The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys

Marguerite W. Penick-Parks - University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys
September 2017 | 472 pages | Corwin
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Empower black boys to dream, believe, achieve

Schools that routinely fail Black boys are not extraordinary. In fact, they are all-too ordinary. If we are to succeed in positively shifting outcomes for Black boys and young men, we must first change the way school is “done.” That’s where the eight in ten teachers who are White women fit in . . . and this urgently needed resource is written specifically for them as a way to help them understand, respect and connect with all of their students. 

So much more than a call to call to action—but that, too!—The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys brings together research, activities, personal stories, and video interviews to help us all embrace the deep realities and thrilling potential of this crucial American task. With Eddie, Ali, and Marguerite as your mentors, you will learn how to:

  • Develop learning environments that help Black boys feel a sense of belonging, nurturance, challenge, and love at school
  • Change school culture so that Black boys can show up in the wholeness of their selves 
  • Overcome your unconscious bias and forge authentic connections with your Black male students

If you are a teacher who is afraid to talk about race, that’s okay. Fear is a normal human emotion and racial competence is a skill that can be learned. We promise that reading this extraordinary guide will be a life-changing first step forward . . . for both you and the students you serve.  

About the Authors

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership, and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege, and leadership trainings/workshops. Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers and educators, especially for his work with students K–16. Dr. Moore is the Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference, one of the top national and international conferences for participants who want to move beyond dialogue and into action around issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership.

Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K–12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry, and Education, winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice and sits on the editorial board of the journal, Whiteness and Education. Dr. Michael teaches in the mid-career doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as the Graduate Counseling Program at Arcadia University.

Dr. Marguerite W. Penick-Parks currently serves as Chair of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Her work centers on issues of power, privilege, and oppression in relationship to issues of curriculum with a special emphasis on the incorporation of quality literature in K–12 classrooms. She appears in the movie, “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible,” by the World Trust Organization. Her most recent work includes a joint article on creating safe spaces for discussing White privilege with preservice teachers.

 



 

 

 

Contents

FOREWORDS

FOREWORDS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE GUIDE FOR WHITE WOMEN WHO TEACH BLACK BOYS

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE GUIDE FOR WHITE WOMEN WHO TEACH BLACK BOYS

UNDERSTANDING

UNDERSTANDING

Part 1: Exploring the Self

  • 1. READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY
  • Vignette: Raisins in the Sun: White Teacher as a Force of Nature Buffering the Radiation of Racial Retaliation
  • 2. THE STATE OF THE WHITE WOMAN TEACHER
  • 3. ADVANCING THE SUCCESS OF BOYS AND MEN OF COLOR
  • Vignette: Two Black Boys
  • 4. UNDERSTANDING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AS ONE MORE TOOL IN THE COMMITTED WHITE TEACHER’S EQUITY TOOLKIT
  • 5. WHITE FEMALE TEACHERS AND BLACK BOYS: RIGHT TEACHERS AND (MIS)UNDERSTOOD BOYS
  • 6. WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 7. WHAT IF BEING CALLED RACIST IS THE BEGINNING, NOT THE END, OF THE CONVERSATION?
  • Vignette: New Understandings
  • 8. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WHITE TEACHER?

Part 2: Understanding the Constraints and Challenging the Narratives About Who Black Boys Are and Who White Women Can Be

  • 9. RESPECTING BLACK BOYS AND THEIR HISTORY
  • 10. “I CAN SWITCH MY LANGUAGE, BUT I CAN’T SWITCH MY SKIN”: WHAT TEACHERS MUST UNDERSTAND ABOUT LINGUISTIC RACISM
  • Vignette: The Color of Poop
  • 11. IDENTITY SAFETY AS AN ANTIDOTE TO STEREOTYPE THREAT
  • 12. THE SCIENCE BEHIND PSYCHOLOGICAL VERVE AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BLACK STUDENTS
  • 13. THE VISIT
  • 14. REWRITING THE NARRATIVE
  • Vignette: Slavery’s Archetypes Affect White Women Teachers
  • 15. “DON’T LEAN—JUMP IN”: THE FIERCE URGENCY TO CONFRONT, DISMANTLE, AND (RE)WRITE THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF BLACK BOYS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

RESPECTING

RESPECTING

Part 3: Respecting the Broad Diversity of Black Boys’ Experiences and Identities

  • Vignette: Prince Taught Me the Redefinition of Black Masculinity
  • 16. STRATEGIES FOR SHOWING LOVE TO BLACK BOYS
  • 17. WHITE PRIVILEGE AND BLACK EXCELLENCE: TWO TERMS I’VE BEEN “AFRAID” OF FOR MUCH OF MY LIFE
  • 18. BLACK BOYS AND THEIR RACIAL IDENTITY: LEARNING HOW THEY FIT INTO SOCIETY AND IN YOUR CLASSROOM
  • Vignette: I Had a Right
  • 19. TEACHING BLACK BOYS DURING CHILDHOOD: A COUNTERNARRATIVE AND CONSIDERATIONS
  • Vignette: Being Black and Deaf Is a Double Stigma
  • 20. “HOW DARE YOU MAKE THIS ABOUT RACE?!”: CENTERING RACE, GENDER, AND POVERTY
  • 21. THE N!GGA(ER) IN ME
  • Vignette: Die N-word Die
  • 22. BLACKNESS/TRANSNESS: TWO TARGETS ON MY BACK
  • Vignette: What Educators Can Do to Support Trans Students
  • 23. WHITE TEACHERS AND THE POWER TO TRANSFORM: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR LASTING HARM
  • Vignette: Brown Mothers, White Children
  • 24. LEARN ABOUT US BEFORE YOU TEACH (ABOUT) US: QUEER BLACK BOYS
  • 25. BLACK MALE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN K–12 CLASSROOMS: STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORT TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE AS STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
  • Vignette: The Administrative Assistant Staff Member: Oh, and Black!

Part 4: Relationships With Parents, Colleagues, and Community

  • 26. HELPING AMAZING BLACK BOYS BECOME AMAZING BLACK MEN
  • 27. CONNECTING WITH BLACK STUDENTS AND PARENTS: EQUAL VISION
  • Vignette: Being a Black Mom of Black Boys
  • 28. ACTIVATING INCLUSIVENESS
  • 29. BELIEF, PEDAGOGY, AND PRACTICE: STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING POWERFUL CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
  • Vignette: The Symbolic Teacher
  • 30. RUMINATIONS FROM THE INTERSECTIONS OF A #BLACKMOMMYACTIVIST
  • Vignette: Discipline Practices of Caribbean Families
  • 31. FIND FREEDOM IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOVE LETTER TO MY BABIES’ TEACHERS

CONNECTING

CONNECTING

Part 5: Connecting Student Success and Failure to School Structures and Classroom Strategies

  • 32. START OUT FIRM
  • 33. A PARABLE OF ACADEMIC MISGIVINGS: THE EDUCATOR’S ROLE IN ADDRESSING COLLEGE UNDERMATCH

Vignette: Nonviolence, Violence, Standing Up

  • 34. THE COLLUSION OF SOCIAL NORMS AND WORKING WITH INTERRACIAL FAMILIES
  • 35. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SUPPORT “THESE” STUDENTS TO MEET THEIR POTENTIAL? STRATEGIES FOR CREATING EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS

Vignette: Dismantling the “White Savior Mentality”

  • 36. INTERRUPTING SCHOOL STRUCTURES: ADD/ADHD OVERIDENTIFICATION AND HOW BLACK CULTURAL STYLES ARE OFTEN CONFUSED FOR ADD
  • 37. FOOTBALL, SPORTS, AND MOORE - USING SCHOOL STRUCTURES TO GET MORE OUT OF BLACK BOYS

Part 6: Connecting Student Success to School Structures and Classroom Strategies

  • Vignette: How Do Black Lives Matter in Your Curriculum?
  • 38. STRATEGIES THAT DE-ESCALATE CONFLICT IN THE CLASSROOM
  • 39. MEETING STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
  • 40. BLACK FACES AND WHITE SPACES: RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING BLACK BOYS IN GIFTED EDUCATION
  • 41. THE BOOK MATTERS: USING THE COLOR-CODED BLOOM-BANKS MATRIX TO SUPPORT THE LITERACY AND ENGAGEMENT OF BLACK BOYS
  • 42. BOOKS AND CURRICULUM: WHAT TO READ WITH BLACK MALES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION OF POSITIVE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 43. GLOBAL SKILLS: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM AND THE PLAYGROUND

OUTTRO: REMEMBER, BLACK GIRLS AREN’T DOING “JUST FINE”: SUPPORTING BLACK GIRLS IN THE CLASSROOM

OUTTRO: REMEMBER, BLACK GIRLS AREN’T DOING “JUST FINE”: SUPPORTING BLACK GIRLS IN THE CLASSROOM

VIDEO RESOURCES

VIDEO RESOURCES

REFERENCES

REFERENCES

INDEX

INDEX

Resources

Description

Empower black boys to dream, believe, achieve

Schools that routinely fail Black boys are not extraordinary. In fact, they are all-too ordinary. If we are to succeed in positively shifting outcomes for Black boys and young men, we must first change the way school is “done.” That’s where the eight in ten teachers who are White women fit in . . . and this urgently needed resource is written specifically for them as a way to help them understand, respect and connect with all of their students. 

So much more than a call to call to action—but that, too!—The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys brings together research, activities, personal stories, and video interviews to help us all embrace the deep realities and thrilling potential of this crucial American task. With Eddie, Ali, and Marguerite as your mentors, you will learn how to:

  • Develop learning environments that help Black boys feel a sense of belonging, nurturance, challenge, and love at school
  • Change school culture so that Black boys can show up in the wholeness of their selves 
  • Overcome your unconscious bias and forge authentic connections with your Black male students

If you are a teacher who is afraid to talk about race, that’s okay. Fear is a normal human emotion and racial competence is a skill that can be learned. We promise that reading this extraordinary guide will be a life-changing first step forward . . . for both you and the students you serve.  

About the Authors

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership, and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege, and leadership trainings/workshops. Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers and educators, especially for his work with students K–16. Dr. Moore is the Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference, one of the top national and international conferences for participants who want to move beyond dialogue and into action around issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership.

Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K–12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry, and Education, winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice and sits on the editorial board of the journal, Whiteness and Education. Dr. Michael teaches in the mid-career doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as the Graduate Counseling Program at Arcadia University.

Dr. Marguerite W. Penick-Parks currently serves as Chair of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Her work centers on issues of power, privilege, and oppression in relationship to issues of curriculum with a special emphasis on the incorporation of quality literature in K–12 classrooms. She appears in the movie, “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible,” by the World Trust Organization. Her most recent work includes a joint article on creating safe spaces for discussing White privilege with preservice teachers.

 



 

 

 

Contents

FOREWORDS

FOREWORDS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE GUIDE FOR WHITE WOMEN WHO TEACH BLACK BOYS

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE GUIDE FOR WHITE WOMEN WHO TEACH BLACK BOYS

UNDERSTANDING

UNDERSTANDING

Part 1: Exploring the Self

  • 1. READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY
  • Vignette: Raisins in the Sun: White Teacher as a Force of Nature Buffering the Radiation of Racial Retaliation
  • 2. THE STATE OF THE WHITE WOMAN TEACHER
  • 3. ADVANCING THE SUCCESS OF BOYS AND MEN OF COLOR
  • Vignette: Two Black Boys
  • 4. UNDERSTANDING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AS ONE MORE TOOL IN THE COMMITTED WHITE TEACHER’S EQUITY TOOLKIT
  • 5. WHITE FEMALE TEACHERS AND BLACK BOYS: RIGHT TEACHERS AND (MIS)UNDERSTOOD BOYS
  • 6. WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 7. WHAT IF BEING CALLED RACIST IS THE BEGINNING, NOT THE END, OF THE CONVERSATION?
  • Vignette: New Understandings
  • 8. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WHITE TEACHER?

Part 2: Understanding the Constraints and Challenging the Narratives About Who Black Boys Are and Who White Women Can Be

  • 9. RESPECTING BLACK BOYS AND THEIR HISTORY
  • 10. “I CAN SWITCH MY LANGUAGE, BUT I CAN’T SWITCH MY SKIN”: WHAT TEACHERS MUST UNDERSTAND ABOUT LINGUISTIC RACISM
  • Vignette: The Color of Poop
  • 11. IDENTITY SAFETY AS AN ANTIDOTE TO STEREOTYPE THREAT
  • 12. THE SCIENCE BEHIND PSYCHOLOGICAL VERVE AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BLACK STUDENTS
  • 13. THE VISIT
  • 14. REWRITING THE NARRATIVE
  • Vignette: Slavery’s Archetypes Affect White Women Teachers
  • 15. “DON’T LEAN—JUMP IN”: THE FIERCE URGENCY TO CONFRONT, DISMANTLE, AND (RE)WRITE THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF BLACK BOYS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

RESPECTING

RESPECTING

Part 3: Respecting the Broad Diversity of Black Boys’ Experiences and Identities

  • Vignette: Prince Taught Me the Redefinition of Black Masculinity
  • 16. STRATEGIES FOR SHOWING LOVE TO BLACK BOYS
  • 17. WHITE PRIVILEGE AND BLACK EXCELLENCE: TWO TERMS I’VE BEEN “AFRAID” OF FOR MUCH OF MY LIFE
  • 18. BLACK BOYS AND THEIR RACIAL IDENTITY: LEARNING HOW THEY FIT INTO SOCIETY AND IN YOUR CLASSROOM
  • Vignette: I Had a Right
  • 19. TEACHING BLACK BOYS DURING CHILDHOOD: A COUNTERNARRATIVE AND CONSIDERATIONS
  • Vignette: Being Black and Deaf Is a Double Stigma
  • 20. “HOW DARE YOU MAKE THIS ABOUT RACE?!”: CENTERING RACE, GENDER, AND POVERTY
  • 21. THE N!GGA(ER) IN ME
  • Vignette: Die N-word Die
  • 22. BLACKNESS/TRANSNESS: TWO TARGETS ON MY BACK
  • Vignette: What Educators Can Do to Support Trans Students
  • 23. WHITE TEACHERS AND THE POWER TO TRANSFORM: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR LASTING HARM
  • Vignette: Brown Mothers, White Children
  • 24. LEARN ABOUT US BEFORE YOU TEACH (ABOUT) US: QUEER BLACK BOYS
  • 25. BLACK MALE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN K–12 CLASSROOMS: STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORT TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE AS STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
  • Vignette: The Administrative Assistant Staff Member: Oh, and Black!

Part 4: Relationships With Parents, Colleagues, and Community

  • 26. HELPING AMAZING BLACK BOYS BECOME AMAZING BLACK MEN
  • 27. CONNECTING WITH BLACK STUDENTS AND PARENTS: EQUAL VISION
  • Vignette: Being a Black Mom of Black Boys
  • 28. ACTIVATING INCLUSIVENESS
  • 29. BELIEF, PEDAGOGY, AND PRACTICE: STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING POWERFUL CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
  • Vignette: The Symbolic Teacher
  • 30. RUMINATIONS FROM THE INTERSECTIONS OF A #BLACKMOMMYACTIVIST
  • Vignette: Discipline Practices of Caribbean Families
  • 31. FIND FREEDOM IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOVE LETTER TO MY BABIES’ TEACHERS

CONNECTING

CONNECTING

Part 5: Connecting Student Success and Failure to School Structures and Classroom Strategies

  • 32. START OUT FIRM
  • 33. A PARABLE OF ACADEMIC MISGIVINGS: THE EDUCATOR’S ROLE IN ADDRESSING COLLEGE UNDERMATCH

Vignette: Nonviolence, Violence, Standing Up

  • 34. THE COLLUSION OF SOCIAL NORMS AND WORKING WITH INTERRACIAL FAMILIES
  • 35. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SUPPORT “THESE” STUDENTS TO MEET THEIR POTENTIAL? STRATEGIES FOR CREATING EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS

Vignette: Dismantling the “White Savior Mentality”

  • 36. INTERRUPTING SCHOOL STRUCTURES: ADD/ADHD OVERIDENTIFICATION AND HOW BLACK CULTURAL STYLES ARE OFTEN CONFUSED FOR ADD
  • 37. FOOTBALL, SPORTS, AND MOORE - USING SCHOOL STRUCTURES TO GET MORE OUT OF BLACK BOYS

