African American Male Reluctance in Teacher Education

Michael L. Williams, Chicago State UniversityFollow

Keywords

African-American male, reluctance, marginalized, diversity gap, societal bias, educational disengagement, ethnocentrism

Abstract

There is a shortage of teachers among rapidly expanding populations of culturally diverse students in K-12 education. Minority students enrolled in public schools have been rising while the number of minority teachers has been falling. Twenty percent of teachers are from ethnic and racial backgrounds, however, schools educate majority-minority populations. What is most troubling, is that the most negatively impacted student of K-12 diverse populations is African-American males. This commentary focuses on the fact that there are initiatives and ideas to close the teacher diversity gap by creating pipelines of African American male teachers. However, the effort it takes to convince African American males to get on board is daunting. Why are African American males so reluctant to teach? Factors in this paper explain a host of underlying marginalized associations with African American males including historical perspectives, societal bias, academic struggles, and educational disengagement. Possibilities may lead to Ethnocentrism in K-12 schools through curricula, pedagogical practices, and school policies and practices are the beliefs, values, and assumptions which support this philosophy. As these beliefs permeate and dominate school culture, students of color, particularly, African American males will have to conform to the standards of the normalized group to succeed, and that may be where the true issue lies.

Recommended Citation

Williams, Michael L. (2025) "African American Male Reluctance in Teacher Education," Mid-Western Educational Researcher: Vol. 37: Iss. 1, Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/mwer.37.01.01
Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/mwer/vol37/iss1/1