In other words, do you know a teacher in Milwaukee who has transformed the attitude, achievement, and behaviors of their students, specifically African American students whose families may qualify for free or reduced lunch?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Why Are Teachers Being Nominated?

In an attempt to better understand the student empowerment methods of successful teachers who serve low-income African American learners, 4^th -12^th grade teachers are needed to participate in a multi-case, qualitative study.

Angela Dye is the developer of the Empowerment Framework (as first published in her 2012 book “Empowerment Starts Here:  7 Principles to Empowering Urban Youth”).  As a doctoral candidate at Capella University, she is using her dissertation project to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of student empowerment.

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Why Are You Being Asked to Make the Nominations?

In the tradition of collective research and interpretations and to de-objectify African American students and their communities (as described by Ladson-Billings [2009]), a community nomination process is being used.  Ladson-Billings used this process in her own study on successful teachers of African American students.  Through the approach, researchers “rely on the community” to make the judgments of their own experiences (p. 181).

Giving people from the community the power to make judgments about successful teachers of the community increases the integrity of the study about empowerment.  Please help to preserve such integrity by nominating a teacher today!

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Who Qualifies to Make a Nomination?

Anyone from metro Milwaukee can make the nomination… including fellow teachers, principals, instructors, parents, community leaders, neighbors and students… yes… even students!

All you need to do is to send Angela the name and number (or email address) of a teacher that YOU think empowered the mind of an African American student from a lower socioeconomic background.   It is really simply! Recognize those teachers that have empowered and send in your nomination today!

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Why is this Study Focusing on Low-Income African American Students?

The Empowerment Framework (Dye, 2012) is about sharing power with all students regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status and their race/ethnicity!  But, in light of the pervasive achievement gap between minority and low-income students and their affluent white counter parts, this study is specifically in interested in exploring how student empowerment can be influential in helping these students who appear to be left behind.

*The African American Focus

Because most of the research on the academic needs of minority and poor students use the theoretical underpinnings of culturally relevant instruction profiled in The Dream Keepers:  Successful Teachers of African American Children (Ladson-Billings, 2009), Angela is using generous design portions of this model, including the focus on African American students, for her inaugural study on student power teaching practices.

*The Low-Income Focus

De Lissovoy (2008) says that most African Americans experience “compounded” challenges as influenced by both race and class (p.  82); however, this study will explicitly highlight the concrete and distinct conditions of each in the academic experiences of low-income African American students.  Willie (2001) argues that middle class African American students are more successful than low-income African American students with navigating through unspoken classroom norms and expectations which have been influenced by a middle class persuasion.  As a result, this study draws to attention the compounded conditions experienced by low-income African American students by highlighting the dual challenges of both race and class instead of loosely treating them as one.

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

What Will Nominated Teachers Need to Do?

Nominated teachers will need to agree to move forward in the study and get validated by their principals (without disclosing actual achievement data, principals will attest to the academic impact that nominated teachers have had on low-income African American students.

Only 3-5 teachers are needed for this inaugural study.  Therefore, all teachers who have been nominated will not be selected to participate.  Selection will be based on principal validation as well as demographic diversity (Angela would like to have as much variety as possible).

Even if a nominated teacher is not selected, they will be contacted and notified of their nomination.  For some, the experience of being recognized by one person from the community can be quite rewarding!

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

What Will Selected Teachers Need to Do?

Selected teachers will engage in a series of minimally intrusive steps.

• Step 1:  Nominated teachers will speak with Angela to set up a schedule for their participation.
• Step 2:  Nominated teachers will be observed in two 15-minute separate observations (where Angela will take notes on student power levels and the positive classroom structures that empowers students at those levels).
• Step 3:  Nominated teachers will complete a 3-page questionnaire (approximately 15 questions) where they will share their views (if any) on teaching low-African American students and their views on student power.
• Step 4:  Nominated teachers will engage in a 30-60 minute interview where they will give input on observation notes collected in the first two observations and to personally clarify their views offered in the questionnaire.
• Step 5:  Nominated teachers will be observed in one final 15-minute observation and be invited to send a self-evaluation of the student power levels and methods (this self-evaluation is not required… it is optional).

