How Boston Public Schools Can Recruit And Retain Black Male Teachers
Our guest author today is Travis J. Bristol, former high school English teacher in New York City public schools andteacher educator with the Boston Teacher Residency program, who is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) at Stanford University.
The challenges faced by Black male teachers in schools may serve as the canary in the coalmine that begins to explain the debilitating condition faced by Black boys in schools. Black males represent 1.9% of all public school teachers yet have one of the highest rates of turnover. Attempts to increase the number of Black male teachers are based on research that suggests these new recruits can improve Black students’ schooling outcomes.
Below, I discuss my study of the school-based experiences of 27 Black male teachers in Boston Public Schools (BPS), who represent approximately 10 percent of all Black male teachers in the district. This study, which I recently discussed in Boston’s NPR news station, is one of the largest studies conducted exclusively on Black male teachers and has implications for policymakers as well as school administrators looking to recruit and retain Black male educators.
Here is a summary of the key findings.
Early experience in teaching influenced participants’ decisions to become teachers.
Black male teachers described multiple pathways into the teaching profession. About 63 percent of study participants had an early experience teaching in high school, college, an after-school program, or as a substitute teacher, which influenced their decision to enter the teaching profession.
Participants felt more like behavior managers than teachers.
Black male teachers believed that their colleagues, particularly White females, sought their help in dealing with misbehavior rather than their advice about teaching. They also expressed frustration that their primary interaction with colleagues was to receive assistance redirecting students’ misbehavior, as opposed to support with teaching content. As one participant noted, “I can see most people would feel enthused that they’re helping out their colleagues – like they picked me because they respect me – [but] it’s also becoming a burden now because I have other things to do. I have to plan. I have to plan for my kids to be on a specific track, plan my scope and sequence, and correct papers. Just the regular things that teachers do.”
There were challenges associated with being the only Black male teacher.
Black male teachers’ experience and satisfaction depended on whether they were the only Black man in the school (a “Loner”) or one of many Black men (a “Grouper”). Loners believed they were socially alone and disconnected from the core mission of the school. One participant noted: “It almost feels like I’m in someone else’s house, intruding.” Shanker Blog » How Boston Public Schools Can Recruit and Retain Black Male Teachers: