University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

We gon’ be alright: A phenomenology of Black educators, occupational stressors, and wellbeing

(USC Thesis Other)

We gon’ be alright: A phenomenology of Black educators, occupational stressors, and wellbeing

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content We Gon’ Be Alright: A Phenomenology of Contemporary Black Educators, Occupational
Stressors, and Wellbeing
by
Rob J. Thrash IV
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
August 2023

ii

ã 2023
Rob J. Thrash IV
All Rights Reserved

iii

The Committee for Rob J. Thrash IV certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Shaun Harper, Ph.D., Committee Chair
Christopher Emdin, Ph.D.
John Pascarella, Ph.D.
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023

iv
ABSTRACT

Despite being celebrated for their understandings of the cultural experiences of their
students and engaging in instructional practices that support students from non-dominant
communities, Black educators endure a host of gendered and racialized occupational stressors
without having access to systems of culturally informed supports that result in their wellbeing.
Extant literature has investigated the occurrences in educational spaces that induce stress among
educators generally. However, there remains a lack of scholarship focused not only on
occupational stressors specific to particular Black educator groups (Black women educators,
Black male educators, Black queer educators, to name a few), but also the impact of occupational
stressors and how Black educators cope. Qualitative research methods were employed to conduct
a phenomenological study using visual media from the social media platform TikTok. The top 30
videos in five hashtags (a total of 150) were analyzed to understand the shared workplace
experiences of Black teachers, counselors, and administrators, and the ways they draw from their
Blackness to manage occupational stressors and to attend to their wellbeing. Findings that
emerged from this study include gendered differences and culturally-informed ways Black
educators communicate with their students; shared workplace experiences of Black educators
related to interactions with students; workplace occurrences that induce stress in Black
educators; and coping with occupational stress and attending to wellbeing. These findings could
be used to inform how Black educators sustain their wellbeing by operating in their authentic
selves, how school leaders can affirm the voices of Black educators and co-construct safe spaces,
and how researchers can further investigate the intersectionality of Black professionals in
educational spaces and the diverse ways Black educators activate their Blackness and harness it
to effectively cope with occupational stressors.

v
DEDICATION

To the Black educators who pour out of themselves the living waters that fill our youth with
love, power, and hope, this dissertation is respectfully dedicated.

vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, giving honor to God who is the head of my life. This moment would not be a reality
without the abundance of love, grace, mercy, strength, wisdom, and everything else You provide
so that I can thrive. You have marked me with Your sign of love and have planned only the best
for me. For this, I am grateful.

My Parents: Robert and Sandra Thrash
Dad and Mom, I thank you for everything. I understand that gratitude, like compliments,
ought to be specific and not general; yet, if I were to enumerate all the ways you have covered,
lifted, supported, encouraged, pushed, challenged, poured into, and loved me, the length of this
dedication section would rival that of this entire dissertation. You provided a solid and deep
foundation upon which I have built a fulfilling existence. You have been unwaveringly faithful
to your duties as my parents while demanding nothing of me in return except that I be a man that
God uses.
Mom and Dad, you have given me space to become who I am, and although who I am
does not exactly align with the life you imagined for me, your love has remained steadfast. It is
as if you have believed for me what God told Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I
knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I
consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
For a long time, I viewed prophecy through a religious lens, and relegated it to church
spaces. However, through my work as an educator, and reinforced through this doctoral program,
I have come to see it in its broader existence. I will continue to draw from every source to which
you consistently connected me—every Empowerment Hour lesson, A.R.M.E.D. Academy class,
Connect Group series, Solemn Assembly, Explosion, sermon, song, and prayer—to be a voice of

vii
hope, truth, liberation, and most importantly, love. Your fingerprint is on me; the best parts of
me are because of you.
I appreciate your sacrifice. I appreciate your prayers. I appreciate your love.
My Siblings

Bruce, Tania, Nicole, Shari, Corn, Vanden, Mike, and Sarah, y’all have my back and I
am deeply grateful. You cause me to feel loved, affirmed, protected, and valued. Because of this,
I live everyday with an assurance that I will never walk alone. What more can a brother ask for?
Each of us adds value to each other in different ways. We have so much in common; yet, what
we give to each other looks, sounds, and feels so different. Truly, I love our diversity and
willingness to show up for each other. My prayer is that I can be as impactful to you as you are
to me.
My Nephews and Nieces

CJ, Tori, Mike Jr., Kobe, Kamerin, Ojani, Ozmel, Brooke, Max, Bruno, Sye, Nicholas,
and Leah, you all are beautiful, talented, and a constant source of joy in my life. I am not yet a
father, and I am pleased to know that my children will be a part of an amazing cousin group. I
pray that you all shine bright in the truth of who you are and that your decisions shift the world
closer to being a place of peace and love for all.
My Advocate

From the time I decided to transform my dream of earning a Doctorate from USC into a
tangible reality, until the day I walked across the stage, you remained a steadfast source of
support. You saw me at my highest and lowest, and yielded yourself to be a vessel from which
hope, peace, and strength poured into me. Your support of this endeavor goes deep and runs
wide, and I am thankful for all you have been to me. Shon, I hope that as you continue to become

viii
who you are, I can stand with you, pray with you, believe with you, work with you, and celebrate
with you—just as you have done with me.
My Village

Dad, Mom, Bruce, Tania, Nicole, Shari, Corn, Vanden, Mike, Shon, April, Carlos,
Glenna, Mario, Mayra, and Rachel, I so appreciate you all. I called on you because I needed to
be held accountable, and you answered my call. You paused your days to attend Village
Gatherings, read drafts of my dissertation, checked on my progress, sent encouraging messages,
and collectively carried me to the finish line. I opened myself up to your monitoring and
questioning. Doing so was one of the best decisions I made.
We are all familiar with the proverb that embodies the spirit of several African cultures:
“It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, in my case, it took a village to complete this
dissertation. It is my hope that this finished study is evidence that your efforts were not in vain.

