Waiting for Black Superman A Look at a Problematic Assumption

Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the key to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models. This assertion pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUrban education (Beverly Hills, Calif.) Vol. 51; no. 8; pp. 915 - 939
Main Author Pabon, Amber
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2016
Subjects
Academic Standards
African American Teachers
Career Readiness
Disproportionate Representation
Gender Differences
Males
Public School Teachers
Racial Discrimination
Racial Identification
Semi Structured Interviews
Teacher Education
Teacher Persistence
Teaching (Occupation)
Teaching Experience
Urban Education
Urban Schools
New York (New York)
teacher beliefs
Black males
racism
race
urban
social
teacher education
identity
subjects
urban education
teacher development
scale construction
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Summary:Black male teachers make up less than 2% of the U.S. public school labor force. A prevalent discourse among educational stakeholders has suggested that Black male teachers are the key to helping students in urban schools develop skills to succeed in school by acting as role models. This assertion presents Black male teachers as a panacea to improving urban schools while ignoring the historical and contemporary contexts that complicate their roles in schools. This study uses life history methods to access the narratives of a group of Black male teachers to shed light on their experiences working in urban classrooms. The purpose of this study is to broaden our understandings about teacher education, teaching, and teacher retention of Black male teachers.
ISSN:0042-0859
1552-8340
DOI:10.1177/0042085914553673