Qualitative Residency Defense

Black male educators remain an underrepresented group within the K–12 teaching workforce, while research continues to document the importance of Black teachers for students’ academic and classroom experiences. For instance, Blazar (2024) discovered that Black teachers could positively impact the self-efficacy and engagement of Black students, noting that role modeling is one of the ways in which this could occur. Meanwhile, the field of teachers of color is fragmented, especially in terms of how minoritized teachers experience and practice their roles in educational institutions (Arar & Tlili, 2024). The question that this study seeks to explore is not just why there is a shortage of Black male teachers, but how Black male teachers themselves view their impact on the academic achievement and social-emotional growth of their Black students.

Recent scholarship indicates a need for more focused study on the experiences of Black male teachers. In the study conducted by Mee et al. (2024), both meaningful motivations for becoming a teacher and challenges related to perceptions of competence, professionalism, and relationships with students emerged for Black male teacher candidates. Similarly, recent qualitative research on Black male educators calls for additional research examining educators who remain in K–12 settings and how they navigate institutional and professional challenges (Bernard, 2026). The results of this research confirm the value of black teachers within the educational field but are not fully representative of the research beforehand about how black male educators view and describe the strategies, relationships, and barriers to supporting black students. To fill in this gap, more qualitative research could be conducted and focus on the stories of teachers themselves.

Knowing this can help inform educational leadership, teacher preparation, hiring and retaining Black teachers, and practices that support Black students. Arar and Tlili (2024) identified continued gaps in research concerning the integration and support of teachers of color and specifically called for additional research examining their needs and experiences across educational contexts. A qualitative descriptive study can give a practical and contextual description of the role that Black male teachers feel that they play in society as educators, mentors and role models. This information can assist educational leaders in gaining greater insight into supports and conditions that facilitate Black male educators to meaningfully contribute to the academic and social-emotional growth of students.