“Needles in a Haystack”: An Exploration of the Experiences of Early-Career Black Male Teachers in England

• In Event: Black Males in Higher Education Spaces

Abstract

This paper will examine the experiences of newly qualified and early career
Black male teachers in England and argues that their perspectives do not
currently form part of mainstream discourse or research agendas examining
teaching, the composition of the teacher workforce or examinations of the
experience of BAME educators. As a result, their views are often obscured,
blurred and homogenised as part of a wider discussion of male teacher
experience or incorporated in accounts of ‘ethnic minority’ experience. The
study will illuminate the complex identity manoeuvres that Black men engage
in on a daily basis as they seek to establish their teacher selves and
(re)negotiate their social and professional identities in schools. Similar to
Ellison’s (1965) depiction of the invisible black man this paper argues that the
narrative of professional BAME men in teaching in the England is unseen,
invisible and silent. This is especially the case for those teaching in the
primary sector (aged 3-11 years) where, in general, male participation has
historically been low. Extant research whilst offering an insight to the
experience and perspectives of BAME teachers has offered only a partial
vista to the perspectives of black men who are largely conceptualised as
peripheral to learning and teaching and constructed in terms of learning or
behaviour support such as role models, counsellors and learning mentors
(see Maylor, 2009 and Martino and Rezai Rashti, 2012 for a discussion of the
concept of role modelling as it relates to schooling in the UK and USA).

Author

• Christine C. Callender, Institute of Education - London