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Will Selected Teachers Get Paid?

No payments will be given to selected, participating teachers.   Participating in the study is voluntary and is based on the reward of knowing that their successful practice will help improve the teaching practices of others.

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

How Will Selected Teachers be Protected?

All received nominations as well as those teachers who are selected will remain anonymous. Each participant will receive an anonymous email account to communicate with the researcher.  All identifying data will be locked away so no one will be able to connect the teachers discussed in the final report (and their practices) with the actual names of the participants.

Also, only positive data (methods of empowerment) will be collected and reported.  No teacher is perfect.  This study only seeks to identify those successful methods of their practice that empowers.

Do you have a teacher in mind?  If so, please privately email his/her contact information (name, email address and/or phone number) to empowerment.research@pbsdevelopment.com. Please note that nominations sent via social media will not be considered.

Such a question is grounded in the notion of “the politics of respectability” which has been often used by several highly respected scholars that I follow. I am interested in this phrase partially because of my doctoral research with critical theory and social power. However, my life’s work with student empowerment gives a more personal meaning to the phrase.

Question rephrased… who controls the right to determine what is respectable? And, what is the process (cultural or political) by which such determination is made?

My student empowerment framework requires power to be shared with learners which ultimately, by way of the 2nd principle (Dye, 2012), activates their “voice, choice, and dominion” (p. 57). While there is a growing appreciation for student power, such appreciation remains philosophical as the application of such power is stilted when adults come face to face with students’ “Innate Power” (the 2nd principle)… students engaging in their natural drive to use voice, choice, and dominion.

When the ideals of student empowerment come into conflict with adults who try to restrict this power to their level of personal comfort (especially when students sometimes act in a way that causes them discomfort), it often falls under the umbrella of politics… or, the politics of respectability. Adults then begin to use their authority to define what is respectable (or not) and restrict the humanity of the children in which they seek to empower.

Here is a thought… in a democratic (not autocratic) space, the power to define respectable behavior is shared with those who will be judged by such a standard. In the case of student empowerment, defining and applying a standard of respectability cannot be done in the absence of student power. Students must use their voice, choice and dominion to partake in the political process of defining what is acceptable behavior.

There are a total of 7 power sharing strategies within my empowerment framework. However, please know that to really engage in student empowerment, adults cannot take on this mission in an al a carte fashion. To do so frankly limits their humanity and is NOT empowering!

For more information about student empowerment, 7 principles of empowerment/innate power, and the politics of respectability, please click on the appropriate words as they have embedded links.

Please come to our Facebook page to post a response and join the discussion!

Dye, A. (2012). Empowerment starts here: Seven Principles for Empowering Urban Youth. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group.

The above excerpt was taken from WUWM, Milwaukee Public Talk Radio, 89.9 (January 20, 2013) For the full story and radio interview click here.

For more information on the progressive strategies that Angela Dye uses for student empowerment click here.   As always, if you want to share your views on this interview or any other article posted on our website, please go to our Facebook fan page: Empowerment Starts Here.

As argued by Ladson-Billings (2009), Dantley (2005) and Delpit (1998) education reform is not just a bottom up endeavor. It is also top down. It is about understanding the pulse and priorities of the people being served and ensuring that education agendas, policies and standards reflect their priorities. As a result, a redefined scope of achievement that transforms the sociopolitical status of disadvantaged communities… in real time (where it is contextually relevant in the present tense) … and is concrete and measurable needs to be incorporated into the close the achievement gap campaign.

Let’s not just close the achievement gap! Let’s close the perception gap as pertaining to how achievement is defined and pursued…especially for those communities that are at a socioeconomic disadvantage.

For assistance with culturally relevant programming and professional development, contact us here.
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References:

Dantley, M. (2005). African American spirituality and Cornel West’s notion of prophetic pragmatism: Restructuring educational leadership in American urban schools. Educational Administration Quarterly. Retrieved from http://eaq.sagepub.com/content/41/4/651.

Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280. ProQuest.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2009). The dream keepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Workshop 1: The Empowermet Framework as Culturally Responsive Teaching (10:3 a.m.).
• Workshop 2: Parents as Agents of Student Empowerment (1pm).

