Legacy of a Pioneer African American Educator

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose was to reconstruct the historical and legendary contribution of one exemplary African American physical education teacher educator who lived and worked in the Deep South prior to and immediately following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education court case. The following questions guided data collection and analysis: To what extent was the participant marginalized in his profession and within the community? How were the participant's life experiences influenced by stereotype threat? To what degree did self-efficacy help mediate marginalization and stereotype threat? METHOD: The participant in this study was Dr. Archie Wade, a retired professor of physical education teacher education from the University of Alabama. A life-history methodology was used. Data were collected primarily through semistructured interviews and were analyzed using qualitative methods. RESULTS: Key findings were that Wade faced race-based marginalization throughout his life. He dealt with stereotype threat but was not significantly influenced by it. He persevered partly due to his strong sense of self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Wade was transformed as the old South changed and played a part in that transformation. His story is simultaneously uplifting, in that it illustrates the extent to which life has improved for some African Americans living in the Deep South, and sobering, in that it reveals that the region's system of higher education may not have made as much progress as it should have. Wade's story also has the potential to be a catalyst for change in the lives of other teachers and teacher educators.