Culturally Responsive Professional Development: One Teachers Union’s Professional Learning Community for Black Men Teachers

Travis J. Bristol, Patrick Johnson, Sarah Manchanda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There is a gap in research that examines how professional learning communities have been structured to support Black men teachers and how teachers have responded to these efforts. This article explores one national teachers union’s implementation of a weekly professional development series for early career Black men in-service teachers in one Southern state. Based on semi-structured interviews with Black men teacher participants and facilitators (n = 6) as well as an analysis of the video of virtual coaching sessions, we found that the national teachers union’s professional learning community was attentive to Black men teachers’ social and emotional needs. In turn, participants described several changes to their practice, such as learning how to develop deeper and more intimate relationships with their students. We also found that the facilitators drew on several practices to mentor Black men teachers. Most notably, the facilitators mentored through love by communicating directly to the participants that they were emotionally invested in their participants’ success as educators. We end by providing recommendations for practitioners who design professional learning communities for Black men in-service teachers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)355-368
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Negro Education
Volume92
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Black educators
  • Black men
  • culturally responsive professional development
  • professional development
  • teacher development
  • teachers union

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