Abstract:

This study is motivated by a desire to address the diminishing presence of Black male teachers in U.S. urban schools. Through an examination of the academic and social experiences of Black male pre-service teachers, this study sheds light on the challenges, successes, resilience and resistance among Black male students in an undergraduate teacher education program. It reveals their motivations to teach, philosophies of teaching and pedagogical approaches that may be unique to this population. In doing so, this study contributes to the existing literature on teacher beliefs, which all but excludes the ontologies, epistemologies, and pedagogies of Black male educators.

Given the failure of teacher preparation programs to attract and retain Black male students, and the implications that the shortage of qualified teachers has on Black male and other K–12 students, it is vital to learn from the challenges and successes of Black male pre-service teachers to improve the ways in which teachers of diverse backgrounds are attracted into the field and prepared for this work. This ethnographic study explores the academic, social and personal experiences of Black male pre service teachers at various stages of their course work.

To gain a deeper understanding of participants’ experiences and pedagogical beliefs, I use Ethnographic and Critical Race Methodologies to examine:
(a) how do Black male pre-service teachers describe and explain their political, cultural, social and personal experiences and beliefs, as individuals and as future educators and
(b) How do these understandings inform participants’ beliefs about and approaches to their teacher education course work education, practicum experiences and effectiveness as a future educator?

I borrow from Ethnographic Methodologies which calls for a more conversational rather than didactic style of interviewing. For this study, I use similar interviewing strategies and situate each interview within a specific theme.

Participants are Black male undergraduate teacher education students. I use purposeful sampling to identify participants in which, according to Bogdan & Biklen, “you choose particular subjects to include because they are believed to facilitate the expansion of the developing theory.” I contacted, through personal conversations, email, and phone class, the participants for this study. I also employed snowball-sampling identify potential participants (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). I conducted two one-hour in-depth interviews with 10 participants over several weeks at locations that are convenient for the participants. The interviews were structured to address my research questions.

Through an analysis of their social, educational and cultural experiences, and motivations to teach, research findings are framed around four themes :
(1) Call to Service,
(2) Commitment to Self-Awareness,
(3) Resistance to Social Injustice, and
(4) Commitment to Activism—which profoundly shaped the teaching identities of these Black men. I discuss the implications of these principles for conceptualizing and creating teaching and learning environments that are supportive for Black male teachers and that increase the capacity of all teachers to effectively teach diverse student populations, particularly in urban schools.

Keywords:

Male teacher, black male teacher, pre-service teacher, teacher preparation.