







































Education, Language and Sociology Research 
ISSN 2690-3644 (Print) ISSN 2690-3652 (Online) 

Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/elsr 

Original Paper 

A Genre-Literature Review Investigation: Improving Black & 

Brown Men Recruitment and Retention Rates in the Grow Your 

Own Program and College of Education Partners  
Sunni Ali1 

1 Chicago, IL, USA 

 

A Research Executive Statement Paper Presented to the Grow Your Own Organization 

 

Received: February 15, 2021   Accepted: March 2, 2021   Online Published: March 17, 2021 

doi:10.22158/elsr.v2n2p1      URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/elsr.v2n2p1 

 

Abstract 

Researchers for several years have investigated effective ways to increase the recruitment and retention 

rates of minority educators, specifically black-and-brown men. Without question, schools need this 

teaching population, particularly in urban public-school settings. Scholars assert that minority learners’ 

educational outcomes improve when they engage and interact with men of color (Burchinal, McCartney, 

Steinberg, Crosnoe, Friedman, McLoyd, & Pianta, 2011). Also, every student benefit from having more 

diversity in the classroom (Delpit, 2011; Foster, 2018). Researchers have indicated several effective ways 

to successfully recruit and transition these students from teaching programs into schoolhouses. Through 

qualitative and ethnographic data collection, scholars assert that effective intervention strategies and 

relational social and cultural connective approaches improve these teaching students’ chances of 

becoming effective classroom practitioners. The genre-literature review captures the importance of Grow 

Your Own and its partners, such as Northeastern Illinois, the University of Illinois at the Chicago 

Campus (UIC), and Chicago State University. The injection of responsive measures and approaches into 

their teaching programs will continue to advance men of color students’ pre-professional outcomes 

entering and succeeding in the teaching profession. 

 

1. Problem Statement 

There remains a strong argument that having black and brown men as teachers improves the learning 

outcomes of minority students. Simply put, more diversity remains pertinent in classrooms (Wallace & 

Gagen, 2020; Gashman & Arroyo, 2014). As presented in this paper, critical literature reviews the 

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importance of developing responsive-and-relational practices to recruit and transition this population 

into schoolhouses. Scholars suggest that male teaching candidates of color receipt of culturally 

responsive-and-relational interconnections within teaching programs improve retention rates and nurture 

similar habits with their future students. Having more black-and-brown men demonstrating intellectual 

stewardship and social capital toward their students is suitable for all learners they will encounter 

(Burchinal, McCartney, Steinberg, Crosnoe, Friedman, McLoyd., & Pianta, 2011). 

A great deal of the genre-based research speaking for recruiting and retaining men of color in education 

focuses on targeted best practices and interventions. Scholars suggest creating initiatives that adopt 

practical interventions will increase black and brown men’s success in graduating and landing 

employment in schools that comprehend their teaching roles’ value (Washington, Mejias, & Burge, 2020; 

Walker, Goings, & Wilkerson, 2019). Just placing men of-color in teaching programs without 

multifaceted approaches does not guarantee their success rate transitioning into school domains that, on 

average, have a five-year retention rate with only about a 2% population of black-and-brown men 

teaching in schoolhouses (Walker, Goings, & Wilkerson, 2019; Singh, 2019). Institutionalizing revised 

methods with how men of color become recruited and retained remains critical if policyholders and 

school leaders deem it essential to have this population exist as educators and leaders in this field. 

Current research and critical literature are used on this topic to surface what meaningful strategies are 

necessary and pertinent to support black-and-brown men’s success in education. The research topic 

further diagnosed recruitment-and retention initiatives that advocate for an institutional paradigm shift 

with the way schools digest and engage this population to improve their role and status in education. 

Significant themes that surface deal with the importance of: (a) developing pipelines and networks within 

school districts and collegiate communities; (b) enacting targeted academic cohorts and bridge programs 

that nurture and sustain the success rate of black and brown men in the field of education; and (c) 

institutional male identity remapping-addressing the way schoolhouses relate and value the role of men 

of color.  

This topic’s research question is: What are some strategies to support Grow Your Own recruitment and 

college of education partners to increase black and brown male educators’ output into the public-school 

system? Ultimately, to improve black and brown men’s recruitment and retention rates to become public 

educators, institutional frameworks need to be revised to intervene, support, value, and incentivize these 

populations to work in the classroom. 

 

2. Theoretical Framing 

Two primary theoretical constructs surfaced from the genre-based research, which was relational social 

capital and cultural responsiveness. Each theory indicates the usefulness of how to recruit and retain men 

of color in educational institutions. 

The relational social capital theory expresses how institutions and school organizations develop strong 

relationships with participants or students, which gives them a sense of belongingness, awareness, and 
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purpose of being relevant. The nature of high-quality relationships supports students’ active existence 

and behaviors in social constructs. The Grow Your Own qualitative research (2020) highlighted this 

theorem’s significance, suggesting that it remains pertinent for institutions to provide support systems 

such as mentoring to improve their academic and transitional outcomes. The study participants described 

engaging with instructors or practitioners who cared about them and offered numerous opportunities and 

interventions to achieve. As such, this made them feel good about learning and belonging in the 

classroom and program. They further claimed that it modeled the types of support and interventions they 

want to provide to their learners. Ultimately, responsive practices are critical for encouraging 

black-and-brown students to embrace the teaching profession and duplicate best practices. 

Culturally responsive practices also remain vital to align teaching and learning practices to engage 

black-and-brown teacher candidates. Researchers note how HBCU offers African American students a 

unique experience of a shared history that provides an environment of support and high expectations for 

academic success (Wallace & Gagen, 2020; Gashman & Arroyo, 2014). The majority of institutions 

demonstrating success with high graduation rates for students of color from teaching college programs 

apply culturally responsive approaches. Participants in the Grow Your Own Study (2020) further captured 

this theoretical framing’s usefulness, indicating how their arrival at college, particularly at predominantly 

white institutions, was often a culture shock. However, what helped them overcome this was having 

intrusive advisors and cultural advocates who cared about their success and promoted their well-being in 

their classes. Applying culturally responsive practices helps to diversify a curriculum to better engage 

and foster a supportive culture within teaching programs.  

 

3. Pipeline Initiatives 

Developing pipeline initiatives and supportive interventions with schools to intake black and brown men 

as student teachers and educators would help recruit and promote this teaching population. There is a 

strong belief that this would successfully nurture, support, and encourage men of color to become public 

school teachers.  

