Guides & Workshops

Teaching Tolerance is proud to support the message of the film American Promise with four professional development modules. Designed to educate and inspire viewers to support opportunities for all children, each of the four modules uses selections from the film to facilitate discussions about equitable teaching, particularly when engaging African-American male students:

• Identity: Explores the influence of identity on classroom instruction, particularly as it relates to race, gender and class. How do perceptions of black masculinity and manhood shape how we teach African-American male students? How do preconceived notions of class intersect with race in classrooms?

• Assimilation: Focuses on the processes of student assimilation, which may consciously or unconsciously occur inside the classroom. In what ways can attempts to assimilate African-American males into dominant culture hinder their development?

• Achievement: Addresses how our education system nurtures and measures achievement. Does our system include diverse ways of assessing student achievement?

• System: Interrogates the idea of education as a system. What are the pros and cons of a broad systematic approach to education? How is the education system succeeding and failing to educate African-American males?