White Teachers in Urban Schools

Every Saturday morning of the Spring semester, Haverford College hosts fifty students from middle and high schools in the Philadelphia area as they participate in science and writing labs. Committed to providing opportunity to minorities historically underrepresented in STEM fields, the program, known as MAST, is comprised almost entirely of students of color. Currently, I hold the position of Middle School Science co-coordinator, and like the majority of the Haverford students that act as tutors and mentors, I am white.

During lunch time of our third Saturday of this semester, each student, tutor, and coordinator shared his or her dream job in an activity meant to affirm students’ personal interests while fostering learning about one another. The group eagerly told about their ambitions to be pediatricians, engineers, chefs, business owners, and when the circle came to me, I proudly added, “I want to be a second grade teacher.” One student excitedly responded, “You look like a second grade teacher!” and the other students agreed.

I can’t be sure precisely what about me matches the MAST students’ notion of a second grade teacher, but given that children of color now make up the majority of the country’s public school students (Krogstad & Fry, 2014), while more than 80 percent of teachers are white (U.S. Department of Education), my race very likely has something to do with it. That interaction with the MAST students, though fleeting and relatively inconsequential in the moment, highlights a salient and common phenomenon for students of color. In this paper, I will analyze the issue of white teachers in urban classrooms by seeking to answer the following questions: What are the underlying reasons for the racial imbalance in the teaching profession? Why is the position of white teachers in urban classrooms problematic? In what circumstances can white teachers be “effective” in urban classrooms? And, what can be done to address this issue?

During my research and reflection on this topic, I have deeply considered how my own identity situates me in the conversation. As a white woman and aspiring teacher, I consider it my responsibility, especially within the field of urban education where minorities are all too often marginalized, to provide space for the multitude of voices invested in the issue of white teachers in urban classrooms. As such, this paper aims to depict the complexity and uncertainty involved with this issue. By using questions as my framework for analysis, I have attempted to position myself in this conversation as a learner, rather than a knower.

What are the underlying reasons for racial imbalance in the teaching profession?

In the years following Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the proportion of black teachers in American schools plummeted dramatically as 38,000 black educators across the country lost their jobs in the first eleven years alone (Anderson, 2014). This sharp decline was most directly caused by closing of all-black schools and resistance of public school communities to integrate (Anderson, 2014). Although less explicit now, these deeply internalized prejudices continue to undermine peoples’ of color long-term success as teachers.

In recent years, school reform programs have reinforced this trend of dying teacher diversity. Andre Perry (2014) argues that although change is needed, reform strategies such as charter schools, Teach For America, Common Core, and standardized testing are “inherently paternalistic,” representing the ideals of dominant white culture, and executed primarily by white educators. Glenn Sullivan, a recent graduate of New Orleans public schools, was personally affected by this shift:

In my school, as in many schools — especially in reform-oriented school districts — a lot of the good, black teachers have been replaced by younger white teachers. Before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, nearly 75 percent of the city’s public school teachers were black. That began to change after Katrina, when charter schools began to grow in number. The percentage of minority teachers across New Orleans public schools dropped from 60 percent to 54 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to data compiled by Tulane University’s Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives. (Sullivan, 2014)

While recruitment strategies have proclaimed success in drawing in teachers of color (Neason, 2014), retaining those teachers has proved more challenging. Citing Richard Ingersoll, Neason (2014) noted that teachers of color were 24 percent more likely than white teachers to leave their schools or teaching altogether due in part to the high turnover rate of all teachers in the urban schools that minority teachers are more likely to work in, as well as feelings of isolation and stereotyping due to their race. Should the current rate at which white teachers are displacing teachers of color persist, teachers of color may comprise as little as five percent of the national teaching force by 2020 (Perry, 2014).

Why is the position of white teachers in urban classrooms problematic?

The positive presence of teachers of color in urban classrooms is demonstrated potently by the students of color who benefit. For example, Sullivan, the same New Orleans graduate quoted above, writes of his black teacher Mr. Allen:

He understood not just a variety of teaching methods but also the city of New Orleans and its many different problems and inhabitants; [...] it better prepared him to teach and connect with students. He talked openly, for instance, about his own experiences growing up in New Orleans. (Sullivan, 2014).

