THE OTHERFATHERING EFFECT: THE ROLE OTHERFATHERING CONTRIBUTES TO THE DECISIONS OF BLACK MALES TO BECOME TEACHERS

Abstract

Otherfathering, according to Brooms (2017), involves Black men teaching younger Black males the life skills and unwritten rules of becoming an adult Black male. The dearth of Black males in education is an issue plaguing the educational construct. Several initiatives have tried to mitigate the gap in the representation of Black male teachers. However, Black males continue to represent the smallest demographic among educational professionals. The lived experiences of Black males have impacted the decisions of Black males to join the profession of education due to negative experiences in the classroom as students. Those experiences are rooted in negative interactions with teachers and administrators due to cultural misinterpretations and biases. Black males with positive classroom experiences had someone to serve in a mentoring capacity. For the few Black males that teach, understanding their motivations to do so needed to be explored. Because otherfathering is the act of mentorship with an emphasis on the Black male identity between the same gender and ethnic backgrounds of teacher-student pairs, this study aimed to provide insight into the career decisions of Black male educators and the factors that influenced them. Additionally, this study sought to identify any mentors these Black males had as students, details of their specific journeys into the profession, and how they impact their current students. Utilizing the Kim’s (2016) Bildungsroman genre of narrative inquiry, this study detailed each individual’s story, addressing the specific goals of the study. Because Black males represent the smallest teaching demographic, criterion sampling was used to recruit Black males who had taught for a minimum of five years, currently worked as a public P-12 educator, and identified as a Black male to identify any potential otherfathers they may have had and to study the impact of those otherfathers on their career decisions. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with five participants and utilized specific procedures to address trustworthiness by establishing credibility and providing steps for transferability. The research results highlighted two aspects regarding the motivations of Black male teachers to enter or remain in the profession. Black males who received mentorship as students were exposed to education through the lens of a Black male teacher due to sustained influence. Additionally, Black male students who participated in mentorship now provide their students similar experiences to learned behaviors and traits afforded to them by their mentors. These two aspects developed from the participants detailing their own motivations to teach, describing the impactful relationships with their teachers, and how representation effected their perceptions of Black males in education. Based on the results, school districts can begin to sustain the teacher pipeline with Black males by screening Black male teaching candidates for qualities of otherfathering.