Empowering African American Children: A Guide to Teaching Success with The Dreamkeepers

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United States on Sep 27, 2022

Nilsa O Perez: This is a great book on Culturally Relevant Pedagogies. Dr. Ladson Billings draws on the experiences, characteristics and educational practices of teachers who have been successful working with culturally diverse populations. Profound and engaging, I highly recommend it!

United States on Oct 25, 2021

Sowak21: I read this book for my Critical Pedagogy class (a class for social justice). I’m heading back to school to become a teacher. I rate this book 4 stars and I would recommend it to anyone who works with youth. Ladson-Billings writes about an extensive study she conducted with the purpose of identifying what methodologies have been most successful in helping African American students achieve academic success. In general, the book is full of amazing teaching strategies and inspiring stories. One of the main focuses though is what she calls culturally relevant teaching. I love the principles of this pedagogy and find that it fits in quite well with my own teaching philosophies. According to Ladson-Billings, culturally relevant teaching “is a pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes.” Throughout the book, she focuses on African American students and their teachers. Although she doesn’t explicitly speak of other ethnicities, I assume that much of what she writes be relevant and applicable in a general multicultural school setting. I truly enjoyed reading about...

United States on Jul 03, 2014

leahcarm: This book does NOTHING to help students understand the culture of African American students! The author begins by suggesting that African American students should be segregated for their own good. She argues that African American student have had a lower level of education since integration took place. If a "white" (she refers to Caucasian teachers as "white") professor had written this exact same material from the perspective of a Caucasian arguing that Caucasian students should be segregated in an effort to increase their educational experience, the professor would at least be dismissed from the University. It is unacceptable that this professor is allowed to express her racist views simply because the color of her skin is dark. This is a double standard! It should not be tolerated. As long as we ask our teachers to read this type of material, we are condoning racism. It is not O.K. It is not O.K. for a white to be racist. It is also not O.K. for a black to be racist.
The examples she uses in her book have nothing to do with race. One example she sites is one of a "white" teacher with a bright African American student. The kindergarten student finishes his work early. The...

United States on Jul 03, 2013

Allison Bailey: I read this book for my Literacy class, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it greatly. The book is an ethnographic study of eight teachers who were respected in the community for being successful teachers of African American children. Instead of viewing African American children as problems in schools, Dr. Ladson-Billings wants to highlight teachers who are able to bring their students to rise above the status quo and achieve high proficiency. Major themes of this book are respect, community, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

I rate this book 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who works with children/teens. I learned a lot and am newly inspired to be a better teacher.

United States on Jan 18, 2011