Students of color taught by teachers of color are more clearly able to see their teacher as an accessible role model and personally invested advocate, and as a result, studies suggest that such students “perform better academically, graduate at higher rates, and stay in school longer” (Neason, 2014). Much like the community-based after-school programs examined in Lee and Hawkins (2009) “drew upon the knowledge of participants’ culture, communities, and families to [...] create an environment where children and youth felt a sense of belonging” (p. 56), teachers of color in urban classrooms can authentically draw on shared experiences and culture that arise from their minority identity and connect them to their students in meaningful ways.

On the other hand, barriers that separate white teachers from students of color, and that emphasize differences in purpose and power prevent establishment of classroom communities where mutual learning and trust can flourish (Freire, 1998). In urban classrooms taught by white teachers, these barriers are manifested in terms of visual appearance, cultural capital (Dance, 2002), and personal experience. From both sides of the classroom, an “us versus them” attitude is in danger of being developed due to fundamentally different identities and ways of knowing the world. Recollecting the negative impact these barriers had on her schooling, Mia McKenzie writes,

Ms. Reisman was my first white teacher. She had dyed red hair, a thick Northeast Philly accent, and a complete inability to see my extraordinariness. Ms. Reisman didn’t like me. The same confidence I’d shown in Ms. Lucas’ class was viewed by Ms. Reisman as arrogance, as immodesty, and she bristled at it. I sensed her dislike of me and responded to it with hatred of her, with defiance. […] Though I couldn’t name the racial dynamics at the time, I knew something was off. (McKenzie, 2014) 

An active disdain towards students of color is not the only problematic course a white teacher may follow. For example, Ladson-Billings (in Delpit & Dowdy, 2008) discusses the “permission to fail” often given to students of color by their white teachers. Because students of color may tacitly be seen to be less worthy and less capable of rigorous education, white teachers may neglect to demand their success in the same ways they would for white students. Permission to fail is a step towards what Payne (2008) describes as “mutual disinvestment” in which students of color feel devalued and isolated by the school institution, and subsequently divest their own energy and identity from their education. Disinvestment may also result from the systematic reappropriation of dominant cultural. Dance (2002) counters the popular ideal for American schools as equalizers of opportunity when he says,

...Schools are mainstream social settings that fortify and reproduce the linguistic and cultural practices (cultural capital) imposed as legitimate by the dominant group in society. Schools discourage and devalue students who, owing to family heritage, possess little to none of the cultural capital of the dominant group. (p. 74)

Adopting a stringent mainstream cultural framework may ultimately create a reductive lens through which white teachers see their students of color. White teachers then toe the “white savior” line in which they understand white culture as fundamentally, perhaps even morally, better than the minority culture from which they “save” their students. Vinnik (n.d.) summarizes, “White educators have historically viewed diverse students as ‘other’ (or foreign), and have perceived their role to be that of ‘helping minority students’ to be more like whites, i.e., them” (p. 4). Ultimately, such a pedagogical stance assumes inherent deficit in students of color, who are sensitive to and aware of such assumptions, resulting in self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating prophecies of failure.

In what circumstances can white teachers be “effective” in urban classrooms?

Having acknowledged the aforementioned issues, we may now explore the ways in which white teachers can foster constructive and salient learning in urban classrooms. Ladson-Billings (in Ayers, Ladson-Billings, Michie, & Noguera, 2008) argues for “culturally relevant” teaching - a system of beliefs and actions to be adopted by teachers of any race working in an urban context. This framework necessarily “assume[s] that an asymmetric (even antagonistic) relationship exists between poor students of color and society. Thus, [teachers’] vision of their work is one of preparing students to combat inequality by being highly competent and critically conscious” (p. 164). In this way, white teachers may be able to work within institutional and societal constraints that favor dominant culture over minority cultures by confronting their own privileges, making dominant culture accessible to students of color, and simultaneously valuing students’ non-dominant cultures. Important to note here is that the cultures of students of color in an urban classroom are not necessarily equivalent. Indeed, overgeneralizing or tokenizing “black culture,” even if well-intentioned, would only serve to reinforce the polarizing barrier between teacher and students. Thus, seeking to understand the complexities of individual students’ experiences and cultures, while demonstrating authenticity and genuine curiosity, is essential. A student cited by Wallace and Chhuon (2014) expressed, “...if my teacher is of a different race they should try to learn and understand their students and how they act, especially in an urban setting [...] Just try to relate to us in some way, and don’t try to be someone you’re not” (p. 24).

