Graham, A., & Erwin, K. D. (2011). “I don’t think black men teach because how they get treated as students”: High-achieving african american boys’ perceptions of teaching as a career option. The Journal of Negro Education, 80(3), 398-416.

This phenomenological investigation examines the perceptions of the teaching profession as a viable career option by high-achieving high school-aged African American boys. Researchers used random sampling to identify high schools in one large urban school district and criterion sampling to examine the perceptions of 63 African American 11th-grade boys. Participants completed a perceptual analysis inventory, constructed a circle map, stetched an artistic drawing of a classroom teacher, and participated in focus group sessions. Using an explicitation analysis process, three themes emerged as factors that dissuaded participants from considering teaching as a career option: (a) Negative Perceptions of Teachers and Teaching, (b) Schools as Oppressive Institutions, and (c) African American Males as Nonconformists. Recommendations for practice and future research are offered. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Full article can be found here:

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