A study conducted by Mejais and Burge (2020) reviewed that recruitment for black-and-brown males 

into education needs to start as early as high school or sooner to prepare them for becoming classroom 

teachers. Mejais and Burge explored a pre-college secondary approach to recruit men of color into 

S.T.E.M. programs, specifically computer science. The program successfully introduced 

black-and-brown men development of applying computer science and entrepreneurship by: (a) 

improving their perception of computer science and (b) efficacy-through success, participants’ 

confidence in the program flourished. Several students went on to major in computer science attending 

college. Majais and Burge detailed the effectiveness of the #WatchMeCode and Hidden Genius programs 

that modeled and named for students how this could look for them working in this field. 

Similarly, providing men of color with preservice teaching mentoring programs in high school, such as a 

teacher club, would nurture the young men’s enthusiasm to view the teaching practice as a viable field of 
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study. The use of a teacher club within the feeder schools that GYO, NEIU, UIC, and Chicago State have 

a relationship with would be an excellent recruitment tool to promote male intrigue into the college of 

education. Majais and Burge pointed out that significantly strengthening this approach requires men of 

color as practitioners and academic advisors. This increases the male high schoolers’ recruitment into 

teaching programs and promotes teaching a positive career path for male students of color. 

Woodson and Bristol (2020) further discussed in a qualitative and ethnographic study how enacting 

preservice teaching recruitment programs are necessary to develop and mentor men of color in this 

professional field. Their research examined that students of color, particularly males, will not see a real 

connection with understanding the field’s value without having models to represent the teaching 

profession. The authors believe having a corrective representation of male figures that counter racial 

discursive formations of what a male is and how they should act would debunk the “racially popularized 

viewpoint that black and brown boys are disengaged, disrespectful, unprepared, underperforming, and 

violent” (p. 295). Woodson and Bristol (2020) and Singh (2019) discuss how critical this is for school 

authority figures and Latino males who sometimes frame machismo with an effective disciplinarian and 

authority figure. A teacher club would emerge as restorative practices of re-engaging how males of color 

view effective teaching practices while providing targeted interventions and professional support 

mentoring this future teacher population. 

A Grow Your Own qualitative research investigation conducted by the author and Lopez (2020) reviewed 

this corrective representation issue, particularly for Latino males. They indicated that having an 

internal-mentoring component attaches a reflective element that encourages the participants to 

collaborate and learn. The participants strongly believed that they must understand and model 

gender-neutral speech for their male students. For them, male teachers have to dispel gender-roles 

stereotypes that contribute to a person embracing male toxicity. They would like to see more professional 

development opportunities in Grow Your Own for participants to learn about the dangers of male toxicity 

and homophobia. 

Additionally, research conducted by Signh (2018) discussed the importance of African American male 

students providing a steady flow of positive images supplied by the men of color within their classrooms 

and communities. Singh suggested that “Peer support is a source of motivation and can play a crucial role 

in program completion. A living and learning community for education majors is a viable option for 

retaining students in teacher preparation programs” (p. 301). Mentoring approaches streamlined between 

the college of education and secondary schools would promote teaching as a viable option for degree 

attainment, particularly with students identified as undeclared majors. Targeting black and brown men in 

high school to become teachers by setting up a teacher club and connecting the high school teacher-club 

to Grow Your Own and the College of Education would empower and strengthen this population’s 

recruitment efforts. Assigning each young male with a male teacher or professor and having activities 

with these young males would further improve their desires and commitments to work in education.  

 
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4. Bridge Program 

Developing sustainable and programmatic interventions within teacher college programs will edify 

black-and-brown men retention and employment rates into schoolhouses. Merging this construct into 

college education programs would effectively transition this population into schools that value their 

presence. Woodson and Bristol (2020) detail the significance of providing a nurturing and coaching 

environment within teaching programs to support this population extension into school domains. Their 

qualitative investigations professed the need for this preparatory system to strengthen their involvement 

with student organizations on campus, such as fraternities while building on relationships with existing 

educational institutions off-campus to empower men of color entry and transition into the academic 

profession. 

The enactment of teacher bridge programs would continue to empower existing mentoring programs for 

candidates in the College of Education and Grow Your Own such as the: 

(a) Call Me Mister at UIC, (b) Former President Barack Obama’s Brother’s Keeper, and (c) Men of Color 

at NEIU. Aligning these support programs to foundations, fraternal organizations, and educational 

associations remains critical to recruiting men of color into the teaching profession. Such an initiative 

would also offer a network of sustainable academic support-services, like testing, to positively increase 

black-and-brown teacher transition rates. More than anything else, these programs require expansion into 

the schoolhouses and college teaching programs. Wallace and Gagen (2020) explored the impact of 

connecting teacher test-prep programs on mentor programs. They asserted having an incentivized 

test-prep program that pays for a few of the exams, particularly the entry and specialized skill tests, 

would promote and reward black-and-brown men for becoming a part of their college of education 

programs. 

Streamlining supportive interventions with schools that intake this population of educators would 

advance their professional navigation and tenure. Wallace and Gagen continue this conversation 

asserting,  

With tuition assistance as a caveat, African American males can be attracted to 

teaching as a profession if there is the possibility of leaving with a degree and minimal 

or no debt. These funding sources must be comprehensive and varied. Although grants 

from federal and state governments are an option, relationship building with 

foundations, fraternal organizations, and educational associations is critical to 

diversify sources for scholarships (p. 420). 

Providing financial assistance, similar to what Grow Your Own continues to practice, encourages men of 

color to enter the teaching workforce where student-loans will not exist as a debt burden. In some ways, 

this would appear like a terrific marketing opportunity and strategy for college education programs to 

recruit black-and-brown men.  

Singh (2019) furthers this conversation of promoting men of color into education. He believes 

establishing incentive-based pay-scales, student loan-forgiveness, and quality guaranteed job placement 
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improve more men of color entering the profession. However, it remains critical to transition them into a 

school district or specific schools that demonstrate an effective retention rate for employing African 

American and Latinx populations. Moreover, that provides: 

○ Quality professional development support systems and interventions to support 

and advance black and brown employees; 

○ Culturally responsive frameworks that embrace and qualify diversity with the 

potential for growth and professional expansion. 

For Singh, promulgating quality bridge programs and collaborating with existing school programs and 

organizations with a positive track record is essential to ensure this population’s success in education. As 

well, Walker, Goings, Wilkerson (2019) believe that teacher programs’ recruitment and retention plans 

must: 

○ Develop a better understanding of the existing campus culture for men of color and 

how the school will best support them; 

○ Provide guidance, encouragement, and opportunities to succeed in existing 

frameworks; 

○  Provide male mentors with effective classroom management and instructional 

delivery techniques to carry into the classroom environment during their practicum and 

student teaching experiences. More positive role models for minority teachers serve as 

a motivation for earning their teaching credentials.  

Dinkins and Thomas’s (2016) qualitative study asserted that if schools are committed to intentionally 

increasing black-and-brown men in the classroom, they must provide financial support and scholarship 

incentives. As their study mentions, 

For many African American students without the benefit of college scholarships and 

grants to cover the costs of tuition, housing, textbooks, and teacher licensure fees, four 

years or more of accumulated student loan debt becomes overwhelming on a teaching 

salary. The participants in this study expressed considerable concern for the rising 

costs of college tuition while teachers’ wages remained stagnant around the country. 

Although teachers recognize that entering teaching will not allow them to become rich, 

there is a desire to live comfortably (p. 27).  

Providing financial support and incentives remains critical to recruit and retain men of color in education. 

Author and Lopez’s Grow Your Own qualitative investigation (2020) further advanced the notion that 

economic challenges emerged as a hindrance and problem for Grow Your Own students to pay for their 

education. Many Grow Your Own scholars are hesitant to take out financial aid loans to assist their 

enrollment and school completion because they do not want to incur the debt. A participant described 

how financial difficulties were a factor in deciding whether or not to enter a teacher preparation program, 

stating: “I think the process of applying to different schools was some of the other schools that, say the 

Saint James University of Chicago I applied. I think Concordia also, I was going to apply to but their 
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tuition rates.” Paying for college serves as a deterrent and problematic for participants to continue their 

schooling as they financially struggle. At the same time, they talked about how much they are thankful 

for Grow Your Own helping them acquire a scholarship to help pay for their college financial expenses to 

avoid taking out a student loan.  

Based on these findings, the researcher strongly encourages developing a black-and-brown male cohort 

at Northeastern, the University of Illinois at Chicago Campus, and Chicago State obtained from Grow 

Your Own. The cohort would incorporate best practice strategies and financial incentives to retain and 

graduate students from their respective programs while conducting comparative research and study 

analysis to traditional students in the college of education to increase retention and transition rates. 

Furthermore, the researcher recommends Grow Your Own utilize an alumni delegation, graduates who 

are educators, return to teach a few strategies to model, support, and promote student success in their 

programs and within Grow Your Own. The Grow Your Own alumni delegation will meet quarterly with 

support staff and administration to discuss and review the program’s strategies to recruit and strengthen 

graduation outputs. 

 

5. Institutional Male Identity Remapping 

How schools view black and brown men to increase retention beyond the 5-years retention rate exist as 

an essential turning point (Author, 2020; Woodson & Bristol, 2020). As research suggests, retooling and 

revitalizing how schools incorporate black-and-brown men as intellectual practitioners determine their 

professional retention. In other words, when an educator feels valued and deemed an essential 

contributor to a school’s success and culture, they have a propensity to want to continue to work in the 

field and give back to their profession as much as possible (Ali, 2019). 

Unfortunately, as the literature reveals from Singh (2019), Woodson, and Bristol (2020), far too many 

schoolhouses view black-and-brown men as disciplinarians rather than intellectual stewards of their 

profession. Singh argues that it remains critical for school leadership to push back or apply countering 

racial discursive formations to utilize this population in the teaching field better. Indeed, a “cultural 

cookie-cutter” approach to how males’ discipline or manage their classrooms requires rebuttal, especially 

as it relates to men of color “getting the children who look like them to behave properly.” Singh reasserts 

this position by stating, “Heteropatriarchal assumptions require a constant denouncement of how black 

and brown masculine identity qualifies them as the primary disciplinarians” (p. 301). Even further, every 

male may not be heterosexual, which suggests that if they are not, why should they abide by a “male toxic” 

trope of managing students in the classroom. Singh continues to articulate this perspective suggesting 

that  

I define corrective representation as the discursive creation of the ideal male of color 

teacher subject. This discursive formation seeks to homogenize and propagate an 

essentialist notion of the male of color teacher, framing the cultural work done in the 

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classroom as always in relation to the imagined deficits in the boys of color he is 

delegated to control and discipline (p. 299). 

Far too many black-and-brown male educators become employed to “discipline the children” who look 

like them instead of hiring them as intellectual practitioners. As such, their adherence to this perceived 

role inevitably steers them away from the profession. 

Gender-normed constructs remain particularly damaging to Latino boys, who often culturally stereotype 

and homogenize men’s roles in their educational lives (Singh, 2019). As a result, scholars discuss the 

importance of disarming gender norming (Singh, 2018; Bryan & Browder, 2013; Jupp & Slattery, 2011). 

Precisely, Latino male teachers must navigate and diffuse cultural pressures surrounding Latino 

masculinity’s enactments. In his research, Singh (2019) described how a Latino teacher, Mr. V, struggled 

to deliver and portray machismo in the classroom toward his Latino scholars. Mr. V received 

chastisement on several occasions in front of his students and peers because of his perceived inability to 

properly discipline Latino boys. Mr. V believed that had he employed more “policing” habits toward his 

students, it indeed would have promoted more positive responses from administrators and professional 

colleagues about his teaching practice. In other words, teachers of color are expected to be a certain kind 

of Black or Latino and professionally punished if they fail to abide by such norming.  

The author and Lopez (2020), in their Grow Your Own qualitative study, diagnosed this same occurrence 

as it relates to how Latino teaching students perceived their role in the classroom. Participants asserted 

that in terms of their gender roles, teacher preparation programs, and the schoolhouses they have either 

observed or performed, their practicum is primarily women. At times, they felt either isolated because of 

this or believed they had to redefine their masculinity. Thereby, it became imperative for them to balance 

positive modeling while debunking corrective representation notions tied explicitly to their students. One 

of the participants described this gender norming struggle, stating:  

I feel like I have to speak in a language that everyone can access, but there’s a lot lost in 

translation in speaking that language. Because they don’t know your experience, so 

you have to really elongate it. I just feel like a lot of times my clarity, especially when 

I’m making comments in class, I just feel like I lose my train of thought or I’m not 

really sure what I’m saying because I realize, man, I have to essentially... There are 

many times when I have to give a life story or a story or something that I experienced 

to kind of make my point across because it’s not going to say in the book (p. 11). 

The way men of color address their male identity in the schoolhouse, even with how they communicate to 

their peers and students, is a constant reflection and reminder of their teaching roles. Also, they must 

remain clear about how to debunk heteropatriarchal positions when teaching black and brown boys.  

