A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of How School Working Conditions Influence Black Male Teacher Turnover

Details:

• Resource Type: Research Paper
• Estimated time: 3-4 hours of reading and meetings time

Purpose:

Understand how school working conditions and job design may mediate Black teachers’ experiences with White colleagues and their decision to stay or leave their position

Directions:

1. Convene the HCMS Alignment Team focused on job design.
2. Read A Tale of Two Types of Schools: An Exploration of How School Working Conditions Influence Black Male Teacher Turnover (Bristol, 2019), a research paper focused on Black male teachers’ perspectives of how school working conditions influence job turnover. Read in Particular:
   1. Introduction (p.1-5)
   2. Results (p.22-37)
   3. Discussion (p.37-38)
   4. Implications (p.39-41)
3. Hold a meeting to discuss the reflection questions and plan next steps.

Reflection Questions:

1. How might job autonomy (e.g., ability to set and create own classroom curriculum) and task workload (e.g., classroom size) influence Loners’ vs. Groupers’ decisions to stay in their classrooms, despite experiencing racism from their White colleagues?
2. How might administrative leadership influence Loners’ vs. Groupers’ decisions to stay in their classrooms, despite experiencing racism from their White colleagues?
3. Why did Loners stay in their positions despite experiencing more consistent negative interactions with their mostly White colleagues?
4. How might you disaggregate school, district, or preparation program climate surveys to understand working conditions as experienced by pre-service educators of color and/or educators of color? (Bristol, 2019, pg. 41)
5. How might educator preparation programs support White pre-service educators’ understanding of how their White privilege can constrain relationships with colleagues of color? (Bristol, 2019, pg. 41)
6. How might induction and mentoring programs consider providing opportunities for White novice educators to develop their capacity to create positive working conditions with peers of color? (Bristol, 2019, pg. 41)

1. Job and organizational design models are powerful because they articulate how different elements in a system can offset other elements in a system, as well as how jobs can be designed more intentionally. For example, Loners’ decision to stay in their jobs was supported by their working conditions and not because they don’t experience racism and stress in their jobs. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand that both working conditions and inclusive environments and relationships are necessary to support and retain teachers of color. In particular, create a follow up action plan to disaggregate climate surveys to understand working conditions as experienced by pre-service educators of color and/or educators of color. (Reflection Question #4).