The powerful benefits of elevating representation in teaching
It’s long been known that teaching is primarily a white and female profession. In Chicago, like many other urban centers throughout the country, the gap between the races of students and their teachers is a wide one: students of color make up 89% of all young people, while fewer than half of their teachers are people of color. This disparity has been shown to have far-reaching impacts, affecting everything from student achievement to high school graduation to aspirations for college.
“If we don’t get the issue fixed now, it could lead to a generation of students who won’t have the same academic success that students in my classroom and other classrooms are getting,” said Devin Evans, Butler College Prep 12th grade teacher and leader of the Black Male Educators Alliance of Illinois.
Evans was among the Black male educators, along with a group of boys and young men of color (BYMOC), who participated in design sessions last year that have helped to inform Thrive Chicago’s Male Educators of Color initiative, as part of its larger My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) portfolio, specifically aimed at supporting BYMOC to identify and pursue purposeful pathways to adulthood. The voices of Black male educators often have been missing in conversations about increasing the diversity of the teacher workforce. MBK has elevated those voices as part of its strategy to build and strengthen the pipeline of diverse educators in Chicago Public Schools (CPS).
As part of this effort, Thrive Chicago hosted a series of focus groups that created space for male educators of color to look back on their own educational experiences. During these conversations, educators noted that the predetermined biases of their white teachers often hindered their learning and reinforced the disconnect between predominately white teachers and their students.
The presence of a Black male educator provides BYMOC with a safe space to forge their identity while engaging with curricula and starting a path toward a purposeful and productive path in life. The data is clear; low-income Black male students who have a Black male educator in elementary school are 39 percent less likely to drop out of high school and 29 percent more likely to plan to attend a four-year college.1
To respond to the dearth of male educators of color in CPS, MBK Chicago launched a pilot course during the 2021-2022 academic year at three high schools to help young men of color spark interest in teaching as a career path. The goal of this “Intro to Urban Education” course is to introduce students to the teaching profession while affirming their history, identity, and lived experience. Evans is one of the educators leading the course.
Findings from the focus groups
MBK Chicago brought together current male educators of color, current members and alumni of the Teach for America (TFA) teaching corps, and BYMOC to reflect on their experiences through a series of focus groups in the Spring of 2021.
Excerpts from a discussion among CPS leaders and other male educators of color are available in the following video:
The themes highlighted represent the authentic voice and candid reflections of BYMOC and the male educators of color who participated in the focus groups. Their ideas and perspectives provide critical insight into the needs, opportunities, and challenges that people of color face within Chicago’s public education system. Key findings and recommendations from these discussions include:
- Participants underscored the role that educators of color can play, not only in the social and emotional well-being of students of color, but in their academic performance as well. The higher expectations that they hold for students of color, the meaningful relationships that they are able to establish, and their ability to serve as cultural brokers positions them as pivotal influences and mediators for students of color as they navigate the education landscape.
- BYMOC need supports that extend beyond academics. While the focus on academics is important, it can be bolstered by additional supports for BYMOC that consider the whole child, including mentoring, social and emotional learning, and learning experiences tailored to their unique interests. These resources help BYMOC establish relationships with caring, trained adults who can help them navigate the myriad complexities of their daily lives.
- BYMOC and male teachers of color need affinity spaces to celebrate their unique identity, needs, and experiences. Participants highlighted the critical importance of relationships and safe spaces where students of color can be seen, heard, and validated. Male teachers of color, in particular, reflected on their own school experiences–both positive and negative–and the ways in which these experiences impact their current approach to teaching and relationship-building, particularly with their students of color.
- The narrative about the education profession must evolve to attract a new and diverse teaching force. The perception of education as a low-status and poorly compensated profession acts as a deterrent for prospective educators of color. To combat this image, schools and communities must partner to change the narrative about the profession, including spotlighting existing teachers of color to encourage BYMOC to explore education as a possible career path.
- The negative societal stereotypes about BYMOC often permeate schools and impact the way that BYMOC experience and are experienced within the school setting. Overwhelmingly, the majority of BYMOC who participated in the focus groups described the negative perception that society, in general, holds about boys and young men of color. This perception carries over into schools where BYMOC are often met with low expectations and negative stereotypes. Many noted, however, that this experience changes when students of color have access to teachers and/or administrators of color who see them as fully human and not as racist stereotypes.
- Ensuring that men of color are policymakers and decision-makers across schools and districts is a key strategy to addressing systemic factors that affect BYMOC. Some of the policies and practices developed and utilized by schools and districts are harmful to students and have roots in systemic racism. These include tracking students–separating students according to their perceived skills and abilities–student-based budgeting, unfair enrollment practices, and inequitable discipline practices. BYMOC are disproportionately affected by these practices relative to their white peers. In order to address and revise harmful practices, it is critical that male educators of color–powerful advocates for students–are included in policy discourse, decision-making, and positions of leadership across schools and districts.
These critical insights from key stakeholders will help inform the expansion of the Intro to Urban Education pilot to additional high schools for the 2022-2023 academic year, creating an opportunity for more high school students to have the opportunity to learn from male educators of color and strengthen their connections to education. Beyond that, the longer-term outcome is even more vital: affirming boys and young men of color, providing holistic support to them, and supporting them as they students to prepare them for the world of postsecondary opportunities that lie ahead.
Learn more about My Brother’s Keeper and Thrive.
1Source: Institute of Labor Economics 2017.