My Brothers: The Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

I count myself blessed to be a part of a global Brotherhood that, for 117 years, has been at
the forefront of shifting the trajectory of Black people, and by extension, all of humanity. Our
impact goes deep—very deep. Our love for all mankind is shown through our tireless efforts to
aid downtrodden humanity in its efforts to achieve higher social, economic, and intellectual
status. Our love for each other is demonstrated through our insistence on living out the words we
all know and hold dear:
There is nothing in this whole wide world that we wouldn’t do for one another.
I’m sure I’d even give my life to save that of my brother.
But there are still those in darkness who cannot understand
why I share the burden which belongs to another man.

When asked “Why weigh yourself down with the load of another?”
I simply smile at them and say,

ix
He ain’t heavy, He’s my Brother!

I am proud to draw from the Scholarship of such Men of Distinction as Brother Dr.
W.E.B. Du Bois, Brother Dr. Tyrone Howard, and Brother Dr. Jarvis Givens to shape this study.
Their knowledge, insight, and beliefs about how Black people experience education have
broadened the lens through which I see the possibilities of the contributions I will make to the
field of education.
Closer to home are my Brothers of the Mu Sigma Lambda Chapter. Your confidence in
my ability to succeed was demonstrated by your consistent check-ins, words of support, and
insistence that I hold space for the completion of this study. Brother Rev. Ronald Thomas,
Brother Shannon Slade, Brother Edward Parker, Brother Jeremy Mims, Brother Carlos Ray,
Brother Cameron Parsons, and Brother Vanda Lee Jones III rallied around me to hold me
accountable, share my burden, and see me through to becoming Brother Dr. Thrash. I owe each
of you a debt of gratitude.
First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.

06!

My Guides
Mr. Micha Ali, Dr. Glenna Anderson, and Dr. Artis Callaham, in your very distinct ways,
you have been present for me, and I appreciate you. I am grateful for our bonds that were forged
and strengthened as I journeyed through LAUSD, ICEF, Antioch, and CABSE. You have availed
yourselves to me in ways that are deeply impactful and tremendously fruitful. Your no-nonsense
brand of guidance helped me develop the ability to experience, feel, deal, bounce back, and keep
it moving without crashing in the process. The only thing you have asked of me in return is that I

x
go forth, be great, and extend myself to those who seek from me what I have sought from
you. So, that is exactly what I will continue to do.
My Church Families

I am blessed and favored to call two amazing churches in Inglewood, California home.
The foundation upon which my life was built was laid at The A.R.M.E.D. Church and my
spiritual development continues to flourish at Faithful Central Bible Church. In both spaces are
people who love me and are concerned about me. Through their actions, I am constantly assured
that I am loved, valued, affirmed, and appreciated. They are my family and that is alright with
me.
My Committee

To say that I am blessed to have such a stellar Dissertation Committee is an
understatement. Dr. Shaun Harper, Dr. Christopher Emdin, and Dr. John Pascarella kept me all
the way hyped about my research. Your collective knowledge and expertise caused me to see
myself differently. I went from being completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of this
undertaking to believing that nothing about this was beyond my capacity. I stepped away from
every encounter with you more empowered, equipped, capable, and confident.
Your love, respect, and compassion for people rose to the top of what I admire about you.
You all are undoubtedly extraordinarily brilliant scholars with achievements, accomplishments,
and accolades worthy of high honor. More impressive, however, is your deeply rooted concern
for the ways Black and other minoritized people experience education and life beyond schooling.
As a man who believes in leading with love, this truth about you all mattered more to me than
anything else did.

xi
Dr. Harper, thank you for reaching to me and guiding me into the freedom that was
necessary for me to become Dr. Thrash.

xii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND, PURPOSE, AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY ................................. 1
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................................... 6
Purpose of Study ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 12
Key Concepts and Definitions ................................................................................................................. 13
Organization of the Dissertation .............................................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .......................................................... 15
What Has Happened to Black Teachers Over Time ................................................................................ 16
Contemporary Explanations for Why Black Professionals Go Into and Remain in Teaching ............... 22
Contemporary Teacher Stressors ............................................................................................................. 26
Racialized Experiences, Racism, and Racial Inequities, in Specific School Environments ................... 33
Impact of Workplace Stress on Professionals ......................................................................................... 40
How Professionals Manage Stress .......................................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ........................................................... 47
Rationale for the Use of Qualitative Methods ......................................................................................... 48
Methodological Approach: A Phenomenological Approach ........................................................ 49
Visual Media ........................................................................................................................................... 50
Sampling and Participants ....................................................................................................................... 51
Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................................................................... 52
Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 53
Trustworthiness ....................................................................................................................................... 53
Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 54
Role of Researcher .................................................................................................................................. 54
Researcher’s Positionality ....................................................................................................................... 55
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ..................................................................................................... 57
This Is How “We” Do It .......................................................................................................................... 59
“Black Male Teachers Taking Over” ................................................................................................................. 59
“Somebody Come Get These Chirren” .............................................................................................................. 60
“Do You Have Two Extra Pairs of Legs?” ........................................................................................................ 62
“If You Wanna Be Somebody, If You Wanna Go Somewhere” ....................................................................... 64

xiii
You Got Me ............................................................................................................................................. 66
“The COOL Teacher” ......................................................................................................................................... 67
“My Kids Tell Me EVERYTHINGGGG” ......................................................................................................... 68
“We’re All Going to Love Our Hair” ................................................................................................................. 71
“Now They Won’t Stay Out” ............................................................................................................................. 73
@theteacherchronicletea (2022), and @sabiee___ (2023) .................................................................... 75
Stressed Out ............................................................................................................................................. 76
“They Know Not to Play With Me” ................................................................................................................... 77
“Teachers Need to Make at Least 80k a Year” .................................................................................................. 80
“We Are People, Too” ........................................................................................................................................ 82
Alright ..................................................................................................................................................... 84
“When You Got That Barber Appointment” ...................................................................................................... 85
“We Don’t Change Schedules” .......................................................................................................................... 86
“Being Black Is Just Extra” ................................................................................................................................ 88
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS ................................ 91
Discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 93
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 99
Implications ........................................................................................................................................... 100
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................................................... 100
Implications for Research ................................................................................................................................. 104
Closing ................................................................................................................................................... 105
We Gon’ Be Alright: The Call and The Response ................................................................................ 106
References ................................................................................................................................... 108

xiv
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 TikTok video screenshots: @aaron.zay, @buttabella, and @_jjtayler .......................... 62
Figure 2 TikTok video screenshots: @qoachjones, @iamtylerdillard, and @tobiediane ........... 66
Figure 3 TikTok video screenshots: @hannahhhrenee, @lucivspade4, and @jasminebare14 ... 70
Figure 4 TikTok video screenshots: @sabiee___, @mr.jgraves,and @theteacherchronicletea .. 75
Figure 5 TikTok video screenshots: @misunderstood105, @vel_shaw, and @mr.jrm3 ............ 80
Figure 6 TikTok video screenshots: @taylor.dannise, @rello7414, and @sligh_medical ......... 84
Figure 7 TikTok video screenshots: @marcusbornslater, @mr.altidor, and @stephthecoolteacher
....................................................................................................................................................... 88
Figure 8 TikTok video screenshots: @mrsmickens97, @teacherdude_, and @ms.m_closet ..... 90

1
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND, PURPOSE, AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY

“I believe in the Negro schoolteachers… With the proper training they are the finest teachers in
the world because they have suffered and endured and nothing human is beneath their
sympathy.” - W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Tragedy of Jim Crow” (1923)

On May 24, 2009, just five months after making the all-city team and helping lead
Narbonne High School to a share of its first city championship, Dannie Farber, and 18-year-old
Black man and high school student, lay bleeding to death inside a fast-food restaurant in
Compton, his date kneeling over him screaming (Sports Illustrated, 2011). In the aftermath of
Dannie’s death, the consciousness of Black educators at Narbonne was awakened and we were
forced to grapple with a heavy reality: our Blackness demanded of us that we set aside our needs
to be fully present in whatever ways we were directed. As well, the emotional and physical strain
caused by this occurrence would be ours to negotiate and recover from in isolation and without
the proper resources.
The tragedy I described above, which I explore in more depth later in this study, and its
impact on my Black colleagues and me is just one story in the centuries-old anthology of Black
educator experiences. Like many other Black educators, we learned how to suffer and endure
while holding space for the joy our work brings. Also, like many other Black educators, my
journey to this place began long before I entered a school as an educator.
My grandfathers, Robert D. Garner, Sr. and Robert J. Thrash, Sr., joined the Great
Migration, moving from Georgia to Connecticut and Louisiana to California, respectively. They
experienced firsthand the liabilities of being Black in America’s Jim Crow South: extreme
racism, denial of rights, segregation, poverty, dehumanizing policies and laws, psychological
harm, violence to Black bodies, and other creatively treacherous forms of anti-blackness. They

2
carried the memories of these experiences with them; they became the fuel that kept their
ambition to achieve higher social, economic, and intellectual status thriving.
If I were a creative writer, committed to happy endings, I would write that once my
paternal grandfather and his family arrived in California, their Blackness in no way served as a
barrier to access. While not as severe as in the South, and in many cases, less overt, my
grandfather continued to persist through racism, discrimination, and denied opportunities to
become the epitome of what we now call “Black Excellence.”
My grandfather, the Black boy who never knew his father, became the Black man who
was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He obtained a Ph.D., was a
teacher and administrator in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), owned a beautiful
home in the View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and investment property throughout the
city, served faithfully at his church, and, key to my formation, fully supported my grandmother
(his wife), who at the age of 52 founded a church, a daycare, and the Christian school, Christ-
Centered Children’s University (CCCU), where I would experience the first nine years of
schooling and education, and he would be my principal.
CCCU’s all-Black teaching staff celebrated Blackness; highlighted the contributions and
achievements of Black scholars, artists, civil rights leaders, and other difference makers year-
round; insisted that all students believe and shout “I am somebody!;” led us in singing the Black
National Anthem; talked about college as if it were the only pathway after graduating high
school; and held students to high academic and character standards. I often felt like I was in a
Debbie Allen-directed episode of A Different World, and I absolutely loved it.
I vividly recall being a third grade student, assured that my life’s purpose was to cause
people to feel loved, affirmed, and safe the way I did at CCCU. Although my experiences in

3
high school and college were unlike what I experienced at CCCU, leaving much to be desired in
the pro-Blackness dimension, my ideas about creating affirming, safe, and loving spaces for
children, and the unwavering belief that it would happen, remained steadfast. I entered the
educational field at an LAUSD high school, primed to create my own A Different World-like
experiences for the students I would educate.
You’re Black; Deal With Them
As a new and emerging educator, I experienced the fate of so many Black educators,
who, by virtue of our Blackness, were pressured to be disciplinarians, saviors, and role models
(Brown, 2012) for the "troubled" Black boys (Carey, 2018; Nelson, 2016; Wallace, 2017) on
campus. At the same time, our content knowledge, pedagogical abilities, and ability to teach and
provide formal academic guidance to all children went largely unrecognized (Bryan & Ford,
2014; Jackson & Knight-Manuel, 2018).
Unaware of the ramifications, I stepped into the role typically prescribed for Black
educators and found myself responsible for managing the learning and the behavior of Black
boys on campus. When a Black student, especially a boy, was not meeting behavior
expectations, I was asked “Mr. Thrash, isn’t he one of yours?” Without knowing to whom they
were referring, I knew this to be true: “He” was Black.
I was useful to and accepted by my non-Black colleagues as long as I kept the Black boys
“in line.” However, when I advocated for these same boys to be placed in classes taught by
teachers I believed would affirm them and be responsive to their cultural needs, some of my
colleagues accused me of overstepping. When I spoke to these boys in a firm and sometimes
loud tone of voice, I was criticized by white colleagues who lamented that when they did the
same thing, students categorized them as racist.

