Abstract Black male teachers are consistently positioned in teacher recruitment and teacher educa... more Abstract Black male teachers are consistently positioned in teacher recruitment and teacher education discourse as the potential solution to a myriad of social and educational problems. However, the expectations of Black male performance are at times predicated on limiting and oppressive assumptions. In this qualitative study, the authors use the Black feminist tenet, heteropatriarchy, to examine the life histories of two Black male teacher candidates and one Black male teacher in order to convey the problematic relationship among racial and gendered stereotypes, professional identities, and classroom experiences. Our findings suggest that the expectations Black male educators perceive others to hold of them do not leave space for diverse expressions of racial, gendered, and sexual identities. We conclude by offering recommendations toward identifying and challenging themes of heteropatriarchy within the social, cultural, and professional expectations communicated to Black male teacher candidates and teachers.
The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the challenges in developing the Urban Co... more The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the challenges in developing the Urban Community Teachers Project: a campus-based initiative to recruit and train Black male teachers for urban classrooms. The central argument is that given the enormous challenges in both recruiting and training Black male urban community teachers, the end result is not to place Black males in urban schools to serve simply as role models. Rather, it is a longer-term commitment to having their presence in urban public school classrooms to reframe pedagogical practices and curriculum and transform communities alongside young people. Therefore, this article addresses the problems of practice in sustaining a program to cultivate Black male teachers.
Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent disco... more Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the key to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models. This assertion presents Black male teachers as a panacea to improving urban schools while ignoring the historical and contemporary contexts that complicate their roles in schools. This study uses life history methods to access the narratives of a group of Black male teachers to shed light on their experiences working in urban classrooms. The purpose of this study is to broaden our understandings about teacher education, teaching, and teacher retention of Black male teachers.
Existing alternative certification teacher education programs like the New York City Teaching F... more Existing alternative certification teacher education programs like the New York City Teaching Fellows program(NYCTF) insufficiently prepare candidates to teach in urban schools. Such alternative teacher preparation programs lack coursework and fieldwork ...
Black boys’ grief coping with peer homicide remain under-researched and undertheorized. This is e... more Black boys’ grief coping with peer homicide remain under-researched and undertheorized. This is especially significant when combined with the emerging understanding that Black boys may experience homicidal death in significantly different ways and durations than others. This manuscript examines the experiences of three Black boys attending an urban school, in the wake of the homicidal death of their peer. We purport the absence of grief counselors and the lack of administrative sensitivity, created a misalignment between the boys’ need to grieve, and systems within an urban school context that denied and erased trauma. Drawing from concepts of disenfranchised grief, we situate our analysis using a theory of proximal processes. This framework reveals a perspective that counters the hegemonic ontologies which deny Black boys’ the right to grieve. Furthermore, in examining one Black male mentor’s support of the boys in the aftermath of this tragedy, this manuscript contributes to an increased awareness of the need for urban school policies and practices that reflect reframed understandings of Black boys' mourning.
Several educational researchers have critiqued the increasing marginalization of foundations cour... more Several educational researchers have critiqued the increasing marginalization of foundations coursework in teacher education programs within the United States. Situated within a teacher certification program at a Predominately White Institution without foundations courses, this self-study examined an English methods course designed to address this curricular gap and prepare candidates to teach racially and culturally diverse students attending urban schools. Through a conceptual framework grounded in critical race theory, interpretive analysis of student work relative to course material evidenced a consistent pattern of omitting themes, discussions, and reflection about race and racism. This finding–consistent with the literature on colorblind epistemologies–led me to implications about pedagogy and curriculum in teacher education centered around opportunities for candidates to develop racial literacy in their methods courses and across their programs.
This article draws from data in a larger qualitative study on the lives of black male teachers in... more This article draws from data in a larger qualitative study on the lives of black male teachers in US public urban schools. I examine their schooling experiences as black male youth. By coupling theories of social suffering with life history methodology, this research analyzes how three black male teachers experienced frustration, marginalization, and misery as students. For these participants, academic tracking was a site of social suffering. This suffering persisted into their adult lives as classroom teachers, as they witnessed and attempted to mitigate the struggles of their own black male students. The findings in this study have implications for further research on black male teachers as well as their recruitment and retention in US public schools.
Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force (Brockenbrough, 20... more Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force (Brockenbrough, 2000; Dee, 2005; Lewis & Toldson, 2013). A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the keys to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models (Brown, 2012). This assertion presents Black male teachers as a panacea to improving urban schools while ignoring the historical and contemporary contexts that complicate their roles in schools (Gunn Morris & Morris, 2013). This study employs life history methods (Faraday & Plummer, 1979; Dhunpath, 2010) to access the narratives of a group of Black male teachers to shed light on their experiences working in urban classrooms. The purpose of this study is to broaden our understandings about teacher education, teaching and teacher retention of Black male teachers.
Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research , Oct 2013
Teacher education programs in the United States (U.S.) struggle to prepare teachers to meet the c... more Teacher education programs in the United States (U.S.) struggle to prepare teachers to meet the complex needs of elementary and secondary students in public schools - especially those of color, those living in poverty, and those whose first language is not English. In this article, we argue for focused attention on preparing educators to teach African American male students as these students face particular institutional challenges in successfully navigating the U.S. public school system. Drawing from the significant body of research on teacher education and teacher learning for equity and social justice, four Black teacher educators discuss challenges they have faced in classes designed to prepare teachers to teach Black male students. Through an analysis of commonalities in their experiences, they propose means for teacher educators to foster greater understandings of the heterogeneity found among Black male students so that teachers can craft more responsive and responsible educational experiences for Black males.
