Abstract
Statement of the Problem: This study examines the attitudes and values of African American educators in the K-12 system. The researcher specifically looked at what factors and/or experiences helped shape their attitudes about becoming an educator. In addition, the research specifically examined the impact that race and/or gender played in the participant’s decision to become educators. The research also examined the impact that role models played in their decision as well. Specifically, the research examined the effects of having a lack of role models or a presence of role models contributed to their decision to become an educator in K-12. According to King (1993), the foremost primary attractions for most of the participants were the prospect to work with young people. The belief that their abilities were well-suited for teaching, the belief that teaching contributed to the betterment of society, the sensation that teaching provided one with the opportunity to be creative, the perception that teaching provided the opportunity to work with students of diverse backgrounds with diverse needs, and the intellectual challenge that teaching provided (pp. 479-480). Through her research, King (1993) concluded that most of the African Americans/Blacks she had interviewed went into teaching to help younger individuals and to better society. African Americans also sought to work with students of diverse backgrounds and use creativity to better educate their students. African American/Black educators select to teach for many reasons, some of which are familial experience, interest in serving communities of color and the desire to combat injustice. African American/Blacks also choose to teach to enhance the positive encounters in their schooling experience. Sources of Data: This research pursued to better understand which factors effected African American/Black educator’s decisions to become educators in K-12 by interviewing six women and six men currently working in K-12 across the United States. Using Cultural-ecological Theory and Intersectionality Theory design, the study attempts to explain the attitudes and values of the participants and their experiences, which lead to their decision to become educators in K-12. All of the participants were well educated, African American/Blacks in their 20s through 60s. The methodology employed for this study is based on a qualitative narrative research design using a thematic approach to data analysis. Participants were asked a predetermined set of 14 open-ended questions about their educations, race, gender, role models, and the effects these concepts played in their decision to become an educator. Participants’ responses were then divided into major themes and sub-themes. Conclusions Reached: The women and men in this study confirm most of the theories found in the literature review. Although they confirmed most of the theories from the literature review, many of the participants did not believe gender had an impact on their decision to become an educator or the grade level in which they taught. Many participants did not believe that race played a role in their decision as well. Most of the participants interviewed did believe that the lack and presence of role models influenced their decision to become K-12 educators. All of the participants also believed that race and/or gender did have an impact on the educational system in general.