Indeed, it remains too hard to abide by gender tropes because it devalues these teachers’ essential role as 

classroom educators (Young & Young, 2020). As the scholars Young and Young (2020) stated, “19.35 

percent of Black male teachers saw themselves as role models, change agents or general educators, 

especially as it relates to how they are perceived and understood in schoolhouses (p. 341). Such data 
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suggest that gender stigma frames how and why schools ultimately hire black-and-brown men and view 

themselves in this field. Young and Young go on to mention in their study: 

● There are far fewer calls for Black males to teach in suburban schools or to teach in 

programs that traditionally serve white students; 

● Examination of over 300 elementary school job applications revealed that male 

applicants were rated as more likely to be gay, considered a more significant safety threat, 

and perceived less likable (but not less hirable) than their female peers; 

● The negative gender stigmas associated with male teachers are most noticeable in the 

early grades. 

 

 

Figure 1. Graphic Organizer Displaying the Grow Your Own and Its Partners Initiatives to 

Advance the Recruitment and Retention Rates for Black-and-Brown Teaching Candidates 

 

Diffusing these discursive racialized and gender archetypes remains vital to shift how schools view 

black-and-brown men, specifically when they employ them. Without critiquing and redirecting how 

school systems view this teaching population, fewer educators will stick around beyond 5-years (Singh, 

2019; Woodson & Bristol, 2020). This means schools must build capacity with this population, which 

will counter racial discursive formations. Also, infuse positive balancing models to debunk corrective 

representation notions. 

Grow Your Own, and their collegiate partners need to collaborate with schools and districts that mean 

well and have a good track record of employing men of color that nurture and promote their pedagogical 

progress, tenure, and intellectual impact on the profession. Just sending black-and-brown men to district 

  
 

 Grow Your Own 

 Pipeline Initiatives 

 
Institutional Paradigm 

Shift 

 Bridge Program 

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schools hoping they will employ mentoring approaches, culturally responsive practices, and systems that 

bolster their role as social agents and advocates is not enough. Specific and targeted interventions and 

professional support that mentor this teacher population will advance the way schools view black and 

brown men as pedagogical practitioners and intellectual advocates versus primary disciplinarians. 

Woodson and Bristol (2020) assert that the most effective way to counter this deficit model is to apply a 

critical borderlands pedagogy. A philosophical approach that shifts hegemonic power by critiquing 

internal and traditional structures and reframes how schools function employing black and brown 

populations.  

The author (2021) further believes schools need to modify the evaluation process, the Danielson 

Framework, which often restricts first to third-year teachers from obtaining tenure in a school district. As 

the author declares, 

Mainly, the first three years of an educator’s life exist under extreme pressures to 

quickly master their industry’s professional standards to obtain tenure. How an 

educator manages their classroom while also buttressing student outcomes on 

standardized benchmarks often determine their professional longevity in education. 

Greater scrutiny and micromanaging exist for educators evaluated by a scripted 

formula and rubric to assess their teaching effectiveness (p. 7). 

Without applying measurable criteria and best practice benchmarks that support this teaching population 

tenure, too many of them will burn out and not impact the profession. How school districts choose to 

modify their evaluation protocols and terminate the “old way of doing things” addressing and working 

with this population must occur if schools are serious about having black-and-brown men in their 

classrooms. 

 

6. Summary 

The way society and schoolhouses view black-and-brown men require drastic changes to buttress this 

population into classrooms. Fostering necessary restructuring to shift how schools perceive black and 

brown males while promoting interventions that strengthen their pedagogical skills remains urgent to 

increase their school retention rates beyond 5-years. Mentoring-based initiatives that start as early as high 

school with financial incentives would restore how black and brown men perceive education and retain 

employment. Simply pushing this population through teacher programs is not enough to ensure they will 

impact the students they will encounter nor the profession they decided to become employed. 

Institutional shifting must adopt cultural paradigms in schools that comprehend black and brown men as 

practitioners and not primarily disciplinarians. As Dickins and Thomas (2016) profess, “If schools only 

envision these teachers’ roles as one dimensional, they run the risk of enclosing and delimiting their 

pedagogical potential” (p. 34). Grow Your Own should collaborate with its college of education 

associates and build connections and capacity with school districts that believe in these same mission 

statements to nurture, affirm, and recognize the necessity of this population existing in schoolhouses. 
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of a Latino male teacher in the borderlands. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 21(3), 288-305. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1395330 

Singh, M. V. (January 7, 2019). Refusing the performance: Disrupting popular discourses surrounding 

Latino male teachers and the possibility of disidentification. Educational Studies: A Journal of the 

American Educational Studies Association, 28-45. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1545654 

Skelton, C. (2003). Male primary teachers and perceptions of masculinity. Educational Review, 55(2), 

195. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013191032000072227 

Wallace, D. L., & Gagen, L. M. (2020). African American males’ decisions to teach: Barriers, 

motivations, and supports necessary for completing a teacher preparation program. Education and 

Urban Society, 52(3), 415-432. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124519846294 

Walker, L. J., Goings, R. B., & Wilkerson, R. D. (2019). The role school administrators play in creating 

healthy ecosystems for black male preservice teachers. Educational Foundations, 32. 

Warren, C. A. (2020). Meeting myself: Race-gender oppression and a genre study of Black men teachers’ 

interactions with Black boys. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(3), 367-391. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663982 

Washington, G., Mejias, M., & Burge, L. (2020). Understanding how to engage black high school boys in 

computer science through tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Computing in science & 

engineering. https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT46404.2019.8985869 

Woodson, A. N., & Bristol, T. J. (2020). Male teachers of color: Charting a new landscape for educational 

research. Race, ethnicity, and education, 23(3), 281-287. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663912 

Young, J., & Young, J. (2020). The Black male teacher: A 10-year content analysis of empirical research. 

Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(3), 327-344. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663971 

 
Appendix—Annotated Bibliography 

Title:  Wallace, D. L., & Gagen, L. M. (2020). African American Males’ Decisions to Teach: 

Barriers, Motivations, and Supports Necessary for Completing a Teacher Preparation 

Program. Education and Urban Society, 52(3), 415-432. 

Theory: ● Social Learning Theory (modeling) 

●  Efficacy and cultural affirmation 

●  Responsive Practices 

● Cultural Connectivity 

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https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1545654
https://doi.org/10.1080/0013191032000072227
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124519846294
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663982
https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT46404.2019.8985869
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663912
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1663971


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Method:  The stories addressing the motivations and support utilized by African American males to 

overcome negative societal perceptions and racist stereotypes are absent from the data: 

(a) Eleven of the 12 questionnaire respondents completed the consent form and participated 

in the structured interview process-  

(b) The key themes were financial, cultural, and social aspects related to the research 

questions that addressed the barriers, motivations, or supports affecting the completion of a 

teacher preparation program for African American male educators. 

