African-American Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching: Understanding the Influence of Their Remembered Teachers
| Author (s) |
Stanford, G.C. |
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| Year of Publication |
1998 |
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| Publication Type |
article |
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| Name of Periodical |
The Urban Review |
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| Volume |
30 |
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| Issue |
3 |
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| Page Numbers |
229-243 |
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| Available From |
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| Suggested Audience |
- Researchers
- Teachers
- Teacher educators
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| Descriptors |
- Cultural awareness
- Urban youth culture
- Teacher roles
- Teacher-student relationships
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Content Abstract
Many researchers have emphasized the connection between teachers’ thinking and their autobiography, noting that much of teachers’ knowledge of teaching has been derived from their life experiences. Since teachers have spent may years watching teachers teach, those experiences become part of the process of learning to teach. This article examines the role of former or remembered teachers in the shaping of the beliefs and practices of eleven successful African-American teachers who teach in urban schools in a major metropolitan area. Both the remembered teachers and the teachers in this study used their pedagogy to enable their students to achieve in spite of circumstances that often militated against success. (abstract from article)
Methodological Notes
Using narrative inquiry as a form of qualitative research, this study examined the beliefs and practices of 11 African-American teachers who received awards for excellence in teaching from 1986 to 1993. The teachers’ ages ranged from 27 to 56, and their years of experience ranged from 4 to 27. All teachers taught in the Chicago metropolitan area, and most taught in schools that were largely African-American and poor. (excerpts from article)
Additional Comments
The author of this article references and describes student empowering processes as ”lifting as we climb” (Collins, 1991, p.149) and ”giving forward” (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 1994, p.477). In this article, these inspiring concepts set the stage for teachers to tell their stories of those remembered teachers who have influenced them most. The reader will experience these stories, and the overall findings from this study, illuminating.
Reviews and Commentary by the Field
