Transformative vision: Examining the racial literacy practices of a Black male teacher with his Black male students

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how a Black male teacher made sense of the ways racism and white supremacy function in schools and constrains his practice by addressing the question: How does a culturally relevant Black male teacher engage a racial perspective in his pedagogy and make sense of the socio-political context of his practice?

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative case study draws its data from semi-structured interviews and participant observations and was situated within a transfer high school in the Northeastern region of the USA.

Findings

This study elucidates the ways in which a Black male teacher’s racial literacy enabled him to make sense of the socio-political context of his school, the profession and help his Black male students negotiate how they are racialized in schools and society.

Research limitations/implications

This paper closes with a call for additional research that further examines the relationship racial literacy plays in retaining teachers of color in the profession and for racial literacy to be positioned as a vital component of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in both teacher education and professional development.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on critical Black male teachers by forwarding a framework that helps us to understand how they engage in transformative work within assimilationist educational spaces.

Citation

Allen, K.M. (2019), "Transformative vision: Examining the racial literacy practices of a Black male teacher with his Black male students", Journal for Multicultural Education, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 82-93. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-04-2017-0029