(c) Most of the participants taught at the secondary level, with four in special education, two 

in mathematics, one in science, one in career and technical education, one in physical 

education and health, and one in Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC). 

The single elementary-level educator taught in a prekindergarten classroom setting. 

Themes: Recruitment and retention plan with intervention strategies support students’ growth and 

development, which includes: 

(a) developing a better understanding of the existing campus culture; 

(a) Participants noted that professors took the time to provide guidance, 

encouragement, and opportunities for initial licensure examination preparation 

○ Just as positive reinforcement and encouragement are factors in the K-12 

classroom positively impacting academic achievement, professors who 

create positive classroom environments at the university level enable 

students to succeed.  

○  Students in a teacher preparation program also learn from the classroom 

management and instructional delivery techniques utilized by course 

instructors, which they carry into the classroom environment during their 

practicum and student teaching experiences. 

○ Each of the participants noted the potential to serve as a positive role 

model for African American youth as a motivation for earning their 

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teaching credentials.  

○ African American male students must be provided with a steady flow of 

positive images supplied by the men of color within their classrooms and 

communities. 

(b) Second, teacher education professors need to strengthen their involvement with 

student organizations on campus to promote teaching as a viable option for degree 

attainment, particularly with students identified as undeclared majors. 

(c) With tuition assistance as a caveat, African American males can be attracted to 

teaching as a profession if there is the possibility of leaving with a degree and 

minimal or no debt. These funding sources must be comprehensive and varied. 

Although grants from federal and state governments are an option, relationship 

building with foundations, fraternal organizations, and educational associations is 

critical to diversify sources for scholarships. 

(d) Peer support is a source of motivation and can play a crucial role in program 

completion. A living and learning community for education majors is a viable 

option for retaining students in teacher preparation programs.  

Barrier(s):  
○ Although it was of no surprise to the research team, teacher licensure 

examinations are a significant barrier to teacher preparation program 

completion. Only three of the 11 participants passed all required tests on 

their first attempt. All participants felt these examinations needed to be 

addressed early in the program, and subject area licensure examination 

content needs to be routinely emphasized in relevant courses. 

○  For many African American students without the benefit of college 

scholarships and grants to cover the costs of tuition, housing, textbooks, 

and teacher licensure fees, four years or more of accumulated student loan 

debt becomes overwhelming on a teaching salary. The participants in this 

study expressed considerable concern for the rising costs of college tuition 

while teachers’ wages remained stagnant around the country. Although 

teachers recognize that entering teaching is not going to allow them to 

become rich, there is a desire to live comfortably. 

Quotes: ○ Gasman and Arroyo (2014) note that an HBCU offers African American 

students a unique experience supported by a shared history that provides 

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an environment of support along with high expectations for academic 

success that are not found at the majority of institutions; However, the 

majority of institutions have demonstrated success with high graduation 

rates for students of color, which include African American males 

prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, 

University of Virginia, Duke, and Georgetown boast graduation rates of 

African American students at a rate of 85% or better. These institutions 

have transparent, well-defined recruitment and retention plans that have 

years of demonstrated success. These plans include an orientation 

program that provides an opportunity for students of color to develop a  

○ “We had what you would call the cream of the crop. So, you could do 

presentations, we had guest speakers, and there was always a mental 

stimulation factor. You looked forward to going to class and sharing and 

speaking, and practicing your future craft.” 

○ “Participant 004 shared an encounter with one of his professors that 

provided him with the motivation to complete his degree. “It was 

Education 101 or something like that, and he kind of pressed the 

importance of a good teacher.” 

○ As Shook (2012) noted, positive student-teacher relationships enhance 

students’ learning experience through a willingness to focus on instruction 

and a reduction in off-task behaviors during the delivery of education. 

○ Participant 009 emphatically stated, “You’re a role model, and you’re here 

to set them straight. As an African American male, to me, you have to 

embrace the role model issue. 

 

Title:  Michael V. Singh’s Refusing the Performance: Disrupting Popular 

Discourses Surrounding Latino Male Teachers and the Possibility of 

Disidentification 

Theory: Social Learning Theory (modeling), affirmation, efficacy, cultural 

connectivity  

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Method:  Ethnographic data collection was done primarily through participant 

observations, conversational interviews, and two rounds of formal 

interviews. Participant observations lasted for one-and-a-half years, 

beginning in the second semester of the 2014-2015 school year and 

extended through the entirety of the next school year. Site visits 

occurred once a week. At the beginning of the study, I introduced 

myself to the students of Chamacos as an educational researcher from 

UC Berkeley and informed the boys that I would like to observe their 

relationship with Mr. O and each other. 

● Over the course of my study, 23 students participated in 

Chamacos, with several more becoming informal attendees. 

Students ranged from sixth to eighth grade, and all identified 

as boys. Although the term Latino was used by the 

administration, the boys generally preferred to identify 

themselves as Mexican (19 boys being of Mexican descent or 

from Mexico). Two boys identified themselves as “half 

Black, half Mexican,” with the remaining boys identifying as 

Salvadorian or “half Mexican, half Salvadorian.” 

● I interviewed 12 students, eight of them once and four twice 

(totaling 16 interviews). All interviews took place in an 

empty classroom after school and lasted between 15 and 

40 min. I interviewed Mr. Orozco three times. These 

interviews took place in his empty classroom, as well as a 

local café. They ranged from 1 to 2 hr. After our initial 

interview, which covered Mr. Orozco’s life history, our 

following interviews allowed me to bring up patterns and 

themes emerging from my data. Conversational interviews 

were also conducted with various school and afterschool 

staff members. 

Themes: A. Explore the ways one Latino male teacher navigates cultural 

pressures surrounding the enactment of Latino masculinity 

(The importance of innate gender norming, intentional) 

○ achievement of gendered subjects in the classroom 

○ ways the recruitment of male teachers of color can 

have a positive impact on the educational 

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achievement of boys of color 

○ schools’ function as cultural sites that reproduce 

racialized masculinities 

1. This process’s primary agents were other 

staff members and teachers, who often 

imagined or called for a Latino male 

teacher to perform an authoritative, 

disciplined, and tough-love persona for the 

Latino boys on campus. 