I recently witnessed an example of the negotiation between dominant and non-dominant culture in my field placement at Philadelphia’s Riverside Charter School. Miss Diane, a white teacher in classes entirely comprised of students of color, developed a project in which students researched and presented “something they wanted to see changed,” such as police brutality, school budget cuts, or racism. This activity gave voice to the students’ racial identity while giving space for individual agency and creativity; every student I spoke with cited this project as their favorite part of Miss Diane’s class. Kathleen Melville, a white Philadelphia teacher, similarly encourages often uncomfortable conversations with her students of color, inviting them to ask questions, share stories, and critique media portrayal of race relations (Melville, 2014, in Philadelphia Notebook).

Inevitably, this sort of pedagogy requires deep care for all students and their success, and care has been identified as a necessity for effectively teaching students of color by educators, researchers, and students alike. Analyzing students’ analyses of their favorite teachers, Dance concludes, “The one characteristic that all favorite teachers have in common is the ability to convince students that they genuinely care” (2002, p. 75). Whereas Walker (cited in Frutcher, 2007) observed a “strong ethic of caring” (p. 41) in the teaching of African American students by African American teachers, this same ethic can be adopted by white teachers to facilitate their “re-investment” in the success of their students of color.

Ladson-Billings’ model of culturally relevant teaching also combats a deficit lens towards students of color by “envision[ing] their students as filled with possibility” (Ayers, Ladson-Billings, Michie, & Noguera, 2008, p. 165) and transforming feelings of sympathy for into empathy and solidarity with the students. While racial disparities between teacher and students may exist, they are connected to one another through their learning, and they participate in education for compatible reasons: to be informed, active citizens and agents of positive change.

 

What can be done?

 

As we have seen, teachers of color are an essential asset to urban education, and while recruitment strategies should be maintained, support for current teachers of color must be greatly enhanced in order to stabilize retention. It also seems that strengthening and broadening the pool of effective white teachers should be considered an important step towards deconstructing historic barriers that have isolated communities and set them against one another. While systematic changes in the way American society “reforms” schools, defines “achievement” and “failure,” and  privileges some but oppresses others must occur in order to reach a harmoniously diverse teaching force, there do seem to be essential principles that teachers of any culture should uphold in urban classrooms.

All teachers must begin by developing a critical awareness of their identity within the greater contexts of their work, their communities, and American society; in doing this, teachers open this opportunity to their students. They must establish a pedagogical philosophy in which classroom learning is considered to be reciprocal, fueled by mutual engagement and curiosity. They must understand that “there is no teaching without learning” (Freire, 1998, p. 31) and thus, honor students as valuable contributors and knowers.  They must be motivated to teach by sociopolitical and even moral responsibility, seeing their work as “a long-term commitment, not just to the students, but to society” (Ladson-Billings in Ayers, Ladson-Billings, Michie, & Noguera, 2008, 175).

My experience with the students at MAST underscored the necessity of my own critical awareness, and of a deeper understanding of my right and purpose in that position. I initially was scared by the possibility that I do not actually meet the criteria for an “effective white teacher” that I have set forth. More frightening still is the real possibility that these criteria have been misguided and inaccurate entirely. These fears could have brought me to paralysis - the idea that since I am not sure of my place in this context, I’d better not push the limits, not rock the boat. Instead, I’ve chosen to transform that self-critique into bravery to continue learning, continue engaging, continue questioning, and continue serving our society for which we are all responsible.