Recruiting and Retaining Black Male Math Educators in Middle and High Schools in the United States.

Abstract

Abstract This conceptual paper examines the under-representation of Black male educators in middle and high schools in the United States. The examination starts by tracing the historical, societal and cultural aspects to the problem. This then moves on to the steps which are being taken to remedy the situation. Finally, a strategy is proposed to recruit and retain Black male educators who would eventually form teacher learning communities. Key to this strategy is going to be the use of Critical Mathematics in the classroom. To determine how teachers would respond to teaching Critical Mathematics alongside traditional mathematics, a project was designed which interleaved the two mathematical strands. Teachers were then asked to complete a survey to critique the appropriateness of the project and strategy. The results of the survey suggest that those teachers surveyed generally felt that there was a lot of merit in employing the interleaved strategy to teach Critical Mathematics.