Black Teachers on Teaching [Hardcover]

Michele Foster (Author), Lisa D. Delpit (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

Black Teachers on Teaching is an honest and compelling account of the politics and philosophies involved in the education of black children during the last fifty years. Michele Foster talks to those who were the first to teach in desegregated southern schools and to others who taught in large urban districts, such as Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. All go on record about the losses and gains accompanying desegregation, the inspirations and rewards of teaching, and the challenges and solutions they see in the coming years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How has the teaching profession been experienced and understood by black teachers? To answer her question, Foster (Unrelated Kin) conducted 20 "life history" interviews with black teachers between 1988 and 1996. Of interest not only to black teachers, parents and school administrators, Black Teachers on Teaching gives all readers frank firsthand reactions to school integration and its results for teachers and students, as well as an overview of blacks in education over much of this past century. For many of these teachers, integration has been a failure, not only depriving black children of the dedicated instruction of black teachers but also resulting in the firing or displacement of black staff. One interviewee recounts being sent to an east Texas school to fulfill legal requirements of integration, only to spend six months in an office, having been refused a teaching assignment because of the prejudice of white colleagues and protesting parents. Meanwhile, white teachers maintained their right to teach in the newly integrated schools. Over the years, many of these black teachers noted that bright black students were scorned or ignored by their white teachers and socially discriminated against by their white classmates. Many blacks of average ability equal to that of their white counterparts were relegated to special education or remedial classes. There are a couple of interviews that are superficial and could have been excluded, but for the most part Foster provides frontline reports on subjects that many people know only from a distance.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Through 20 "life history interviews," Foster (Growing Up African American in Catholic Schools, Teachers Coll. Pr., 1996) provides a look at how black teachers feel about teaching. She begins with "The Elders," who for the most part began teaching in the 1920s-40s. These six describe their own schooling as well as their teaching experiences during the beginnings of integration. "The Veterans" follow, detailing current trends and practices and sharing their stories and advice. Two "Novices" express their enthusiasm for teaching. While each narrative is different, certain themes run throughout the book, such as the need to encourage students-especially black students-to challenge themselves continuously. What's surprising is the number of interviewees who praise certain aspects of segregation. Foster will open some eyes to the reality of inequality in education. Recommended for most libraries, especially those with an emphasis on education.
Terry A. Christener, Hutchinson P.L., Kan.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: New Press (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565843207
• ISBN-13: 978-1565843202
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,699,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Symbolic of the inequality African Americans face today, February 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Teachers on Teaching (Hardcover)

Black Teachers on Teaching reminded me of the same inequality in the public school system that I grew in.I am a college student majoring in education and read this book for a class.I understand completely the concerns of the black teachers about desegregation. I was bused from an all black school in the seventies to a predominately white school.Sure I experienced nicer buildings and better resouces to work with, but I was constantly reminded of how lucky I was supposed to be. I was told that by my white teachers and the white students. My mother was so proud because I was chosen ,along with about 20 other black students with high grade point averages, from my old school to attend. Just as written in the book, I felt I gained a lot of book knowledge but I began to doubt myself as a black person. All the great inventors and explorers that we learned about didn't look like me or come from my neighborhood. For awhile I really believed that people that looked like me were not capable of achieving.The black teachers interviewed made very valid points about the importance of instilling self esteem in all students.Black teachers were just as concerned about white teachers teaching their kids as whites were about black teachers teaching white kids. How can you teach a student about confident and pride when you really do not want them there. I know the feeling all to well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Success of Black Teachers, February 29, 2000

By 

Naomi (Vicky) Lovett - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Teachers on Teaching (New Press Education Series) (Paperback)

This book was very informative for me. I never knew about all the obstacles that black teachers, as well as black children, had to deal with in the past. I enjoyed reading their experiences and was extremely pleased to know that these teachers made a change in the lives of other black teachers and the schools that they taught in. There were a couple of teachers that really impressed me, as well as their philosophy's of education. Everett Dawson's philosophy was never give up on a child and Ruby Middleton Forsythe's philosophy of getting the children to realize that they need to be somebody and go somewhere with their lives is a very important goal. As teachers we must never feel that a child is not worth fighting for and we must always try to keep our students focused on learning because that is indeed the key to success.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a historical black teachers' motivater., February 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Teachers on Teaching (New Press Education Series) (Paperback)

I think that black teachers' on teaching has really shown me a lot of the real life experiences that black teachers have gone through to get where they are today. It also taught me a lot about the history of black teachers' that I didn't know. This book has motivated me to want to know and read more not only about black teachers' and their success but also about other black professionals and their great accomplishments. This book was about twenty black teachers and their real life experiences dealing with segregation and prejudice. Five of the twenty teachers that were interviewed in this book were males. This represented the amount of male teachers that taught back in the time of the book. My favorite narrator in this book was Ethel. She went into a school that the system had no hope for and turned it around. She stopped the system from sending old material to this school, she retaught some of the teachers, she got grant money to start new projects which included special classes for the children which needed it and she trained eighteen students preparing them to get accepted to a private prep school. Of the eighteen, sixteen were accepted and I thought by proving she could do this she became a great role model.