“If I can help somebody”: The civic-oriented thought and practices of Black male teacher-coaches

Thomas, Daniel J.

doi:10.1080/00933104.2022.2078258

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…There is a significant gap in the literature explaining how Black male teachers, especially those serving as teacher-coaches (Thomas, 2022a(Thomas, , 2022b, have used Black intellectual thought in counter-hegemonic ways to intentionally combat a White-controlled epistemic order that, I argue, is anti-Black. Since the 15th century, qualitative racial discourse has scripted the bodies of Black men and boys as biblically cursed subhumans (A. L. Brown, 2018), libidinous rapists (Kendi, 2016), pathologically dysfunctional (Moynihan, 1965), natural athletes (Thomas, Johnson, Clark, & Harrison, 2022), as well as incompetent and uneducable (Jackson, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Despite their presence in popular culture and the teacher workforce, the history of Black male teacher-coaches has been erased and replaced with a White origin story (Stacy, 2016) that does not align with the specificity of the Black male teacher-coach tradition set forth by Dr. Carter G. Woodson and Dr. Edwin B. Henderson (Henderson, 1949;Thomas, 2022b). Contemporary scholarship has primarily focused on White male participants and has framed teacher-coaches as anti-intellectuals who avoid teaching duties (Conner, 2014).…”

Section: Black Male Teachers and Teacher-coachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, Black male teachers have historically been constructed as problems for their counter-hegemonic practices, and teacher-coaches have been positioned as anti-intellectual. Yet, little is known about Black male teacher-coaches who are fortified in the counter-hegemonic tradition of Black intellectual thought (Thomas, 2022a(Thomas, , 2022b. Rather than framing critical praxis as a problem or teachercoaches as anti-intellectuals, this paper makes a turn from such deficit tropes to explicate how Black male teacher-coaches have carried on the rich legacy of the long Civil Rights Movement by unflinchingly serving as the gatekeepers and guardians of Black intellectual thought to intentionally combat an anti-Black epistemic order.…”

Section: Black Male Teachers and Teacher-coachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a significant gap in the literature explaining how Black male teachers, especially those serving as teacher-coaches (Thomas, 2022a, 2022b), have used Black intellectual thought in counter-hegemonic ways to intentionally combat a White-controlled epistemic order that, I argue, is anti-Black. Since the 15th century, qualitative racial discourse has scripted the bodies of Black men and boys as biblically cursed subhumans (A.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

Thomas

2023

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context: Historical narratives and contemporary research continue to produce scholarship on teacher-coaches through a White racial frame that both reifies a Western European origin story and centers the experiences of White males. However, the American history of teacher-coaches is not the Black history of teacher-coaches. The Black male teacher-coach tradition is anchored in the utilization of Black intellectual thought to implement revisionist ontology projects that simultaneously claim Black personhood and contest curricular genocide while being consumed within an anti-Black milieu. In this study, the tradition of Black male teacher-coaches’ critical civic engagement within secondary schools is taken from the margins and centered. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus of Study: This study examines how Black male teacher-coaches utilize Black intellectual thought within secondary social studies and literature courses to combat a White-controlled epistemic order of knowledge. Within their courses, the participants purposefully challenge institutional forms of bad faith by utilizing Black intellectual thought to unsettle the coloniality of truth to challenge the existing anti-Black scholastic order of knowledge. Using the theoretical lenses of subjective understanding and bad faith, this study is guided by the following primary research question: How do Black men in predominantly non-Black schools utilize Black intellectual thought to enact their work as teacher-coaches? Research Design: The findings from this study emerge from an instrumental multiple case study that included four Black male teacher-coaches serving as secondary social studies or literature educators in schools that were not predominantly Black. Employing an interpretive approach within this methodology created space to redress the following two broader external interests: (1) de-essentializing the specificity of the Black male teacher-coach tradition from a Eurocentric dominant narrative, and (2) explicating the salience of Black intellectual thought in the counter-hegemonic practices of these Black men relative to anti-intellectual tropes about teacher-coaches in general. Findings/Results: Findings indicate how participants continue the legacy of the long Civil Rights Movement by utilizing Black intellectual thought to enact a project of revisionist ontology to combat an anti-Black epistemic order of knowledge. The study explicates the following thematic findings: (1) carving out space for Black intellectual thought, (2) centering Black intellectual thought, and (3) making Black intellectual thought relevant. Conclusions/Recommendations: Findings from this study illustrate how Black teachers in general, and Black male teacher-coaches in particular, serve as the gatekeepers and guardians of Black intellectual thought within predominantly non-Black secondary schools. Participants who were secondary social studies and literature teachers resisted a White-controlled epistemic order that marginalizes Black intellectual thought. These findings have direct implications for secondary preservice teachers with the desire to courageously enact fugitive pedagogical practices to include diverse, antiracist curricular materials.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Black Male Teachers and Teacher-coachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Black Male Teachers and Teacher-coachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

Thomas

2023

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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“…I will, however, note that contemporary scholars and teachers continue to work towards providing Black students with the affirming, equitable, and emancipatory education they deserve. Scholars continue to analyze curriculum and curricular materials (Brown & Brown, 2010;Jones, 2022;Seeger et al, 2022) and put forth various conceptualizations of teaching suited to fit Black students' needs (Gay, 2000;King, 2020;Ladson-Billings, 1995;Paris, 2012), while Black teachers continue doing what they have done for centuries: using everything at their disposal to provide Black students with both content knowledge and an understanding of how to navigate various systems of racism (Castro, 2022;Lynn & Jennings, 2009;Thomas, 2022).…”

Section: Teaching For Black Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Teaching for Black Lives Themed Issue

Duncan

2023

ASSERT

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My ultimate goal as a researcher and teacher educator is to help classrooms become equitable and emancipatory spaces for all students, which is why my research encourages us to learn from Black teachers, their perspectives, and the ways they discuss race with Black students. My own professional development efforts have been focused on learning from Black feminists and how Black feminist perspectives and pedagogies benefit all students and be incorporated in classrooms. Outside of my professional pursuits, I like to attend concerts, travel, and watch Georgia football (Go Dawgs!). Before joining the university, I taught middle school social studies for 3 years, and I also served as an elementary instructional coach for 3 years, both in Georgia. You can find me on Twitter (@drkristenduncan) and at my website, w ww.kristenduncan.com.

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(Un)Natural Saviors and Motivators: Analyzing the Pathological Scripting of Black Male Teachers in Hollywood Films

Thomas

Johnson²,

Brown

2022

Educational Studies

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“If I can help somebody”: The civic-oriented thought and practices of Black male teacher-coaches

Cited by 11 publications

References 60 publications

Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

Introduction to the Teaching for Black Lives Themed Issue

(Un)Natural Saviors and Motivators: Analyzing the Pathological Scripting of Black Male Teachers in Hollywood Films

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