2. Analysis of voice, movement, dress, and 

other commonly gendered identifiers 

(intentional use of the body among Latino 

male teachers through an enacting of self 

that moves inside and outside of dominant 

ideologies, troubling essentialist notions of 

identity and creating space for new 

identities to emerge. 

3.  the boys projected idealized, patriarchal 

male qualities that they attributed to our 

physical capabilities or imagined social, 

and at times sexual, power in our everyday 

lives 

4. The importance of disidentification is 

crucial, which counters stereotypes and 

projects positive imagery of males through 

literature and other forms of pedagogy. 

B. Male bonding is essential: maleness is something continually being 

worked on and accomplished throughout one’s life and counters the 

hegemonic configuration that for males to be dominant, women must 

be subjected to an inferior status (binary notion)-culturally machisa 

stereotypes; compulsory heterosexual is current; schooling attempts to 

constrain Latino boys’ gender imaginaries. Also, it is essential to the 

problematization of gendered expectations as a recent but growing 

concern. 

● Modeling is critical for Latino boys to direct and guide their 

perspectives-“other fathers.”  

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● Successfully caring for men of color on campus is critical for 

their success (efficacy) 

● The importance of creating meaning and purpose is critical. 

 

D. A male bodily presence matters; The importance of the 

mentor-teacher role matters; Embraces normative behavior and 

considers people weird who do not personify traditional male 

behaviors. 

E. Intervene and advocate on behalf of the boys are too often seen or 

viewed as requiring more disciplining and scrutinizing- the “bad boy 

persona” carries a lot of weight and heaviness on black and brown 

males steeped in stereotypes and racist notions. 

 

F. Considers non-confirmed behavior as weird- 

● Dress 

● Speech 

● Showing affection 

 ● Alienation in the school culture for Latino and Black males. 

● “Heteropatriarchal assumptions” regarding Black men and 

boys in teacher-recruitment initiatives result in the 

assumption that “the racial identity, gendered identity, and 

sex category of an individual who is Black and male are 

naturally cohesive, and result in certain ways of thinking, 

doing, and being in the social world” (p. 58). This 

assumption about Black male identity can discourage Black 

men who are gay, transgender, or genderqueer from entering 

the teaching profession. 

○ Being seen as the authoritative figure in control and 

using the body as prowess to dictate conformity is 

challenging and problematic for male educators 

who do not buy into this social construct. 

Quotes: ● “Mora finds this consistent with other studies of masculinity 

(see Pasco, 2011); however, he adds that the boys in his study 

often blended Latinx culturally masculine signifiers with 

US-based hegemonic masculinity to create a masculinity 

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specific to racialized Latino men in the United States.” 

● Some students perceived these teachers as “other fathers,” 

who were able to provide a “combination of tough love, 

discipline, and caring,” which “proved to be a winning 

combination” for students (p. 2517). 

● The boys often ritualized physical contests among one 

another in hopes of imitating popular representations of 

athletic and robust masculinity and frequently enjoyed 

touching their newly forming bicep muscles and shadow 

boxing with one another. 

● As Juana María Rodríguez (2014) highlights, thinking and 

theorizing the power of gesture can “animate how bodies 

move in the world,” revealing the ways we create meaning in 

ways that are “always already infused with cultural models 

of knowing” (p. 2).  

 

Title:  Woodson, A. N., & Bristol, T. J. (2020). Male teachers of color: 

charting a new landscape for educational research. 

Theory: (a) Culturally responsive; 

(b) heteronormative assumptions 

Research Question: 1. How do critical considerations of the intersection of race, 

gender, and profession inform the future of teacher 

education?  

2. What does it mean to be ‘male’ or ‘of color’ in the context of 

the teaching profession? 

3. What are the aims of racial and ethnic diversity in the field of 

education?  

Method:  ● Qualitative and ethnographic interviewing of black males; 

provided data sets about the impact of male teachers of color 

and their school-based experiences. 

Themes: (a) Inadequate recruitment and retention efforts in teacher 

education programs (Woodson and Pabon 2016); and poor 

professional support and limited mentoring for this 

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population: 

(b) three performance styles enacted by the teachers (enforcer, 

negotiator, and playful)-Brown (2009); 

(c) heteronormative assumptions- Black male students are often 

stereotyped as fatherless troublemakers and underachievers 

(Jackson, Sealey-Ruiz, and Watson 2013). Black male 

teachers are often expected to perform as father figures, meet 

dominant standards of exemplary citizenship, and 

overachieve as professionals to push back on expectations 

associated with their race and gender; 

(d) Exploring school organizational context influences these 

teachers’ school-based experiences 

(e) First, male teachers of color have diverse racial, cultural, and 

gendered backgrounds; 

(f) intersections of social identities for male teachers of color, 

and the relationship between social identity and struggles for 

a political and professional agency. The authors address race 

and racial inequality in education and provide robust 

theoretical findings; 

(g) male teachers of color’s perceptions of and partnerships with 

colleagues of other genders; their sexual and gendered 

identities and performances; and how they embrace, reject or 

negotiate the expectation of performing as a role model in the 

classroom.  

(h) Wallace’s research in London suggested the ‘diversity trap’ 

that ensnares and limits the roles Black men teachers can 

enact in their classrooms in the United Kingdom’s largest 

urban center, London; Critical Race Theory explores how 

Black veteran teachers mentor novice, Latinx male teachers, 

to design equitable learning environments for their students. 

Quotes:  

 

Title:  Singh, M. V. (2018). Role models without guarantees: 

corrective representations and a Latino male teacher’s 

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cultural politics in the borderlands. Race, ethnicity, 

and education, 21(3), 288-305. 

Theory: Critical Race Theory- counter corrective 

representation; Countering the deficit model. 

Research Questions: ● What work do we perform when we step on 

campus, and in the service for who?  

● Does our ‘manly’ performance as educators 

replace structural critique for patriarchal 

solutions?  

● How do we navigate our own identities in a 

way that functions to not correct or fix Latino 

boys but rather opens the signifier Latino, or 

Latinx, to more liberatory possibilities for all 

communities? 

Method:  Qualitative-ethnographic case study-  

one round of interviews was conducted during each of 

the two school years of the research. Twelve students 

were interviewed at least once, with four of them 

having follow-up interviews in the second school year. 

Student interviews took place in an empty classroom 

of EBMS. They were semi-structured and generally 

lasted 30 minutes each. 

1. ‘Mexican,’ with 19 boys being from Mexico or of 

Mexican descent.  