Part 6: Connecting Student Success to School Structures and Classroom Strategies

  • Vignette: How Do Black Lives Matter in Your Curriculum?
  • 38. STRATEGIES THAT DE-ESCALATE CONFLICT IN THE CLASSROOM
  • 39. MEETING STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
  • 40. BLACK FACES AND WHITE SPACES: RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING BLACK BOYS IN GIFTED EDUCATION
  • 41. THE BOOK MATTERS: USING THE COLOR-CODED BLOOM-BANKS MATRIX TO SUPPORT THE LITERACY AND ENGAGEMENT OF BLACK BOYS
  • 42. BOOKS AND CURRICULUM: WHAT TO READ WITH BLACK MALES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION OF POSITIVE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 43. GLOBAL SKILLS: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM AND THE PLAYGROUND

OUTTRO: REMEMBER, BLACK GIRLS AREN’T DOING “JUST FINE”: SUPPORTING BLACK GIRLS IN THE CLASSROOM

OUTTRO: REMEMBER, BLACK GIRLS AREN’T DOING “JUST FINE”: SUPPORTING BLACK GIRLS IN THE CLASSROOM

VIDEO RESOURCES

VIDEO RESOURCES

REFERENCES

REFERENCES

INDEX

INDEX

Resources

SAGE Publishing Logo

The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys


September 2017 | 472 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781506351681 $40.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781506351773 $37.00

Empower black boys to dream, believe, achieve

Schools that routinely fail Black boys are not extraordinary. In fact, they are all-too ordinary. If we are to succeed in positively shifting outcomes for Black boys and young men, we must first change the way school is “done.” That’s where the eight in ten teachers who are White women fit in . . . and this urgently needed resource is written specifically for them as a way to help them understand, respect and connect with all of their students. 

So much more than a call to call to action—but that, too!—The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys brings together research, activities, personal stories, and video interviews to help us all embrace the deep realities and thrilling potential of this crucial American task. With Eddie, Ali, and Marguerite as your mentors, you will learn how to:

  • Develop learning environments that help Black boys feel a sense of belonging, nurturance, challenge, and love at school
  • Change school culture so that Black boys can show up in the wholeness of their selves 
  • Overcome your unconscious bias and forge authentic connections with your Black male students

If you are a teacher who is afraid to talk about race, that’s okay. Fear is a normal human emotion and racial competence is a skill that can be learned. We promise that reading this extraordinary guide will be a life-changing first step forward . . . for both you and the students you serve.  

About the Authors

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership, and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege, and leadership trainings/workshops. Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers and educators, especially for his work with students K–16. Dr. Moore is the Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference, one of the top national and international conferences for participants who want to move beyond dialogue and into action around issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership.

Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K–12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry, and Education, winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice and sits on the editorial board of the journal, Whiteness and Education. Dr. Michael teaches in the mid-career doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as the Graduate Counseling Program at Arcadia University.

Dr. Marguerite W. Penick-Parks currently serves as Chair of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Her work centers on issues of power, privilege, and oppression in relationship to issues of curriculum with a special emphasis on the incorporation of quality literature in K–12 classrooms. She appears in the movie, “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible,” by the World Trust Organization. Her most recent work includes a joint article on creating safe spaces for discussing White privilege with preservice teachers.

 



 

 

 

Table Of Contents:

