"IN MY EXPERIENCE…": AN EXPLORATION OF HOW RURAL, BLACK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' K-12 EXPERIENCES INFLUENCE THEIR DECISIONS TO PURSUE OR NOT PURSUE TEACHING AS A CAREER

Abstract

There was a time in the US when Black youth revered their Black teachers and looked to them as models of excellence (Foster, 1997). In fact, during the 1950’s, nearly half of all Black professionals were teachers who taught Black students in segregated schools (Cole, 1986). However, following the Brown decision, thousands of Black teachers were dismissed (Fenwick, 2022) and racist teacher licensure testing was implemented to ensure otherwise qualified Black teachers would not be hired at recently integrated schools (Fenwick, 2021). Since then, Black students have been educated by an overwhelmingly white teacher workforce. Currently in the US, only 2% of K-12 public school teachers are Black men and only 5% are Black women (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Although extant research explores barriers for Black pre-service students’ teacher preparation program completion (Walker, 2020; Dinkins & Thomas, 2016), and factors influencing Black in-service teachers’ turnover (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; D’amico et al., 2017), few studies seek to understand why most Black high school students never choose to pursue teaching as a viable career in the first place. As we attempt to remedy the systemic failures in US educational policy and practice, and repair the broken Black teacher pipeline, it is important to understand why Black high school students do or do not choose to teach.Drawing on Lortie’s (1975/2020) notion of teaching as an apprenticeship of observation, this study sought to illuminate what Black, rural, high school students observed during their K-12 schooling, and how those observations influenced their decisions to pursue or not pursue teaching as a career. Utilizing Critical Race Theory and Black Critical Theory, this study drew attention to the ways systemic racism and anti-Blackness influenced their decision-making processes as they navigated racially heterogenous rural schools with mostly white teachers and administrators. Using qualitative study methods, including individual and focus group interviews, all six participants shared stories that detailed their experiences in schools and how those experiences influenced their perceptions of teachers and teaching. The research questions guiding this study were (1) How do the K-12 experiences of rural, Black high school juniors and seniors influence their decisions to pursue or not pursue K-12 teaching as a career path? (1a.) How do they describe their own schooling experiences, particularly as related to interactions with teachers, curriculum and instruction, and discipline? (1b.) How do they describe and perceive the impact of race and racism on their schooling experiences and how do those perceptions impact their view of the teaching profession? (1c.) In what ways do their prior schooling experiences and conceptualizations of teaching and teachers influence their decision to pursue or not pursue teaching? (2) How can study participants’ experiences and understandings inform strategies for increasing the number of Black high school students who pursue K-12 teaching as a viable career path? My findings highlighted the implications of being a Black student in a predominantly white and rural region, participants witnessed and experienced psychological harm in schools, their perceptions of the teaching profession, Black students’ attractors to and deterrents from teaching, and participants proposed solutions for increasing the viability of teaching for Black high school students. Overall, the study found that as Black students are deciding whether or not teaching is a viable career option, positive student-teacher relationships are crucial, teachers’ job satisfaction matters, and high school teacher preparation programs make a difference. The findings provide insight into the ways Black high school students’ experiences in schools influence their perceptions of teachers and the teaching profession, and how those perceptions influence their decisions to pursue or not pursue teaching as a career.