2. Two students referred to themselves as ‘half Black, 

half Mexican,’ with the remaining boys identifying as 

Salvadorian or ‘half Mexican, half Salvadorian.’ 

 

Conducted the study inside the school, EMBS in San 

Francisco, California that was a highly diverse student 

population (2% Latino; 29% Black; 22% Asian; 13% 

White) in a total student population of 800 

 

The study lasted for 15-months 

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Themes: ● Corrective representations are a misguided 

behavioral assumption of black and brown 

men-confining their identity and locate boys 

of color’s problem within their actions. Yet, 

the need for cultural representation remains 

critical in schoolhouses- The importance of 

countering racial discursive formations while 

balancing positive modeling is complicated, 

specifically for Latino Males who resist the 

notions in schools with how “a man should 

act or portray themselves.”  

● Debunking the racially popularized 

viewpoint that black and brown boys are 

 ‘disengaged, disrespectful, unprepared, 

underperforming, and violent’ in schools 

(Harper and Williams 2014, 5)- Male 

behaviorism becomes rooted in an archetype, 

which varies and constrains black and brown 

men to interpret and make sense of. Reviews 

President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper 

Program” and how it is framed or tied to 

corrective representation- correcting and 

supporting damaged boys 

● The cultural meanings of race remains a 

struggle in schools with how males are 

evaluated and seen -floating signifier - 

( meaning race does not signify one innate 

identity, but rather is flexible and moves to 

signal different denotations in changing 

fields of representation). Racial and cultural 

constructs vary in institutions toward men. 

● Black and brown men inside schools are too 

often projected as authoritarian figures, 

further perpetuating narrow understandings 

of Black masculinity and playing into the 

problematic assumption that Black boys do 

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not do well in schools because of the absence 

of a strong male figure in their lives.  

● Latino male teachers, in the study at EMDS 

often embodied corrective representation, 

which was expected- The challenges of 

corrective embodiment at EMDS- When the 

boys did well, it was perceived as a natural 

success connected to the presence of the 

Latino teacher, Mr. Vera, When they were in 

trouble it was a shortcoming of Latinos 

United. 

● The presumptive is- the black or brown male 

will be either lax with discipline or an overly 

strong authoritative figure (corrective and 

disciplinarians). Mr. Vera, in the study at 

EMDS, was often tardy to school and was 

presumed to not live up to the normed 

corrective embodiment model- “I feel like 

there were a few teachers who thought I 

would be more strict than I am when I first 

got here, probably the students too. But it’s 

like, I know sometimes I need to be more 

strict with the boys, but that’s just not how I 

am. 

● Mr. Vera’s appearance referencing relax 

attire, a shaved head, and faded tattoos in old 

English letters. This exterior, described as 

stereotypically ‘hard’ by the students, clashed 

both with their imagination of what Latino 

male teacher would look like, but also with 

their behavioral expectations- That is, there is 

an underlying assumption that the problems 

of communities of color ‘are problems 

because the men are not appropriately 

socialized to be the kind of men who are 

responsible for families and communities’ 

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(Crenshaw 2016). 

● “The notion of borderland”-those thinking 

from the borderlands recreate identity, 

adapting to the needs of their situations 

learned through survival. In education, what 

a critical borderlands pedagogy offers is an 

intellectual tradition dedicated to a critical 

analysis of hegemonic power and structure, 

as well as an openness of identity and a 

critique of universalist solutions (Elenes 

1997) 

 

 

 

 

Quotes: “white dominance of the apparatuses of racial 

representation is inherently connected to the control of 

the means of production”- 

● “Corrective representations are not critical of 

historical and structural racism and assume a 

damaged and problematic male student of 

color by asking male teachers of color to 

represent a neoliberal multicultural 

embodiment of what students are not.” 

● “Corrective representations overly idealize 

the male of color teacher while obscuring 

racist school structures by reifying neoliberal 

multicultural tenets of diversity, individual 

work ethic, and excellence. Corrective 

representations have the racist consequence 

of locating the problem of the racial 

achievement gaps on the individual student, 

rather than systematic marginalization.” 

● “When they’re in trouble, people come to me 

and say ‘one of your boys’ did this, or ‘did 

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you hear your boys did that.’ I’m like, you 

know those students are with you more hours 

of the week than they’re with me? But once 

they join the group, they are ‘my boys.” 

 

Title:  Washington, G., Mejias, M., & Burge, L. (2020). 

Understanding how to Engage Black HS boys in 

Computer Science Through Tech Innovation and 

Entrepreneurship. Computing in Science & Engineering. 

Theory: Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT)  

Research Questions:  

Method:  1. Improved perception of CS among black male high 

school students; 2. It increased participants’ confidence 

of participants and; 3 and increased the number of 

students who want to major in CS in college. 

Themes: 1. Improved perception of CS among black male high 

school students; 2. It has increased participants’ 

confidence in participants and; 3 and increased the 

number of students who want to major in CS in college. 

____________________________________ 

 

● The presence of role models of the same gender 

and ethnicity are crucial to engaging students; 

●  Teachers of color increase the self-worth of 

students of color and help black male students 

navigate the pitfalls of high school; 

●  Black male CS role models can help black 

HSboys see themselves in professional roles 

and debunk stereotypes about what a 

professional tech looks like and what they do as 

computer scientists. 

Enacted a #WatchMeCode program that 

modeled and detailed how this could look was 

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inspirational for learners; events or activities 

that expose them to coding, other computer 

science elements, and tech innovation and 

entrepreneurship. Also, students are 

encouraged to pursue CS in college.  The 

Hidden Genius program is an initiative that 

teaches coding and computational thinking 

skills to black male students in Oakland, 

California; 

● Socially and culturally relevant pedagogy has 

helped students relate to a topic and create a 

more in-depth understanding. 

● Design Thinking was a skilled activity 

introduced that focused the students on 

producing and research their findings critically. 

They also learned to provide constructive 

criticism to other groups about the layout and 

design of their projects. 

●  Surprisingly, after completing the program, all 

the participants (20 out of 20) answered they 

wanted to go into careers that involve 

technology.  

● All campers mentioned in feedback that the 

camp activities helped them develop 

confidence by seeing themselves using the 

information they learned. Many of the 

participants said they would engage in future 

activities 

Quotes:  

 

Title:  Walker, L. J., Goings, R. B., & Wilkerson, R. D. (2019). 

The Role School Administrators Play in Creating 

Healthy Ecosystems for Black Male Preservice 

Teachers. Educational Foundations, 32. 

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Theory: Culturally Responsive Practices, Critical Race Theory 

Research Questions:  

Method:   

Themes: (a)  educational leaders created unrealistic 

expectations that continued throughout his 

student teaching. 

