Black Male Educators Research Articles

Too Few Black Male Educators

In the United States, schools and universities have too few Black male teachers. Although many factors contribute to this significant problem, one primary factor is the existing lack of Black male educators to serve as role models for Black male students. This literature review captures information from peer-reviewed research, public scholarship sources, and empathy interviews. The purpose of this literature review was to understand the reasons why so few Black males are successful in school and why there are so few Black male students pursuing careers in education. Based on the literature review, the following themes were identified: a lack of financial resources, a lack of a sense of belonging, a lack of role models and mentors, and institutional racism. Colleges need to consider these issues and determine ways to support Black male students in school and encourage them to pursue a career in education. Increasing the number of Black male educators is one central way to increase opportunities among Black students. To change this narrative, one needs to acknowledge the deficit of representation is due to the system itself. Black males are not lacking in achievement. American schools are exclusive and racist in how they provide opportunities for Black males.

The Black male teacher: a 10-year content analysis of empirical research

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to characterize the last decade of Black male teacher empirical research. The present study aimed to elucidate the most salient themes, commonalities, and departures in the literature on Black male educators. A quantitative content analysis was performed to systematically characterize the research trends present in this line of inquiry. The data were collected using an inductively generated coding scheme. A sample of n = 31 studies were identified and examined from articles published between 2006 and 2016. Then frequency data were computed to characterize the data under investigation. The study results indicate that Black male teacher research is nuanced and burgeoning, despite several lapses in article production. The results of this study contribute to the literature on Black male teacher recruitment, retention, and experiences by providing a survey of current research trends that suggest areas of strength, as well as challenges warranting further consideration.

An Intergenerational Conversation Between Dr. Marvin Lynn and Chris Riser: Social Activism and the Black Male Educator

Recently, the editor of Northwest Journal of Teacher Education had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Marvin Lynn, Dean of the College of Education at Portland State University, and Chris Riser, a middle school teacher and social justice activist. Dr. Lynn is a renowned researcher and scholar on race and education, with a specific focus on Critical Race Theory and culturally responsive practices in education. Chris Riser is a passionate educator in his sixth year of teaching who uses an anti-racist lens to engage with the diverse students in his classroom; he is a graduate from the Portland Teachers Program. These two leaders came together for a cross-generational conversation about their experiences as Black male educators, how they engage in social justice educational practices, and to provide advice for teachers of color entering the profession.

“He's More like a ‘Brother’ than a Teacher”: Politicized Caring in a Program for African American Males

Background/Context The link between care and teaching is well accepted, and positive teacher-student relationships are known to benefit students’ in-school experiences and academic success. Yet, positive teacher-student relationships are not the norm for African American males and African American male students’ experiences and performance in schools remains an issue. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study What characterizes the teacher–student relationships within the all-Black, all-male classes of this district-sponsored program? Moreover, how do the instructors for the program enact these characteristics in their classrooms? Setting This study examines a project of the Office of African American Male Achievement in Oakland, CA. The Manhood Development Program was an elective class in the high schools and an after school program at the middle schools that sought to improve Black male students’ academic success and school experiences, and teach students about their cultural and community histories. MDP classes were offered to Black male students and taught by Black male educators. Population/Participants/Subjects Based on support from and communication with the MDP facilitators and school administrators, the participants in this study include MDP instructors and their students at three high schools and one middle school within an urban school district where there are persistent, racialized disparities in rates of discipline and in levels of academic success. Research Design This article reports on a qualitative case study of the teacher–student relationships within four classrooms that were part of a program for African American male adolescents within an urban school district. Data Collection and Analysis During one academic year, four of the MDP classes were observed at least four times and videotaped at least twice. Interviews were completed with three of the class instructors and with 41% of students across the four classes. The observations and videos were analyzed for instances when teacher–student relationships were leveraged towards specific pedagogical ends. Micro-ethnographic analyses were conducted of the video instances to highlight the dimensions of caring exhibited in the teacher–student interactions. From these analyses, one interactional segment was chosen to illustrate the existence and nuances of a politically intentional form of caring. Findings/Results The MDP instructors’ sociopolitical consciousness impacts and shapes their relationships with their MDP students. MDP instructors articulate and enact specific goals around how to construct caring teacher–student relationships that stem from their intention to positively influence the lives of Black children, push back against the racialized and hegemonic institutional structure of schools. MDP instructors teach in a way that is fundamentally connected to the local community in Oakland and make a concerted effort to know, rather than stereotype, each student and to develop each students’ full potential. These relationships are intentional, political, and visible acts of care by MDP instructors that are interactionally coconstructed within their classrooms. Conclusions/Recommendations This case of politicized caring questions the premise that education and schools are, and should be, narrowly focused on developing test preparation, career-readiness, or content-specific practices. Instead, this case illustrates the alternative educational ideologies and practices of four Black educators that allow them to reclaim their social and political responsibilities and create effective, nurturing, antiracist schooling environments for Black students. This microanalysis of one of these classes offers an example of a type of caring and pedagogy that currently exists and that could be more widely available to Black students.

