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Objective
School districts have made large investments in supporting teachers of color. For example, in 2017, New York City launched NYC Men Teach (NYCMT), a $16 million initiative aimed at recruiting and supporting male teachers of color. While policy and practice initiatives aimed at supporting teachers of color have become ubiquitous, little research has documented how school districts are organizing supports for teachers of color as well as what support actually means for teachers of color. This study fills this empirical gap by exploring the preparation of veteran teachers trained to both mentor and coach novice male teachers of color who self-identify as Asian, Black, and Latinx.
Perspective(s)
Researchers have long theorized how to support novice teachers’ professional growth and development (Little, 1990). These theories have led to the identification of two central components of support: mentoring and coaching, and researchers have noted key differences between the two (Feiman-Nemser, 2001; Schwille, 2008). While researchers have theorized and documented the enabling conditions needed to mentor and coach novice teachers (Little, 1990; Schwille, 2008), they have not explicitly provided insight into how teacher professional learning might respond to the social context (Johnson et al., 2012) in which teachers of color teach. Moreover, this research has not shed light on how professional learning for in-service male teachers of color might be differentiated to respond to their social context. This study fills these gaps in our understanding by addressing the following research question:
How do veteran teachers make sense of the training they received from one urban school district in preparing them to mentor and/or coach novice male teachers of color?
Methods
This three-year study (2018–2021) employs the qualitative method, specifically a phenomenological approach (van Manen, 2014) to understand how veteran teachers (n=47) understand and experience New York City’s attempt to redesign professional learning for novice male teachers of color.
Data Sources
My unit of analysis is the experiences of veteran teachers in the training they received from one urban school district in preparing them to mentor and/or coach novice male teachers of color. Consequently, I conducted a semi-structured interview with veteran teachers (n=47) during the program’s 3-year period. Given this phenomenological approach, questions were broad and open-ended (Giorgi, 1997). Interviews from participants in Year 1 influenced the interview protocols in subsequent years.
Results
Mentors discussed learning how to improve their own teaching practice in the process of learning how to support their mentees. Professional development for mentors provided opportunities for self-reflection and thinking systematically about their own practice. In some cases, these sessions affirmed and validated those who employ best practices without having been taught it formally. Additionally, mentors described learning strategies and gaining tools to become better mentors.
Scholarly Significance
This study contributes to our small but growing knowledge of district-level practices that can grow the capacity of teachers of color. Additionally, this study informs policymakers and practitioners’ ongoing efforts to design effective professional development initiatives for teachers of color.