(b) Developing pipeline initiatives and supportive 

interventions with schools to intake black and 

brown men as student teachers and educators 

(administrators, district staff, researchers, and 

teachers must acknowledge school-based 

problems to help diverse educators navigate 

their preservice journey.) 

Quotes:  

 

Title:  Warren, C. A. (2020). Meeting myself: race-gender 

oppression and a genre study of Black men teachers’ 

interactions with Black boys. Race Ethnicity and 

Education, 23(3), 367-391. 

Theory:  

Research Questions:  

Method:  Genre study 

Themes: (a) Regardless of schooling arrangement, findings 

suggest Black men teachers must recognize 

and disavow hegemonic gender logic in 

interaction efforts to improve Black boys’ lives. 

The challenges of norming black masculine 

identity to navigate racial and cultural barriers 

to assimilate remain necessary idyllic with how 

to do just that. 

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(b) Positive black modeling derails and counters 

the anti-black diegesis. 

(c) Few research-based reviews reinforce 

anti-oppressive conceptions of race, gender, 

and sexuality. 

 

Quotes:  

  

 

Title:  Dinkins, E., and Thomas, K. (2016). Black teachers 

matter: Qualitative study of factors  

influencing African American candidates success in a 

teacher preparation program. 

AILACTE Journal. Journal, v13 n1 pgs. 23-40. 

Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1130324 

 

Theory:  Culturally Responsive Theory 

Research Questions: What are Black male teachers’ perceptions of the 

school-based roles their colleagues and administrators 

expect them to play?  

Method:  27 Black male teachers across 14 schools in one urban 

school district. 

 

● During the first wave of interviews, 

participants described their life histories, 

prepared to become teachers, and decided to 

teach in their current schools. During the 

second wave of interviews, participants 

reflected on their school-based experiences. 

These reflections included interactions with 

students, colleagues, administrators, and 

parents. Each interview was recorded and then 

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transcribed by a transcription service. Here, we 

used the qualitative method, specifically 

phenomenology; 

● There was also socioeconomic diversity during 

the participants’ childhood and adolescence, 

ranging from being upper-middle-class to 

living with a single mother and relying on 

government assistance. While seven 

participants were born in Boston or its 

environs, the majority were Boston transplants: 

They were born and raised in several cities 

across the United States and the African 

Diaspora (e.g., the Caribbean and West Africa). 

All schools and participants were given 

pseudonyms to protect their identity. 

● Etic (within the social group) and emic coding 

(without or outside perspectives) 

Themes: ● The Black male teachers described how their 

colleagues expected them to redirect student 

misbehavior (De facto Disciplinarian) 

●  it is essential to examine the organizational 

conditions in which they teach.- “Learning how 

to walk the fine line.” 

●  administrators positioned them to serve as 

disciplinarians first and educators second.  

● Reviews the theory- universal carceral 

apparatus: Shedd posited that in the name of 

social justice and protecting youth of color 

from perceived and credible threats, urban 

public schools have adopted and made 

commonplace the apparatus used in carceral 

institutions. 

● The notion of the pedagogical kind-type of 

educator whose subjectivities, pedagogies, and 

expectations have been set in place before 

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entering the classroom. In this sense, the Black 

male teacher has been situated directly in the 

Black male student’s context and received by 

the educational community to secure, 

administer, and govern the unruly Black boy in 

school. (p. 299)-encapsulating these teachers as 

agents of the universal carceral apparatus.  

● A critical research footnote here, fo GYO:  As 

Lewis (2006) suggested, many of these Black 

male teachers considered their role bound to 

some form of social justice. Lewis also 

recounted some of the reasons why Black male 

teachers only comprise about 2% of the 

national teaching corps: “(a) low compensation 

offered to teachers; (b) educational obstacles, 

such as the NTE or PRAXIS; and (c) social and 

cultural impediments (e.g., culture shock at the 

university level)” (p. 229). He listed these 

items as probable factors for this enigma and 

laid out what he thought could increase the 

Black male teacher population. He also stated 

that alternative certification programs had 

helped aid the growth of the number of black 

males. 

● This leads to whether Black male teachers are 

specifically needed to help young men of color 

navigate their schooling and what this might 

say about how these Black male teachers 

engage with other students. 

● In his study, black male teachers had to 

negotiate their identities and positions within 

professional contexts that challenged their 

access to patriarchal definitions of manhood in 

a society that assesses men by their ability to 

wield patriarchal power.  Instead, Baldwin 

credited his ability to get to know this student 

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as follows, “I don’t think he was just gonna 

respond to me better than others because I’m 

me, or because I’m a male or because I’m 

Black. I think because I sort of invested 

time…we’ve built a relationship.” Here, 

Baldwin redefined the requisites needed to 

manage challenging students beyond race and 

gender to focus instead on the importance of 

building relationships with students. 

●  As such, policymakers should frame efforts to 

increase the ethnoracial diversity of the 

country’s educator workforce as benefiting all 

students in this increasingly diverse society.  

● Considering black men as the pedagogical kind 

versus the disciplinarian.  

Quotes: ●  schools “have begun to resemble correctional 

facilities. Metal detectors, surveillance 

cameras, and other mechanisms Urban Rev 1 3 

designed to monitor and control inhabitants are 

now standard equipment” (p. 80).  

●  Brown (2012) reminded us that “Black men 

are not magically reconstructed to be positive 

role models capable of reaching Black youth; 

this image resulted from a conference of 

discourse that can be traced to the sociological 

studies of the 1930’s” 

● Teachers of color have been tapped to have 

specific jobs or duties based on their being a 

male or also being a male and person of color. 

[Mr. Brooks], me and another African 

American man had an outdoor duty, to just kind 

of monitor and police the front of the building 

at dismissal times just to usher students away 

from the building and make sure there are no 

issues outside the building…. It was clear and 

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evident why we were chosen for those roles.  

● He worked to improve classroom practices that 

would mitigate misbehavior. Sangster recalled 

attending a summer professional development 

session on classroom management-treated his 

class as a “house” and worked to ensure that 

students felt they were part of a “family.” 

● “If schools only envision these teachers’ roles 

as one dimensional, they run the risk of 

enclosing and delimiting their pedagogical 

potential.”  

 

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	Original Paper
	Jupp, J. C., & Slattery, P. (December 19, 2011). Becoming Teachers of Inner-City Students: Identification Creativity and Curriculum Wisdom of Committed White Male Teachers. Urban Education, 47(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911427737

