African American Students in the Community College Classroom with White Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine African American student pedagogical experiences in classrooms with White teachers at a community college in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The intent of the study was two-fold: (a) to search for evidence of how culture shapes African American students’ view of themselves, and (b) to explore how African American student pedagogical experiences with White teachers shape their attitude about school. The results of this study revealed that many of the White teachers experienced by the research participants demonstrated some aspect of colorblindness in their pedagogical practices. The results also found that the African American community college students in this study valued the use of culturally responsive pedagogy in the classroom.