Abstract Black male teachers are consistently positioned in teacher recruitment and teacher educa... more Abstract Black male teachers are consistently positioned in teacher recruitment and teacher education discourse as the potential solution to a myriad of social and educational problems. However, the expectations of Black male performance are at times predicated on limiting and oppressive assumptions. In this qualitative study, the authors use the Black feminist tenet, heteropatriarchy, to examine the life histories of two Black male teacher candidates and one Black male teacher in order to convey the problematic relationship among racial and gendered stereotypes, professional identities, and classroom experiences. Our findings suggest that the expectations Black male educators perceive others to hold of them do not leave space for diverse expressions of racial, gendered, and sexual identities. We conclude by offering recommendations toward identifying and challenging themes of heteropatriarchy within the social, cultural, and professional expectations communicated to Black male teacher candidates and teachers.
The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the challenges in developing the Urban Co... more The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the challenges in developing the Urban Community Teachers Project: a campus-based initiative to recruit and train Black male teachers for urban classrooms. The central argument is that given the enormous challenges in both recruiting and training Black male urban community teachers, the end result is not to place Black males in urban schools to serve simply as role models. Rather, it is a longer-term commitment to having their presence in urban public school classrooms to reframe pedagogical practices and curriculum and transform communities alongside young people. Therefore, this article addresses the problems of practice in sustaining a program to cultivate Black male teachers.
Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent disco... more Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the key to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models. This assertion presents Black male teachers as a panacea to improving urban schools while ignoring the historical and contemporary contexts that complicate their roles in schools. This study uses life history methods to access the narratives of a group of Black male teachers to shed light on their experiences working in urban classrooms. The purpose of this study is to broaden our understandings about teacher education, teaching, and teacher retention of Black male teachers.
Existing alternative certification teacher education programs like the New York City Teaching F... more Existing alternative certification teacher education programs like the New York City Teaching Fellows program(NYCTF) insufficiently prepare candidates to teach in urban schools. Such alternative teacher preparation programs lack coursework and fieldwork ...
Black boys’ grief coping with peer homicide remain under-researched and undertheorized. This is e... more Black boys’ grief coping with peer homicide remain under-researched and undertheorized. This is especially significant when combined with the emerging understanding that Black boys may experience homicidal death in significantly different ways and durations than others. This manuscript examines the experiences of three Black boys attending an urban school, in the wake of the homicidal death of their peer. We purport the absence of grief counselors and the lack of administrative sensitivity, created a misalignment between the boys’ need to grieve, and systems within an urban school context that denied and erased trauma. Drawing from concepts of disenfranchised grief, we situate our analysis using a theory of proximal processes. This framework reveals a perspective that counters the hegemonic ontologies which deny Black boys’ the right to grieve. Furthermore, in examining one Black male mentor’s support of the boys in the aftermath of this tragedy, this manuscript contributes to an increased awareness of the need for urban school policies and practices that reflect reframed understandings of Black boys' mourning.
Several educational researchers have critiqued the increasing marginalization of foundations cour... more Several educational researchers have critiqued the increasing marginalization of foundations coursework in teacher education programs within the United States. Situated within a teacher certification program at a Predominately White Institution without foundations courses, this self-study examined an English methods course designed to address this curricular gap and prepare candidates to teach racially and culturally diverse students attending urban schools. Through a conceptual framework grounded in critical race theory, interpretive analysis of student work relative to course material evidenced a consistent pattern of omitting themes, discussions, and reflection about race and racism. This finding–consistent with the literature on colorblind epistemologies–led me to implications about pedagogy and curriculum in teacher education centered around opportunities for candidates to develop racial literacy in their methods courses and across their programs.
This article draws from data in a larger qualitative study on the lives of black male teachers in... more This article draws from data in a larger qualitative study on the lives of black male teachers in US public urban schools. I examine their schooling experiences as black male youth. By coupling theories of social suffering with life history methodology, this research analyzes how three black male teachers experienced frustration, marginalization, and misery as students. For these participants, academic tracking was a site of social suffering. This suffering persisted into their adult lives as classroom teachers, as they witnessed and attempted to mitigate the struggles of their own black male students. The findings in this study have implications for further research on black male teachers as well as their recruitment and retention in US public schools.
Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force (Brockenbrough, 20... more Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force (Brockenbrough, 2000; Dee, 2005; Lewis & Toldson, 2013). A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the keys to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models (Brown, 2012). This assertion presents Black male teachers as a panacea to improving urban schools while ignoring the historical and contemporary contexts that complicate their roles in schools (Gunn Morris & Morris, 2013). This study employs life history methods (Faraday & Plummer, 1979; Dhunpath, 2010) to access the narratives of a group of Black male teachers to shed light on their experiences working in urban classrooms. The purpose of this study is to broaden our understandings about teacher education, teaching and teacher retention of Black male teachers.
Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research , Oct 2013
Teacher education programs in the United States (U.S.) struggle to prepare teachers to meet the c... more Teacher education programs in the United States (U.S.) struggle to prepare teachers to meet the complex needs of elementary and secondary students in public schools - especially those of color, those living in poverty, and those whose first language is not English. In this article, we argue for focused attention on preparing educators to teach African American male students as these students face particular institutional challenges in successfully navigating the U.S. public school system. Drawing from the significant body of research on teacher education and teacher learning for equity and social justice, four Black teacher educators discuss challenges they have faced in classes designed to prepare teachers to teach Black male students. Through an analysis of commonalities in their experiences, they propose means for teacher educators to foster greater understandings of the heterogeneity found among Black male students so that teachers can craft more responsive and responsible educational experiences for Black males.
Uploads
Papers by Amber Pabon