Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Gathering focuses on increasing numbers of Black male educators

- By Dale Mezzacappa

Growing up, Horace Ryans had all sorts of plans for his future: He might become a neurosurge­on or an architect, maybe cure cancer.

Then, five years ago, his friend, Tamir Harper, invited him to speak about student activism and voice at a conference in Philadelph­ia sponsored by the Fellowship for Black Male Educators.

At the conference as a 16-year-old, he saw the camaraderi­e and absorbed the life-changing impact a teacher can have. Even though both his parents are educators — his father is a school counselor and his mother a climate manager in Philadelph­ia — Ryans didn’t realize until then how many Black teachers existed.

“For me, it was the exposure to so many revolution­ary Black men in one space,” he said. “I had never before been in a space where Black men were trying to change the narrative.”

From then on, Ryans knew what he would do. He would become a teacher.

Five years later, now nearly 21 and a junior at Morehouse College majoring in sociology and education, he again attended the Philadelph­ia conference, which was held in person after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. The event, sponsored by the organizati­on now known as the Center for Black Educator Developmen­t, drew close to 1,000 people from across the country, almost all of them Black men.

Attendees this year looked at historical trends related to teacher diversity, discussed how to promote student activism, and opened up about dealing with mental-health issues of teachers and students. They talked about school disciplina­ry policies and how they disproport­ionately affect Black boys.

Mostly, they studied data and strategies for both recruiting and keeping Black male teachers in the profession at a time when teachers of all background­s are leaving in droves and many fewer are aspiring to enter the profession.

‘Special’

Ryans has no doubts, and the conference only reinforced his resolve.

“Being in this space helped me develop a deep love for what education and teaching and learning can be,” Ryans said in a break between sessions. “Now that I’m on my path to becoming an educator, so many other black men congratula­ted me and affirmed me. That’s what made it so special.”

In the past few summers, Ryans participat­ed in programs sponsored by the Center and based on the Freedom Schools model, in which older students work with younger ones as literacy coaches and mentors. These experience­s helped him take to heart the motto of Sharif El-Mekki, founder of the Center and mentor to many teachers of color in Philadelph­ia and elsewhere: Teaching is a “revolution­ary” act.

“In my college years, when I actually got to work with students one-on-one, that’s when I started to love the art of teaching for what it is.”

Ryans said he believes he can have an impact, citing research showing that Black students who have a teacher of the same race by third grade are 13% more likely to attend college than those who don’t. For those who have two teachers who look like them in the early grades, that percentage jumps to 32%.

Tamir Harper, the friend who invited Ryans to the conference, started out as a student activist but now teaches English, social justice, and writing to eighthgrad­ers at the Henry Lea Elementary School in West Philadelph­ia, not far from where he grew up.

“I get to interact and learn from beautiful brilliant eighth-graders every day I walk into the classroom, and understand their reality,” Harper said.

Numbers down

Overall, the percentage of Black teachers is declining, even as the percentage of Black and Brown students in the nation’s public schools is growing. Once as high as 40%, the percentage of Black teachers in Philadelph­ia now stands at 24%, while those who are Black and male are 4%.

In Pennsylvan­ia as a whole, 1% of teachers are Black men, and almost all of them work in Philadelph­ia and Pittsburgh, El-Mekki said.

Among the reasons for the low numbers of Black teachers are the high cost of teacher education, its relatively low pay, an overall negative perception of the teaching profession, and barriers to entry including skills tests that experts said have little to do with determinin­g a person’s potential to be a great teacher.

“Nobody becomes a teacher to get rich, but we do have to make sure that we are offering work environmen­ts, compensati­on, and profession­al developmen­t that someone willing to take that leap deserves,” said Eric Hagarty, Pennsylvan­ia’s acting secretary of education, at one of the sessions. “I strongly believe we need to make it free to become a teacher.”

In addition, many Black students, especially Black boys, have negative experience­s in school. Travis Bristol, associate professor of teacher education and education policy at the University of California at Berkeley, said these experience­s start early.

 ?? DALE MEZZACAPPA - CHALKBEAT ?? Tamir Harper, left, and Horace Ryans at a conference in Philadelph­ia sponsored by the Center for Black Educator Developmen­t.
DALE MEZZACAPPA - CHALKBEAT Tamir Harper, left, and Horace Ryans at a conference in Philadelph­ia sponsored by the Center for Black Educator Developmen­t.

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