The Gatekeepers: Educational Leaders and Their Impact on Black Boys' Math and Science Identities

• In Event: 75.037 - The Mediating Role of Teaching and Leadership in Shaping Pro-Black Educational Contexts

Abstract

Public school teachers and administrators are critical agents in shaping Black boys access to math and science education. Understanding how these “gatekeepers” experienced math and science education in their K-12 educational journey through phenomenological interviewing (Seidman, 2013) becomes tantamount to operationalizing how they envision math and science education for Black children. An ethnographic study of Ms. Davis and Dr. Hoffman, teacher and administrator at an independent studies high school, and Dr. Hoffman, a former teacher in the same low-income community, provides insight on how teacher/administrator math and science identity can transmit what is essential for Black boys identity development.

Author

• Kimi L Wilson, California State University - Los Angeles