4
Because of my hypervisibility on campus as well as negative perceptions of my abilities,
I endured a hostile work environment and encountered colleagues who both covertly and overtly
treated me as a social outcast (Goings, 2015). My decision to be a watchman for Black students
served as a double-edged sword. While there was a benefit to students, I suffered an emotional
tax that would manifest itself in both psychological and physiological ways for years to come.
Black and the CAHSEE
Later during my tenure at the same school, I was asked to help increase California High
School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) participation rates amongst our Black student group. Seeing the
effects of failing the CAHSEE on motivation, self-efficacy, graduation, and prospects for
eventual success on students, I gladly took on this task. My colleague, Ms. Jackson, and I
summoned every Black student eligible to take the exam in order to discuss the components of
the exam, introduce them to exam preparation resources (e.g. CAHSEE Boot Camp), and
highlight the positive implications of passing the exam.
As expected, there was a marked increase in participation amongst Black students during
that testing administration. Furthermore, a significant number of Black students received a
passing score on the exam. Only after these data were shared, did our non-Black colleagues
accuse us of unfairly targeting Black students, giving Black students an unfair testing advantage,
and, although we did not administer or monitor the exam, helping Black students pass. A
moment that should have been reserved for celebrating the outcomes for this student group was
met with criticism, accusations, and calls to invalidate test scores.
I wondered what fostered this level of outrage and why it was not visibly present when
Black students were either not participating in or failing the exam in astonishing numbers. I was

5
not alone in my wonderings. Black educators, in various positions, stood in support of Ms.
Jackson and me, and openly celebrated the outcomes of our students.
Death, Burial, and Paralysis
During the first four years of my tenure at this school, 4 Black male students died; 3 of
whom were murdered. Each time, my Black colleagues and I, understanding the needs of our
students, sprang into action. We conducted group crisis debrief counseling sessions, visited the
bereaved families on behalf of the school, and maintained an open door policy for students who
desired to check in with us.
In addition to serving as the liaison between the school and the families, I assisted with
planning the funeral services, wrote the obituaries, represented the school at the funeral services
(officiating one of them) and today, remain connected to the families. Moreover, I served as a
character witness for Dannie Farber, Jr. at the trial of the man accused and later convicted of his
murder.
Dannie’s death, which occurred on the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of
former student, Rob’Leon Sheard, was tragic and extremely painful. True to who we are, my
colleagues and I sprang into action to attend to the needs of our grieving students. At no time,
however, did we give meaningful and actionable consideration to the reality that we too suffered
loss and needed space and support to grieve and heal, nor did school or District leadership
dispatch support to help us collectively grieve the loss of our student.
The effects of this reality manifested months after Dannie’s death when I found myself at
my desk unable to move. The anxiety resulting from not attending to my own psychological
needs became physically debilitating, and I was forced to step away from work, pause my

6
interaction with families still grieving the loss of their sons, and seek mental health therapy to
address the stress, anxiety, and grief I was experiencing.
This Is My Story
I use the above telling of these stories to provide context to my interest in the ways Black
educators engage mechanisms designed to manage and mitigate workplace stress brought on by
racism and other factors (Im Akbar, 1984; Cone, 2000; Woodson, 1990). As well, my
experiences, not unlike those of other Black educators in the United States, stir my thinking
around how to support Black educators and other professionals who are desirous of taking a
collective approach towards navigating, healing from, and transforming racist systems within the
workplace (Lynn, 2002; Mosely, 2018). Hence, this dissertation focuses on them, on us as
educators and as people—Black people in an overwhelming white woman’s profession.
Statement of the Problem
A century ago, W.E.B. Du Bois spoke through both a present and prophetic lens. I often
consider the writings of Du Bois—his research on the plight and promise of Black people in
America—and wonder if he imagined that 100 years after his research, contemporary Black
teachers would continue to suffer and endure the negative effects of slavery, oppression, racism,
classism, sexism, and deprivation in this country (Du Bois, 1899 in McGee, 2015). Based on our
persisting efforts, as he observed them, Du Bois describes the “veil,” where Black people
struggle with the consequences of seeing and situating themselves outside of what the dominant
group describes, defines, and prescribes for them, and how this negotiating has been shown to be
maladaptive and can lead to stress, isolation, and anxiety due to the constant pressure to choose
between conforming to the dominant culture or remaining true to one’s own Black self (McGee,
2015).

7
Dumas (2016) suggests that most contemporary teachers would like to believe that we
live in a different time than Du Bois—that the animosity of whites against Black people has
declined, or is no longer the norm, especially among well-intentioned teachers who profess to
care about all children and who are likely to have been educated in colleges of education with
expressed commitments to equity and diversity. Yet, the stress, isolation, and anxiety brought on
by the duality or “double-consciousness” Du Bois described, remains a lived reality for Black
educators who, like our predecessors in the years following the emancipation of enslaved Black
people, regularly had to combat a number of racialized occupational stressors, such as proving
our worth and challenging the myth of intellectual inferiority (Lynn 2002; Kohli 2016). Many of
us do this through the physical and intellectual acts of critiquing and negating white supremacy
and anti-black protocols of domination (Du Bois, 1923; Givens, 2022).
Research reveals that Black educators exist within the tension of remaining dedicated to
the cause of educating children while having to figure out how to understand, navigate and
transform a racist system (Lynn, 2002) that was designed to maintain the social and economic
order, both of which position Black people on the bottom. These educators contend with
fulfilling the expectation to serve as disciplinarians, rather than academic instructors, for Black
children, working uncompensated for time spent in informal leadership roles as the unofficial
liaisons for schools and advocates for families, being skipped over for more formal (and often
paid) leadership opportunities, and being expected to teach remedial—instead of advanced—
courses (King, 2016; McCready & Moseley, 2014). As a consequence, Black educators describe
themselves as being confused, concerned, overloaded, sad, and angry (Dos Santos, 2020, Klassen
& Chiu, 2010).