“I’m None of the Above”: Exploring Themes of Heteropatriarchy in the Life Histories of Black Male Educators

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.

“I’m Trying to Get My A”: Black Male Achievers Talk About Race, School and Achievement

This study seeks to challenge deficit views on Black male education by highlighting the perspectives of academically successful Black males in a secondary school setting. Employing interpretive qualitative methods, I present the narratives of academically successful Black males, emphasizing their reflections on race, school and academic achievement. In particular, this study highlights the educational dispositions and expectations of Black males, including the influences of their support systems on their academic trajectories. One support system comprised of parents, including the academic expectations held of their sons as well as their racial socializing practices. Another support system included their teachers, particularly those who demonstrated pedagogical, expectation and relational characteristics seen as enabling Black male success.

BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS

Black Male Teachers: Diversifying the United States Teacher Workforce by Chance Lewis and Ivory Toldson. Bingley BD16 1 WA, UK: Emerald Group, 2013, 279 pp., $89.06, hardcover.Educators and scholars from school districts throughout the nation have made countless attempts to maintain a diversified teacher workforce that is reflective of the diversity of our student populations. Yet, the causes and course of this issue have been seemingly hard to capture over the years. Black Male Teachers: Diversifying the United States Teacher Work Force, offers a unique, comprehensive analysis of the core issues affecting the Black male teaching profession.This unique tapestry of brilliant authors and contributors provides profound insights regarding the state of education in this country and the place, process, and promotion of Black male teachers in this country. writers provide more than a platform for conjecture and random opinion. Rather, the reports are built upon authentic scholarship that is substantiated by evidenced-based, theory-driven data that yield both quantitative and qualitative value. array of candid narratives adds a delicate balance of humanistic undertones that is moving, inspiring, and captivating. This volume is a refreshing venue in which Black male educators will find images of themselves that are sealed with collective threads of admiration, reverence, and value regarding their labor and leadership. Finally, the readers will find this volume to be useful for practice, research, and the development and implementation of policy strategies and real programmatic initiatives.The format of this volume is broken into 18 chapters, which are selectively organized into five sections based on commonalities in themes. sections are as follows: Part 1, The Introduction; Part 2, Scholarly Examination of Black Male Teachers in U.S. Classrooms; Part 3, The of Current Black Teachers; Part 4, Voices of Leading Scholars; and finally, Part 5 entails an Epilogue from the Series Editors. Each chapter of this book is wonderfully captivating and informative. This book review provides a summation of the stellar contributions within this volume.In chapter 1, Dr. Chance Lewis, provides an exceptional status report of Black male teachers' passage into the public school classroom. He compartmentalizes this process into six core stages. These stages are: (a) Black males with a high school diploma; (b) enrollment in educator preparation programs; (c) educator preparation program completers; (d) educator preparation programs with the highest number of Black male graduates; (e) Black male education degree holders that select teaching as a profession; and (f) the current status of Black male teachers in U.S. K-12 public schools. chapter concludes by emphasizing the importance of recruiting Black male teachers, and the multidimensional value their presence in schools has on the fabric of all student achievement and esteem.In chapter 2, Dr. Ivory Toldson provides the reader with a contextual framework that illuminates the relevance and importance of race and racial disparities within the classroom context. Reportedly, in the population of more than 6 million teachers in the United States, approximately 80 percent of them are Caucasian, 7.4 percent are Hispanic, 2.3 percent are of Asian descent, 9.3 percent are African American, and 1.2 percent of the teacher work force is of another race. Additional research indicates that 80% of all teachers in the U.S. are female. author moves the reader to think critically about the variables that create such a climate in the school setting. Dr. Toldson shares several scholarly advances in uncovering the mysteries behind this question throughout this chapter.The fifth chapter of the volume, Teaching Across Gender: Dynamics of Black Male Teachers and Female Students by Crowell, Woodson, and Rashid, was a particularly riveting segment. …