To Be Black, to Be Male, to Teach: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Black Male Elementary Teachers

McGuire, David M.

Work

To Be Black, to Be Male, to Teach: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Black Male Elementary Teachers

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

McGuire, David M. To Be Black, to Be Male, to Teach: A Qualitative Study On the Experiences of Black Male Elementary Teachers. MUShare. 2023. marian.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/744cb63f-845b-4986-9782-edfe0eef1a54?q=English.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

M. D. M. (2023). To Be Black, to Be Male, to Teach: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Black Male Elementary Teachers. https://marian.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/744cb63f-845b-4986-9782-edfe0eef1a54?q=English

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

McGuire, David M. To Be Black, to Be Male, to Teach: A Qualitative Study On the Experiences of Black Male Elementary Teachers. MUShare. 2023. https://marian.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/744cb63f-845b-4986-9782-edfe0eef1a54?q=English.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Black males are underrepresented in the teaching profession at all levels, but especially at the elementary level. The low number of Black male teachers can be attributed to low salary, low regard for the profession, perception of being work for women, and lack of respect. Now more than ever after the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial unrest during the summer of 2020 the experiences of Black male teachers is important to explore. This qualitative study looked at the experiences of seven Black male elementary teachers, using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a theoretical framework. Through one-on-one virtual interviews seven themes emerged: physiological needs focus on salary and benefits, safety needs pertain to job security, physical safety, and emotional security, sense of belonging is often a struggle, esteem is often low, self-actualization manifests a strong desire to make a difference, COVID-19 influenced teachers’ experiences, and turnover and recruitment challenges for Black men in elementary education. Recommendations for future research included studying Black male teachers who spent their entire careers at the elementary level then retired.

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