8
The breadth of research that exists on this topic is devoted to the experiences of Black
faculty in predominantly white institutions (PWIs) (Agathangelous & Ling, 2002; Aguirre, 2000;
Balderrama et al., 2004; Brayboy, 2003; Fields, 2000; Gregory, 2001; Patton, 2004; Turner,
2003), and Black students in K-12 and university educational spaces (Gray et. al, 2018; Harper,
2009; Howard et al., 2019). In Green’s (2022) study on Black elementary school teachers, she
sought to elevate the voices of Black educators who move through a predominantly white
working environment. Green noted that there is a gap in the literature where gaining an
understanding of what Black elementary school teachers have experienced and what similarities
or differences exist is concerned. Yet, so much of what is revealed through researching these
phenomena within Black faculty and Black students is also experienced by Black educators who
serve children in elementary, middle, and high school spaces.
Along with the aforementioned gap in the literature exists an opportunity to expand
research to include ways Black teachers can take space and receive support as they bravely
engage in the process of interrogating the racist and oppressive attitudes, policies, and practices
they encounter and navigate working in schools in the United States (Im Akbar, 1984; Cone,
2000; Mosely, 2016; Woodson, 1990). This critical approach to minimizing—or eradicate all
together—the occurrences that induce stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, and other negative
psychological and physiological responses (Duncan, 2020), can move Black educators beyond
merely managing workplace stress to working in environments that truly reflect equity,
affirmation, safety, liberation, and love. But first, we need a deeper understanding of what these
experiences are—in the words of Black educators themselves.

9
Purpose of Study
That too many schools just want Black bodies in the building to discipline children or act
as models of acceptable Blackness (Bradshaw 1995; Lynn 2002; White 2010) is a truth of which
many Black teaching professionals are fully aware. Relegating Black educators to these roles and
fostering culture in an attempt to ensure their subservience to them negates the essence of who
they are, their development and training, their masterful artistry of teaching in the Black
American experience, as well as their ability to navigate the career opportunities within the
educational field (Anderson, 1967; Givens, 2022; Siddle-Walker, 2015; Strauss, 1988). Scholars
have documented the long history of Black people striving to learn in the face of physical
violence as well as intensely racist intellectual and ideological currents (Givens, 2022).
Interestingly, and perhaps scary even, is that this tradition is not only well documented in the
narratives written by the formerly enslaved, but also in stories written by contemporary Black
educators.
In her book, Teaching While Black: A New Voice on Race and Education in New York
City, Amanda Lewis provides an insightful and honest portrayal of her turbulent eleven-year
relationship within the New York City public school system and her fight to survive in a
profession that undervalued her worth and her understanding of how children of color learn best
(Lewis, 2016). She recounts a number of occurrences that left her body and spirit, as she
describes it, broken. Lewis goes on to say that she and her colleagues came to regard teaching as
becoming one of the most hated professions of all time in the twenty-first century.
Lewis’ story mirrors that of many Black educators whose decision to remain in the
teaching profession—in a society characterized by white dominance and privilege—has resulted
in long-term physical, mental, emotional, and psychological consequences (Geronimus, 1991;

10
Geronimus et al., 2006; McGee, 2015). Yet, these teachers, with their broken bodies and spirits,
meet the demand to build and create in the face of extreme repression. They navigate these
imperfect fugitive spaces because doing so is necessary in reminding us of our capacity to do
things differently (Stovall, 2018; Givens, 2022).
There is a fascinating multifacetedness to these educators that includes their ability to
work in environments that can cause wear and tear, both physical and mental, as well as their
determination to teach Black students whom they deeply understand and are willing to do what is
necessary to help the students achieve and to succeed (Bristol, 2018; Klusmann et al., 2018;
Milner & Howard, 2004; Milner & Woolfolk, 2003). This multifacetedness notwithstanding,
Black teachers have left the profession at a higher rate compared to teachers from other racial
backgrounds. A 2015 report from the Albert Shanker Instituted revealed that the number of
Black teachers in nine major cities in the United States declined since 2003. In Washington D.C.,
for example, there was a 28% decrease in the Black teaching force (Mosely, 2018).
So, while there is a growing body of literature that focuses on the psychological and
physiological effects on Black teachers in racialized educational spaces, and the ways teachers
and other professionals can manage workplace stress, there remains a gap in the existing
literature as it relates to taking a critical approach towards interrogating the attitudes, policies,
and practices that sustain harm and make possible the actions that place wear and tear on the
bodies and spirits of Black teachers.
In The future of educational change: system thinkers in action, Michael Fullan (2006), a
leading educational systems thinking scholar, advances the notion of sustainability as a key
factor in developing a new kind of leadership, and suggests that “this new leadership needs to go
beyond the successes of increasing student achievement and move toward leading organizations

11
to sustainability” (p. 113). To this end, he presents eight elements of sustainability, which will
enable leaders to become more effective at leading organizations toward sustainability.
Noguera (2006), offers a response to Fullan’s elements of sustainability, effectively
arguing Fullan’s main points are almost completely irrelevant to urban and rural school systems
in the U.S. and elsewhere that serve large numbers of poor children. He notes that the charge of
irrelevance lies in the fact that the set of arguments contained in this analysis overlooks
the central problems confronting schools in impoverished areas (Noguera, 2006), stating:
When such arguments are made in reference to urban schools systems or any
educational institution that serves large numbers of poor children, attention must be
paid to how these ideas must be modified and made relevant to the specific conditions
under which such children are presently educated (p. 131).

