According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2012, there were 3.7 million full-time teachers in U.S. elementary and secondary schools. This number also includes private schools. Dr. Dawn Tafari, a member of the clinical faculty in the Education Department at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), says less than two percent of those instructors are African American males.
This week, WSSU is hosting a forum focused on the next generation of African American male teachers.
Dr. Tafari says increasing the number in the classroom will help break negative social stereotypes some children and adults have about black men. “It’s important for children to see that black men are intelligent, loving, kind, wonderfully gentle with children and they want nothing more than to see children be successful,” says Dr. Tafari.
