Education assignment 1114
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Student_Responsiveness_Towards.pdf
Student Responsiveness Towards Black Male Educators in the K-12 Urban School Setting:
A Phenomenological Study
Dissertation Manuscript
Submitted to National University
School of Education
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
By
QUADRIC DARON WITHERSPOON
San Diego, California
April 2024
Approval Page
By
Approved by the Doctoral Committee:
Dissertation Chair: INSERT NAME Degree Held Date
Committee Member: INSERT NAME Degree Held Date
Committee Member: INSERT NAME Degree Held Date
Docusign Envelope ID: C4B16A19-0770-4697-B37B-3497E309A276
PhD
Corey McKenna
07/25/2024 | 10:02:17 MST
Ph.D. 07/25/2024 | 09:59:23 MST
Melanie Shaw
Julian Horton
07/29/2024 | 06:33:28 MSTPhD
Student Responsiveness Towards Black Male Educators in the K-12 Urban School Setting: A Phenomenological Study
QUADRIC DARON WITHERSPOON
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Abstract
This qualitative phenomenological study addressed the underrepresentation of Black males in
education by exploring the professional and lived experiences of Black male educators in urban
North Carolina schools. The study utilized Critical Race Theory (CRT) to contextualize the lived
experiences and persistent struggles of Black male educators and their impact on student learning
outcomes. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions
from 10 Black male teachers and a focus group of five Black male educators. The research
questions focused on recruitment strategies, the influence of Black male educators on Black
students' academic performance, and the role of school districts in increasing Black male
educator recruitment. These questions are What strategies do you believe should be implemented
to recruit and retain more Black male educators, how do Black male educators in North Carolina
describe the influence that they have on the academic performance of Black students, and how
do Black male educators describe the role of school districts in increasing the recruitment of
other Black male educators. Through data analysis, six themes emerged: (a) the tendency to push
Black males towards administrative roles, (b) their stereotypical portrayal as disciplinarians, (c)
their status as favored teachers across racial lines, (d) a shortage of Black males in K-12
education, particularly in grades K-5, (e) reliance on encouragement from influential figures to
pursue teaching, and (f) low teacher pay as a significant factor in considering career
disassociation. Recommendations for future research include policies to enhance recruitment and
retention efforts for Black male educators, acknowledging their potential to positively influence
student achievement. Increasing enrollment of Black male educators in the K-12 education
system is suggested to improve diversity in the teaching profession and enhance educational
outcomes, particularly for Black students.
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Acknowledgements
In loving memory, I dedicate my dissertation to my "Aunt Sue" and my great-
grandmother, "Mama". Though you are no longer with us, your enduring love and legacy
continue to inspire me every day. Your presence, though missed, remains palpable in every
accomplishment and milestone that I reach. Thank you for all the love and guidance you gave me
while you were here on Earth. I miss you both dearly, but I am so grateful to have spent the years
that I did with you. Continue to rest in peace.
Next, I extend my deepest gratitude to my beloved Mom, Shenita, whose unwavering
support, and encouragement have been my guiding light throughout this journey. To my Nana,
Margaret, whose wisdom, and love have shaped my perspective and strengthened my mindset, I
am profoundly thankful. To my dad, Torrance, thank you for being constant sources of
inspiration and motivation; your belief in me has fueled my determination to succeed. I am also
grateful to my mentor, Dr. Kesslyn Brade Stennis, whose guidance and expertise have been
invaluable in shaping my work.
Additionally, I extend my appreciation to the countless individuals such as my siblings,
my brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, and friends who have contributed to
this endeavor in ways both seen and unseen. To all those who have supported me, believed in
me, and stood by me throughout this challenging yet rewarding academic journey, I express my
heartfelt thanks. Your unwavering faith in me has been the greatest gift of all, propelling me
forward even in the face of adversity. Your encouragement and belief in my abilities have been
instrumental in achieving this milestone, and for that, I am forever grateful.
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Table of Contents
Section 1: Foundation……………………………………………………………………………………..6
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................................ 7
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................................... 8
Research Questions ................................................................................................................................. 9
Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................................... 10
Definitions of Key Terms ..................................................................................................................... 14
Review of the Literature ....................................................................................................................... 15
Ethical Assurances ................................................................................................................................ 36
Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 37
Section 2: Methodology and Design ......................................................................................................... 39
Design and Method ............................................................................................................................... 40
Population and Sample ......................................................................................................................... 41
Materials ............................................................................................................................................... 43
Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................................................... 45
Assumptions .......................................................................................................................................... 47
Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 48
Delimitations ......................................................................................................................................... 48
Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 49
Section 3: Findings, Implications, and Recommendations……………………………………………....50
Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 51
Evaluation of the Outcomes .................................................................................................................. 70
Implications and Recommendations for Practice ................................................................................. 73
Recommendations for Future Research…………………………………………………………….…75
Conclusion.……………………………………………………………………………………………75
References………………………………………………………………………………………….….78
Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………....….91
Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………….……...…92
Appendix B…………………………………………………………………………………….…...…93
Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………………….…...94
Appendix D…………………………………………………………………………………….......…..95
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List of Tables
Table 1: Participant years taught, school level, and content area………………………………..50
Table 2: Beliefs regarding the underrepresentation of Black male educators…………………...53
Table 3: The Experiences of Black Male Teachers………………...……………………………58
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Section 1: Foundation
One prevalent challenge in the nation’s education system is the lack of diversity among
the teacher workforce (King, 2016). Data shows that of the 13% of Black males in the United
States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2022), just 2% of them are educators (Sekou, 2021). In general,
about 28% of educators in the United States are men (National Center for Education, 2022).
White women constitute approximately 80% of the teaching workforce (Young & Young, 2020).
According to Lindsay, Black students, especially males, respond best when they have a teacher
who is also Black (2020). The challenge persists despite consolidated efforts by researchers’
media and policymakers to create pathways that increase teaching force diversity in the
classroom.
Black male educators exist on opposite sides of the teacher spectrum as most educators in
the field are White females. Research data projects that by 2044, half of the U.S. population will
belong to distinct minority groups (Gest, 2021). Additional reports by the Education Week
(2021) reports show that since 2014, there has been a trend where most learners in public schools
are a student of color, which translates to 50.3%. However, the problem is acute in the special
education unit as per the report published by the journal perspectives on Urban Education. Many
leaners in special education are Black but are taught by White women (Taylor et al., 2022).
Opinions from distinct scholars' report that Black boys who usually attend schools that are
deficient of Black male teachers are denied perspectives, guidance, and understanding that can
only be derived from a Black teacher (Rosen, 2018).
The presented challenge necessitates urgent and continued application of appropriate
stringent measures that can help to curb the trend, and foster efforts that are directed towards
increasing the racial diversity of the Black male educators. This information has recently become
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a critical component in distinct federal policies, and in state and budget initiatives, such as the
Washington State HB 1541. This bill states the importance of “implementing strategies to close
the educational opportunity gap, based on the recommendations of the educational opportunity
gap oversight and accountability committee” (Washington State Legislature, 2016). Such public
interest and government action directed towards achieving diversity in the teaching workforce
stems from a notable demographic change in the student population and the identification of the
benefits of having a diverse workforce for the learner’s overall outcomes (Young & Young,
2020). Besides, it focuses on determining how Black male educators improve recruitment of the
other Black male educators. The results will help inform you on the critical aspects that surround
the issue of interest.
Statement of the Problem
The problem that was addressed in this study is the lack of Black male educators within
the K-12 teaching profession. Black students, especially males, are impacted by the lack of Black
male educators in the field (Callahan, 2020). Studies show that if a Black male student has a
Black male educator for at least one year in elementary school, they are less likely to drop out of
high school and more likely to consider college (Callahan, 2020). Because the population of
Black male educators are disproportionately represented in the United States, the chances of K-
12 students having one are extremely low, especially depending on the district. Today, there are
very few schools in North Carolina that have multiple Black male educators serving as teachers.
KIPP network and Movement Schools are among the few schools that have the presence of
Black male educators. KIPP currently has eight operating schools and a Black male population
of 6% (Whitfield, 2019). Movement has five operating schools and 3% of those educators are
Black males (Esquith, 2022). Though Black male educators make up just 2% of the educator
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population in the United States, Callahan’s (2020) research shows that they play a vital part in
education. Based on the current literature, what is known is that there is a dearth of Black men
teaching in K-12 schools. The absence of Black men in K-12 schools has a deleterious impact on
the academic progression and success of children of color, specifically Black male students.
However, what is not known is the perspectives of Black men regarding their absence in K-12
school, specifically as educators and administrators. If this problem is not addressed, Black male
students, specifically will not be able to benefit from the guidance and mentorship of a black
male teacher.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to gather perceptions about
what strategies can be used to encourage a greater number of Black men to join the K-12
teaching profession. The phenomenological design was appropriate for this study to provide
thorough descriptions from individuals by examining the perceptions and lived experiences of
Black male teachers regarding their underrepresentation in the educational profession (Williams,
2021). Approximately 15% of educators in North Carolina are Black (The Education Trust,
2020). In the larger districts of North Carolina, there has been an increase of Black male
educators within the past year (Lavigne, 2021). Currently, there are 277 Black male educators in
Durham Public Schools which is 11% of all its teachers. However, the make-up of Black male
teachers in Cumberland County Schools are 283, making up only 7% of the district’s total. The
sample size of this research was 10 Black males in North Carolina urban school districts, who
are between the ages of 25-35. These males were also selected based on those who are currently
or were previously educators within the last 10 years. I selected this number because according
to Dworkin (2021), 5 to 50 participants are adequate to reach data saturation when conducting
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qualitative research. I used the snowball sampling method because it allowed individuals to also
name others who meet the criteria of the research and study.
I reached out to Black male educators who meet the requirements. This was determined
by asking everyone their age and the amount of time they have spent in the education field. I also
conducted focus groups while purposeful homogenous sampling was used to identify qualified
participants based on their years in education and their experiences. These individuals are ones
who I had either worked with previously in an urban school setting school system or I had
networked with in the past years. I then set up interviews, conducted a data collection, and ended
with an analysis. Before the interview, I explained to each participant how the process of
answering each question will go. From there, the interview was conducted through Google Meet.
If I saw areas in which I believed the participant could elaborate more upon, I encouraged
additional conversation. The data collection process included in depth interviews that were
structured in a way that allowed the participants the opportunity to elaborate on their
perspectives and give their opinion on being a Black male educator in an urban school setting.
The goal of these conversations was to highlight Black male educators and how they perceive
teaching in urban schools. Lastly, the most suitable software that was used for the data analysis is
NVivo, a qualitative data analysis computer software package produced by QSR International
(2022). The analysis conducted was a thematic analysis (Caulfield, 2022). The results from the
thematic analysis informed the education practice regarding the factors that influenced the lack
of diversity within the teaching force of the K-12 education system.
Research Questions
This study addressed three research questions structured to address the research problem
for this qualitative research study. Data collection for all the research questions provided insights
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concerning the research, the statement of the problem, and the purpose statement. The goal of
this study was to establish an understanding of how well students perceived Black male
educators and the impact they have in the urban school setting. With this information, I was able
to conduct phenomenological research on the Black male educator, both past and present within
the last 10 years.
RQ1
What strategies do you believe should be implemented to recruit and retain more Black
males?
RQ2
How do Black male educators in North Carolina describe the influence that they have on
the academic performance of Black students?
RQ3
How do Black male educators describe the role of school districts in increasing the
recruitment of other Black male educators?
Theoretical Framework
For this study, three theories were utilized to help explain the interaction between Black
male educators and their students: Critical Race Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and
Sociocultural Theory. The critical race theory as it relates to K-12 education is defined as an
intellectual and social movement based on the premise that race is not a natural feature of
physically distinct subgroups of human beings, but a socially constructed category that is used to
oppress and exploit people of color (Duignan, 2021). This theory was developed in the 1970s,
but later revised by Crenshaw (2021), a law professor at the University of California, Los
Angeles School of Law, and Columbia Law School. Her overall goal was to understand how
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American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits Black individuals
against White individuals (Sawchuck, 2021). In 2021, the idea that K-12 children were being
taught the components of critical race theory (CRT) became a major political flashpoint (Burns,
2022). Many even believed the sole purpose of teaching CRT was to “demonize White people
and portray Black people as victims (Ladson-Billings, 2021). The question should not be
whether it is being taught in schools today, but should it be taught in schools today. is not a
natural feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings, but a socially constructed
category that is used to oppress and exploit people of color (Duignan, 2021). This theory was
developed in the 1970s, but later revised by Crenshaw (2021), a law professor at the University
of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and Columbia Law School. Her overall goal was to
understand how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits
Black individuals against White individuals (Sawchuck, 2021). In 2021, the idea that K-12
children were being taught some of the components of critical race theory (CRT) became a major
political flashpoint (Burns, 2022). Many even believed the sole purpose of teaching CRT was to
“demonize White people and portray Black people as victims (Ladson-Billings, 2021). The
question should not be whether it is being taught in schools today, but should it be taught in
schools today.
Albert Bandura, a Canadian American psychologist introduced Social cognitive theory in
1977 with hopes to highlight the importance of observing, modeling, and imitating the behaviors,
attitudes, and emotional reactions of others (McLeod, 2021). The purpose of Social cognitive
theory is to determine how personal factors and environmental factors influence learning and
behavior. However, Dr. Frank Pajares, published author and educational psychologist, argued
that social cognitive theory was like a triangle in which each aspect depends upon the other
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(Urquhart, 2017). Pajares believed that if a black male were born to a single parent (personal
factor), who lived in a poverty-stricken area with no positive role models (environmental factor),
this could lead to negative behavior (Williams, 2021). However, he also believed the
environment could be conquered if a familiar person modeled good behavior to be considered
purposeful and meaningful. This led to Pajares conducting a study which focused on the
emotional and behavioral modeling of Black male teachers and White female teachers with
Black male students in one classroom. During his observation, he asked the Black male students
two specific questions: 1. Do you feel that your behavior/performance is better in the classroom
of Black male teachers and 2. Why do you behave/perform better with Black male teachers than
White teachers? (Williams, 2021). The answers given by the students concluded that the
behavior or performance from Black male students were better because they could relate to
Black teachers. He also noted that because the Black male teacher looked like the Black male
students, they could easily relate to and respond to their teaching.
There have been extensive efforts in enhancing gender and racial representational parity
across the United States, primarily affected through distinct state and federal policies (Ingersoll,
2015). However, there had been efforts to address the challenge through addressing gender
parity, while disregarding the race element. There have been notable gaps and other racialized
educational challenges identified and remain unresolved, which explains the rationale for solving
the challenge (Ingersoll, 2015). Ironically, No Child Left Behind speaks solely to issues such as
achievement gaps within education (Lee, 2022). Practical approaches that have been affected at
distinct levels include increases in the debate for the benefits of high rates of black male teacher
scholarships. This is despite studies suggesting that black men usually provide distinct
instructional, social, and emotional support to the respective students under their guidance.
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According to Sun (2018), there is a need for transitioning the prevalent trends, which
usually begins with a positive impact in attitude and perception, for instance, concerning the
teaching profession among Black males. The prevalent underrepresentation of Black males in the
teaching profession has had a debilitating impact on the respective populace’s attitudes, interests,
and perceptions about the teaching profession over the past decades. However, the trend is
slowly transitioning with most individuals across society gradually joining the teaching
profession, with the objective of landing an employment opportunity from the government. The
area of focus is of notable social and practical interest as a considerable proportion of the Black
teachers, and other members of the Black community continually exude positive beliefs about
the Black learner's ability. It is noteworthy that such a trend is not as common among White
female counterparts. Unfortunately, this is because cultural relevance is lacking in lower income
school districts (Mensah, 2021).
Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory explained that learning occurs during social
interactions between individuals (Drew, 2021). In this theory, both the teachers and students
form relationships with hopes that it helps them perform better in the classroom. Vygotsky
believed that relationships as such could increase active participation and social interaction
during giving tasks. This theory ties naturally with the Role model effect. Both Sociocultural and
the Role model effect helps students excel in their academics by seeing individuals such as their
teacher or school leader being either of the same race or gender as them. Each theory also breaks
down stereotypical beliefs and empowers students to rise to the top, with the belief they could be
successful, because they were taught by a specific gender or race that they found to be relatable.
This framework was beneficial for my study because all three theories focused on
contextualizing race. It also highlighted self-perceptions, actions of others based on behavior,
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race and gender and the impact of socialization. In the long-term, each theory set a positive trend
that enhanced equality. Black students regardless of their grade level are considered
disadvantaged students because they often struggle compared to their White counterparts, to
achieve similar levels, and subsequently, struggles to meet minimum academic standards in the
identified key content areas. Ultimately, increasing the presence of Black male teachers directly
influences the Black learner’s interests to learn as Black teachers often play vital roles, such as
mentors, role models, and disciplinary agents for the Black population.
Definitions of Key Terms
Cultural relevance
Cultural relevance is pedagogy based on the demonstration of cultural competence by
teachers and their ability to teach in an intercultural or multicultural environment (Dessources,
2021).
Disadvantaged students
Disadvantaged students are those who have hindrances to excelling in school because of
detrimental circumstances beyond their control (Gobler, 2022). Gobler (2022) also believes that
these circumstances include financial and social hardships both as individuals and within the
students' families.
Diversity
Diversity in education refers to the range of identities that persist amongst a group of
individuals (Guilford, 2021).
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Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities are institutions of higher education founded
in the late 1790s to early 1800s on the belief that everyone deserves access to schooling
regardless of race (Historically Black Colleges and Universities Lifestyle, 2022).
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind is a Title I federal aid program that is geared towards lowering
achievement gaps of poverty students (Lee, 2022). Lee (2022) also states that the law was first
established as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 under President George W. Bush’s
Administration.
Role Model
A role model is a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others (Price-
Mitchell, 2022)
Urban School Setting
An urban school setting refers to a mode of learning and teaching that takes place in
urban areas (Teach NC, 2021).
Review of the Literature
The underrepresentation of Black male educators in the teaching profession has harmed
the learning of Black students and the Black community has lagged (Wicker, 2020). Although
Black students constitute half of the student population in the United States, Black male teachers
comprise only 2% of the profession. There have been many efforts to address the diversity
classroom issue by adding more Black male educators. The purpose of this study was to explore
the Black male perception regarding the lack of Black male educators within the K-12 school
setting. I conducted a qualitative study to understand the perspective of these Black male
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educators regarding the inadequate number that they represent in the United States teaching
profession.
This study sought to review previous research articles that surrounded Black male
teachers. The literature focused on four major areas including role modeling, culture, gender-
matching, and pedagogy. In particular, the study examined the previous studies surrounding
Black male teachers, then explored the major works of these teachers, and finally examined the
previous studies on the perspective of black male educators about the lack of them within the K-
12 setting. From there, I provided a literary summary offering the primary points of focus. This
literature review aimed to provide the foundation of knowledge on the topic of how students
respond to Black male educators, specifically in the urban school setting. It helps the researchers
ascertain aspects of previous studies to eliminate the possibility of duplication and offer credit to
other investigators. Moreover, it helped identify inconsistencies such as gaps in research, open
questions left from existing research, and conflicts evident in previous research.
The main statements that were used to find the article comprised Black male educators in
the United States, the lack of Black male educators within the K-12 setting, and the perspective
of the underrepresented population. The research databases that were searched include Ebsco,
ProQuest, and Cambridge Books Online. Searching relevant databases ensured that the articles
found are in context and aligned with the project topic and intended outcome. The database
search strategy that I used consists of including Boolean operators in the search tabs to narrow
down the articles that were listed. Also, Google Scholar provided journal articles associated with
the topic of the underrepresented population of Black male educators in the United States, by
providing in-depth and relevant information and helping find substantial insights.
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Black educators make up only 6.8% of the United States teaching population, while black
male represent only 2% of K-12 schoolteachers (Young & Young, 2020). This study reinforced
the worth of national scholarly discussion concerning Black male teachers and moved the debate
to practice with a focus on informing policies and processes, instructional practices, and teacher
education programs. It created a strategy for transformation by bringing social justice as it
concerns minority students and an overdue opportunity to bridge the achievement gap. Though
Black educators represent less than 7% of the United States teaching profession, Black male
educators constitute 15% of North Carolina’s teaching profession (Underwood, 2019). There has
been a rise in Black male educators during the last year evident in the larger districts of North
Carolina. For instance, there are about 277 Black male teachers in Durham Public Schools,
amounting to 11% of the entire teaching profession. However, in Wake County, the number of
Black male educators is less than 316 accounting for 3% (Underwood, 2019). To understand the
perspectives of Black male educators regarding the limited number of Black teachers, I used the
target population of 10 Black teachers in the United States aged between 25 and 35 who are
currently employed or were formerly employed. Having opinions, and insights from Black male
educators provided a basis for understanding this gap and crafting strategies to address the
inadequacies. Because the performance gap between Black and White students has existed for
ages and still exists today, many researchers have been inspired to investigate the teaching
methods used with Black students to address this issue (Okezie, 2018). A study from the Urban
Review regarding motivation and academic achievement implies that success can be reached
when educators move away from traditional teaching approaches and toward teaching strategies
that reflect the individual student (Okezie, 2018).
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Since its establishment, the public education system in the United States has operated to
prepare achievers to succeed. According to the Center for National Education Policy (2021),
schools were established to better all students' socioeconomic stations, educate students in a way
that allows them to compete in a global society, celebrate differences, and make all students self-
defined and self-sufficient (Okezie, 2018). Inclusion and assistance for all students should not be
limited to the lines of poverty against affluence, immigrant versus native-born, Black versus
White, or, in this case, Black male students versus other learners (Okezie, 2018). It is difficult to
overlook the truth that Black students suffer significant obstacles today, as seen by national
statistics on education from the Noble Education Initiative (2022) unemployment, and
imprisonment. The educational experiences of Black scholars have drawn much attention over
the previous four decades (Okezie, 2018).
The themes that emerged from this study were the historical background of the Black
culture and education, the effect of race, stereotypical threats, instructing Black students, the
importance of student-teacher relationships and the Black educator. Other themes included the
findings of a Black male educator and their expectations, reflections from the Black male
educators of urban schools or districts, the retention of Black male educators, the benefits of
having a Black male educator, and the gaps in literature regarding the Black male educator.
During this time, I used the Northcentral University Library to conduct research and plan to use
EBSCOhost (2022) and JSTOR (2022) as supplemental databases. The search terms used were
Cultural relevance, Disadvantaged students, Diversity, Historically Black Colleges, and
Universities, No Child Left Behind, Role Model, and Urban School Setting.
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Historical Background of the Black Culture and Education
Black achievers are frequently viewed as a population in danger in education (Bowman et
al., 2018). Historically, they have been represented as culturally and socially aberrant, criminally
minded, and academically incapable within a derogatory, deficiency paradigm (Anderson, 2018).
These expressions frequently elicit strong negative feelings, reinforcing preconceptions about
Black scholars prevalent in the media (Anderson, 2018). Schools are supposed to produce
competent, literate, and contributing individuals who are well-versed in the theory and practice
of education (Anderson, 2018). Education has evolved significantly since John Dewey's time,
and instruction has grown more scrutinized; nonetheless, school's essential values and systems
have remained the same. Most schools have inherently failed to engage and, as a result,
appropriately educate Black learners for adulthood within the confines of a still racially
segregated society (Allen & Liou, 2018). Ironically, half of Black students, especially males do
not get their high school diploma or G.E.D in four years (Allen & Liou, 2018).
Blacks' educational journey has been marked by both accomplishments and losses. In
1799, Washington and Lee University admitted John Chavis, the first Black on record to attend
college (Thurgood Marshall College Fund, 2022). However, Alexander Lucius Twilight was the
first Black to have earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 1823 (Historically
Black Colleges and Universities) First, 2022). Most of the Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, also known as HBCUs were founded between 1865-1900, with the largest number
of institutions being founded in 1867, just two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. These
colleges include Alabama State University, Barber-Scotia College, Fayetteville State University,
Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University,
Saint Augustine’s University and Talladega College (Freemark, 2018).
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According to Ladson Billings (2000), the educational and cultural Black experience is
unique since they were the only ethnic group brought to the United States against their choice
and exploited through racial servitude (Allen & Liou, 2018). Enslaved people in the United
States were legally prohibited from attending school, prompting anti-literacy legislation, which
barred Blacks from receiving any official or informal education (Allen & Liou, 2018). These
anti-literacy laws were meant to quell enslaved and free Blacks' resistance and insurrection
(Allen & Liou, 2018). Teaching Blacks to read and write was considered a crime from 1800 to
1835. Enslaved Blacks were brutalized or killed if they were detected reading or writing (Allen
& Liou, 2018). Nonetheless, Blacks' ambition to become read sparked debate, and despite these
prohibitions, many Blacks persisted, risking their lives in the process, and were successful in
achieving a level of literacy. The same way that it was a crime for Black to read or write, is the
same way it was ruled constitutional for Blacks and Whites to have separate accommodations.
Plessy v. Ferguson was an important Supreme court case that occurred in 1896 ruling the
legality of racial segregation (Bill of Rights Institute, 2022). During the time of the ruling,
segregation amongst Blacks and Whites already existed in the South. This segregation occurred
in public facilities and transportations, schools, and restaurants. The Supreme Court ruled that
segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This
amendment stated that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person
of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law (Cornell Law School, 2022). In other
words, the amendment provided a “separate but equal” doctrine to all U.S. citizens, regardless of
race.
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In 1954, just 58 years after the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, Brown v. The Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas ruled that separate accommodations based on race were unequal
and unconstitutional (Rothstein, 2018). This ruling was considered a milestone in American
history because it began an extensive process of racial segregation within schools. Many Black
families felt that their children were not getting a quality education as White families, therefore
they decided to fight for such equality. Currently, Brown v. The Board of Education ruled that
public schools must integrate. As imagined, this case created tremendous controversy within the
United States. Although the Fourteenth Amendment, when adopted in 1868, gave certain rights
to Blacks, including citizenship, equal protection of law and other freedoms, Blacks were
considered inferior by White in the country (Warren, 2019).
Although HBCUs were originally founded to educate Black students, they enroll
students of other races as well. The composition of HBCUs has changed over time. In 2020, non-
Black scholars made up 24% of enrollment at HBCUs, compared with 15% in 1976 (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2022). In May 2022, HBCUs are expected to confer
approximately 50,000 degrees: 11% being associate degrees, 69% being bachelor’s degrees, 14
percent being master’s degrees, and 6% being Doctoral degrees.
The Effect of Race Within K-12 Schools
More than 90% of classroom teachers in the United States are White, according to the
National Education Association (NCES, 2014), and they are increasingly instructing children
from cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds other than their own, particularly in high-
poverty urban areas where Black and Latino's students account for 69 percent of total enrollment
(Harris et al., 2019). Moreover, ethnic, socioeconomic, and racial differences between instructors
and their students are likely to widen shortly due to the underrepresentation of students of color
22
in teacher preparation programs and population increase in racially and ethnically diverse
communities.
According to the National Education Association (NCES, 2014), more than 90% of
classroom teachers in the United States are White, and they are instructing children from
cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds other than their own. These backgrounds are
particularly in high-poverty urban areas where Black and Latino's students account for 69
percent of total enrollment. These disparities or misalignments can sabotage efforts to promote
safe and responsive learning environments for all kids. Further research stated that assigning
Black learners to a teacher of the same race or ethnicity had a beneficial impact on reading goals
and a substantial impact on math achievement (Brosh, 2020).
When grading students' externalizing actions, Bates and Glick (2018) discovered
persistent racial/ethnic inequalities in teacher ratings and that instructors' ratings tended to be
compatible with preconceptions associated with specific racial and ethnic groups. A study
conducted from the International Journal of Educational Reform, found that racial congruence
was positively connected with work satisfaction when the racial composition of learners was
equal to or above 70% of the whole student population and the teacher was of the same race as
most of the children at the school (Liou et al., 2019). However, when teachers were from the
same racial or ethnic group as the students, the scores were less comparable with stereotyped
assumptions. According to the findings of their study, Black scholars are more likely to be
labeled as having externalized or troublesome behaviors at school. However, when teachers were
from the same racial or ethnic group as the students, the ratings were less consistent with
stereotyped assumptions.
23
Stereotype Threats
According to Msibi (2018), Black learners may experience a self-fulfilling prophecy due
to their low-performance goals. This emphasizes the significance of the stereotype danger. When
a student believes he or she might be judged by a negative stereotype, they tend to reduce their
academic involvement and achievement (Perry et al, 2018). People who belong to marginalized
groups, such as Black students, may wonder if their group is valued in inclusive settings,
particularly in settings where their group has been previously prejudiced against or stereotyped,
according to Purdie-Vaughs et al., (2018)
Steele et al. (2018) conducted a famous study to determine how stereotype threat affects
academic achievement. In comparison to White scholars, making Black scholars subject to
unfavorable assumptions about their intellectual abilities decreased their standard test results
(Msibi, 2018). Furthermore, they discovered that simply recording the race of Black learners was
enough to degrade their performance (Wright, 2017). Cohen et al (2018) discovered that
students' anxieties of confirming negative preconceptions about their race impacted their
achievement, but that when given a reinforcing job, they were able to boost their grade
dramatically.
Teaching Black Students
Black students are routinely stigmatized, underinformed, and neglected in classrooms,
and they are regularly depicted unfavorably in the succeeding. The Black cultural identity has
also been omitted from education to diminish its importance as a component of Black scholars'
learning (Koonce, 2018). Educators tend to downgrade and overlook the expectations of Black
students, particularly males because of this practice of labeling and cultural exclusion
(Brockenbrough, 2018). Watson (2019) investigated how educators in a graduate-level teacher
24
education program categorized and measured students and their school placements using a term
associated with race and class beliefs. According to the findings, "urban" altered teacher
expectations based on students' perceived behaviors, values, and beliefs. Educators would have
negative expectations of students and their schools if they were more urban (Allen & Liou,
2018). These same educators had reasonable expectations of their students and their schools if
they were thought to be less urban (Brockenbrough, 2018). The term "urban" was considered a
way to speak about race without using race words.
Smith and Watson (2019) surveyed teachers in urban schools to learn more about their
thoughts on their work. They discovered that most teachers were unprepared to teach in high-
poverty urban schools throughout their teacher education programs, which led to the teachers
having difficulty communicating with their scholars and managing their classes (Allen & Liou,
2018). The study highlighted the teachers' dislikes of their teaching, classrooms, students, and
pupils' social environments. According to the report, teachers struggled to motivate children to
learn, leading them to lower their academic goals and competence levels for their students
(Institute for African and African American Studies, 2018).
If teacher education programs and school districts continue to instruct Black students in
urban schools using the same old teaching approaches, these students will continue to receive the
same academic results (Koonce, 2018). Furthermore, these researchers acknowledge that
educators of poverty students must learn the difference between controlling students through
oppressive, traditional, teacher-centered teaching methods versus alternative teaching methods
that emphasize the student as a decision-maker and creator of an educational environment
(Koonce, 2018). According to McCollough (2021), Black pupils are frequently marginalized in
educational settings. He claims that this dismissal is due to a lack of cultural competence among
25
teachers of Black learners. As a result, Black achievers’ actions and behaviors are frequently
misinterpreted.
The Importance of Student-Teacher Relationships
A healthy student-teacher relationship is necessary for effective education, and it has
been linked to high academic accomplishment. The student-teacher relationship has also been
demonstrated to be influenced by racial and ethnic disparities in attitudes and communication
(Liou & Rotheram-Fuller, 2016). Despite decades of studies highlighting the importance of
educators and students' attitudes toward one another, little is known about how the student-
teacher connection is formed, particularly between Black scholars and their teachers.
Liou and Rotheram-Fuller (2018) argued that four things must be established on day one
for student-teacher relationships to work: trust, respect, communication, and discipline. It is
critical to show that a classroom is a safe place for all students and that respect is always
demanded. Furthermore, if Black scholars do not trust their teachers, they may be more
suspicious of their teachers' intentions. Pearson (2013) once stated that students do not learn
from teachers they do not like. According to a previous study, Black learners establish less trust
and cooperate less with professors who do not get to know them personally (Liou & Rotheram-
Fuller, 2016). This also aligns with Travis Boykin's (2014) research, which found that students
need a sense of mutual trust and encouragement from teachers to feel comfortable asking for
help, raising questions, and announcing what they do not know to others.
Boykin (2018) also demonstrated that individuals who understand learning processes
recognize that learning, by definition, exposes a student's intellectual vulnerabilities and compels
them to declare, often publicly, what they do not know or cannot do or do well right now. Open
channels of contact between teachers and students are required for these things to happen.
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According to Baruti Kafele (2009), Black male teachers must be able to convey to their Black
pupils that they care about their total growth and wellbeing in addition to their academic
progress. More Black male educators are needed in the classroom, but oftentimes, they are only
viewed as disciplinarians, which is why they tend to move out of the classroom. When thinking
about the retention of this specific group of educators, what happens when a Black educator does
not see Administration as one of their goals and they would like to have influence in the
classroom only? Does this deem them as being unwilling to cooperate or disrespectful to their
higher ups, potentially causing them to not be asked back the following year?
The Black Male Educator
Current data has revealed that Black male educators make up 2% of the U.S. teaching
workforce, demonstrating the massive gap in teacher workforce diversity (Young and Young,
2020). This same data further explains that White females make up about 80% of the educator
workforce. This research reveals that urban schools and school districts have been dominated by
Black scholars, yet such areas have few Black male educators. This makes it difficult for Black
achievers to access appropriate guidance, perspective, and understanding that can be provided by
such educators. As a result, there is a need to develop and implement measures to mitigate the
identified trend and reinforce efforts that escalate the racial diversity of Black male teachers.
The United States Department of Education reports on its continued efforts and
dedication toward increasing the teaching force of Black male educators (2022). This is informed
by the realization that Black male educators play a vital role in spearheading equity in the
education system. Recent literature associates standardized diversity with improved learner
benefits in the long term (Wicker, 2020). The Black student population is estimated to have
made up about 56% of the total learner population by the year 2024. However, most of the
27
workforce in the elementary and secondary levels are chiefly of White descent. Reports from an
independent survey showed the U.S teaching workforce in public institutions is made up of about
82% of White educators (Will, 2020). There is an identified need of improving teacher diversity
due to the potential benefits it confers to learners, and in impacting the achievement gap in
society.
Over the last two decades, research on the identified cohort indicates that their proportion
was 2% of the total public-school teachers in the U.S workforce (Ali, 2021). Other findings also
depict that the Black male educator community incorporates different teaching styles, which
primarily draws on historical and cultural traditions to help meet the diverse learner needs
(Madkins, 2011). It is apparent that the learning outcomes of Blacks achievers improve when
taught by a same-race teacher. These scholars have been found to respond more effectively to
instructors who share similar features in respect to their social identity (Hines & Hines, 2020.)
As such, a decision to increase the number of Black male educators is integral in helping mediate
the presenting social needs and help in filling the prevalent opportunity gaps in the teacher's
school experiences.
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Findings of the Black Male Educator
The United States Department of Education reports on its continued efforts and
dedication toward increasing the teaching force of Black male educators (2022). This is
informed by the realization that Black male educators play a vital role in spearheading
equity in the education system. Recent literature associates standardized diversity with
improved learner benefits in the long term (Wicker, 2020). The Black student population
is estimated to have made up about 56% of the total learner population by the year 2024.
However, most of the workforce in the elementary and secondary levels are chiefly of
White descent. Reports from an independent survey showed the U.S teaching workforce
in public institutions is made up of about 82% of White educators (Will, 2020). There is
an identified need of improving teacher diversity due to the potential benefits it confers to
learners, and in impacting the achievement gap in society.
Currently, a large body of research has maintained its focus on Black male educators,
which includes aspects such as their professional trajectories and social identities. Over the last
two decades, research on the identified cohort indicates that their proportion was 2% of the total
public-school teachers in the U.S workforce (Ali, 2021). Other findings also depict that the Black
male educator community incorporates different teaching styles, which primarily draws on
historical and cultural traditions to help meet the diverse learner needs (Madkins, 2011). It is
apparent that the learning outcomes of Blacks achievers improve when taught by a same-race
teacher. These scholars have been found to respond more effectively to instructors who share
similar features in respect to their social identity (Hines & Hines, 2020.) As such, a decision to
29
increase the number of Black male educators is integral in helping mediate the presenting social
needs and help in filling the prevalent opportunity gaps in the teacher's school experiences.
Expectations of a Black Male Educator
Many ethnic minority students feel compelled to create a personal relationship with their
teachers without continuous parenting. Steele (2019) discovered that low instructor expectations
cause pupils to dis-identify with educational contexts or produce emotional responses that
directly damage performance (Rust, 2016). According to Van Houtte and Van Maele (2021),
when children believe they cannot succeed, they lose interest in school, become inattentive,
withdrawn, and disruptive, and have a lower attachment to it. Positive relationships with
teachers, meanwhile, may be especially useful to pupils who do not have strong relationships
with their parents, according to a study (Wright, 2017).
Ehrenberg et al (2018) discovered that teachers' ethnicity, race, and gender impacted
teachers' subjective evaluations of their students in their extensive study. According to
McCullough (2020), race continues to be the most key contributor to the preparation of teachers'
perceptions. Teachers reported lower expectations when most students in a school were low
performing, as opposed to the middle class and ethnic minority or upper cultural and race
majority (Rust, 2016). Educators who are of a different race other than Black had much lower
expectations for Black scholars, according to Gershenson et al (2018).
In the context of student discipline, teacher expectations can also be considered.
According to Gregory, Cornell, and Fan, the degree to which students believed their teachers
pushed them to work hard and complete difficult assignments was linked to a reduced likelihood
of suspension (Msibi, 2018). There were considerable correlations among school-wide
suspension rates and students' perceptions of their teachers' high academic standards, caring, and
30
polite behavior (Msibi, 2018). Previous studies had found a link between teachers' expectations
for student performance and the growth of students' academic self-concept and performance over
time.
Teaching in an Urban School or School District as a Black Male Educator
Scholars who live in metropolitan areas face a range of difficulties. These learners from
urban communities typically come to school unwell, hungry, without proper housing or social
and emotional support, and from families in hardship, according to Noguera (2021).
Furthermore, according to Gregory et al. (2021), many urban scholars face adversities such as
poverty, violence, and substance addiction. "The gunshot that rang past an apartment window
and the terror and worry that occurred produces a reality that is nearly impossible for an outsider
to fully appreciate," is an example of one educator’s experiences as a student and educator of
urban children (Mccune, 2018).
According to Noguera and Wells (2021), concentrated poverty in urban neighborhoods,
as well as the adverse social and economic conditions that often accompany it, has an impact on
students' academic and social supports outside of school, and their safety, wellbeing, and healthy
as parents' and schools' ability to develop social capital. Due to their location in low-income
neighborhoods, urban schools lack resources. Urban schools are frequently underfunded than
more affluent suburban schools (Institute for African and African American Studies, 2018). As a
result, they frequently have underqualified teachers and overcrowded classrooms. According to
research conducted by Gbolo & Grier-Reed (2018), a percentage of Black students' poor
academic performance can be attributed to family issues, peer pressure, health issues, and
financial worries. Furthermore, these scholars wished for more educators to understand why they
31
are late to school, why their schoolwork is unfinished, and why they are disengaged in school
when they have other concerns.
Urban schools further disadvantage their students due to the lower quality of their faculty,
and teachers in high-poverty schools are far more likely to be paid less and work under
circumstances that hinder their attempts to teach effectively than their counterparts who teach in
more advantaged groups (Gbolo & Grier-Reed, 2016). Teaching in an urban school or school
district entails garnering students' cooperation and assuring academic advancement while also
resolving the students' ethics, identity, social, cultural, and safety concerns (Gbolo & Grier-Reed,
2016). Urban scholars may "lack parental care, care, guidance, respect, and compassion,"
according to Dryfoos (2018), and they may have poor communication with adults in their
households. Interactions between Black educators and their scholars become even more crucial
considering this, according to several experts who have researched urban education and the
characteristics of urban children and adolescents (Gbolo & Grier-Reed, 2016). "The finest Black
educators, particularly male demonstrate warmth and care to their students and place a premium
on the development of their connections with students as a pathway to student progress," Gbolo
said.
However, it has increasingly been known that Black male educators in urban schools
have a high turnover rate. Because teachers are the essential in-school resource, the United
States' inability to enhance the teaching force and distribute it contributes to an opportunity gap
for Black learners (Gbolo & Grier-Reed, 2016). This is particularly troubling because Grier-Reed
discovered that the detrimental impacts of turnover on academic achievement are stronger for
low-performing and Black scholars than for their other counterparts (Gbolo & Grier-Reed,
2016). Teachers who are unprepared to deal with cultural norms mismatches and the obstacles to
32
teaching in urban communities have been linked to high turnover rates. If educators are
unfamiliar with urban communities, it might be difficult for them to be effective in the classroom
(Harris et al., 2019). Most educators and staff commute to work and have little knowledge of or
connection to their kids' lives outside of the classroom. Principal Baruti Kafele (2019) stated that
“instructors who have never lived in the inner city, regardless of ethnicity, can probably never
fathom, much less endure, the difficulties that many of their children confront.”
All educators, not just Black male must make a concentrated effort to remain aware of
students' daily experiences while also keeping in mind that these learners will not openly
communicate these experiences unless specifically asked (Harris et al., 2019). This lack of
preparation is because only a small number of teacher education programs provide significant
instruction on how to interact effectively with ethnically diverse kids and families and scholars
living in urban poverty, making it impossible to build relationships.
Retaining Black Male Educators to Improve Learner Outcomes
The lack of diverse representation in America’s education system is a critical challenge,
with distinct negative detriments. In addition to their low recruitment rate compared to their
White teacher's counterparts, there is also a high rate of turnover among those employed, despite
the recognized need to retain such teachers as a means of helping narrow the prevalent
achievement gap and improve learner outcomes in the long term. Interviews on Black male
educators regarding their reasons for leaving public schools indicated challenging working
conditions as the most cited factor. This pointed towards the need to address the atmosphere,
through measures, such as reducing the available emphasis on factors, like standardized state
testing (Bristol, 2021). Employing such measures is imperative in improving teacher retention
rates and overall learner outcomes. Thus, ethno-racial diversity in the teaching profession is a
33
positive factor in improving student outcomes (Achinstein et al., 2010). For example, results
garnered from evaluating Black learners through standardized exams depicted improved results
when the examinations were administered by a Black educator, compared to when a White
teacher administered such. From the analysis, it can be deduced that the presence of Black
educators improves the Black scholar’s outcome.
Despite this convincing evidence of the positive role of the Black male educator, the
overall number of American teachers who are non-White in public schools constituted 20%,
hence 79% is composed of White female educators (Will, 2020). The shortage is exacerbated by
Black teachers' high rates of turnover, which is valued at 18%, contrary to that of the non-black
teachers at 15%. Stringent approaches to mitigate against such presenting detriments include
engaging in diversity campaign efforts across all regions (Same et al., 2018). The education
system should also devise ways to increase teacher flexibility to address issues with unfavorable
work environments. Importantly, the largest responsibility is on the policymakers as they should
continuously assess and evaluate the impact of the new and existing policies.
Communities may also speak to the shortage of Black male educators, especially in urban
schools. When the lack of Black male educators is evident, public-school administrators must be
intentional in their hiring process, especially regarding employing this specific gender and race
(Redding, 2019). They must also make their retention a priority, through approaches such as
making the teaching jobs more attractive to the Black male applicants, and scheduling training
within the faculties to help increase the understanding of the unique and overall challenges
experienced by Black teachers and subsequently, devise ways to mitigate against them.
34
Benefits of Black Male Educators
The assumption about Black male educators being effective mentors for Black scholars is
supported by a wealth of research. For instance, some researchers argue that embedding a
culturally relevant curriculum would enable Black male educators to devise unique instructional
experiences that would help in improving their abilities (Young & Young, 2020). Besides, the
teacher cohort would help to moderate the school-to-prison pipeline, especially among the Black
achievers as they can positively impact the learners’ conflict resolution skills, which are integral
in mitigating the prevalent cultural discontinuity in public schools.
Black male educators also serve as disciplinary agents within schools and school districts,
who are stereotyped as being hyper masculine and oppositional to the standard norms and
expectations at school and in society. However, being depicted as such breeds a notable
challenge as schools often require them to project certain traits and disciplinary practices, which
cannot always be the case. Trends also show that despite Black male educators having the
capacity to serve all students, they are considered assets in schools, hence end up serving
significantly large populations, which presents a challenge as the role negates their potential
roles as productive instructors.
Gaps in the Literature Regarding Black Male Educators
There is an identified need for researchers focusing on the experiences of Black male
educators to expand their scope, to incorporate the complex aspects of diverse racial, gender, and
professional identities. It is noteworthy that most available research studies represent the
experiences of heterosexual and normative gender (Woodson & Bristol, 2020). However, efforts
towards disrupting the presentations should be leveraged to improve the black male teacher
experiences and retention in the education system. Besides, improving the learning conditions of
35
the students necessitates an in-depth understanding of the social expectations and patterns of
engagement between the Black male instructors, and the learner population designated as
vulnerable. As such, the identified areas will help in an improved understanding of the inclusive
findings on race and gender in the teaching profession.
The Unique Contribution of the Lack of Black Male Educators in the United States
Articles put notable emphasis on examining interrelationships between social identities
among Black male educators, and the subsequent interrelationship between their respective
social identities and professionalism. The provided comprehensive evaluation of the impact of
racial inequality on education offers a robust theoretical foundation that forms the basis for filing
the prevalent empirical gap in the domain (Grooms et al., 2021). There is a range of guiding
questions that helps in the analysis, including what it means to be a Black male within the
teaching profession, and in evaluating the aims of the racial factor in the education domain. The
material also presents the implications and recommendations for the distinct stakeholders in the
American education system to improve their respective experiences and the conditions, and
factors found to negatively affect the educational domain. The work also helps in identifying
other gaps in research. For example, district members across school systems agree that the
absence of Black male educators garnered experiences outside the districts of the United States
(Johnson, 2021). Therefore, the diverse manuscripts and pieces of the projects that are used in
informing the research help chart a new landscape for the aspects of educational research relating
to Black male instructors (Redding, 2019). As such, they serve as vital elements in spearheading
the research and debate on the impact of Black male educators in the United States, with a
potential for advanced and in-depth results.
36
While race and racism are at the forefront of national news, school districts and leaders
have shown divergence as they believe that discussing race in the school system is unacceptable
(Sawchuck, 2021). Though race and culture are important topics to be discussed, most
curriculum companies are beginning to remove racial context from their resources, forcing
teachers to not discuss it. (Edelstein, 2022). To fail to honestly represent the racism of past and
present is itself a crime. However, companies like the Lavina Group (2022) have displayed
convergence in noting that race should be taught, and they shine light on it within their
curriculum from grade Kindergarten through 12th grade. They offer close reading novels,
humanities lessons, and math word problems; all of which highlight minority characters in which
learners to whom identify as minority can relate. Some examples include Let the Children March
(2018) by Monica Clark-Robinson, The Crossover (2015) by Kwame Alexander and Make Way
for Dyamonde Daniel (2009) by Nikki Grimes. In truth, if topics such as race and racism are not
discussed or talked about in schools, especially urban districts, Black learners specifically will
suffer. They will not know their history and most importantly, they will not know how to
overcome adversity.
Ethical Assurances
This research study followed ethical guidelines that included protection of the
participants, a written and electronic consent form, and measures to protect the anonymity and
confidentiality of all involved. These guidelines fell within the scope of the Belmont Report
(2022). Furthermore, prior to any data being collected, I sought approval for this study from the
Northcentral University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). This was available to my Chair and
encrypted throughout. This process involved me selecting software used specifically for
encrypting data and outlining the specifics for the Chair. Before beginning the research, I
37
conversed with each participant involved to go over the overall purpose of the study, time and
gain their informed consent. From there, I protected the confidentiality of the research by
deleting all individual identifier components and I informed participants that they may decline
the interview at any stage of this study. Following this part of the study, I had the written
transcripts secured as well. Participants could view them to check for accuracy regarding items
said and discussed using DocuSign (2022). I had no preconceived notions of the individuals who
will participate in this research. I also had no prior conversations regarding the subject matter of
this study. Lastly, to prevent biases, I recognized that biases could occur in all research. I then
planned to be clear on what it is that I would like to achieve with this study. I was intentional
with the selection of individuals used in my study, such as identifying a specific age range and
selecting those who can speak to my topic and provide accurate feedback. I also kept track and
documented all pieces regarding the research which reduced the chance of me making an error in
a journal. A member check of transcripts was conducted to protect trustworthiness. All data was
analyzed properly and will be stored for three years using iCloud or Google Drive, then it will be
destroyed.
Summary
The educational system in the United States has seen a major shift in the demographics of
students over the past two decades (National Center for Educational Information, 2021).
Ironically, the teaching profession has remained stagnant with white females dominating the
profession (Will, 2020). As Black male educators make up just 2% of the teaching profession in
the United States, this qualitative study will examine the perceptions and lived experiences of the
population as it has been underrepresented for many years. The inequalities make it challenging
for Black students to achieve or access appropriate guidance, understanding, and perspective that
38
can be offered by educators. Therefore, there is a need to increase the teaching force of Black
male educators to play a vital role in reinforcing equity within the education system.
Minority students are expected to develop a personal relationship with their teachers to
enhance their academic and social performance. Teachers’ ethnicity, race, and gender can
address this issue by facilitating subjective evaluations of their students. Moreover, when
teachers have elevated expectations of students’ performance, the learners feel pushed to
complete challenging assignments to meet the ambitious standards set by their educators. Urban
school students are faced with life challenges such as poverty, insecurity, violence, and substance
addiction, an educator from such a background would know how to manage such students.
Therefore, retaining Black male educators to enhance the learner outcome is vital. It will increase
diverse representation in public school systems and address evident gaps.
Multiple factors are viewed as reasons for the lack of Black male educators in the
profession. Some include low salary, constant views as disciplinarians, which lead to
administrator roles, or personal views or experiences from previous teachers. This study focused
on these factors with hopes of discovering the motivation of 10 Black men to enter the teaching
profession, the overall reason for the shortage of Black male educators, the belief that having an
increased number of Black male educators could potentially improve the academic performance
of Black students and identified strategies to help recruit the underrepresented population. Being
a teacher in an urban school or school district entails garnering students' cooperation and
assuring academic advancement while also resolving the students' ethics, identity, social,
cultural, and safety concerns. Therefore, the benefits of Black male educators are evident and the
working conditions in urban schools or districts must be addressed.
39
Section 2: Methodology and Design
The problem that was addressed in this study is the lack of Black male educators within
the K-12 teaching profession. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to
increase the number of Black male educators in the K-12 teaching force. The lack of Black male
educators within the K-12 teaching profession has become a serious challenge that demands the
attention of education stakeholders (Underwood, 2019). This teaching profession has been
dominated by white women (Will, 2020). The lack of Black male educators has immensely
impacted Black students, as demonstrated in a study by Callahan, hence why it is important to
determine strategies and plans to increase this number (2020). Callahan (2020) has shown that
the lack of Black male educators in the K-12 teaching profession has increased the likelihood of
Black male students dropping out of high school. Callahan (2020) has further revealed that the
presence of Black teachers reduces the discipline rates of students who are also Black. According
to a study conducted by the National Center for Education, male educators make up only 23% of
the entire field of education. Out of the 23% of male educators, the National Center of Education
statistics show that Black male educators only comprise 2% of the entire teachers’ population
across the United States schools’ system (Underwood & Robert, 2020).
Hanford (2017) conducted a study that revealed Black male teachers in the United States
are usually assigned to schools with poor working conditions; a situation that leads to a high
turnover rate. Due to the many challenges that Black male teachers have been subjected to in the
United States, Hanford’s study also showed that most Black individuals, regardless of gender, no
longer consider teaching careers after completing their training and/or orientation at their
assigned school sites. This could be for many reasons, but the top reason is in the data of student
performance. The small number of Black males considering teaching while in college, has
40
further led to an elevated shortage of Black male teachers in the United States, causing a
disproportion in how Black male educators are represented in the K-12 system. As a result, there
is a highly minimal chance for K-12 students to have a Black teacher, based on the district. This
study aims to investigate the current challenge associated with the shortage of K-12 Black male
educators in the United States, the contributing factors to this problem, and the education
stakeholders' recommendations to address this problem. Section 2 of this study provides details
of the methodology and design, the research methodology's justification, and the specific design
and method. This section also details alternative research designs and methods and the reason for
the choice. Lastly, I discussed the data analysis procedure, while highlighting the sample
population, materials and instrumentation, operational definitions of variables, assumptions,
limitations, and delimitations provided.
Design and Method
The proposed study utilized a qualitative methodology with a phenomenological design.
A phenomenological research design is one of many qualitative research methods, an inquiry
method designed to explore human and social phenomenon research to describe several
individuals' shared experiences (Mckoy, 2022). This study is an interpretive description offering
an introspective, reflective, and pensive revelation of Black male educators' efforts to secure a
job in the teaching profession. I chose qualitative research over quantitative research because this
methodology particularly focuses on understanding the perceptions and views of others (Carol,
2016). It also helped in the interaction among respondents, as I depended on their comments,
perceptions, views, opinions, and ideas. Quantitative methodology also uses statistics and
measures relationships among variables which is not required for my research (Bhandari, 2020).
41
The purpose of using a phenomenological approach is because this study is situated
within the qualitative research technique to help understand the employment route for Black
males looking to teach and further explore whether the aspects of gender and race are barriers to
Black males becoming teachers. I decided on this approach opposed to ethnography because it
consists of a large amount of data to be worked through making it to be a time-consuming
method beyond even the interview process itself (Francis, 2018). Other methods are narrative
research and case studies and grounded theory. I did not select the narrative inquiry because it is
designed as a story or has a story-like structure (Quinn, 2021). Though I expected my
participants to explain their lived experiences as a Black male educator, the dialogue was not
discussed as though they were telling me a story. I opted out of completing a case study because
although the purpose of this method is to gather facts, the foundation of what is gathered is
opinions. This is because, instead of using an objective method when evaluating data, it uses
subjective, which at that point, adds another layer of error (Miller, 2020). Lastly, grounded
theory was not selected as a method because researchers need to be much more skillful in using
grounded theory methods than other research methods and I am not as familiar with it, than I am
with phenomenological approach (Bryant, 2017).
Population and Sample
The target population that was used is Black male educators in urban schools in the state
of North Carolina. A sample size of 10 Black K-12 male teachers who are currently teaching or
taught in the last 10 years was used. According to Dworkin (2021), five to fifty participants are
adequate to reach data saturation when conducting this type of research. The sample size is a
research term used for defining the number of individuals included in a research study to
represent a population (Kibuacha, 2021). When I identified the sample size number, I was
42
intentional because it is appropriate and a study which is too small is more likely to generate
inconclusive, incorrect, or false results. A study that is too large faces the same issue and
potentially leads to wasted time (University of Connecticut Office of Research, 2022).
The purposive sampling method was used in this study. This involved the researcher
using expertise to choose a sample most useful for achieving this study's purpose. The
participants were not compensated for taking part in the study. However, the participants could
withdraw from the study without barriers. Note that withdrawal of their information from the
study was limited to three weeks after the study's completion, as it would have been difficult to
trace their information after analysis.
After receiving approval from the IRB, I conducted a snowball sample of participants. A
snowball sample is a recruitment technique in which research participants are asked to assist
researchers in identifying other potential subjects. This included relying heavily on my current
network pool of Black male educators and leveraging social media platforms, such as Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. The requirements for this selection were Black male educators in North
Carolina from urban school districts, who are between the ages of 25-35 and who are currently or
were previously educators within the last 10 years. This sample size was appropriate because
these individuals could speak about their lived education experiences by answering the interview
questions. The estimated size of the population is twelve. From there, I made follow up phone
calls and sent emails to each participant to schedule them for their individual interviews. Once
the interviews were scheduled, I then sent reminders out one week before, three days before, and
a day before. Member checking was done during and after the interview process, as this
increased the credibility of my research (Walter, 2018). Lastly, I conducted the one-on-one
interview via Google Meet and sent out thank you notes for their participation. This sampling
43
procedure aligned with the phenomenological approach because the most prominent criterion
was the participant's experience with the phenomenon under the given study (Moser &
Korstjens, 2018).
Materials
Structured interviews, opposed to unstructured and semi-structured, were used for data
collection. This method was selected because interviews helped to explain, understand, and
explore research subjects' opinions, behavior, experiences, and phenomenon (Newman, 2022).
Participants were asked to respond to the open-ended questionnaires, and each interview was
about one hour long and one per participant. The interview was conducted in a way that required
participants to speak in depth on their experiences as a Black male in education, and not just “yes
or no” answers. These questions were developed by first being intentional about starting with the
words “what” or “how.” Avoiding “why” questions ensured that cause and effect was not
implied (Rucker, 2018). The steps involved in creating this interview guide included identifying
questions that fit that topic at hand. The goal was to allow participants time to discuss their
experiences as a Black male teacher. Next, I identified what the flow of the interview would be
by determining which questions should be asked first so that the interview feels natural. Finally,
it was pivotal that the last question asked provided proper closure, in a way that the participants
felt heard, empowered, and satisfied with the overall experience.
The study participants were requested to attend a Google Meet interview. I located the
participants by their email posted on their school’s website or directory. I also utilized social
media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook to locate the individuals. Next, a video call link
was sent to every participant seven days before the actual day of the interview. The video link
allows only the participants to join the interview. The participants were asked to provide their
44
biographical information like age, gender, race, and occupation. Each participant was assigned a
specific number allowing easy data recognition during analysis. The questions that were asked
are ones created by me but deemed appropriate by experts. The use of an expert panel was vital
because this method involved a series of interviews with individual experts who were then each
invited to respond to an analysis of the group's data, increasing credibility within the actual
research (Lewthwaite & Nind, 2019). The questions for this interview may be found in Appendix
A and will last approximately one hour.
A field test was conducted which allowed me time to take the instrument into the field to
identify problems that could be experienced by respondents during the actual study (Sizeland,
2022). The process involved a small number of participants. These individuals have knowledge
regarding the topic of the underrepresented number of Black males in education. It is important
to mention that by conducting the field test, this could lead to revisions to make the study more
authentic and credible. Also, data was not collected during a field test, therefore IRB approval
was not necessary before conducting.
Next, I identified the core idea of my research by asking four questions that allowed an
opportunity for the participants to describe, discover, explore, and understand more about the
given topic (see Appendix B). These questions took about 10 minutes to answer and discuss.
Lastly, I avoided the use of words such as relate, effect, and cause, as this represents quantitative
and not qualitative. “Listen more, talk less, and ask real questions,” was a strategy that was
utilized. Also, it was important to note that the questions being asked were self-selected and
expert approved, because by doing so, it produced high quality research that will advance the
study (Kelly 2018). The participants were requested to provide honest answers regarding each to
45
prevent a skew in the data. All interviews were recorded using Google Meet, then they were
transcribed, and analyzed.
Data Collection and Analysis
Approval was obtained from the NCU IRB before proceeding to any data collection.
Each interview form was emailed to each participant using the email address given during the
initial conversation. I recruited this population by sending emails provided by the school’s
website to connect with them. The schools or districts in which my participants are affiliated
with will include Monroe Charter Academy, KIPP Halifax College Preparatory School, Wilson
Preparatory Academy, Movement School-Freedom Campus, and North Pitt High School. I am
aware that these schools already met my criteria after viewing each school’s profile online and
identifying areas such as student demographics, student performance, and geographic regions. I
was also aware that the individuals meet the criteria and requirements because I know them
personally, as they are affiliated within the same networks that I currently am a part of or have
been on previously. Additional permission was not needed from principals or school leaders. For
those who I could not reach by school email, I reached out to them on other social media
platforms. Those who wanted to participate were confirmed and given information regarding the
interview process. Those who were no longer interested, or I did not hear from them within the
given time, I then repeated this process and selected another individual from my pipeline of
Black male educators who meets the requirements for my research.
Next, I generated a form that includes the name of the participants, their role, their
school, and three options for interview days and times. It also included a checkbox listed for
consent and non-consent. This way, it gave them options and allowed me to work around their
schedule opposed to me naming dates and times that potentially will not work for them. From
46
there, I made follow up phone calls and sent emails to each participant to schedule them for their
individual interviews. Once the interviews have been scheduled, I then sent reminders out one
week before, three days before, and a day before. Member checking was done during and after
the interview process, as this increased the credibility of my research (Walter, 2018). This
involved me restating or summarizing specific information discussed during the interview, then I
asked questions to the participant to determine accuracy (Roller, 2022). Lastly, I conducted the
one-on-one interview via Google Meet and sent out thank you notes for their participation.
The analysis of research information was achieved by using an empirical
phenomenological approach. Thematic analysis is a qualitative data analysis method that
involves reading a data set (such as transcripts from in depth interviews or focus groups) and
identifying patterns in meaning across the data to derive themes (Delve, 2020). Specifically, I
used Braun and Clark’s reflexive technique as it analyzes qualitative data to answer broad or
narrow research questions about people’s experiences, views and perceptions, and
representations of a given phenomenon. (Brule, 2020). The first step involved selecting the
content to be analyzed. The second step involved defining the categories and units of analysis. I
then determined the levels of analysis for the selected information. I developed coding rules and
arranged the meaning units in the defined clusters, particularly conceptual clustering. Coding
rules were then applied to the selected texts. QSR NVivo (2022) program was utilized to help
speed up the counting and categorization process. After completing the coding process, the
collected data was then examined to help identify the patterns and draw conclusions regarding
the research topic.
After the interviews concluded, I began my data analysis. This was done by conducting a
thematic analysis (Kiger & Varpio, 2020). This specific analysis helps researchers understand
47
aspects of a phenomenon that participants talk about frequently or in depth, and the ways in
which those aspects of a phenomenon may be connected (Moran, 2022). My goal was to identify
patterns in the responses of the participants and provide a solution to the issue through my
research. The fifth and last step was to act on the results. This means I compiled the information
from my study into a Google Doc. This platform allowed me to sort the data based on my
responses from the participants. Using a phenomenological approach further helped enlighten the
cultural and social nuances linked to racial discrimination against Black males. Moreover, using
a phenomenological approach in this study offered a methodological guide for debate and a
means for challenging ideologies.
Assumptions
According to Patidar (2018), assumptions are statements that are taken for granted or are
considered true, even though they have not been scientifically assessed. There are also several
types of assumptions. As it relates to this study, an ontological assumption is identified and
defined as what is real. For example, Black men are underrepresented in education and are also
not heavily recruited for high performing schools. Another type of assumption used in this study
was an epistemological assumption. This determines how we know what we know. Other Black
men are aware of the lack Black male teachers in the education field and most feel similarly
about the underrepresented population. Another example of an epistemological assumption is
Black male teachers have ideas on ways to expand their presence in academic settings, however,
they are in positions that do not necessarily hold the power for them to increase this number.
Lastly, an axiological assumption is what we value as Black male educators. These examples
may include, black male teachers being valued as disciplinarians and undervalued as the
nurturing teacher. Black males’ teachers are also valued for their gender presence versus their
48
cognitive ability and teaching skills. Overall, the perspectives of Black male educators are
valuable to me as they played a significant role in my research process, and it is my assumption
that they gave me honest answers during their interview.
Limitations
A limitation for this study was based on the amount of Black male educators in the
United States. With there being 2% of Black male educators in the country, the population is
unable to meet the growing needs of extreme poverty, low performing schools, specifically in
North Carolina. Furthermore, these same types of schools fall in the category of urban areas and
have demographics of minority students, who tend to highlight discipline or behavior issues. The
research limitations that have been addressed call for future research and practice.
As it relates to specifics regarding limitations, they include qualitative research
limitations being more difficult to analyze and more time consuming. Theoretical Limitations,
specifically Critical Race Theory, which was used as the theoretical framework of this study is
contentious for some people. It is also widely used to address issues in primary education.
Critical Race Theory does not lend itself to clear processes and approaches. Next, social
cognitive theory is dated and does not lend itself to discussions regarding race. Lastly,
sociocultural theory is prescriptive and does not lend itself to other factors that may impact
behavior.
Delimitations
In this qualitative phenomenological study, 10 Black male educators were included to
collect enough data for my research. The study was delimited to Black male teachers specifically
in North Carolina urban schools school districts. These men are teachers who are currently
teaching or taught in the last 10 years and fall between the ages of 25 and 35. I intentionally did
49
not require a specific degree or level of degree from my participants. This means, some
participants may hold bachelor’s degrees, and some may hold Doctoral degrees. Other
participants also may not have even majored in education but are still in the field and are great at
what they do. What this did was add a different level of experience and expertise in my study as
this was not one of the requirements needed in my study.
Summary
This section of the study provided a description of my design and analysis, as well as an
introspective description of Black male educators' efforts to secure a job in the teaching
profession. The lack of Black male educators in the K-12 teaching profession has become a
serious challenge that demands the attention of education stakeholders. According to a study
conducted by the National Center for Education, male educators make up only 23% of the entire
field of education. Most Black individuals, regardless of gender, no longer consider teaching
careers after completing their training and/or orientation at their assigned school sites. This could
be for many reasons, but the top reason is in the data of student performance.
The proposed study utilized a qualitative methodology with a phenomenological design. I
also conducted a purposive criterion sample of participants. During the interview, participants
were asked to respond to the open-ended questionnaires. Each interview was about one hour
long, and there was one interview per participant. This study was also conducted using a
qualitative methodology with a phenomenological design. The purpose of using a
phenomenological approach was because this study is situated within the qualitative research
technique to help understand the employment route for Black males looking to teach and further
explore whether gender and race are barriers to entry. Lastly it highlighted the use of thematic
50
analysis method as it involves reading a data set and identifying patterns in meaning across the
data to derive themes (Delve, 2020).
Section 3: Findings, Implications, and Recommendations
The problem that was addressed in this study is the lack of Black male educators within
the K-12 teaching profession. Black students, especially males, are impacted by the lack of Black
male educators in the field (Callahan, 2020). The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological
study was to gather perceptions strategies could be used to encourage a greater number of Black
men to join the K-12 teaching profession. In particular, the study also highlights the reason Black
men to either join the education field, stay in the field, or part ways. By taking the time to
capture these lived experiences regarding the different paths each man took to get to becoming
an educator, there were various strategies that could potentially increase the number of Black
male educators in the future. The phenomenological design was appropriate for this study to
provide thorough descriptions from individuals by examining the perceptions and lived
experiences of Black male teachers regarding their underrepresentation in the educational
profession (Williams, 2021). This section's organization first discussed issues of trustworthiness
followed by an outline of the process. From there, I flowed into the findings, implications of the
findings and recommendations for future practice and research.
For this study, I interviewed 10 Black male in North Carolina urban school districts, who
are between the ages of 25-35. These males were also selected based on those who are currently
or were previously educators within the last 10 years. During the individual interviews I asked
them to respond to open-ended questions. I organized my participants from years of teaching to
capture any trends or patterns within my data. The categories included 1-5 years of teaching, 6-
10 years of teaching and 11 or more years of teaching. The limitation that influences the
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interpretation of the results from the interview points to the lack of Black males in the field of
education. I asked three research questions to gauge my participants' thinking. The first question
was: What strategies do you believe should be implemented to recruit and retain more Black
males? The second question asked was How do Black male educators in North Carolina describe
the influence that they have on the academic performance of Black students? Finally, question
number three stated, how do Black male educators describe the role of school districts in
increasing the recruitment of other Black male educators?
Limitations within the individual interviews were having to do so virtually. As a
researcher, I would much rather meet in person to conduct my interviews. However, with the
widespread distance between participants, it made it harder for me to travel to them and vice
versa. As it relates to the focus group interviews, we encountered several scheduling conflicts
which resulted in having six participants, versus 8. Prior obligations for a few individuals
prevented this from occurring.
Findings
This dissertation intended to explore the experiences of Black male educators in North
Carolina within K-12 education system. This study is in accordance with studies depicting the
underrepresentation of Black male educators within the K-12 education system. For example, a
study by Rivers (2023) highlights diversity of educators in the United States have been
exceptionally low over the years. According to Rivers (2023), the K-12 education system is
white with only 20% representing other races. Besides, the study’s findings indicate that females
comprise the highest percentage of teachers with men comprising only 23% (Rivers, 2023).
Similarly, the study found that teachers who come from the African American racial group
consists of only 2% of all educators in the K-12 education system. These statistics are crucial in
52
understanding the role of Black male educators learning outcomes of Black male students.
According to River’s (2023) findings, there is a 13% chance of graduating among Black students
when they have one Black educator in the elementary school level. However, the chances for
graduating increases to 32% in the presence of two Black educators (Rivers, 2023). Notably, this
data reveals an urgent call to increase the representation of Black educators in the K-12
education system. In this research, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were
utilized to gain an in-depth understanding about the recruitment and retention experiences of
Black male educators. The study also aimed to gain insights about the impact of Black male
educators or their perception in the eyes of the learners and the role of school districts in
increasing their number in learning institutions. The research utilizes the Critical Race Theory
(CRT) to understand the role of school districts in the hiring and recruitment process of Black
male educators, the influence of Black male educators on student outcomes, and strategies for
recruitment. Ten participants, who were all Black from North Carolina, were selected for this
study. The study employed semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions as the data
collection methods. The information collected highlighted the themes of systematic barriers
faced by Black male educators, cultural relevance, and mentorship. The findings highlight the
role of professional development, support, and representation for Black male educators within
the K-12 educational system.
As a qualitative researcher, it was required to address the four areas of trustworthiness of
the study’s findings. The term trustworthiness can also be called the rigor of the study (Connelly,
2016). In each study, researchers establish the protocols and procedures necessary for a study to
be considered worthy of consideration by readers (Amankwaa, 2016). These areas include
credibility, dependability, transferability, and confirmability.
53
Credibility
Credibility may be defined as the internal validity in qualitative research (National
University Applied Doctoral Center, 2023). The credibility of qualitative data is guaranteed by
providing various perspectives found throughout the data collection process. Throughout this
study, I conducted member checking or respondent validation which allows all my participants in
which I interviewed the opportunity to review the transcripts from our meeting to ensure that
their words and points were valid. Maxwell (2013) believed that by doing this, it creates the
single most important way of ruling out the possibility of misinterpreting the meaning of what
participants say and do. After each participant reviewed their transcripts, I then asked them for
any corrections or edits that would be necessary in ensuring accuracy across the board.
Throughout this study, I realized that my personal connections to education impacted
participants in many ways. With close to 10 years of experience, I was able to relate and share
identities with participants and challenge them to expound on their thoughts to provide additional
credibility.
Dependability
According to Quantilope (2023), dependability in qualitative research is linked to
reliability and is the measure of the extent to which a research study could be repeated by a
separate researcher and reveal the same findings. The role of dependability is to give a
framework in which the researcher checks the analysis process to ensure it is aligned with the
standards for the designated design (Korstjens & Moser, 2018). When the researcher produces a
study with reliable sources, it may be deemed dependable. To that end, the researcher created an
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audit trail that captures steps within the research process. This ensures that nothing was missed
and has proper documentation.
Transferability
Transferability clarifies any questions that occur regarding how the study’s results could
be applied to any other studies (Lindgren et al., 2020). It is also referred to as external validity.
This skill may be accomplished by providing a thorough description of the findings and doing so
using multiple methods of data collection. To meet the standards for transferability, I quoted
participants verbatim to provide an in-depth view of responses and rich descriptions of all
experiences (Maxwell, 2013). There were also different variations used within my sampling of
participants. This enhanced the transferability and increased the overall level of rigor within the
study.
Confirmability
When conducting qualitative research, one tends to assume that each researcher brings a
unique perspective to the study. Confirmability refers to the degree to which the results could be
confirmed or corroborated by others (Trochim, 2023). Specifically, as it relates to qualitative
research, confirmability is guaranteed when data is checked during the data collection and the
analysis section. Trochim also suggested using multiple sources of data for triangulation
purposes. This technique is called an audit trail. Triangulation or member checking is also
conducted to address personal bias. For my study, examples of this included virtual and audio
interviews, and pictorial representations such as graphs and tables.
The structure of the interviews and focus groups were to allow the participants to speak
freely while I gathered the data conversationally. During the individual interviews, each
participant described their firsthand experiences through their own stories. During the dialogue,
55
they each expressed positive and negative encounters within education. It is also important to
note that the annotating of the transcripts occurred with coding phrases through inductive data
analysis. I also used NVivo for the data categorization and subcategorization. This section also
includes the findings from a focus group with five of the ten participants. I was intentional about
the selection of the focus groups as these participants had more teaching experience.
The interviews and focus groups played an integral role in my study. During the first step
of my analysis, I reread the responses of all participants in the transcript. The discussions were
then coded into bite sized chunks and summarized. Chunking and summarizing allowed me to
identify the trends that developed from the participants' discussions. From there, I analyzed the
categories from the participants' discussions to see if there were any patterns in the response.
After the data was reviewed and summarized, the major themes became obvious based on the
discussions during the interviews and focus group. Lastly, to ensure confidentiality of all
participants, from this point on in my research, pseudonyms will be used to identify each teacher:
Teacher 1, Teacher 2, Teacher 3 will be referred to as T1, T2, T3 and continued from there.
Listed below is a table of participant demographics. The table below shows the participant years
taught, school level, and content area. The purpose of this table is to add context to the study in
knowing who is speaking, their experience within the field, the grade level and content area in
which they teach. This table can also be found in appendix A.
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Table 1
Participant years taught, school level, and content area/grade
Teacher Years Taught School Level Content Area/Grade Teacher 1 (T1) 10 Middle School 7th Grade Math Teacher 2 (T2) 5 Elementary School 5th Grade ELA/SS Teacher 3 (T3) 14 Elementary School 2nd Grade (All) Teacher 4 (T4) 6 Elementary School 2nd Grade (All) Teacher 5 (T5) 17 High School 9th Grade Economics Teacher 6 (T6) 12 Elementary School 3rd Grade Math/Sci Teacher 7 (T7) 5 Elementary School 4th Grade Math/Sci Teacher 8 (T8) 7 Middle School 6th Grade ELA/SS Teacher 9 (T9) 12 Middle School 8th Grade Math/Sci
Teacher 10 (T10) 8 Middle School 6th Grade ELA/SS
The data analysis revealed similar themes from the interviews. After conducting the
interviews, there were six themes. These themes were:
1. All participants believed that Black males are encouraged (pushed) out of the
classroom to be administrators.
2. Black male teachers are viewed as the role model and disciplinarian, especially when it
relates to young black boys and their behavior.
3. Black male educators are considered the “favorite teacher” from students of all races.
4. There is a shortage of Black male educators in K-12 schools
5. Black males are usually encouraged by a former teacher, coach, or influential person to
go into the education field.
6. Low teacher pay in the state of North Carolina is the number one factor for them
considering disaffiliating themselves in teaching.
Research Question 1 - What strategies do you believe should be implemented to recruit
and retain more Black males?
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A combination of manual and digital coding techniques was implemented to analyze the
data, with NVivo qualitative data analysis software utilized to facilitate organization and
analysis. NVivo was chosen for its robust functionality in supporting researchers to identify
themes through data tagging, sorting, and linking. The study adopted reflexive thematic analysis
to interpret the raw data. The data analysis process followed Braun and Clarke's (2020) six-phase
model. Initially, in phase one, all articles were reviewed to grasp a comprehensive
understanding. Subsequently, in Phase 2, both semantic and latent codes were generated and
combined with priori codes for thematic analysis. The generation of themes and subthemes in
Phase 3 evolved as codes were amalgamated, expanded, or discarded. Phase 4 entailed a review
of themes to determine if they warranted combination, refinement, separation, or removal. Phase
5 encompassed the naming and definition of themes and subthemes, during which refinement
occurred. The final phase involved the production of the report.
For Research Question 1, the identified themes were as follows: Low teacher pay in
North Carolina is the top factor for them considering disaffiliating themselves in teaching. This
theme aligns with RQ1 because the participants believed that the low pay for teachers in general
is one of the main reasons they are looking to no longer be a part of the field. T1 stated, “I enjoy
the work that I do and ultimately I want to remain in education for my kids, but I do not feel that
we are compensated for all that we encounter on a day-to-day basis.” T3 said, “Everyday, we are
put through so much as teachers. Unfortunately, we are paid pennies to come.” T8 stated, “I am a
single father and I never thought I would have to get a second job just to make ends meet.” T9
believed that teacher pay could be better, especially those with advanced degrees. “I have two
master's degrees: one in secondary education and the other in curriculum and instruction. The
58
fact that I am still not making enough for my family, does not sit well with me,” said T9. T10
ended our conversation regarding theme number one by saying,
It is unfortunate that in the state of North Carolina, they pay you based on years of
experience. Technically I will not make the ideal amount of money until I have at least 50
years of experience. No one wants to work all their life. A recommendation would be
speaking with state legislators and the Department of Instruction for North Carolina who
are already aware of this issue.
The second theme that aligned to the first research question was Black male educators are
considered the “favorite teacher” from students of all races. T1 stated, “I do consider myself the
“favorite teacher,” and I am extremely grateful for the years I have in teaching.” T2 and T7 both
said, “With us both having the same number of years of experience, it is interesting to hear the
similarities with us in the field and the connections that were built overtime.” “Twelve years is a
long time, especially remaining at the same school and grade level, however, many relationships
and connections have been built, so I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said T9. Most participants
shared one experience in their career with students and how they serve as a role model for many.
T2 stated, “You rarely see a Black male educator in elementary; Let us face it, you rarely see us
period. So, with most of my experience (4 years) being an elementary school teacher is
something that my scholars will always remember.” Lastly, T5 stated:
Every year is different for me. I teach high schoolers, so it is an enormous difference with
relationship building and connections. There is a specific way that you build
relationships, and it usually comes with knowing the latest songs, or the hottest fashion
trends. Once you have that down, the instruction comes easily.
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Research Question 2 - How do Black male educators in North Carolina describe the influence
that they have on the academic performance of Black students?
The table below displays the positive experiences stated by each participant as a Black
male educator. Its purpose is to highlight the reasons why Black men find joy in their roles and
to identify comparisons of their perceptions with other participants.
Table 2
Positive experiences stated by each participant as a Black male educator.
Positive Experiences T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 Group
Totals Seeing the students everyday X X X X X X X X X X 10/10 Being viewed as mentors for staff X X X X X X 6/10 Role model for students X X X X X X X X X X 10/10 Enjoying being a part of a team X X X X X X 7/10 Growth opportunities X X X X X X 6/10 Networking X X X X X X X X 8/10 Individual Totals: 5 5 5 6 5 4 4 6 3 3
There was one overall theme surrounding RQ2. This theme is that Black male teachers
are viewed as the role model and disciplinarian, especially when it relates to young black boys
and their behavior. They each believed that black students viewed them as role models because
of the neighborhoods in which the scholars come from and not being able to see positive Black
males in that light.
To support the second research question, the second teacher stated he was his kid's role
model as he believed to be a big kid himself. He mentioned that he enjoyed video games, the
latest music, social media, and all of that. As a result, he mentioned that he figured out ways to
first gain their attention, then keep their attention by integrating things that he knows they like.
He added that he liked talking to them in ways that are not degrading but encourage them
throughout the school; something that many of them may not get at home from their own
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parents. He also mentioned that children often viewed him as the disciplinarian because they
respected him. He claimed that to be doing his job and nothing special.
Similarly, T4 stated that he knew how to discipline kids in a loving way as this does not
hurt their feelings. He claimed that even though disciplining kids hurt them sometimes, he does it
in a respectful manner so that they may learn not to repeat the same mistakes in future. T5
believed that disciplining scholars comes with practice and time. He stated, “Discipline is not
something that is learned overnight. It is a trial-and-error thing. Most of the time, certain
behaviors call for certain consequences.” In the same vein, T7 seconded T5 by saying “You must
be intentional about your consequence, but most importantly, you must know how to discipline
the behavior; meaning the consequence must match the behavior. T9 chimed in by explaining
that being viewed as the disciplinarian and role model is difficult. He stated, “So many kids look
up to me. They respect me; Yes, but then when it is time to discipline them, I realize that it hurts
them more because of the relationship we have.” T10 ended the conversation by claiming that he
earned the title as role model in school due to the relationships he built with the students. As a
result, his kids excelled in their academics due to the connections that he maintained with them.
He added that he used to discipline them when they were wrong but respected me more for it.
Additionally, T5 explained that he found it ironic to be a ninth-grade teacher in the same
school he had his first encounter with a Black male educator. He said he considered him a role
model not just for him but also for his peers. He had that he grew up in a low poverty
neighborhood and often did not know where their next meal would come from. He looked up to
Mr. Daniels (former teacher) because of two simple reasons which he quoted, “He looked like
me (complexion) and he was educated. He did not see where I was from. He made me believe
that I was somebody, just by showing up every day. No, he did not give me special attention or
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anything like that. I just felt like I could be somebody, because in my eyes, he was someone
major, like a superhero or a celebrity.”
Moreover, T4 explained that being a role model is hard. It first begins with trust. When
dealing with scholars of our dynamics, trust does not come easily. A lot of the time that our kids
come from broken homes, and they have seen a lot. When they come to school and get that love
and nurturing me as their teacher, it creates the opportunity that I can be trusted. At that point,
which lets me in, and it becomes a relationship. It is a lot easier said than done, however it does
take a lot of patience and hard work. T2 believed that by engaging with the scholar first,
followed by the parents will show the scholar that there is a solid collaboration between him and
the parent. Trust will form shortly afterwards. Next, T3 explained that he used Open House as a
Q&A session. He stated, “I schedule my Open House sessions to be one on one. This creates a
sense of being personable but allows 15 to 20 minutes of simple “get to know you” questions.
Furthermore, T6 argued that he sets a good father figure to the learners so that they can
emulate his behaviors. He stated, “As a 3rd Grade Teacher, I try my best to be that role model for
my students. I am also old enough to be viewed as a father figure for those scholars who either
do not have a relationship with their dad, or simply do not realize he exists.” Notably, this shows
that teachers should create a conducive environment for the kids to thrive by showing them love
and empathy. T7 contributed to this perspective by claiming that setting a good picture for them
is pivotal in their lives. He quoted that, “I remember my first-year teaching. I had a scholar who
slipped up and called me “Dad.” I did not correct him at that moment, I just smiled, but it
showed me that moment, I was more than a teacher. It is something I will never forget.”
Remarkably, this shows that teachers’ attitudes are a good basis for improving the wellbeing of
the learners as some of them come from backgrounds persistent with issues of various kinds. T8,
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T9, and T10 suggested that “When teaching middle schoolers, the role model effect plays a huge
part in their day.” T8 said, “The smallest shift is your energy as the teacher can alter how a
student view you. It is best to remain as consistent as possible.” T9 discussed how hard it was for
him in his first few years of teaching. “I was ready to give up on teaching all together. I could not
build the relationships and I did not think the kids liked me. I was far from a role model in their
eyes. However, I realized that there was a science to it that I completely missed during those
times. Now, most kids want to be in my class because I am the “Cool Teacher.
Similarly, T10 claimed that being a role model to his students meant showing up every
day as the best version of himself, even when he did not feel like it. He stated, “I push my kids
daily and they respected me for it. Even for the ones who were not fully engaged in the
beginning made a drastic turnaround by the end of the school year.” However, some teachers
explained that while they remain enthusiastic about working with children, their financial reward
needs to be revisited. For example, T2 stated that, “the current state of teacher pay in North
Carolina is ridiculously low. It is a shame what we as teachers must endure as far as the stress of
our work life, and for what? For pennies, a day. Do not get me wrong, I love teaching; always
have and always will, but an increase in our pay is desperately needed.” Similarly, T2 added a
lack of patience as a critical challenge he has been experiencing for some time due to the lack of
willpower among some learners to learn and excel. He stated, “I have been teaching for seven
years and I must say this past year, I wanted to give up. It hurts because I have always been
extremely enthusiastic about teaching and kids in general, but nowadays, kids lack the willpower
to want to learn and be successful. Now it is not all kids. There are a few that you can tell want to
be in school and want to gain a higher education, however, that few are unfortunately
outnumbered by the kids that just want to come to school and not take anything seriously.” This
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reveals the need for teachers to strategize on how to tailor their teaching methods to ensure each
student develops interest in studying.
T6 added disrespect as another challenge that teachers endure in the classroom
environment. He stated, “As teachers we are disrespected, not only by our own students, but staff
members too. We have members of the administration team and their bosses coming into our
classrooms and observing us once or twice out of the school year and then based on what they
see, we are judged for it. What happens when that once or twice a year observation occurs, and it
is not the best. More than likely, we are put on an action plan. However, you take the other 170+
days where we are killing it in our lessons, but no one is to be found. I just think if we are going
to be labeled or judged, the least you can do is visit our rooms more. We have students that do
not even know who the Principal or Head of School is, because they sit in their offices and are in
so-called meetings. That is not how you get results. That is not how we see success.
The table presented below displays the various beliefs of participants regarding the
underrepresentation of Black male educators. Its purpose is to show the correlations between the
participant perceptions and to highlight the potential factors that contribute to the lack of Black
male teachers.
Table 3
Beliefs of participants regarding the underrepresentation of Black male educators
Beliefs T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 Group
Totals Lack of encouragement X X X X X X X X X 9/10 Low pay for teachers in North Carolina X X X X X X X X X X 10/10 Disrespected by students/staff X X X X X X X 7/10 Current number of Black male teachers X X 2/10 Lack of Support X X X 3/10 Not feeling valued X X X 3/10 Individual Totals: 4 4 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4
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Research Question 3 – How do Black male educators describe the role of school districts in
increasing the recruitment of other Black male educators?
The overall theme for RQ3 was that all participants believed that Black males are
encouraged (pushed) out of the classroom to be administrators. Participants who believed this
thinks that school districts should create more opportunities for networking, specifically for
Black male educators. For example, T3 stated that the school districts should recruit more Black
male educators. He stated, “Because there is a lack of Black male teachers, when I see another
Black male educator whether in my school building or out in public, I immediately acknowledge
him. It is important for us as the minority in this field to stick together and create ways or
opportunities that not only allow us to be successful, but also be seen.” T4 also felt the same
thing. He stated, “I was hired through a recruitment event in Concord. The hiring coordinator
informed me that she pushed out the email of the event to recent college graduates who either
majored in Elementary education or had interest in joining the teaching profession. This method
reached a lot of potential candidates because there were a lot of people there. With so many
districts and administrators having access to the pool of recent college graduates, I believe there
should be a pipeline of candidates that are streamlined into school systems, particularly black
males in urban schools.”
Similarly, T5 felt that as the school districts make efforts to recruit more Black male
educators, there is need for Black teachers to establish strong networks. He stated, “Because
there are few of us in the field of education, Black male teachers stick together. We realize when
we walk into places and state our occupation that we will all get the same reaction. I believe that
networking wherever I go is extremely important. I have been in schools where networking has
65
landed me great opportunities such as speaking engagements, national television recognition, and
radio time. School districts and school administrators should begin networking to host job fairs
and recruitment events to increase the number of Black male educators in North Carolina.”
Remarkably, this shows that there is power in networking, especially in facilitating Black male
educators get opportunities to teach in school districts.
T6, T7, and T8 all had similar views that school districts should do more networking
events with other districts as well. T6 said, “Networking landed me my first teaching job. I had
no idea I wanted to be a teacher, let alone be good at it, until a former professor saw something
in me that I could not see in myself.” T7 believes that networking is continuous. “A Lot of the
time, people network to get in certain doors, however, when they have landed that gig, they
become comfortable versus continuing to network to get to higher places.” T8 stated, “I was not
always good at networking, simply because I knew I was not much of a people person. However,
I connected with a former high school teacher of mine, and she began mentoring and coaching
me. Networking was what landed me in the job I have now.” T9 and T10 also had similar views.
T9 was not always comfortable with networking, because he felt he lacked communication skills.
T9 said “At times, I was horrible at networking because I could not figure out ways to keep
conversations going. I would go over the basics and leave it at that. There were plenty of missed
opportunities that I could have gained so much from. I look back at that and get so frustrated
with myself.” Similarly, T10 explained how happy he would be to get opportunities for
networking with other Black educators. He stated, “Often, I would get extremely nervous when I
had opportunities to network and gain more knowledge from another individual. I would be
judged on my lack of knowledge as it pertained to education or be viewed as a horrible teacher.
It was not until a gentleman by the name of Deshaun Whitehead told me that I needed to relax
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and own any conversation that I was a part of. I did not have to be cocky, but I needed to be
confident. From that day forward, I viewed networking in conversations so differently.” Notably,
this shows that networking is crucial as it lands individuals opportunities they cannot access
alone.
I conducted a focus group while purposeful homogenous sampling was used to identify
qualified participants based on their years in education and their experiences. These individuals
are ones who I had either worked with previously in an urban school setting school system or I
had networked with in the past years. I then set up interviews, conducted a data collection, and
ended with an analysis. The research questions that were integrated were What strategies do you
believe should be implemented to recruit and retain more Black male educators, how do Black
male educators in North Carolina describe the influence that they have on the academic
performance of Black students, and how do Black male educators describe the role of school
districts in increasing the recruitment of other Black male educators. Within the focus group
were five Black male teachers who had 10 or more years of experience as a classroom teacher.
These teachers were T1, T3, T5, T6, and T9.
In the focus group, there were two themes that were established. The first theme was
theme number two. This theme stated that Black male teachers are viewed as the role model and
disciplinarian, especially when it relates to young black boys and their behavior. The second
theme was theme number four. Theme 4 was the shortage of Black male educators in K-12
schools. T1’s statement connected to Research Question 2, how do Black male educators in
North Carolina describe the influence that they have on the academic performance of Black
students. He discussed how during his time in public school, he did not have many Black male
role models that he could look to for guidance.
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T1 stated:
During my years in public schools, I had two Black male general education teachers. This
meant that I did not have a positive male role model outside of my father who I could
look to for guidance during the tough times in which I encountered hardships of the urban
society. Because I was not fortunate enough to have that Black male in my life during
school hours, I want to ensure that I am being that for not just our Black scholars, but all
scholars.
T3’s statement also tied into Research Question 2 because he highlighted the guidance of his
principal, Mr. Joe Clark.
T3 shared:
I did not have a Black male teacher until I was in the sixth grade and not again until my
junior year of high school. However, we had the iconic Mr. Clark from the movie Lean
on Me. I cannot say how his character was portrayed in the movie and matched my
experience with him as my principal. We just did not see that side of him. Yes, he set
extremely grand expectations, but he believed in me (us) more than anyone that I had
ever encountered. I knew that when the opportunity came for me to be a teacher, I was
going to be Mr. Clark. However, what I realized is that I could not be Mr. Clark, I had to
be me. Being me allowed my scholars to appreciate me more and building relationships
and connection came easy, due to them viewing me as their role model.
Next, T5 discussed his experiences with having a Black male role model in 8th Grade. He also
spoke to Research Question 1, which states “What strategies do you believe should be
implemented to recruit and retain more Black male educators.”
T5 stated:
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Mr. Shackleford was my eighth-grade teacher and first Black male role model outside of
the home with my dad, who was a principal. His expectations for me to go to college
were non-negotiable, therefore, I became a Morehouse man and enrolled at Morehouse
University in Atlanta, Georgia. It was so ironic because I went from not having any Black
male educators to being surrounded by them. Every class that I had during my tenure at
Morehouse was Black male professors. I made the transition to high school based on a
leap of faith. I realized that my scholars would not have another Black male teacher for
an extended period, so I applied to the local high school in which most students go after
leaving me. I had no high school experience, but I displayed passion and enthusiasm in
my interview and luckily that is exactly what they were looking for. After accepting the
position as a 9th Grade Economics teacher, the scholars in which I previously taught were
so excited that they would get to spend another year with me. It was at that moment that I
knew I had made the right decision. I saw myself as a role model and mentor to those
who may have lacked that positive Black male in their lives. Unfortunately, there are kids
that would not be as fortunate as I was to have a Black male educator during their K-12
educational path. There is clearly a lack of Black male teachers that spread across not just
North Carolina, but throughout the country. Schools and school districts must establish a
solid plan that tailors their job fairs toward the population. After being hired, then
immediately determine best practices for retention.
T6 stated:
It was not until my fifth year in education that my scholars appreciated me as an
educator. I was just not enough. I remember the exact day that I began feeling like a role
model. It was just before the holidays and one of my Black male scholars asked if I could
69
come to his home for Christmas, because his father was incarcerated, and I was the
closest thing to a father that he had. It brought tears to my eyes. I did not realize the
impact I had on him because transparently, he was one of my students I struggled with
behaviorally daily. Most of the time, the students that give us the most problems on a
regular basis are the ones that need attention because they may get it at home. On the
discipline end, it is always difficult to provide consequences for behaviors. It is like we
are setting them up to fail because they could either lose interest in school or be
suspended and placed in an environment such as their home that is not kept the way that
it should be.
T9 shared:
I had a total of 5 Black male teachers throughout my childhood. I was fortunate enough
to see this representation as early as 2nd Grade and all throughout middle and high school.
I viewed them as superheroes, because I knew early on that Black male teachers were
hard to find. That is why I became an educator. The feeling I got at 7 years old of having
a Black male teacher, who has been my favorite teacher all time, was something that I
wanted to give other kids; especially our Black students. Now I have students of my own
who view me the same way I viewed my teachers who were Black males.
T9 also stated:
The switch from 2nd Grade to 8th Grade was drastic. I went from tying shoes and hearing
yes sir/no sir, to being called Bruh and ever-changing emotions; Still I knew I made the
right decision. Often, my students would want a listening ear; someone that would stop
them was doing to hear them out. They were not receiving that type of attention at home,
so they would come to my class and ask for advice. I knew at that point my scholars
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trusted me with certain information that they did not trust even their parents with. It was
an overall connection with my students that even at Year 12, I am thinking what is the
impact that I make for them to keep viewing me as their superhero? My physical
presence truly made a difference in each of my students’ lives. They go off and become
something, then contact me just to say thank you. Hearing those two words is when you
realize that teaching is not a job, it is a duty that must be fulfilled to guide our future
leaders to success.
Evaluation of the Outcomes
The findings imply an urgent need for school districts to employ several strategies to
reduce the gap in the hiring, recruitment, and retention of Black male educators. These strategies
range from recruiting events, mentorship initiatives, and professional development sessions. The
findings align to literature based on the importance of minority educators within the field
(Rivers, 2023). Rivers (2023) research found that learning outcomes among Black students
increase when there are more Black teachers within schools. This means that school districts
should address the disparities in the representation of Black male educators by hiring more of
them into the K-12 education system. When students can connect with a teacher outside of their
personality or teaching style, it enhances their ability to succeed under that teacher’s guidance
(Rimm-Kaufman & Sandilos, 2021). Remarkably, increasing the representation of Black male
educators may help improve students’ learning outcomes and increase diversity.
Additionally, the findings show that Black male educators in North Carolina view
themselves as individuals who have major impacts on students, especially those who are of the
Black race. Black male educators describe teaching as being role models, building relationships,
and implementing culturally relevant instruction as being the gateway to impacting students'
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academia (Wallace et al, 2022). Black male educators are pivotal to reducing K-12 racial
disparities in the United States, especially with Black students (Gershenson et al., 2018).
Ironically, Black male teachers are also viewed as “superheroes” who can shift academic and
discipline outcomes towards a positive trend (Baldridge, 2017). These findings also align with
existing research, literature, and statements from participants as it highlights the importance of
culturally relevant teaching and the critical race theory for minority students. The finding also
implies that by playing the roles of an educator, disciplinary experts, as father figures, and role
models, Black male educators are equally important in the K-12 education system as their white
counterparts. As such, their numbers should be increased immensely.
Moreover, the findings show that schools and school districts play a vital role in the effort
to raise the number of Black male educators. Strategies to increase these numbers include
planning recruiting events or job fairs, identifying any gaps within their hiring processes, and
providing coaching to Black male teachers once they are hired. When this is fully implemented
properly, the number of Black male teachers will rise (Jones, 2023). This study also shows the
existence of implicit biases resulting from lack of support for minority teachers. According to
Graham (Graham, 2021), these biases imply the need to enhance equity in the K-12 education
system by recruiting more Black male educators and having effective strategies in place for
supporting them with culturally relevant resources to enhance educational outcomes among
learners.
Overall, the study's findings align with research emphasizing the importance of diversity
within the education sector. The findings also display the importance of representation,
supportive administration teams, and culturally relevant teaching. There are also areas in
literature that lack or suggest a recommendation for future research. An example would be that
72
though representation matters, it is not enough to highlight disparities within school and districts
or the outcome of student achievement. However, there are changes that are necessary to
implement to support the recruitment and retainment of Black male educators once hired. The
study's findings provide a deeper dive into factors that contribute to other disparities seen and
unseen.
Implications and Recommendations for Practice
This research has several implications in relation to future educational practice. First, it
signifies the urgent need for recruiting more male educators from the Black community within
the K-12 education system. Notably, this study reflects some of the challenges faced by the
Black male educators in terms of support, recruitment, and retention within low-performing
urban education centers. While previous studies acknowledge the importance of male educators
from the Black community, this research has provided an in-depth view of practical strategies or
implications for the K-12 education system to consider recruiting and retaining them. By
addressing the practices and procedures for hiring, retaining, and supporting Black male
educators, the K-12 education system would play a pivotal role in creating an attractive and
conducive environment for them.
This study has implications on the systemic barriers that have inherently deterred Black
male educators from having meaningful interactions with the students. Most of the Black male
educators are assigned administrative roles that hinders them from making an impact in the
classroom environment. This points to the need of developing initiative-taking measures for
combating biases and providing opportunities for making career trajectories for Black male
educators within the K-12 education system. Besides, the findings of this research have
implications on training as educators should undergo thorough training on cultural and racial
73
biases that hinders Black male educators from being recruited in the K-12 education system in
large numbers. Also, there is a need for organizing networking events targeted at attracting a
large pool of diverse talents. Eventually, this can lead to the creation of a more equitable, fair,
just, and inclusive education system.
Moreover, this research has implications for the development of mentorship programs.
This study has established that Black male educators have the potential of being role models,
underscoring the need to have them in the K-12 education system. However, this education
system has been dominated by white women. As a result, this implies the need for recruiting
more Black male educators to be role models in classroom environments. Besides, this highlights
the need for advocacy programs to mitigate the challenges Black male educators experience
while teaching in White-dominated schools.
Recommendations for Future Research
The first recommendation for future research would be conducting a quantitative study
that outlines the severe need of Black men in education. The focus should be on the number of
Black males who leave education due to the lack of support and coaching, teacher pay, and lack
of parental involvement. This aligns to my current study because many of my participants feel
supported through coaching. It is the same for low teacher pay and the lack of parental
involvement. This could potentially cause more Black men to leave education, unless the issue is
resolved, and some type of solution is provided. The researcher can also conduct a qualitative
study on Black male educators who were not born in the United States and have taught in
different countries. In this instance, the research could be based on identifying lived experiences
for these participants, both personally and professionally. From there, a comparison could then
be done on the educational systems within the United States and other countries.
74
The second recommendation for future research would be to conduct a quantitative study
on mentoring Black male teachers within their first three years of teaching and determining if
having this support increases the number of Black males who remain in education. Therefore, a
larger pool of participants with varied backgrounds could contribute to the literature. This aligns
to my study, because it is mentioned that there are very few pieces of literature that discusses the
lack of Black men in education ways to recruit and retain them.
The final recommendation would be to conduct a qualitative study on the racial or
discriminatory incidents that take place within school and are either unnoticed or not properly
addressed. This study could also highlight Black males who are now administrators after
teaching for a certain number of years. The participants could discuss changes within themselves
being current administrators and compare it to how they were when they were classroom
teachers. They could also identify ways that they support their Black male teacher in their school
or school districts. Conduct a qualitative study on the number of Black male educators who leave
education because of lack of support, lack of encouragement, lack of pay, etc. After the
participants name their reason for leaving, it could potentially provide insight on the support
needed for future educators to prevent a steady decrease in an already underrepresented
population. If research is conducted on the five recommendations listed above, there could be a
potential closing of the gaps within literature and education. I limited my research to ten
participants based on the number of Black men in education and those who met the requirement
for my research. Future research could potentially allow for a larger number of participants
which could also provide a better understanding on how to recruit and retain this population of
Black males in education.
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Conclusion
In this section, I restated the research questions and discussed themes that came about
through interviews and focus group discussions. I also provided demographics based on
participants and discussed their experience within education. As discussed, I used coding, which
was part of the preliminary data analysis. This allowed me to identify the patterns that came
about from the participants and their responses. Within this data collection process, I could read
the transcripts captured and gain clearer insight into each participant’s lived experience. This led
to the themes identified throughout the interviews and the focus group questions. I felt a sense of
connection with all participants as there were multiple similarities within my lived experience of
being a Black male educator in North Carolina.
The goal of this study was to provide insight into Black male educators within North
Carolina and their experiences within the educational system. Additionally, the study identified
strategies for recruiting and retaining Black male educators out of college and those who have
never even thought about education as a career path. As the study was conducted, I was able to
identify three themes; one of the themes being new and separate from the research questions.
These research questions provided better insight into the themes as it one. It showed that
everyone enjoyed teaching, regardless of the struggles and hardships that it may bring. 2. The
students are why they show up every single day as their best selves, because they believe that
they are role models for students, especially Black students who either do not have a father
figure in their lives, or a positive Black male and 3. Black male educators in North Carolina
experienced discrimination on not just their race, but gender as well and though having
experienced discrimination, they considered themselves resilient. These themes were discussed
and proved how they presented themselves within the research questions.
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This study also gives insight to literature in ways that individuals can determine why
Black men remain in education when they have either received racial or gender discrimination,
lack of motivation and encouragement, or low teacher pay. Though there could be more reasons
that contribute to Black men either remaining in or leaving the field of education; this study
could be utilized as a beginning piece of research to determine the impact of these issues. As a
Black male educator, conducting this research and engaging within the study gave me a greater
appreciation for Black men in education. It was an experience in which I could see the impact
each participant had on their students and the passion displayed throughout their day. It is pivotal
for Black men to continue to be not only celebrated, but also be recognized in education. Many
barriers are faced within a daily basis from Black male educators, but we show up every day and
give more than 100% to our learners, our school families, and our communities.
The sacrifices that we make continue to go unnoticed, however, we must be the impact
for the next generation of leaders. My hope is that readers of this study can gain knowledge
regarding Black male educators. Our presence does have influence in education, and though we
only make up 2% of educators in the United States, that number will eventually increase and
students across this country will be able to say that they have had the wonderful experience of
being taught or impacted by a Black man. Every school building that I enter, I made a vow to
impact those who surround me; from the youngest to the oldest. I conclude this study with this
quote from “The Soul of Black Folks,” by W.E.B. Du Bois (1903), released 120 years ago: The
South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not wrong; for
education among all kinds of men always has had, and always will have an element of danger
and revolution, of dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know.
77
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Appendices
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Appendix A: Interview Questions
This appendix consists of interview questions that were asked in my research. They were
asked to all 10 participants and their responses to questions were transcribed and recorded.
Before the interview, I explained to each participant how the process of answering each question
will go. From there, the interview was conducted through Google Meet. If I saw areas in which I
believed the participant could elaborate more upon, I encouraged additional conversation. The
data collection process included in-depth interviews that were structured in a way that allowed
the participants the opportunity to elaborate on their perspectives and give their opinion on being
a Black male educator in an urban school setting. The goal of these conversations was to
highlight Black male educators and how they perceive teaching in urban schools. The following
questions and sub-questions were be asked to each participant:
1. How do Black male educators in North Carolina urban school districts describe their
professional and lived experiences?
2. What influences contributed to your decision on becoming an educator?
3. What are your thoughts on the current state of Black male educators in North Carolina?
4. How do students respond to you as a Black male educator?
5. What differences do you see in the responses of students who are of a different race than
you?
6. What systemic practices of an urban school district influence the professional and lived
experiences of Black male educators?
7. What district procedures or expectations are implemented to support your role as an
educator?
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8. How might these procedures or expectations be altered to support growth within your
current role?
9. How do the systemic interactions with stakeholders influence your role as a Black male
educator?
10. What do your colleagues perceive of your role as a Black male educator? What do
families perceive of your role as a Black male educator?
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Appendix B: Focus Group Questions
Appendix B consists of focus group questions that were asked in my research. They were
asked by all participants and their responses to questions will be transcribed and recorded. The
following questions and sub-questions are:
1. What barriers exist for you to feel that you can reach and instruct your students
effectively?
2. What factors may contribute to the academic success of Black students?
3. What may hinder Black students from achieving academic success?
4. What can schools/school districts do to increase the number of Black male teachers?
5. What can schools/ school districts do to retain Black male teachers?
6. Why did you choose K-12 education as your profession or career?
7. What challenges did you face in school as a student?
8. How did these challenges impact your decision to become a teacher?
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Appendix C: Focus Group Summary
Appendix F contains the focus group summary of each participant's background in
education and their overall themes discussed during their interview process. Pseudonyms were
utilized for confidentiality purposes.
T1 Focus Group Summary
T1 was originally born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. In his mind, he believed
that he was extremely fortunate to grow up in a two-parent urban household. He is the eldest of
his three siblings, all males. T1 recalled his experience attending public schools in Greenville
from Pre-K through his senior year of high school. T1 stated, “Of my years in public schools, I
had a total of two general education teachers. This meant that I did not have a positive male role
model outside of my father who I could look to for guidance during the tough times in which I
encountered hardships of the urban society.” Though T1 did not have this role model in his life,
he was granted the opportunity to attend college at Winston-Salem State University in Winston
Salem, North Carolina. While in college, T1 studied Education and graduated with a degree in
Secondary Education. T1 began teaching at the same school in which he was a student. The
demographics were 84% Black, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian, and 3% White. Throughout the
focus group, T1 explained the importance of him having a positive role model in his life and how
he could have potentially benefitted from having this individual present. “Because I was not
fortunate enough to have that Black male in my life during school hours, I want to ensure that I
am being that for not just our Black scholars, but all scholars.”
During a large chunk of his younger days in school, T1 could remember corporal
punishment and the negative memories that it brought to him. “For a youngster, that scared me;
To know that my parents gave permission to a stranger (my teacher) to paddle me for negative
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behavior was over the top. Even to this day I cringe at the thought of it. I could not imagine
having corporal punishment in this generation. We are seeing students fighting teachers for cell
phones, can you imagine if the teacher paddled them?” T1 said. T1 continues to push daily for an
overall positive outlook in education for every student that he encounters.
T3 Focus Group Summary
T3 was the only individual in our focus group not born and raised in North Carolina. He
was born in Patterson, New Jersey. He is a product of a single-family household, in which he
grew up with his siblings and their mother raising them. He attended public schools from
kindergarten through 12th Grade. In fact, he attended the popular school from the movie “Lean
on Me,” Eastside High during Principal Joe Clark’s tenure. “I did not have a black male teacher
until I was in the 6th grade and not again until my junior year of high school,” T3 stated.
“However, we had Mr. Clark. I cannot say how his character was portrayed in the movie as my
principal. We just did not see that side of him. Yes, he set extremely grand expectations, but he
believed in me (us) more than anyone that I had ever encountered,” T3 said.
T3 did not have the ideal path towards education. After high school, he enlisted in the
Navy where he served for over 10 years. After becoming injured, he turned towards education,
where he began as a substitute teacher. “I feel that because I gave all my substitutes a
challenging time in my younger days, which is why the kids almost ran me out of the building.
For some reason, I kept going back though because I enjoyed it,” he said. T3 believed that his
transition into education from the military was not as difficult as what people may think. He is
the oldest of 6 siblings. Often, he felt he had to be the father figure in his siblings' lives because
his mother worked 3rd shift and most of the day during weekends. “I did not have a Black male
in my life as I was not aware of who my father was, or why he was not around. I just had an
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instructional coach that saw the work I was doing as a substitute and believed I had potential to
be a great full-time teacher.”
Because T3 did not have experience in teaching, he went the charter school route as a
teaching license was not a requirement to be a lead teacher. As a first-year teacher, he taught 3rd
Grade in an urban low performing school. The demographics of the school were 85% Black, 7%
Hispanic/Latino, 5% Asian, and 3% White. “This school had majority Black scholars, and very
few Black teachers; There was no representation of us,” he exclaimed.” “I remember during the
open house when I met my students and their families for the first time, I was extremely nervous
and really was not sure if I had made the right decision.
As the open house ended, 5 minutes to head home, a mother and her son rushed into my
class. The mom had on scrubs and the son looked as if he had not had proper bathing in days.”
T3 continued, “I welcomed them in, and the mother said, I am so sorry; I could not get off work
in time to make it earlier,” and she introduced herself and her son. “Seeing them walk into my
classroom and seeing the effort that the mom put forth regarding her child’s education proved
that I was in the right place and that I needed to stick around for the sake of the son,” he said. As
someone who has been in education for 14 years, T3 still sees that moment as the reason he
comes every day. “Students that look like me, need to see as much of me in their lives, because
we (Black males) do make a difference.” T3 enjoys being a positive role model to his students
and throughout the interview, he was enthusiastic in his responses and his engagement.
T5 Focus Group Summary
While T5 was born in Georgia, he and his family moved to Roanoke Rapids, North
Carolina when he was three years old. He is a product of a two-parent household in an urban
area. T5 attended public schools from kindergarten to 5th grade years. When he was promoted to
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middle school, his parents felt that the charter school setting would be best for him. While
attending public school he did not have a Black male teacher. His 8th Grade year, however,
changed. “Mr. Shackleford was my 8th grade teacher and first Black male mentor outside of the
home with my dad, who was a principal. His expectations for me to go to college were non-
negotiable, therefore, I became a Morehouse man and enrolled at Morehouse University in
Atlanta, Georgia. It was so ironic because I went from not having any Black male educators to
being surrounded by them. Every class that I had during my tenure at Morehouse was Black
male professors,” he said.
T5 was extremely eager to explain his process of becoming a teacher, especially because
he now had multiple Black male mentors to ensure his success in his classroom. As a first-year
teacher, he discussed how the school served over 600 students and more than 80% of them
received free-reduced lunch. The school’s demographics included 75% Black, 23% Hispanic, 1%
Asian and 1% White. He remained an Elementary school educator for 7 years, before
transitioning to high school, where he currently resides. “I made the transition to high school
based on a leap of faith. I realized that my scholars would not have another Black male teacher
for a prolonged period, so I applied to the local high school in which most students go after
leaving me,” he said. He continued, “I had no high school experience, but I displayed passion
and enthusiasm in my interview and luckily that is exactly what they were looking for. After
accepting the position as a 9th Grade Economics teacher, the scholars in which I previously
taught were so excited that they would get to spend another year with me. It was at that moment
that I knew I had made the right decision. I saw myself as a role model and mentor to those who
may have lacked that positive Black male in their lives.”
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T5 also realized the students should see him in the classrooms and in the community. He
ended up running for a seat on the school board and won. “When I won a spot on the district’s
school board, I became the first black male to do so. I was honored, but also eager to get to work.
I knew the importance of the students seeing themselves through the individual that not only
teaches them but can make major decisions based on their education. That is more than what
anyone could ever pay, hence why I continue to do it.”
One of the major concerns that T5 noticed after becoming a school district board member
was the amount of teacher burnout from educators with less than 7 years of being in the field. “In
our district, I have seen teachers begin to slow down or become burned out not too long after
year 5 for them. It is a pivotal time as solid educators are extremely hard to come by. Most
schools in North Carolina have the Beginning Teacher Program which supports those educators
for a period of three years, but what about after that?” he stated. “We need support for teachers
with over 5 years of experience to ensure that they not only feel supported but have the strength
to make it in the long run and typically stay no longer than 5 years.” He discussed the type of
support new teachers need and compared his current district with another district where he
worked. He thought all new teachers needed mentors and that gender or race did not matter if
they received the support they needed. “I never want teachers or students to feel at a
disadvantage. It seems like the pandemic shifted a lot in education because the joy factor is gone
in our schools. I will continue to produce innovative ideas that support school systems and
promote a sense of wellbeing throughout.”
T6 Focus Group Summary
T6 was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina and grew up in a single-family
household as an only child. T6 attended public schools from kindergarten until 8th grade and a
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charter school during his tenure in high schools. Being the only child, he did not have many
interactions with other kids and did not have a Black male teacher until high school. As a child,
his only male mentors were the ones in his church. Those same men were the ones that were
responsible for him going off to college and becoming a teacher. He attended Fayetteville State
University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “It was not hard for my mentors to convince me to go
off to college and become a teacher as it had been a dream of mine since the 4th grade. My
mother was a teacher and seeing her as a Kindergarten teacher really inspired me,” T6 said. “I
began teaching 1st grade and quickly realized that it was not for me. After teaching 1st, I found
my true love for teaching with 3rd Grade. This school was in an urban district, but extremely high
performing, which unfortunately is rare. The demographics included 80% Black, 10%
Hispanic/Latino, 6% Asian, and 2% White. The students were eager and so excited about
learning. Ideally, this was not the norm.
Unlike the other guys (in the focus group), I was not sure if I was viewed as a role model.
It was not until my 5th year in education that my scholars appreciated me as an educator. I was
just not enough” T6 explained. “I remember the exact day that I began feeling like a role model.
It was just before the holidays and one of my black male scholars asked if I could come to his
home for Christmas, because his father was incarcerated, and I was the closest thing to a father
that he had. It brought tears to my eyes. I did not realize the impact I had on him because
transparently, he was one of my students I struggled with behaviorally daily.” Most of the time,
the students that give us the most problems on a regular basis are the ones that need attention
because they are not getting it at home. As a black male administrator, I am intentional about
how I speak to students or the consequences I give for negative behavior as it may alter how they
view school in general. T6 agrees by stating, “It is always difficult to provide consequences for
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behaviors. It is like we are setting them up to fail because they could either lose interest in school
or be suspended and placed in an environment such as their home that is not kept the way that it
should be.
T9 Focus Group Summary
T9 was born in the Bahamas and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 7
because of being a military kid. He was raised in a two-parent household in an urban area. T9
attended public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Unlike the other participants of
the focus group, T9 had multiple Black male teachers. “I had a total of 5 Black male teachers
throughout my childhood. I was fortunate enough to see this representation as early as 2nd Grade
and all throughout middle and high school. I viewed them as superheroes, because I knew early
on that Black male teachers were hard to find. That is why I became an educator. The feeling I
got at 7 years old having a Black male teacher, who has been my favorite teacher of all time, was
something that I wanted to give other kids; especially our Black students.”
Similarly, to T6, T9 also had male mentors within his church that supported his passion
for education. T9 spent 5 years teaching 2nd Grade students before moving to teach middle
schoolers, specifically Grade 8. “I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
and pursued education. I found it ironic that as a first-year educator, I was placed in 2nd grade, in
which I had my favorite teacher,” T9 said. The school was exceedingly small, having just over
400 students. Within that number 100% of students received free reduced lunch. The school’s
demographics showed 75% Black was 20% Hispanic/Latino, 4% White, and 1% Asian. Though
T9 enjoyed working with 2nd graders, he was ready to branch into something new, which is how
he began teaching 8th grade. “This change for me was drastic,” he stated. “I went from tying
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shoes and hearing yes sir/no sir, to being called Bruh and ever-changing emotions; Still I knew I
made the right decision.”
There were so many transparent moments that T9 spoke upon, and it was those moments
that he felt he was viewed as a role model. “Oftentimes, my students would just want a listening
ear; someone that would stop what they were doing to hear them out. They were not receiving
that type of attention at home, so they would come to my class and ask for advice. I knew at that
point my scholars trusted me with certain information that they did not trust even their parents
with. It was an overall connection with my students that even at Year 12, I am thinking what I
give to them for them to view me as their superhero?”
So many moments within T9’s career he feels impacts his day to day understanding as to
why he remains in the education field, but the one that he believes stands out the most is being
able to see his students go off to college or in their career path and come back to thank him for
all his guidance. “My physical presence truly made a difference in each of my student’s lives.
They go off and become something, then contact me just to say thank you. Hearing those two
words is when you realize that teaching is not a job, it is a duty that must be fulfilled to guide our
future leaders to success.”
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