Exploring the career trajectories of Black male educators in p-12 education

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 255-267
Author(s):  
Kimberly Underwood ◽  
Joy Taylor ◽  
Donna Smith ◽  
J. Medgar Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Black Male ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
The Status

Purpose This paper aims to provide a critical examination of the career trajectories of Black male educators through the discussion of key issues relevant to the professional development and advancement of this population. Design/methodology/approach The authors approach this paper through the examination of literature related to Black male educators. The authors seek to provide insight into the status of Black male educators through a critical focus of scholarship in the three critical areas of Black male educator recruitment, retention and mobility. Findings This examination supports the need to generate sustainable initiatives to diversify our nation’s classrooms and create additional opportunities for Black male representation in school leadership positions. Effectively dismantling the entrenched hurdles many encounter within their teaching careers requires a concerted commitment by advocates, policymakers and school administrators at all levels. Additionally, there is a continued need for stakeholders to keep the diversification of P-12 schools as a key priority in current education reform strategies. Social implications This paper serves as an impetus to highlight the continued need for further exploration and consequential action to increase the numbers of Black males in the teaching profession. Originality/value This paper adds to the literature surrounding Black male educators by providing a holistic view of their career trajectories of Black male educators and shedding light on the need for ongoing efforts to diversify the P-12 teaching workforce.

“Playing school”

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Bryan ◽  
Christopher C. Jett
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Black Males ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
School Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Imaginative Play

PurposeMuch of the extant research literature on the initiatives to attract, inspire and recruit Black males to the teaching profession has focused on middle and high school students. Black boys’ socialization into dominant narratives regarding who can and cannot become teachers occurs as early as in early childhood classrooms; however, little attention has been given to ways to attract, inspire and recruit them to the professional teaching ranks where a paltry 2 per cent are Black men.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores the concept of imaginative play experiences with respect to Black boys and unearths possibilities for future Black male teachers through culturally relevant play.FindingsBased on findings from the literature, this conceptual paper makes connections between the early childhood play literature and the Black male teacher recruitment and retention literature to create possibilities to inspire Black boys to enter the teaching profession.Originality/valueThis paper presents a nuanced integration of imaginative play and culturally relevant pedagogy with specific attention to Black males.

Exploring the effects of authentic leadership on academic optimism and teacher engagement in Thailand

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhirapat Kulophas ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Auyporn Ruengtrakul ◽  
Suwimon Wongwanich
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Academic Optimism ◽  
School Level ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Content Type

Purpose In the context of Thailand’s progress towards education reform, scholars have identified a lack of effective school-level leadership as an impeding factor. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a theoretical model of authentic leadership effects on teacher academic optimism and work engagement. Authentic leadership was considered a suitable model of school leadership in light of Thailand’s explicit recognition of the importance of developing the moral capacity of students and emphasis on ethical leadership. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Survey data were obtained from 605 teachers in a nationally representative sample of 182 primary schools. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that the model of authentic leadership effects on teachers’ academic optimism and work engagement was validated. A moderate relationship was observed between authentic leadership and the dependent measures of teacher attitudes. Practical implications The study identified a potentially important lack of alignment between the espoused values and actions/decisions of school principals in Thailand. When combined with prior research conducted on leadership for educational reform in Thailand, our findings highlight the systemic nature of the problem faced in changing traditional patterns of behavior in Thai schools. More specifically, despite change in the nation’s educational goals, human resource management of the nation’s school leaders continues to produce administrators and managers rather than leaders, either instructional or moral. Originality/value The study extends prior studies of school leadership in the context of Thailand’s education reform that focused more specifically on principal instructional leadership in Thailand. In addition, this study of authentic school leadership is one of only a few conducted outside of Western societies.

scholarly journals Black male student teachers: tomorrow’s teachers?

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uvanney Maylor
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Male Student ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Black Male Student

Purpose This paper aims to understand the preparation that a group of black male pre-service students received during their course and its impact on their willingness to commit to entering the teaching profession. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on findings from a small-scale qualitative study of black and minority ethnic student teachers’ experiences in one initial teacher education institution. Findings The paper raises questions as to whether black pre-service teachers’ experiences of a lack of acceptance in schools during their pre-service training contribute to the under-representation of black male teachers in English schools. Originality/value There is limited research on the experiences of black male student teachers. The paper brings new insights and offers reasons for black male student teachers not entering the teaching profession.