  • FOREWORDS
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • ABOUT THE AUTHORS
  • ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
  • INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE GUIDE FOR WHITE WOMEN WHO TEACH BLACK BOYS
  • UNDERSTANDING
  • Part 1: Exploring the Self
  • 1. READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY
  • Vignette: Raisins in the Sun: White Teacher as a Force of Nature Buffering the Radiation of Racial Retaliation
  • 2. THE STATE OF THE WHITE WOMAN TEACHER
  • 3. ADVANCING THE SUCCESS OF BOYS AND MEN OF COLOR
  • Vignette: Two Black Boys
  • 4. UNDERSTANDING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AS ONE MORE TOOL IN THE COMMITTED WHITE TEACHER’S EQUITY TOOLKIT
  • 5. WHITE FEMALE TEACHERS AND BLACK BOYS: RIGHT TEACHERS AND (MIS)UNDERSTOOD BOYS
  • 6. WHITE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 7. WHAT IF BEING CALLED RACIST IS THE BEGINNING, NOT THE END, OF THE CONVERSATION?
  • Vignette: New Understandings
  • 8. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A WHITE TEACHER?
  • Part 2: Understanding the Constraints and Challenging the Narratives About Who Black Boys Are and Who White Women Can Be
  • 9. RESPECTING BLACK BOYS AND THEIR HISTORY
  • 10. “I CAN SWITCH MY LANGUAGE, BUT I CAN’T SWITCH MY SKIN”: WHAT TEACHERS MUST UNDERSTAND ABOUT LINGUISTIC RACISM
  • Vignette: The Color of Poop
  • 11. IDENTITY SAFETY AS AN ANTIDOTE TO STEREOTYPE THREAT
  • 12. THE SCIENCE BEHIND PSYCHOLOGICAL VERVE AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR BLACK STUDENTS
  • 13. THE VISIT
  • 14. REWRITING THE NARRATIVE
  • Vignette: Slavery’s Archetypes Affect White Women Teachers
  • 15. “DON’T LEAN—JUMP IN”: THE FIERCE URGENCY TO CONFRONT, DISMANTLE, AND (RE)WRITE THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF BLACK BOYS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
  • RESPECTING
  • Part 3: Respecting the Broad Diversity of Black Boys’ Experiences and Identities
  • Vignette: Prince Taught Me the Redefinition of Black Masculinity
  • 16. STRATEGIES FOR SHOWING LOVE TO BLACK BOYS
  • 17. WHITE PRIVILEGE AND BLACK EXCELLENCE: TWO TERMS I’VE BEEN “AFRAID” OF FOR MUCH OF MY LIFE
  • 18. BLACK BOYS AND THEIR RACIAL IDENTITY: LEARNING HOW THEY FIT INTO SOCIETY AND IN YOUR CLASSROOM
  • Vignette: I Had a Right
  • 19. TEACHING BLACK BOYS DURING CHILDHOOD: A COUNTERNARRATIVE AND CONSIDERATIONS
  • Vignette: Being Black and Deaf Is a Double Stigma
  • 20. “HOW DARE YOU MAKE THIS ABOUT RACE?!”: CENTERING RACE, GENDER, AND POVERTY
  • 21. THE N!GGA(ER) IN ME
  • Vignette: Die N-word Die
  • 22. BLACKNESS/TRANSNESS: TWO TARGETS ON MY BACK
  • Vignette: What Educators Can Do to Support Trans Students
  • 23. WHITE TEACHERS AND THE POWER TO TRANSFORM: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR LASTING HARM
  • Vignette: Brown Mothers, White Children
  • 24. LEARN ABOUT US BEFORE YOU TEACH (ABOUT) US: QUEER BLACK BOYS
  • 25. BLACK MALE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN K–12 CLASSROOMS: STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORT TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE AS STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
  • Vignette: The Administrative Assistant Staff Member: Oh, and Black!
  • Part 4: Relationships With Parents, Colleagues, and Community
  • 26. HELPING AMAZING BLACK BOYS BECOME AMAZING BLACK MEN
  • 27. CONNECTING WITH BLACK STUDENTS AND PARENTS: EQUAL VISION
  • Vignette: Being a Black Mom of Black Boys
  • 28. ACTIVATING INCLUSIVENESS
  • 29. BELIEF, PEDAGOGY, AND PRACTICE: STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING POWERFUL CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES
  • Vignette: The Symbolic Teacher
  • 30. RUMINATIONS FROM THE INTERSECTIONS OF A #BLACKMOMMYACTIVIST
  • Vignette: Discipline Practices of Caribbean Families
  • 31. FIND FREEDOM IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOVE LETTER TO MY BABIES’ TEACHERS
  • CONNECTING
  • Part 5: Connecting Student Success and Failure to School Structures and Classroom Strategies
  • 32. START OUT FIRM
  • 33. A PARABLE OF ACADEMIC MISGIVINGS: THE EDUCATOR’S ROLE IN ADDRESSING COLLEGE UNDERMATCH
  • Vignette: Nonviolence, Violence, Standing Up
  • 34. THE COLLUSION OF SOCIAL NORMS AND WORKING WITH INTERRACIAL FAMILIES
  • 35. WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SUPPORT “THESE” STUDENTS TO MEET THEIR POTENTIAL? STRATEGIES FOR CREATING EQUITABLE CLASSROOMS
  • Vignette: Dismantling the “White Savior Mentality”
  • 36. INTERRUPTING SCHOOL STRUCTURES: ADD/ADHD OVERIDENTIFICATION AND HOW BLACK CULTURAL STYLES ARE OFTEN CONFUSED FOR ADD
  • 37. FOOTBALL, SPORTS, AND MOORE - USING SCHOOL STRUCTURES TO GET MORE OUT OF BLACK BOYS
  • Part 6: Connecting Student Success to School Structures and Classroom Strategies
  • Vignette: How Do Black Lives Matter in Your Curriculum?
  • 38. STRATEGIES THAT DE-ESCALATE CONFLICT IN THE CLASSROOM
  • 39. MEETING STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
  • 40. BLACK FACES AND WHITE SPACES: RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING BLACK BOYS IN GIFTED EDUCATION
  • 41. THE BOOK MATTERS: USING THE COLOR-CODED BLOOM-BANKS MATRIX TO SUPPORT THE LITERACY AND ENGAGEMENT OF BLACK BOYS
  • 42. BOOKS AND CURRICULUM: WHAT TO READ WITH BLACK MALES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION OF POSITIVE RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • 43. GLOBAL SKILLS: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM AND THE PLAYGROUND
  • OUTTRO: REMEMBER, BLACK GIRLS AREN’T DOING “JUST FINE”: SUPPORTING BLACK GIRLS IN THE CLASSROOM
  • VIDEO RESOURCES
  • REFERENCES
  • INDEX

