Policy: Teacher Hiring in Historical Perspective

• In Event: AERA Handbook Session 2

Abstract

Even as history yields no precise policy prescriptions, the past is nevertheless valuable to the present and future (Horsford & D’Amico, 2015; Wong & Rotherham, 1999). This chapter will explore the implications of the history of discriminatory hiring policies for current researchers, reformers, and activists. Critical historical research of this nature is a fundamental act of disruption as it positions us to re-see and re-question the tropes and assumptions previously held up as truth and fact. How does the history of hiring and recruitment policies geared toward Black teachers help us understand the demographic composition of the teacher labor market and the experiences of Black teachers in today’s schools? In what ways have the policies intended to generate diverse workspaces undermined that goal?

Authors

• Andrea Guiden-Pittman, Grovider

• Sonya Douglass, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz, University of North Dakota