The translation of leadership standards into leadership practices

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 593-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Riveros ◽  
Carolyne Verret ◽  
Wei Wei
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Leadership Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vice Principals ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Emerging Themes ◽  
Emergent Identity

Purpose – The guiding question of this study is: how is the Ontario Leadership Framework (OLF) translated into practices in elementary and secondary schools in the province of Ontario? The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextual account of the processes by which school leadership standards are incorporated into the practices of school administrators in the province of Ontario, Canada. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative exploratory case study focusses on the incorporation of the OLF into the practices of school administrators in four secondary and five elementary schools in two large school boards. The data were collected through document analysis, observations registered in a field notes journal, and semi-structured interviews with principals and vice-principals. The data were coded into analytical categories and analyzed to identify emerging themes and patterns. Findings – The analysis identified two emerging themes that illustrated how school leaders translate leadership standards into practices: the first theme, the school leader as an emergent identity, demonstrated the intersections between standards and professional identities. The analysis showed that standards contribute to the configuration of the leader as a political actor in the school. The second theme, standards, and the configuration of leadership practices, offered insights about the intersections and disconnections between standards and leadership practices in the participant schools. Originality/value – This study aims to inform conversations between policy makers, practitioners, and scholars about leadership standards in schools. Given the saliency of the topic, this research aims to illuminate the often-unexplored nexus, policy-leadership, as well as to expand and enrich theoretical understandings of educational leadership by recasting leadership as a policy-bounded phenomenon.

Black Masculine Caring and the Dilemma faced by Black Male Leaders

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 772-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Bass ◽  
Kendrick Alston
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Black Males ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Male Students ◽  
School Cultures ◽  
Black Male Students ◽  
The Status ◽  
High Need Schools ◽  
Culture And Climate

The status of Black males in schools and society continues to be concerning, as Black males appear to fall behind other groups in almost every arena, particularly educationally, socially, and professionally. Yet despite their social standing, Black male administrators are often placed in, and have taken on, the charge to serve in high need schools where they oversee the education of Black males and other disadvantaged students. Therefore, there are many Black male students who have Black male administrators. This places them in a position to make a difference in lives of the Black male students and the other students they serve from less privileged backgrounds. This conceptual article discusses the professional challenges faced by Black male leaders and how they choose to lead schools despite these challenges. Tenants of the Black Masculine Caring (BMC) framework are introduced which illuminate ways in which Black male administrators practice interpersonal and institutional care, and how the way they care for students impacts school culture and climate. This article contributes to the literature on school leadership, as all school leaders, regardless of their race, or the race of their students, are expected to maintain positive school cultures and climates in which students are emotionally supported (Blankstein, 2004; Murphy and Torre, 2014). Implications for educational administrators are discussed.

Understanding project stakeholders’ perceptions of public participation in China's infrastructure and construction projects

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin-lin Xie ◽  
Yu Yang ◽  
Yi Hu ◽  
Albert P.C. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Threat Analysis ◽  
Environmental Disputes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Survey Results

Purpose – Public participation has been implemented with growing frequency as an instrument for dealing with the increased socio-economic and environmental disputes in public infrastructure and construction (PIC) projects in China. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of major stakeholders on the major aspects related to public participation practices in China's PIC projects and intends to convey what is presently happening in this segment of the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – Specific topics of the social effects, benefits, forms, and barriers were addressed through a recent survey of the major stakeholders involved in PIC projects. The survey results were used to perform a strength-weakness-opportunity-threat analysis for evaluating the status quo of public participation in PIC projects. Findings – The survey results indicate that the development of public participation practices in China remains relatively slow despite the urgent need to promote this mechanism for solving socio-economic and environmental disputes in PIC projects. Thus, a four-step strategic plan is suggested to be established to overcome main barriers for the implementation of public participation and promote its development in China. Originality/value – This study aims to evaluate the status quo of the public participation practices in China by conducting a national survey, which has never been conducted before. The findings of this paper provide a holistic view of the status quo of public participation in China's PIC projects and promote a better application of this mechanism in the construction industry.

scholarly journals EDUCATION POLICY IN ALBANIA AND THE MAJOR PRINCIPLES OF THE PAN-EUROPEAN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RECOMMENDATIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eglantina Gjoka
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
The Status ◽  
Leadership Policy ◽  
Democratic Knowledge

In Albania, efforts to create a more student-centered curriculum, expand the use of ICT, and increase equity have placed new expectations on teachers to create more inclusive classrooms where students develop transversal skills and prepare for participation in a democratic knowledge society. As Albania continues to decentralize its education system, school leaders are also expected to take on new responsibilities, reach out to parents, and build strong links with their communities. The main teacher and school leadership policy issues identified in this EPR include the status of the teaching profession, teachers’ and principals’ employment and working conditions, initial teacher preparation, the state examination and internship programmed that lead to teacher certification, hiring and deployment procedures, continuing professional development, teacher performance appraisal, and the school leadership role.