Recent Product Reviews:

"This Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys will change you. Once you start reading it, you won’t be able to put it down. Weaving together voices of multiple authors, both Black and White, chapters offer poignant personal stories, current research, and well-chosen activities. Every chapter invites White women to do the needed work that will enable us to support healthy development of our Black male students. Few books take on such urgent work with so much care and proactive optimism."
Christine E. Sleeter, Professor Emerita, California State University Monterey Bay
"This book raises crucial questions about teaching and learning across race lines, in a racially unequal and segregated society. With a lens focused equally (and with critical compassion) on white women and black boys, dozens of authors offer thoughtful, urgent, personal, and concrete suggestions for moving beyond “the stereotypes, the misinformation, and the lies we have been taught about Black boys” to new habits of understanding, respecting, and connecting that instead help unleash young people’s full human contributions. Read and digest this book to embrace the deep realities and thrilling potential of this crucial American task."
Mica Pollock, Professor, University of California, San Diego
"There is no other instructional guide quite like The Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys. While this book offers practical information and advice directly to the largest demographic of educators teaching one of the most marginalized populations of students, it transcends strategy and becomes a book of Black Critical Cultural Studies. The research, essays, vignettes and activities written by a stellar group of scholars and educators, such as Dr. Howard Stephenson, Glen Singleton and Stephanie Rome represent thousands of hours working with Black students and White educators. The Guide describes patterns, context, nuance and complexity in White racial identity development as it interacts in the past and present with a full range of black boys and adolescents: cis, heterosexual, trans, gay, non-athletic, celebrated and incarcerated. Above all is a direct exploration into the 'dos,' 'don’ts,' 'why's' and 'how’s' of culturally responsive teaching from expert teachers."
Dale Allender, Director, National Council of Teachers of English-West
"Approximately eight of ten teachers in the United States are white – they all should read this important book. Additionally, any white woman who aspires to responsibly and effectively demonstrate educational care for black boys will find much that is useful in this text. It should be required reading in teacher education programs and professional development experiences for all educators in P-12 schools and districts."
Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., Clifford and Betty Allen Professor, University of Southern California Rossier School of Education

Recommendations