Teaching Boys: Toward a Theory of Gender Relevant Pedagogy

• In Event: Addressing the Diverse Needs of All Learners

Abstract

This paper explores how the in-school behavior of Black males precipitated the need for increasing the number of African-American men in the classroom. Next, it links the latent beliefs around a Black teacher’s impact on African-American boys, by drawing attention to the available qualitative/quantitative research. A critique is then presented around recruiting, solely, Black male teachers primarily because of its inability to take into account how such an environment can reproduce hyper-masculinized/heteronormized spaces. Finally, the paper provides a theory of Gender Relevant Pedagogy to assist pre-service teachers in thinking about how their socialized world view about boys can impact male achievement. Strategies are then provided, particularly for an English classroom, on how to create curriculum that is gender relevant.

Author

• Travis Bristol, Columbia University