Effective White Teachers of Black Children

Abstract

This article is a report of a qualitative case study of the beliefs and practices of three White public primary school teachers. The teachers were nominated as effective by key members of the Black community in which they teach. The purpose of the study was to understand effective teaching of Black children by White teachers in light of community preferences. Findings suggest a complex and interwoven relationship between the participant teachers’ beliefs and practices that fostered their Black students’ learning in ways significantly compatible with the beliefs and practices of effective Black teachers described in the literature. Three subthemes from a total of 25 are highlighted by way of example. They focus, respectively, on discipline, view of teaching self, and literacy education. A fourth subtheme, racial consciousness, is also explored. Findings related to this subtheme differed in part from the discussion of effective Black teachers in the literature.