Freedom School Effectiveness: Changes in Attitudes of Negro Children

Abstract

This paper reports the effects of teaching Negro history to a small group of Negro students between the ages of eight and 13. The "Freedom School" was instituted out of concern for the Negro's negative self-attitudes and their effects on his attitudes toward society, maturation, motivations, and aspirations. The study here reported used interviews, four months apart, to determine changes in super-ego strength, in self-confidence, in attitudes toward Negroes and toward civil rights. Selected factors of Cattell's Child Personality Questionnaire and an attitude questionnaire were used. To control for effects of the first interview, a control group received the second but not the first interview. Negro interviewers were used. The statistical norms for Cattell's Child Personality Questionnaire were used as a control, comparing the students with the "average" American child. The findings are given as tentative evidence that teaching Negro history and culture can be effective in raising the attitudes of Negroes toward Negroes.