LAWRENCE — Fostering a sense of civic participation is one of the main objectives of social studies education. But in an education system that focuses on black students and teachers through a red-light lens, it can be a very real challenge to overcome. We found that the experience of five black male teachers and coaches working in a partially white private school may demonstrate a civic-focused liberal approach to education.

Daniel Thomas III is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Education at KU, and was a secondary social studies teacher, non-profit coordinator, and athletic leader prior to entering higher education. He was in regular contact with other black male teacher-coaches in schools throughout the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas. Their intellectual thinking in the classroom and civic engagement within the community stuck with him as he began his research career, he said.

In his current research, published in Theory & Research in Social Education and featured on the magazine’s “Visions of Education” podcast, black male teacher-coaches demonstrate unique citizen-oriented practices in teaching and coaching that defy history. It turns out that they are often engaged in An anti-black story in education and society.

“Much of my work pushes back against the broader historical context of anti-blackism and the contemporary narrative of black male teachers,” said Thomas. This quintessential oversimplification makes black male teachers worth only their potential to serve as disciplinarians for boys labeled “problem.” Build as a collective. My research seeks to rectify this narrative by revealing the range of intellectual, educational, and ideological discourses among black men.

Thomas said the study is also important for showing that the black history of teacher coaching is historically separate from the history of American teacher coaching.

“The tradition of teachers and coaches, established by Carter G. Woodson and Edwin B. Henderson at the M Street School in Washington, D.C., has created a space of full civic civic participation while promoting anti-blackness through intellectual thought and sport. to resist,” Thomas said. “Like the field of social studies, this is a resistance to subpersonalities, often ignored for the heroization of progressive American narratives centered around white ‘founders’ like James Naismith.” is a story of black origins. ”

Thomas conducted in-depth interviews with five black male teachers and coaches working in predominantly white private high schools across the United States. Educators share their experiences to educate students, coach them as athletes, and foster a sense of critical civic engagement while navigating societies and educational systems hostile to an emancipated black presence. Each educator shared their experience resisting anti-Black projections of both their students and themselves, but as part of their teaching and coaching approach , also demonstrated sports-based activism based on critical civic ideology, social activism, community engagement, collective fellowship, and care.

Thomas presents a conceptual framework based on Afrikaner philosophy that reveals the presence of anti-Blacks within schools and inter-school leagues, and how Black male teacher-coaches resist anti-Black attacks. from 15:00^th A century of pseudoscientific racial knowledge was produced in Europe, framing blackness as a problem, all the way to more recent theories such as the black imago – with examples such as Trayvon Martin and Armord Arbery, suggesting that blacks The body is reduced to anxiety-inducing objects – Thomas, who resists such things, draws stories through philosophies of existence such as freedom, anguish, agency, sociability, liberation, and the current social and educational landscape. and contextualized how black male teacher-coaches function skillfully with agency and resistance within it.

All participants in the study reported anti-black experiences in athletics, such as hearing racial slurs or calling the police to the team’s hotel because an athlete was too loud while playing a video game in their room. Told.

Participants shared how their experiences in black churches led them to approach coaching as a ministry. There, they put the needs of others ahead of their own and encouraged student-athletes to do the same. Through social action themes, participants will learn how to show student-athletes that they can be more than just athletes, and that they can go beyond the expectations of those who may initially be seen as athletes. I shared what I was trying to teach.

Teachers and coaches also shared how they encourage students and athletes to be involved within their communities by being involved not only as athletes representing their school, but as citizens. By hosting camps to welcome new students, speaking outside camps, and engaging teams in service projects, participants demonstrated how they combine sports and social education. Additionally, they were often required to host cross-sport collective fellowship events to challenge student-athletes to a range of different realities.

Finally, the coach explained the importance of compassion. They pointed out that they were trying to emphasize to the players that they care about themselves, but they should also care about each other and the people around them. returned to care for her students and told how she overcame a difficult experience.

“Before I fire a man, I always end by saying, ‘Take care of yourself and take care of each other,'” said a study participant. One was shot dead by police in front of his home on Mother’s Day after battling mental health issues, and another was held in a park with his teammates and family. I drowned during the Fourth of July weekend celebrations, and I never go a day without thinking about them. Would it have changed those results if I said something like, “Take care of yourself, take care of each other,” when I hear you say, “Take care of yourself, take care of each other,” from a weekend workout Because they fired the players twice and none of them came back. ”

The experience of black male teacher coaches in this study suggests that black male educators skillfully pursue their professions for critical and anti-racist purposes while being consumed in racially hostile contexts. But more than that, it shows how educators can stand up against anti-blackism, move social studies education beyond the traditional classroom, and create strong links to civic awareness and education for all students. said Thomas. In his future work, Thomas will continue to explore the scope of intellectual thinking and critical civic engagement among black male educators, hoping to challenge the myth of coaches as substandard educators. there is

“These teachers and coaches are doing much more than just teaching football,” Thomas said. “They are creating a multicultural and anti-racist society, using critical and anti-hegemonic practices in the classroom and on the playground to help students reimagine a better world. ”

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