Teachers of Color, Relational Teaching, and the Education of Black Boys

• In Event: Give Us Free(dom): Black Abolitionist Teaching

Abstract

Drawing upon an intersectional framework and recent scholarship around relational teaching, we seek to better understand how teachers attend to the sociocultural lives of Black boys in their teaching practice and in their relationships with Black boys in the classroom. Using semi-structured interviews, we particularly focus on stories of success, highlighting the strategies and techniques that teachers use in the education of Black boys at a time when problematic and harmful narratives around Black boys continue to be pervasive. Our work points toward three broad themes that promote positive outcomes for Black boys in classrooms: the development of teachers’ sociocultural emotional consciousness, actively fostering connections and relationships, and expanding opportunities challenging barriers to success.

Authors

• Noel Campbell, Montclair State University

• Sean Conlon, Montclair State University

• Jeremy N. Price, Montclair State University

• Evangelina Pride, Montclair State University

• Robin L. Anderson, Hudson County Community College

• Jameelah R Wright, Montclair State University