I agree that these added layers of expectation are unfair and should not be
expected of black male teachers solely because of their physical characteristics.
As a young Black male educator about 90 minutes from Philadelphia, I remember hearing rumblings over the years about a
group of Black male teachers that were... Continue reading David Edwards at Stay Woke →
While researchers, parents and educators recognize the symbolic importance
of Black male teachers for Black students, the conversation is lacking a critical perspective.
On the other hand, schools with higher
clusters of black male teachers tend to be among the hardest to staff, economically disadvantaged, and lowest performing schools.
The organization also strives to develop the instructional
practice of Black male teachers, ultimately giving them the skills and the network needed to have a successful career in education.
Noting the efforts of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his department's «Black Men to the Blackboard» recruitment campaign begun in 2011, Bristol and Ferguson hypothesize that this
dearth of black male teachers, especially in urban areas, is as much an issue of retainment as recruitment.
Black male teachers are low in number, as the majority of the teaching population is female and white; however, the
presence of Black male teachers is beneficial for students of color and white students alike.
As a young Black male educator about 90 minutes from Philadelphia, I remember hearing rumblings over the years about a
group of Black male teachers that were meeting in Philadelphia.
In Oakland, for example, the Unified School District launched the office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) to fill the space left vacant by absent fathers or the
lack of black male teachers.
He later enrolled his children into the first charter school in Atlanta because of the progressive curriculum and the significant
number of black male teachers.