Through Their Eyes: Centering Black Student Voice to Reimagine Affirming Teacher Dispositions

• In Event: Advancing Educators and Education through a Lens of Ethical Care

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how Black elementary students perceive teacher expectations and dispositions in urban schooling contexts. Using a phenomenological design and guided by Du Bois’ Double Consciousness theory, the research centers the voices of 20 Black students in grades 3–6 through focus group interviews. Students described experiences of racialized discipline, exclusion, and low expectations, as well as affirming and culturally aware teaching practices. Findings underscore the importance of relational, equity-focused teaching and call for systemic shifts toward affirming teacher dispositions that disrupt deficit-based norms. The study contributes to the 2026 AERA theme by engaging in future-making rooted in student-voiced critiques of injustice and reimagined educational belonging.

Authors

• Virginia S. Redwine Johnson, Texas A&M University

• John A. Williams, Texas A&M University