Understanding Black Male Learning Styles
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu (1953-2025) was an educational consultant with African American Images, publishers of uplifting titles for families and teachers. Dr. Kunjufu authored over 25 books centered on the education of Black children, particularly Black boys. In Understanding Black Male Learning Styles, he brings forward hundreds of research-based, practical suggestions to design effective classrooms. The clarity and recommendations that he provides can help teachers and parents nurture the innate brilliance of Black boys and stem the tide of having their brilliance punished and locked away in special education classrooms. Often, these classrooms are merely steps toward prison. His insights not only enlighten the work of teachers and administrators, but can also inform relationships between women and men. By resonating with the thinking and learning patterns of our children, friends, co-workers and mates each of us can begin to emerge as powerful partners in cultivating ongoing greatness in Black families, communities and nations.
EXCERPT FROM
Understanding Black Male Learning Styles
BY DR. JAWANZA KUNJUFU
COPYRIGHT 2011. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CHAPTER 6: GENDER DIFFERENCES
Understanding how boys and girls learn differently may be the most important issue in this book. With such a disproportionate percentage of males placed in special education—almost a two-to-one ratio between White males and White females and almost a four-to-one ratio between African American males and African American females—it is obvious that we have not fully understood male learning styles and gender differences.
Listed below are some general characteristics of boys that differentiate them from girls:
More aggressive
Higher energy level
Shorter attention span
Slower maturation rate
Less cooperative
Physically larger
Influenced more by peer group
Greater interest in math than reading
Louder
Distinctive walk
Larger, more sensitive ego
Hearing inferior to that of girls
Gross motor skills are more developed than fine motor skills
If we are cognizant of gender differences, it is incumbent upon us to make the necessary adjustments (other than disproportionately placing males of all races and ethnic groups in special education).
Attention Span
In an hour-long class, boys’ attention span will average about 22 minutes. Should boys be placed in special education because the lecture is too long, or should the teacher shorten the lecture to create more alignment with the child’s learning style? When boys study subjects that interest them—sports, adventure, technology, automobiles, etc.—their attention span increases.
Maturation
What can we learn from the fact that boys mature more slowly than girls? From kindergarten through 12th grade, there is almost a three-year difference. Boys who are unable to write or color as well as girls are threatened with special education.
[Hearing]
Since we know that, on average, girls hear three times better than boys, teachers should put boys in the front of the class. The hearing issue, in addition to testosterone, helps explain why boys are so loud and why they respond better to a strong voice.
[Learning]
In the excellent book, Equity in the Classroom, edited by Paricia Murphy, the following insight is provided:
Males tend to:
Extract information from context, while females tend to pay attention to context in a study of a problem.
Take analytical, rule-based approaches [to problem solving], while females tend to take holistic approaches and emphasize empathy.
Be more hasty, impulsive and willing to take risks, while females exercise more care and deliberation.
Attribute success to their own efforts and failure to external factors, while females do the reverse. The perception of personal failure may inhibit subsequent performance.
Be active in an anarchistic way.
Broaden subjects and include new angles and points of view.
Constantly interrupt each other.
Compete with each other in getting the teacher’s attention.
Girls tend to:
Work in a concentrated way. Subject matter is worked through in half the time used by boys.
Keep strictly to the subject.
See the lesson as a shared venture.
Listen and show respect when others speak (13).
I am in no way suggesting that these differences are 100 percent universal. Not all boys are aggressive, have shorter attention spans, show slower maturation rates, exhibit more advanced gross motor skills, are less verbal or can’t hear as well as girls. Being different is not synonymous with being deficient. Boys and girls each have unique strengths and unique challenges.
Other Differences
In the book, Bad Boys, Ann Ferguson makes the following observations:
African American boys are not accorded the masculine dispensation of being naturally ‘naughty.’ Instead, the school reads their expression and display of masculine naughtiness as a sign of an inherent injudicious, insubordinate nature that is a threat to order that must be controlled. Consequently, school adults view any display of masculine mettle on the part of these boys, through body language or verbal rejoinders, as a sign of insubordination (15).
Physical Education
One of the important outcomes of Leave No Child Behind is that not only have art and music been virtually wiped out in the schools, we have reduced if not eliminated P.E. These subjects are critical for right-brain learners, yet according to the [CDC] only 3.8 percent of elementary schools, 7.9 percent of middle schools and 2.1 percent of high schools offer P.E. on a daily basis as of 2006 (16).
For kinesthetic learners, and in fact all children, it is crucial that we provide P.E. on a daily basis. Not only have P.E. programs been reduced, many schools have eliminated recess. Research shows that when teachers provide recess or stretch breaks, students improve academically.
Cooperative Learning
Girls tend to learn independently, and boys tend to thrive when they are in a cooperative learning environment. We would improve the academic performance of boys if we tapped into their cultural strengths and created more cooperative and competitive learning activities for them.
Homework
Research shows that 84 percent of males either turn their homework in late or not at all. In contrast, only four percent of females turn their homework in late or not at all (24). Let me paint a clear picture. A male student receives an A on the mid-term and a B on the final exam but receives a D on his report card. How can that be? Not doing the homework was the culprit. On the other hand, doing the homework was not a precursor to doing well on the tests.
EPILOGUE: THE IDEAL BLACK MALE CLASSROOM
[8 of the 29 strategies that Dr. Kunjufu lists]:
Master teacher, preferably Black male, with high expectations, excellent classroom management skills and understands the importance of time on task
A singe gender classroom
A right-brain classroom
17 students or less
6 learning centers: visual-print, visual-pictures, auditory, oral, kinesthetic, tactile
Technology center
Famous pictures of Black males on the wall
Cooperative learning groups and learning buddies
When teachers begin to respect the innate intelligence of their Black male students and the many ways they learn, there will be improvement, not only in their test scores, but classroom behavior as well. This book has been an attempt to illustrate if we design our pedagogy congruent with students’ learning styles, we can improve academic achievement.
END NOTES REFERENCED IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT
13. Murphy, Patricia. Equity in the Classroom (New York: Routledge, 1996), pp. 5, 178-179.
15. Ferguson, Ann. Bad Boys (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001), pp. 86-87.
16. “Physical Education,” School Health Policies and Programs Study. CDC 2006. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/spps/2006/factsheets/pdf/FS_PhysicalEducationSHPPS2006.pdf
24. Coates, Julie and Wiliam A. Draves. “Smart Boys, Bad Grades,” Learning Resources Network, 2006. http://www.smartboysbadgrades.com/smartboys_badgrades.pdf.