Award Date

5-1-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Learning

First Committee Member

Norma Marrun

Second Committee Member

Iesha Jackson

Third Committee Member

Christine Clark

Fourth Committee Member

LeAnn Putney

Number of Pages

210

Abstract

Research and scholarship frequently ignore and dismiss the unique experiences and perspectives of Black women teachers. They bring with them a unique angle of vision through various race, gender, cultural, and historical intersections that inform their spirituality-based pedagogy and outlook while providing instruction in urban public schools.The purpose of this qualitative dissertation study is to examine the narratives and amplify the voices of Black women K-12 teachers in urban public schools to address how they realized teaching as a calling. Teaching as a calling is more than simply a job and source of income for these teachers. Understanding of this concept further explains how these teachers feel the passion to be present for their students and communities in urban public schools. Therefore, how, if at all, teaching as a calling informs retention and what sustains these Black women teacher participants/narrators is also addressed. The study utilizes narrative inquiry research. This study engages the interrelated framework of Black Womanist Theology and the epistemological standpoint of Womanism, a term that is drawn from the theoretical perspective of black feminism, but possesses its own distinctions. Consequently, the study explores the following questions: 1) How have Black women teachers in urban K-12 schools come to realize teaching as a calling? 2) How, if at all, has teaching as a calling aided retention and what sustains Black women teachers in urban K-12 schools? Through Teaching as a Calling timelines and semi-structured interviews, four Black women K-12 teachers shared intimate and detailed narratives that are social, spiritual, and personal for how teaching as a calling was realized. The timelines and interviews also reflected how, if at all, teaching as a calling aids retention and what sustains the teacher participants in their urban K-12 school settings. The findings within this study emerged four themes: (1) Prophetic and Spiritual Affirmation, (2) Pouring into “Our Kids” and the Community, (3) We’re Present for Ourselves and “Our Kids,” and (4) Support Us to Retain Us.

Controlled Subject

Teachers--Training of; African Americans--Social conditions;

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education | Teacher Education and Professional Development

File Format

pdf

File Size

3100 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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