Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers Recruitment and Retention Commentary Paper

• In Event: Building a SIG for Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers

Abstract

Introduction: Policymakers have grown increasingly concerned about the relatively low percentage of teachers-of-color and indigenous teachers (TOCIT) working in the nation's schools (Boser, 2011). Census projections indicate that students of color (SOC) will comprise 56 percent of the student population by 2024, while the teaching workforce is likely to remain overwhelmingly homogenous - 82% white, 2% black males - (USDOE, 2016). Furthermore, the research highlights the lack of diversity across different points of the teacher education pipeline, starting with the low percentage of SOC pursuing a baccalaureate degree (38%) and only 25% TOCIT enrolled in teacher preparation programs (Carver-Thomas, 2018; Author et al., 2003; USDOE, 2016).

Framework: Studies have revealed that solely having an institutional mission to increase TOCIT is not enough. A commitment to diversity (numbers) and social justice must be evident in numerous ways that include: courses in which opportunities for voices of marginalized populations to be voiced and heard; faculty and staff who, regardless of ethno-racial identity, are culturally competent and able to advocate for TOCIT. The institution must ensure safe spaces, time, and communities in which TOCIT can connect to each other and the broader campus. There must be diverse representation of faculty and staff of color to whom TOCIT can relate, especially when there is a need for social/emotional validation.

Objectives: The proposed topic within the SIG will reflect how to raise awareness, improve upon existing scholarship, and develop disparate efforts into clear pathways for IHEs, SEAs, and LEAs to follow.

Develop a conceptual framework that adequately reflects the purpose of TOCIT recruitment and retention, going beyond numbers and emphasizing TOCIT value added.
Build a national database of resources for use by various settings including, but not limited to, minority-serving institutions, PWIs, homogenous school settings, rural, urban, and suburban school districts, etc. to recruit and retain TOCIT candidates.
Develop a toolkit to support IHEs, SEAs and LEAs in strategic mapping to diversify TOCIT following research-based recommendations: institutional structures, regular evaluation, curriculum, personnel, conceptual commitments, budgets, etc.
Develop a research agenda to capture the outcomes of these objectives to set local, state and national policy agendas and budget allocations.

Scholarly significance: This research will elevate the conversations about TOCIT recruitment and retention and foster a new line of research that looks more intensively at concrete outcomes for reinforcement and replication in a range of settings. Rather than having a collection of ideas and strategies that have worked in a variety of settings, the SIG will produce robust guidance to IHEs, SEAs, and LEAs that will not only assist them in their quest to diversify the TOCIT workforce, but set policy and allocate funding and other resources towards decolonizing the curriculum and promoting anti-racism in education overall. New knowledge about this topic will lead to other considerations beyond the barriers to success.

Authors

• Jennifer Robinson, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Carolina E. Gonzalez, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author