Exploring The Experiences Of African American Middle School Stem Teachers

Author

Stephen J. Minter, Prairie View A&M University

Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Discipline

Education Leadership

Abstract

As society is continuously in a space of changing politics and social structure, the educational landscape continues to be plagued by several inconvenient truths for African American educators. One truth is the lack of representation of African American teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) areas. In a 2016 USDE report titled The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator, the report indicated that in the 2011-2012 school year, White educators made up 82% of the teachers in the nation.

Teachers often bring their life experiences, cultures and ideologies into their classrooms and campuses painting them with their assumptions of how they define good educators. Most importantly, teachers bring their racial identity to the workplace. The intent of this study was to focus on the intersectionality between race and professional identity to give voice to the experiences of African Americans and how they influence their identity as STEM educators. This study chose to focus on racial identity influenced STEM teacher performance in the middle school classroom.

This qualitative multisite case study explored two middle school campuses and interviewed teachers from both campuses. Case study, in tandem with narrative inquiry, served as my theoretical approach for this exploration. Case study was used to compare and potentially replicate the findings to draw cross-case conclusions from the information collected (Yin, 2017). Based on the findings, I concluded that educators must understand the various multidimensional components of their identity like race, social categories, personal traits and values, and life experiences, that influence their success as middle school STEM teachers. Within the findings it was made clear by each participant that race in correlation to their role as STEM teachers was the leading identity factor which led to their success.

Keywords: teacher identity, critical race theory and teacher identity, ecological systems, teacher identity and STEM, intersectionality

Committee Chair/Advisor

Fred Bonner

Committee Member

Lisa Thompson

Committee Member

Dorie Gilbert

Committee Member

Ostrova McGary

Publisher

Prairie View A&M University

Rights

Date of Digitization

7/24/2024

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

Minter, S. J. (2024). Exploring The Experiences Of African American Middle School Stem Teachers. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-dissertations/46