African Americans' perceptions of their teaching experiences in urban schools primarily consisting of Hispanic students

Purpose. This study examined African American teachers' perceptions of their teaching experiences in schools that were once primarily populated with African American students but have experienced shifts in demographics to primarily consisting of Hispanic students. The study focused on three areas. The first area was African American teachers' perceptions of their teaching experiences in schools primarily serving African American students before they experienced a demographic shift from primarily African American students to primarily Hispanic students. The second area of focus was African American teachers' perceptions of their teaching experiences in schools serving primarily African American students after the demographic shift to primarily Hispanic students. The third area of focus was on the factors that influenced African American teachers to remain in these schools after experiencing a demographic shift from primarily African American students to primarily Hispanic students. The study was conducted in response to the research of Braham (2005), who suggested that multicultural training and development needs to be strengthened at the educator preparation and school district levels, especially in schools with majority-minority populations. Braham's research focused on African American students in primarily Hispanic learning environments. She suggested that the voices of educators were equally important and that hearing from educators would add more understanding relative to African Americans' experiences in primarily Hispanic learning environments.;Method. Qualitative methods were employed to describe the experiences of African American teachers currently teaching in schools that primarily consist of Hispanic students. The participants included 4 teachers with a minimum of 10 years experience on 3campuses in 2 selected school districts. An open-ended question interview protocol consisting of three questions was electronically administered via e-mail and later personal interview sessions were held to gain the participants' descriptions of their experiences.;Findings. The findings of the study revealed several interrelated themes. The most dominant were: (a) teachers acting as a parent, (b) teachers working with parents, (c) lack of involvement from parents, (d) communication issues with students, (e) communication issues with parents, (f) commitment from administration, and (g) commitment from teachers. Relevant implications based on the findings of my study are the need for: (a) professional development in culturally-responsive pedagogy for school personnel before, during, and after demographic shifts on campuses, (b) increased efforts to improve communication with parents and community members, and (c) increased efforts regarding parental involvement.;KEY WORDS: African American teachers, Hispanic students, Cultural Responsive Pedagogy...