Who Will Remember Your Name? Teachers and African Immigrant Students

• In Event: Complexities of Educational Experiences of Africans at Home and in the Diaspora

Abstract

It is widely accepted that teachers play an indispensable role in shaping students’ lives. This paper analyzes the significant role teachers played in the educational experiences of eighteen 1.5 and second generation African immigrant students. Not only did these African immigrant students identify teachers as being critical to their individual success, but for an overwhelming number of students there was not a generic mentioning of teachers as a cumulative mass, but rather the identification of teachers who played a role in their lives by specifically naming those teachers. This paper enlarges the scope of culturally relevant pedagogy through its examination of the impact of teachers on academic excellence and caring, and democratic and community participation, towards African immigrant students.

Authors

• Denzil Streete, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Michelle G. Knight, Teachers College, Columbia University