Black male student teachers: tomorrow’s teachers?

Abstract

England’s school population is ethnically diverse yet the teacher workforce is predominantly White and female. While Black teachers are in short supply in England, Black male teachers are even fewer in number. This article seeks to understand the shortage of Black male teachers through the qualitative experiences of a small group of Black male pre-service teachers. Utilising critical race theory the article seeks to understand the preparation that a group of Black male pre-service teachers during their teacher training course and its impact on their willingness to commit to entering the teaching profession. The article questions whether Black pre-service teachers experience of a lack of acceptance in schools during their pre-service training contributes to the under-representation of Black male teachers in English schools.