Abstract:
When we look at perceptions of African American male students in elementary school and beyond, what do we think of? Some may think of low-performing African American male students as “defiant” and not interested in learning. The reality is that many African American males are high achieving and highly motivated, but a multitude of factors, including their racial identity, influences perceptions of African American males and their academic achievement. Given these challenges, how do some African American males become high-achieving students and manage to succeed in school?
The deficit model has long been utilized to explain why some African American male students are underperforming in urban public schools. To counteract this, I sought to understand how some young African American male students with a positive racial identity navigated an urban elementary school setting. I looked at the some of the factors that current research suggests affect many African American male students. I then focused on some of the influences that helped other African American males to achieve in school. Here, I discuss my data results and the emerging themes, which highlight the role of
the village collective and how adults instill the history of ancestral sacrifices through explicit teachings. Further, I describe how these young African American male students interpreted these teachings of the village collective through their self-identity and academic aspirations.
