Exploring the Perspectives of Black Male Teachers at an All-Black Male Academy

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Critically Examining the Trajectories of Black Male Teachers From Teacher Preparation Through Induction

Abstract

Presentation Title: Exploring the Perspectives of Black Male Teachers at an All-Black Male Academy

Objective and Purpose: This study examines the teaching experiences of five Black male teachers, with particular attention to their pathways into teaching, their teaching and leadership styles, and their decisions to work at an all-Black male academy.

Theoretical Framework: The current study relies on Reichert and Hawley’s (2014) conception of relational teaching, which focuses on the academic outcomes of boys overall and is comprised of relational strategies to engaged boys relationally in their learning, academic engagement, and personal development. I examine whether a relational teaching framework applies to teachers, arguing that the dimensions provide an interpretive framework for understanding (1) why some Black males enter the teaching profession and (2) what informs their approach to who they teach, in particular their teaching with Black boys.

Methods, Technique, Modes of Inquiry: This qualitative study uses in-depth, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with five Black male teachers.

Data Sources: Data for this analysis were collected by as part of the Black Male Education Project, a longitudinal, mixed-method study of Black males’ educational experiences as well as racial and gender identity in an all-Black, all-male high school. The Black Male Education Project is a 6-year study, which followed a select cohort of Black male youth from high school through their college experiences. Here, I report data from the teacher interviews, which were conducted during the third wave of data collection.

Results/Substantiated Conclusions: I found evidence, to varying degrees, of teachers’ incorporation of a relational teaching approach to in teachers’ decisions to teach and in their specific work in teaching with Black boys. As it relates to these teachers’ decisions to enter the teaching profession, teachers discussed their entrée points from three different standards. First, they saw teaching as a critical opportunity to engage with and contribute to Black communities. They received encouragement from community members (e.g., pastors) or through their work with other organizations. Second, two teachers in particular were enticed by the idea of contributing to Black boys’ writing and achievement. This relational approach speaks specifically to (1) working with Black boys in developing their skills and (2) providing them with a reflection of Black male identities as a teacher who also could incorporate a range of texts into instruction. And, third, as one teacher noted, working in education was “Just in the need that I saw” primarily through a collective consciousness that allows for “Black people changing the conditions of Black people.”

Scientific/Scholarly Significance: Calls for the increased recruitment of Black male teachers continue to abound in both education and popular discourse. An underpin of this call is the potential contributions that Black male teachers can make with Black male students, such as serving as critical institutional agents or even role models. Less attention, however, considers Black males’ orientations toward teaching and how they make sense of their work as teachers. Thus, this study will fill this particular gap in the literature on Black male teachers.

Author

• Derrick R. Brooms, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville