“You would be a great teacher,” I have said several times to students who show leadership in the classroom and in the school. I am often met with very similar responses, “You’re crazy!” “No way, I can’t deal with these kids,” or “Why would I do that?” In twelve years of teaching, I have only been successful in encouraging five to six students to seriously consider teaching as a profession. I would ask myself, “I love my job, why can’t my students see that?”
My experience with my students’ disinterest in the teaching experience is not unique. Our Participatory Action Research Black Teacher Pilot Study found that many Black teachers reported similar statements about their Black students. So why are Black students not even considering the profession? There are a variety of reasons, but we found that chief among them are lack of representation in their school’s teaching staff, perceived lack of respect for Black teachers on the part of staff and other students, inadequate teacher pay, and students’ concern over other students’ behavioral issues.
As part of our study we conducted four focus groups with Black students in Philadelphia and Detroit. Our goal was to understand student perspectives on Black teachers and the profession. Many of them asserted they felt more “comfortable” in a Black teachers’ classroom and/or had Black teachers with whom their relationships extended beyond the classroom. Yet, despite the positive relationship they built with Black teachers, most students confidently stated they would not consider entering the teaching profession.
Reading back through the interviews with students, I was surprised by the impact of the lack of representation of Black teachers both within their own schools and the media. In Philadelphia in particular, our study found that the lack of representation of Black teachers in schools plays a major role in student’s not seeing it as a viable career option. “There’s not enough of us. They don’t see a lot of themselves in their educational environments. And the ones they do see don’t stay,” argued one Black teacher.
I remember when Abbott Elementary first came out, so many of my teacher friends shared that they cried during the first episode, “Because it was way too real.” I personally love the show – I’ve cried at many episodes – and yet I wonder if Black students in Philly and Detroit watch it. For where in the media have they seen positive representation of Black teachers? The only other popular examples of teacher representation in the media are older movies like Dangerous Minds (which centered a white savior character) or the Great Debaters (set during the Civil Rights era), and it’s doubtful that today’s Black students watch either. Abbott Elementary is a relevant positive example of Black teachers who, despite the challenges, find the job rewarding. Even Barbara, one of the most liked characters on Abbott Elementary, tells Janine, “Teachers at a school like Abbott… we have to be able to do it all. We are admin. We are social workers. We are therapists. We are second parents. Hell, sometimes, we’re even first. Why? Huh, it sure ain’t the money.” How spot on! The most common reason Black students argued they were not becoming teachers was perceived lack of pay. One student claimed, “Teachers don’t make no money, I’d rather be a doctor.” Another stated, “Everybody right now that’s graduating wants to try to make as much money as they possibly can and teachers don’t make that much money to start off with.” One Black student even recognized the value and commitment of Black teachers yet claimed, “Young people now feel that they can get paid way more for less work, and they’re just not paying teachers enough. That’s one of the big problems.”
Black teachers are aware of students’ hesitation to teach. Many teachers expressed that students witness the way teachers are disrespected by other students and administration. As one teacher shared, “It’s the most disrespected position on the planet…teachers are some of the smartest people on the planet, and we get cursed out.” Another Black teacher stated “ [Students] don’t see teachers get the respect that they deserve. They sit in classrooms, they see the disrespect from students, they see the disrespect from parents and sometimes even administrators, so that probably deters them.” An additional teacher similarly asserted “And so students don’t have respect for teachers. So why would they want to become what they don’t respect?”
Black students also notice the lack of support teachers have in dealing with student behavioral challenges. One of the Black teachers stated that Black students “are not confident in their abilities to have patience in dealing with students.” Another teacher reported hearing similar statements from students that I have heard in my own classroom, for instance, “I’m not dealing with these kids,” or “I’ll have to hurt somebody’s child or whatever, because they’re not going to be talking to me this way or doing these types of things.”
So what’s the solution to both the perception and the reality of the experience of Black teachers? We have to change the narratives around how Black teachers are represented, while simultaneously providing Black teachers with the support they need to sustain the challenges of the classroom. Publicly celebrating Black teachers would help with perception. This is part of the reason that our pilot cohort began developing a plan for a social media campaign that would highlight dope Black teachers.
The hard work, commitment, and sacrifices that Black teachers make needs to be recognized. Once Black teachers are celebrated for their ability to uplift students of color, more students might consider the profession. We must stop “discouraging students…from embracing their agency.” We must continue to show students of color that in choosing a teaching profession, they are also choosing to help dismantle school inequity. By deciding to become a Black teacher, they can create the classrooms they deserve.