If you are in the area, come learn about the instructional value of student empowerment! It is not too late to register!

Click here to see what their local newspaper had to say.

“Of course I don’t wait for all the lights to turn green before driving to work,” I replied.

He then followed up and asked me, “Well… how do you make your trip… how do you take on the drive knowing that you will encounter red lights?” Not sure where he was really going with his line of questioning, I just looked at him. After a brief moment of awkward silence, my dad finally said, “Don’t wait for all things to be perfect in life before you start enjoying it”.

In short, many people wait to start living. They wait to get the perfect job, to make more money, to lose weight, to buy their dream home, to get caught up on their bills, to send their kids to college… and then declare to live and have fun. And for many, we live in a culture that does not believe in fun and happiness… subscribing to a philosophy that life on earth is about storing up rewards for our afterlife. But for those of us who do believe that we can also have happiness and fun while on this side of heaven, we need to be challenged. We need to do a better job living and stop putting life off until all the pieces are in order.

Living and enjoying life in the now… in real time… in the midst of the red lights was the point of my dad’s message. As a person who is very driven in my career and very fulfilled by the pursuit of my professional goals, I found myself as a young adult putting off my fun until I had reached my destination. I had papers to grade, students to mentor, education and degrees to obtain, organizations to start, and books to write. I did not have time for fun… fun would just have to wait until I accomplished the things on my list.

But when I started facing 40 a few of years ago, I finally got it! I understood the red-light-drive-to-work metaphor that my dad tried to share. Life is always going to be filled with red lights…with things to do, with disappointments, with uncertainties. Waiting for life to clear out and make room for fun is like waiting for all the lights to turn green before driving to work in the morning. Those of you who know me from my 30s and now into my 40s can attest to my pursuit for life… for fun… for happiness… so much that I have very little tolerance for environments (professional or personal) that suppress my smile. I am not talking about red-light moments of discomfort… I am talking about situations that require extended periods of darkness and the suspension of my humanity. I prioritize my pursuit for fun just like I prioritize my work. I pursue happiness instead of waiting for happiness to one day show up after all of my work is complete. Each day I start my drive knowing full well that I will encounter some red lights on the way. And, when I get to a red light, I embrace it by sitting and singing with the radio, waiting only for a moment before continuing on in my drive.

I took time to share this story because I personally know there are people who want more out of life but they keep waiting. They keep waiting for all the lights to turn green before being happy, before having fun, before enjoying life. As we leave 2012 behind us, think about my father’s challenge… stop waiting for all of the lights to turn green. Get in the car, embrace the red lights, and drive!

Have fun and be happy in 2013! Make it truly a Happy New Year’s Day!!

Angela Dye
Owner/CEO
PBS Development, LLC.
#Empowerment Starts Here

My prayers are for all parents this morning who have to send their children to school. I pray for peace and assurance for safety. I pray for wisdom and heroism in spaces where safety does not abound. Parents, I truly pray for you because as a person who has been responsible for groups of children, adults, budgets, policies, systems and buildings… I think parenting is by far a greater responsibility!!! Your work is appreciated.

Parents, this morning I pray for you… I pray for your peace and guidance as you do the much needed work of grooming and protecting our future!

~Angela Dye, A Social Entrepreneur Who Embraces the Power of Prayer!

Here are some other suggestions from ABC…
• Don’t over talk the situation.
• Keep children away from the media.
• Reassure them that they are safe.
• Do not pull them out of school.

In need of additional support? Please call the following distress hotline for counseling: 800-985-5990.

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Any minority student (African American, Hispanic, Asian or Native American) who is a rising high school senior, graduating high school senior or college freshman, has a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, is interested in pursuing a career in the media industry, and plans to attend a four-year accredited college or university is eligible to apply to the Emma L. Bowen Foundation work/study program. Eligible applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal residents of the United States, and speak and write English fluently to be considered. Your grade transcript, at least two (2) educational references from teachers and/or advisors, and a 500-to-1,000-word essay must accompany the application form.

Visit the company’s website for a more detailed description of the program and the application.