Admittedly, I have pulled Noguera’s (2006) critique of Fullan’s (2006) paper from its
original context to illuminate the gaps in existing literature on workplace stress management and
mitigation. I have done so to elevate the notion that just as those ideas about systems thinking in
educational spaces must be modified and made relevant to the specific conditions under which
these teaching professionals presently educate children, so too must ideas about managing and
mitigating occupational stress among Black educators.
Therefore, the central purpose of this study is to describe and understand the nuanced
experiences of contemporary Black educators and to hear directly from them what their
workplace experiences and stressors are. Additionally, this study provides a look into how, via
social media, these educators share experiences that are not influenced or driven by questions
asked or suggestions given by the researcher. In this way, these educators maintain complete
control over what they share about their workplace experiences and stressors, and how they share
it. Further, this study explores how the participants attend to their wellbeing in educational
systems that often breed racist practices, policies, and ideologies, and leave it up to these

12
teachers to rise above their challenges and roadblocks without acknowledging their part in
inducing the stress and strain associated with surviving (and even thriving) despite encounters
with racism (McGee, 2015).
Significance of the Study
Recognizing that Black educators bring specific life experiences and strengths
that benefit their students, many foundations, governments, school districts, and nonprofit
organizations have been working to recruit more Black teachers into the profession (Bireda &
Chait, 2011; Haynes et al., 2016; Hawkins, 2010; Pabon et al., 2011). Still, leaders within these
systems largely do not properly acknowledge how structural racism repeatedly reproduces the
practices, policies, and ideologies that can cause Black educators psychological and
physiological harm. Existing literature on this topic falls short of addressing how Black
educators manage the stress and other harm induced by structural racism in educational spaces.
As such, this study seeks to tackle this unexplored area of Black educator stress management and
wellbeing.
Furthermore, this study offers a higher appreciation for the knowledge Black educators
acquire in the fight against stress-inducing hegemonic forces in education (McGee, 2015) and
situates them as active contributors to, but not responsible for, eradicating these forces. This
study seeks to develop concrete mechanisms for Black educators to collectively, and without fear
of retribution, interrogate and confront racial practices, policies, and ideologies in the workplace
as a step towards their wellness and sustained psychological safety.
Lastly, by elevating not only the racialized factors that contribute to workplace stress but
also ways systems leaders can work to create the conditions for safety, the findings of this study
can assist systems leaders interested in making intentional efforts towards legitimizing,

13
validating, and creating spaces wherein Black educators and other professionals can safely
engage their work.
Key Concepts and Definitions
In this section, I operationalize and clarify the meanings of key concepts and definitions I
repeatedly use throughout this dissertation.
Black—A synonym (however imperfect) of African American and replaces previous
terms like Negro and Colored, when referencing Black people, organizations, and cultural
products. Here, Black is understood as a self-determined name of a racialized social group that
shares a specific set of histories, cultural processes, and imagined and performed kinships
(Dumas, 2016).
Educational Spaces, Schools—Used interchangeably throughout this study, describes
environments wherein educators are engaged in the act of educating children. These
environments include and are not limited to traditional and public charter schools, private
schools, and community [student] resource centers in both urban and rural communities.
Occupational Stress, Workplace Stress—Used interchangeably in this study, describes
an internal state, which can be caused by physical demands on the body or by environmental
and social situations which are evaluated as potentially harmful, uncontrollable or exceeding
resources for coping and may be physiologically arousing and emotionally taxing and call for
cognitive or behavioral responses (Morgan et al., 2006) as a result of perceived conditions or
happenings in the work setting (Parker & DeCotiis, 1983; Morgan et al., 2006; Wong et al.,
2020).
Queer—Used to denote same-sex desires and identities, as well as transgender and other
gender identities and expressions that are marked in similar fashion as deviant

14
and/or nonconforming by heteronormative power structures, but that do not necessarily reflect a
shared identity politics among the subjects who are marked as such (Brokenbrough, 2015).
Racism—I use this word to describe individual actions (both intentional and
unconscious) that engender marginalization and inflict varying degrees of harm on minoritized
persons; structures that determine and cyclically remanufacture racial inequity; and institutional
norms that sustain White privilege and permit the ongoing subordination of minoritized persons
(Harper, 2012).
Racialized—Related to racism, this word describes the product of actors’ prejudice or
irrationality stemming from the social system organized around practices, mechanisms,
cognitions, and behaviors that reproduce racial domination (Bonilla-Silva, 2017).
Teachers, Educators—Describes any person employed in an educational space (e.g.
teachers, counselors, deans) engaged in the act of directly facilitating the personal, intellectual,
creative, political, and social-emotional development of children.
Wellbeing, Wellness—Used interchangeably in this study, describes the presence of the
aspects of one’s life that result in psychological, mental, and physical safety and health. This
includes the integration of five cultural values, beliefs, and practices that promote optimal human
functioning: collectivism; racial and ethnic pride; spirituality; interconnectedness of mind, body,
and spirit; and family and community (Constantine & Sue, 2006).
Organization of the Dissertation
Chapter Two of this dissertation proposal contains a review of the related literature that
examines the experiences of Black educators from emancipation until now, and the racialized
occurrences they encounter in educational spaces that induce occupational stress. Chapter Three
contains methodology, sample selection, and data collection and analysis procedures used

15
throughout the study. In Chapter Four, I present an overview of the findings that emerged from
the data analyses. Finally, in Chapter 5, I provide a discussion of the findings in the context of
literature in Chapter Two, and detailed recommendations for practice, and future research.

