel that __ had some particular talent or
"gift" early on?

If so, what was it?

What did your child do to make you think that se/she had this potential?

Were there specific things you did as a parent to strengthen this talent?

What do you think your child might be when s/he grows up?
Does your child know you think s/he will do this one day? a
DO you and your child talk about this talent? l'

Are there circumstances at home we should know about in school that may interfere
with your child's learning at school?
Please try to be as specific as possible in your response to this question.

. Describe your past educational experiences.

Describe a successful student, in your opinion.
Describe a good teacher, in your opinion.

Describe a good parent, in your opinion.

221

15.

l6.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Does your child read and write at home?

How is doing in school?

How is doing in Sunday School?

In your Opinion, why is doing well in Sunday School, but not in school?
If you had a kindergarten child, would you ask Ms. to be his/her teacher

in school next year? Why, or why not?

If you had a kindergarten child, would you ask Ms. to be his/her Sunday
School teacher next year? Why, or why not?

Do you know what is expected of your child academically and socially in school?
Do you know what is expected of your child academically and socially in church?

Who helps your child with school work?
Who helps your child with church work?

Who do you talk to about your child's educational experiences?

222

 

Appendix 5
Student Interview Protocol

1. Do you like school?

2. Do you like church?

3. Who is your favorite teacher?

4. What do you like most about school?
What do like least about school?
What do like most about church?

What do like least about church?

5. Do you understand your school work?
When you don't, who helps you?

6. Do you understand your church lessons?
Who helps you at church?

7. Do you feel special at school? Why, or why not?
8. Do you feel special at church? Why, or why not
9. What make you feel bad at school?

What makes you feel bad at church?

What makes you feel good at school?

What makes you fell good at church?

10. What are the rules at school?
What are the rules at church?

1 I. What happens when you make a mistake at school? at church?
12. Are you smarter at church or at school? Explain.

13. Do you like the students at church? at school?

14. Do the students like you at church? at school?

15. If you could change something, what would you change about school?
If you could change something, what would you change about church?

223

 

 

 

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