Connecting Culture and Practice: Portraits of Black Male Teachers and Educational Leaders of International Descent

• In Event: International Perspectives of Black Male Teachers

Abstract

There continues to be a plethora of conversations, initiatives, programs, and taskforces that speak to the lack of an African-American male presence in our public education system, as well as, the lack of diversity in the general teaching workforce (Lewis & Toldson, 2013). With such a nationwide disparity in the number of teacher leaders and school leaders of color as compared with the number of students of color, the recruitment saga continues. As there are increasing numbers of African American male teachers in the education field, there are fewer Black male teachers and educational leaders of Afro-Caribbean, Haitian, and Guyanese descent.

This study will explore the lived experiences of men of color who are of international decent. The four male educational leaders with varied teaching and leadership experiences were surveyed on grit, resilience, and self-efficacy. In addition each participant shared through semi structured interviews and observations, their literacy and numeracy experiences in connection with their current roles in the public K-12 systems.

These lived experiences may point to the cultural milieu linked to one’s professional practices along with their cultural assumptions, dispositions, and habits of mind. The stories about African-American male educational leaders are paramount to defining African-American male scholarship. This investigation collected the lived experiences along the teaching continuum and leading aspects in their development as teacher leaders and school leaders. In turn, these lived experiences will connect the cultural perspectives of teaching and learning as related to policies for recruiting and retaining male educational leaders, as well as, informing accomplished teaching practices that define culturally relevant pedagogy.

Author

• Wilbur Parker, Bowie State Unviersity