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter provides an elaboration and synthesis of published literature related to the
nuanced strivings of Black educators in the United States. Their experiences, spanning from the
covert instructional practices of the formerly enslaved (Anderson, 1988; Givens, 2022) to
contemporary ways Black teachers engage educational spaces, have been studied by historians

16
and contemporary observers who have expanded the scope of our knowledge about this group of
people.
To illuminate the journey of Black teachers and elevate knowledge of what has happened
to them over time, I draw on the work of such historians and revisionist scholars as James
Anderson, Vanessa Siddle Walker, Jarvis Givens, and Heather Williams, who have given
themselves to providing a reconciled account of the history Black teachers, including the parts of
them that traditional scholarship has kept hidden from the gaze of those to whom these truths
could prove inspiring, empowering, transformative, and activating.
What Has Happened to Black Teachers Over Time
During the middle decades of the twentieth century, the rhetoric of white scholars
desirous of shaping and preserving a picture of them as a detriment to the very people they were
in service to (Baker, 2011) was echoed by Black academics, attorneys, and activists who held
teachers in low esteem, categorizing them as “weary” practitioners and “weaker-kneed brethren”
who were inclined to “chiseling and pussy-footing” (Baker, 2011; Janken, 2003). This rhetoric
stood in stark contrast to the ways Black teachers viewed themselves: the manifestation of
formerly enslaved persons’ beliefs that freed people could not achieve political and economic
independence without first becoming organized, and organization was impossible without well-
trained intellectuals—teachers, ministers, politicians, managers, administrators, and
businesspeople (Anderson, 1988; Walker, 2001). They regarded education as the conduit
through which their people would experience progress beyond emancipation, and teachers would
guide them towards this progress.
The ideas about progress through education was birthed long before the abolishment of
the system of slavery. To enslaved Black people, access to the written word, whether scriptural

17
or political, revealed a world beyond bondage in which they could imagine themselves free to
think and behave as they chose (Williams, 2018). It is quite plausible this imagining stemmed
from a deeply inherent knowing that their captivity was unwarranted and unnatural, and therefore
something from which they must liberate themselves. So, from climbing into holes in the ground
at night to have school to hiding spelling books under their hats to be ready whenever they could
entreat or bribe a literate person to teach them, (Givens, 2022; Williams, 2019), enslaved people
demonstrated a fervent commitment not only to continuing their education, but also helping
others in pursuit of learning. Whether writing a pass to freedom, learning of abolitionist
activities, reading the Bible, or safeguarding against fraud and manipulation (Anderson, 1988), it
was through literacy that enslaved people experienced a freedom that was, by virtue of their
humanity, a birthright.
In her book, Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom, Williams
(2015) extends this idea by sharing stories of former enslaved persons, Charity Brown and G. W.
Offely. Ms. Brown, who recalled on Sundays on her Edenton, North Carolina, plantation, she
saw:
“Negroes up in the country going away under large oak trees and in secret places, sitting
in the woods with spelling books.” Mr. Offley, of Maryland, who later paid white men and boys
for writing lessons, received his first reading lessons at age nineteen from an old Black man, who
taught him at night and on Sunday mornings (p. 27).

These recollections represent the stories of countless others in their condition who risked
their safety to take the matter of teaching and learning in their own hands. Their established ways
of doing and being in the quarter communities that served educational purposes were held
internally, away from the watchful eye of masters and overseers. (Givens, 2022). Moreover,
these systems of acquiring and passing knowledge produced literate enslaved people and

18
catapulted them beyond the limited sphere to which owners hoped to keep them restricted
(Williams, 2015).
As time went on, Black people, enslaved and freed, would become co-designers and co-
conspirators in the fight to [re]claim their physical, spiritual, and intellectual liberation (Givens,
2002; Howard, 2015). They entered emancipation with an alternative culture, one that contained
enduring beliefs in learning and self-improvement (Anderson, 1988). They were emboldened
towards an ambitious determination to direct their own path. This determination was undergirded
by the continued efforts of educators and leaders of the postbellum years who were largely what
Anderson (1988) refers to as “rebel literates.” These rebels, like generations before them, defied
slave owners' authority by sustaining their processes of learning and teaching and emerged from
slavery with a very clear sense of what education would look like for them.
They embraced a self-help philosophy, which stemmed from the realities of their era—
that they had to provide for their own, if their own were to be provided for—and was fueled by
Northern and Southern beliefs that Black education was the responsibility of Black people. Put
another way, if Black children were to learn, they would be taught by Black teachers (Walker,
2001).
Guided by this philosophy, they began training an adequate supply of Black teachers,
which was a necessary first step toward the successful expansion of common schooling for Black
children (Anderson, 1988). Although white religious societies sponsored some Sabbath schools,
operating mainly in evenings and on weekends and providing basic literacy instruction for the
formerly enslaved, the system was largely Black-dominated, relied on local Black communities
for support, and generally had all-Black teaching staffs.

19
As the nation entered its period of segregation, widely known as Jim Crow, Black
teachers held educational values like those during slavery, as well as the ideas about how to
integrate education into their broader struggle for freedom and prosperity. Aware of the white
power structure, Black teachers became a mass of compliance while simultaneously working to
subvert it through what Givens (2022) calls “Fugitive Pedagogy.” Givens explains that the
physical and intellectual acts by Black teachers and students explicitly critiqued and negated
white supremacy and antiblack protocols of domination, but they often did so in discreet or
partially concealed fashion.
With an exceptional awareness of the impact their presence had in the lives of their
students, Black teachers forged ahead with their work, which extended beyond classroom
instruction. Moreover, they made personal and financial sacrifices to purchase school supplies
for their classrooms, help to supply clothing for students whose parents had fewer financial
resources, and provide scholarship money for those who needed help to go to college (Walker,
1996). As well, these teachers talked with students before and after class and carried a student
home when doing so meant they would be able to participate in programs and activities that they
would not otherwise be able to participate in.
Black teachers invested heavily not only in developing whole students but also in their
own professional development and their alliances with each other. The preparation of some
Black teachers, even during this era, exceeded the widely described norms, especially in urban
areas (Perkins, 1989). In the celebrated and well-known Dunbar High School in Washington,
District of Columbia, several teachers held advanced degrees in liberal arts, medicine, and law
before 1920. In the 1920s, three women held doctor of philosophy degrees from the University
of Paris, Radcliffe College, and the University of Chicago (Hundley, 1965; Sowell, 1974). Black