Image manipulation in scholarly publications: are there ways to an automated solution?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorsten Stephan Beck
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review Process ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Automated Detection ◽  
Image Manipulation ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Forensic Research ◽  
The Status

PurposeThis paper provides an introduction to research in the field of image forensics and asks whether advances in the field of algorithm development and digital forensics will facilitate the examination of images in the scientific publication process in the near future.Design/methodology/approachThis study looks at the status quo of image analysis in the peer review process and evaluates selected articles from the field of Digital Image and Signal Processing that have addressed the discovery of copy-move, cut-paste and erase-fill manipulations.FindingsThe article focuses on forensic research and shows that, despite numerous efforts, there is still no applicable tool for the automated detection of image manipulation. Nonetheless, the status quo for examining images in scientific publications remains visual inspection and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. This study summarizes aspects that make automated detection of image manipulation difficult from a forensic research perspective.Research limitations/implicationsResults of this study underscore the need for a conceptual reconsideration of the problems involving image manipulation with a view toward the need for interdisciplinary collaboration in conjunction with library and information science (LIS) expertise on information integrity.Practical implicationsThis study not only identifies a number of conceptual challenges but also suggests areas of action that the scientific community can address in the future.Originality/valueImage manipulation is often discussed in isolation as a technical challenge. This study takes a more holistic view of the topic and demonstrates the necessity for a multidisciplinary approach.

How school districts influence student achievement

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Leithwood ◽  
Jingping Sun ◽  
Catherine McCullough
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
District Improvement ◽  
The Status ◽  
Family Variables

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of nine district characteristics on student achievement, explored the conditions that mediated the effects of such characteristics and contributed to understandings about the role school-level leaders play in district efforts to improve achievement. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were provided by the responses of 2,324 school and district leaders in 45 school districts to two surveys. Student achievement evidence was provided by multi-grade provincial measures of math and language achievement. The analysis of these data included calculation of descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and regression mediation analysis. Findings Seven of nine district characteristics contributed significantly to student achievement and three conditions served as especially powerful mediators of such district effects. The same three conditions, as well as others, acted as significant mediators of school-level leader effects on achievement, as well. Practical implications District characteristics tested in the study provide a powerful framework for guiding the district improvement work of senior educational leaders. The organizational improvement efforts of both district and school leaders would be substantially enhanced by a better understanding of how to diagnose and improve the status of those conditions acting as significant mediators of the effects of both district and school leadership on student achievement. Originality/value This is one of a very few large-scale quantitative studies examining the extent to which characteristics frequently identified by district effectiveness research explain variation in student learning. It is also one of the very few studies identifying classroom, school and family variables that mediate district effects on such learning. The study also adds to a growing body of evidence about variables which mediate school leaders’ effects on such learning.

scholarly journals Black leaders matter

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Miller ◽  
Christine Callender
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Black Leadership ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate factors that contribute to black male school leaders’ career progression and sustenance within the teaching profession. This, because the progression of black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers in Britain has been the subject of much debate. Fewer BME teachers are in leadership roles in education, and there are only 230 BME headteachers of approximately 24,000 primary and secondary headteachers. Design/methodology/approach The headteachers’ professional lives are explored through the lenses of critical race theory and interpretivism. In doing so, it illuminates the journey towards and the realities of a group whose views are currently unrepresented in research on school leadership or that of the experiences of male BME teachers in England. Findings This study finds that whereas personal agency and determination are largely responsible for keeping these black headteachers in post, “White sanction” (Miller, 2016) has played a significant role in career entry and early career development. Furthermore, participants experience both limiting and facilitating structures as they negotiated their roles into headship and as headteachers. Limiting structures are those which constrain or hinder progression into leadership, whilst facilitating structures enabled participants to navigate and negotiate gendered racism, make progress in their careers and achieve success in their respective roles. Both limiting and facilitating structures include personal agency and contextual factors. Research limitations/implications The paper also makes the point that more research is needed on current BME school leaders to examine the factors that motivate and enable them. Additionally, more research is needed on the limiting and facilitating structures identified in this study and on the potential generational differences that may exist between more established and newly appointed male BME school leaders. Studying generationally different school leaders may help to illuminate the salience of race and racism across an increasingly diverse population. Practical implications Furthermore, this paper also suggests that more BME school leaders are needed, thereby making the leadership teams of schools more representative, as well as raising aspirations and interest among BME teachers and therefore making black leadership sustainable. Originality/value This paper is an original piece of research that adds fresh insights into not only how black school leaders get into teaching and leadership but also significantly what keeps them there.

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