In Search of Wholeness : African American Teachers and Their Culturally Specific Classroom Practices

It was the eighth day day of the CULTURES professional development course, and I was driving four of the African American teachers to a cultural immersion experience in the Vietnamese community.

In Search of Wholeness: African American Teachers and their Culturally Specific Classroom Practices is a theoretical and practice-oriented treatment of how culture and race influence African American teachers. This collection of essays, edited by Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, assumes that teachers cannot become fully functional persons and competent professionals if their cultural selves remain denied, hidden, and unexplored. Part one reviews the literature related to teachers’ race and culture. Part two includes research studies about teachers confronting issues of culture and race in their personal and professional lives. The final chapter focuses on the responses of three of the teachers whose stories are portrayed in the book. In addition to the compelling case studies, other topics explored include: multicultural professional development for African American teachers, African American teachers’ perceptions of their professional roles and practices, a comparison of effective black and white teachers of African American students, the development of teacher efficacy of an African American middle school teacher, the professional development journey of an effective African American elementary school teacher, seizing hope through culturally responsive praxis, collective stories on culturally specific pedagogy. In Search of Wholeness is an indispensable and groundbreaking collection that administrators, students, and educators of all ages will not want to be without.

This collection of essays is a theoretical and practice-oriented treatment of how culture and race influence African American teachers. After an introduction, "The Common Experience" (Jacqueline Jordan Irvine), there are eight chapters in two parts. Part 1, "The Salience of Race and Culture on Teachers and Teaching: Research and Theory," includes (1) "Multicultural Professional Development for African American Teachers: The Role of Process-Oriented Models" (Gretchen McAllister); (2) "Black Teachers' Perceptions of Their Professional Roles and Practices" (Franita Ware); and (3) "Does Race Matter? A Comparison of Effective Black and White Teachers of African American Students" (Patricia M. Cooper). Part 2, "The Stories of Culturally Responsive Teachers," includes (4) "The Development of Teacher Efficacy Beliefs: A Case Study of an African American Middle School Teacher" (Gloria Harper Lee); (5) "The Influence of Professional Development on a Teacher's Changing Praxis: The Journey of an African American Teacher" (Kim Nesta Archung); (6) "Chasing Hope Through Culturally Responsive Praxis: One Master Teacher and Her African American Eighth Grade Readers" (Maria Leonora Lockaby Karunungan); (7) "African American Teachers' Culturally Specific Pedagogy: The Collective Stories" (Jacqueline Jordan Irvine); and (8) "Responses from the Teachers: Comments from Beverley Cockerham, Vivian Stephens, and Patricia White." (Contains approximately 275 references.) (SM) Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction The Common Experience....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Multicultural Professional Development for African American Teachers....Pages 11-31 Black Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Professional Roles and Practices....Pages 33-45 Does Race Matter?....Pages 47-63 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 The Development Of Teacher Efficacy Beliefs....Pages 67-85 The Influence of Professional Development on a Teacher’s Chancing Praxis....Pages 87-112 Chasing Hope Through Culturally Responsive Praxis....Pages 113-137 African American Teachers’ Culturally Specific Pedagogy....Pages 139-146 Responses from the Teachers....Pages 147-152 Back Matter....Pages 153-192 An exploration of how culture and race impact the classrooms of African American teachers covers professional development, teacher perceptions, effectiveness, and culturally specific pedagogy.