Is it Really Just Black and White? A Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study of Effective White Teachers of Black Students in a Small, Southern Community
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Authors
Lewis, Maura A.
Issue Date
2022
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
African American students , Dissertations, Academic--United States , Education , High schools , Qualitative research , Teachers
Alternative Title
Abstract
In his now famous protest The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois (1903) predicted the 21st century as one fraught with many of the same racial inequities and perils previously seen in American history. As with most social diseases, racism has not been eradicated but rather spread and is still infesting many of our social institutions, especially our educational system (Coates, 2015; Yosso, 2006).
The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study is to examine “best-practices” and identify strategies commonly employed by effective White teachers of Black students; the research examines the nexus of inequality in education, the achievement gap, and teachers’ influence in multicultural classrooms. Six, White secondary school teachers participated in this study by sharing their educational beliefs and experiences within a rural, southern town through one 90-120 minute face-to-face individual interview with iterative questioning. Data obtained from the interviews was analyzed using a three phase approach where three common themes were ascertained. Critical Race Theory and Community Cultural Wealth Theory were used as theoretical foundations for this study.
Results revealed effective White teachers of Black students must build relationships with Students of Color in order to earn their trust; this results in students doing better in the teacher’s class and building lasting relationships which effect the student’s capital (Aspirational, Familial, Social, Navigational and Resistant). Three major themes emerged from the data: Building Relationships: When They Know You Care, Black v. Poor: Socioeconomic Status and Race and Everybody is Family: Life in a Small Town.
Keywords: white teachers; black students; education; qualitative study; effective teachers; small community;
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