“Life is in the Ears”: what Black learners should hear from general and special educators

Abstract

Abstract What Black learners hear from their general and special education professionals affect how they communicate and interact in classrooms and other learning situations and environments. Most students, no matter how young, are very perceptive—they can tell if the teacher or the learning environment is welcoming or unwelcoming. When the environment is not welcoming, Black learners feel psychologically disenfranchised, disadvantaged, and disillusioned. And, when the environment is welcoming, these learners feel motivated and inspired to maximize their fullest potential. Rather than engage Black learners with implicit and explicit messages that are results of negative assumptions, unrealistic expectations, illusory generalizations, and systemic racist statements, general and special educators should send inspiring messages to their learners while also trying to hear from them to allow their silenced voices to be visible in school programs. This is the premise of this article.