Renaming the Narrative, Reclaiming Their Humanity: Black and Latino Males' Descriptions of Success (original) (raw)

2019, Teacher College Record

2 Background/Context: An ongoing challenge for scholars who examine the educational experiences of young men of color, particularly Black and Latino males, is to illustrate the complex nature of their experiences and to call into question the dichotomous narrative that these students are either successful or unsuccessful. There is a responsibility for scholars to present a balanced, more nuanced analysis and to highlight that, while a significant number of these young men are underperforming compared to their peers from other backgrounds, there are many students who are doing quite well in school. While interrogating the notion of success can be a complex task, one of the concerns in the professional literature has been that the definition is frequently limited to narrow or conventional standards (i.e., high GPA, high test scores, etc.). While these examples of success are indeed important, we maintain that they do not capture the full spectrum of favorable educational and social outcomes of Black and Latino male students both inside and outside of schools. Purpose/Objective: This study operates from the standpoint that many Black and Latino males are thriving, yet their stories are rarely told, especially by the young men themselves. The objective of the study is to challenge conventional depictions of Black and Latino males by better understanding how these young men perceive themselves, as well as how they conceptualize success. Thus,

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