"Needles in a Haystack": Exploring the Experiences of Early-Career Black Male Teachers in England

• In Event: 46.070 - Experiences of African American Males in Education

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of Black male teachers in primary schools in England. Drawing on life history interviews it examines the nexus of professional and social identities and how these are (re)constructed in or by schools. Against a background of teacher workforce reform and gender-based recruitment initiatives, a policy ‘blindspot’ is illuminated and identified as a contributory factor to the invisibility and silence of black male teacher experiences. It may also explain their absence in academic discourse. Agentic actions provide insight to the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender and class and point to the ways that social and professional identities are in a constant state of (re)formation as they traverse (and tip-toe) within and between social and professional contexts.

Author

• Christine Callender, UCL Institute of Education - London