20
teachers, however, often understated qualifications to be hired by white school boards; thus,
scewing historical data about Black teacher certification levels.
Black teachers participated in summer schools and traveled as ways to enhance their own
learning and "refresh" their spirit (Hundley, 1965; Kluger, 1977), and used their involvement in
Black teacher organizations, which existed throughout the South, some beginning in the 1880s,
and in all the states by 1900, to raise their collective voice to advocate for adequate resources for
themselves and their students (Baker, 1996; Kluger, 1977; Kilpatrick, 1962). In places like
Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee, teachers gathered to discuss such
topics as corporal punishment, industrial training, and ways of creating educational enthusiasm
(Baker, 1996; Foster, 1977; Perkins, 1989; Walker, 2001).
This collective effort to teach, advocate, and be interested in a broad ranges of issues
regarding their students and themselves stands in contrast to the commonly held images of Black
teachers during this era, working in isolated, one-room school houses primarily concerned with
resisting desegregation so they could maintain their jobs (Walker, 2001). Although the prospect
of job loss loomed close as the movement for desegregation gained substantial traction, Black
teachers continued to enact a cultural teaching style that assumed not only that their children
would be, and must be, taught the curriculum available at white schools, but that also that the
students must be motivated to believe they could achieve and be held accountable for learning
(Walker, 2015). They served as role models for students and a source of how to navigate their
world that was filled with racial inequities and discrimination to ultimately obtain social mobility
(Sandles, 2020; Madkins, 2011).
As well, Black educational leaders, who held positions of power within various teacher
and principal organizations, contributed to the effort by working interdependently to minimize

21
the negative effects of the dominant order and solidified views of what it meant to be a Black
educator and formulated strategic responses to the inequitable contexts in which they worked
(Walker, 2001). Their fervent and unrelenting calls for equality contributed to the Brown vs.
Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruling (1954): schools could no longer segregate based on
race, as such separation was unconstitutional (Bond, 2015).
A collective aspiration for integration did not exist among Black teachers and educational
leaders. However, Black teachers who initially supported integration optimistically expected
access, seeing it as a way to acquire the facilities, resources, and opportunities consistently
denied Black students. Moreover, they objected to practices they believed would not serve the
educational and aspiration needs of Black children (Sandles, 2020) and hoped for Black children
to continue receiving the caring and aspiration they received under segregation.
In the aftermath of the Brown ruling, whites dictated the terms of school desegregation,
and a significant cost was the loss of Black teachers who were not retained when Black schools
were closed and students were sent to White schools (Fairclough, 2004; Hudson & Holmes,
1994; Sandles, 2020; Tillman, 2004). As their dominance in systems designed to educate Black
children quickly diminished, Black teachers’ hope for Black children to maintain access to the
aspiration and advocacy they previously supplied while also gaining access to that they had been
denied (Walker, 2015) was replaced with worries around the aspirational outcomes for Black
children who instead of receiving resources and expanded opportunities in Black educational
spaces were sent into White schools without people who could inspire them.
In the decade following the Brown ruling, Black children would suffer in their new
environments without Black teachers to model for them a set of strategies unavailable in White
teacher-training institutions (Sandles, 2020). Additionally, as Black students began matriculation

22
into White schools, Black teachers and principals were outright forced or begrudgingly had to
find employment in other areas (Rogers et al., 2013).
To provide a more concretized view of the forced exodus of Black teachers and principals
from the education profession, employment data from this era shows that 38,000 Black teachers
across 17 states were dismissed from their positions between 1954 and 1965, with much of this
exodus directly attributable to the fallout from the Brown decision (Bond, 2015; Lutz, 2017;
Fultz, 2004). In addition, since this period, the number of Black men teachers, in particular,
steadily dwindled, with many opting for more traditionally “male” professions (Lutz, 2017). The
aftermath of Brown ruling also reached traditional Black colleges, as they began supplying the
teacher workforce with far fewer Black candidates.
Although these historical events shaped the environment for the decline in Black
teachers—those tenacious institution builders who rallied Black communities behind the
improvement of schools that became an institutional base for the Civil Rights Movement
(Chirhart, 2005)—there remains Black professionals who create aspiration within Black children,
seeking to help them believe they are a part of the fabric of America and that they should expect
to become full participants.
The evolution of Black teachers in the United States started decades before the Civil War.
The educational values they held were strengthened over time, as they continued to see
themselves as caring professionals who placed the needs of Black children at the center of the
school’s mission (Anderson, 1988).
Contemporary Explanations for Why Black Professionals Go Into and Remain in Teaching
I use the above telling of what has happened to Black teachers over time to pay homage
to the fearlessness with which Black educators approached their revolutionary and

23
transformative work and to situate us in the next portion of this review of literature:
contemporary explanations for why Black professionals go into and remain in teaching.
Through what some might consider a prophetic utterance, W. E. B. Du Bois (1973)
predicted the following consequence of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision: "If and
when they [Blacks] are admitted to these [public] schools certain things will inevitably follow.
Negro teachers will become rare and in many cases disappear" (Du Bois, 1973, p. 151). As
ominous as this declaration might have seemed, Du Bois’ prediction became a reality, and
despite the intentional efforts to stimulate movement of Black professionals into the teaching
profession, the devaluing and dismissal of Black teachers and administrators during integration,
the emergence of new professional opportunities, the perceived changing apolitical nature of
teaching, and the shifting role of schools as a central cultural institution for pursuing social
justice (Clark et al., 2013; Dilworth & Brown, 2008, as cited in Gist, 2018), resulted in
significantly reduced number of Black professionals entering the teaching profession at the end
of the 20th century.
Despite the trajectory for Black teachers set in motion by the Brown decision, Black
people who want to educate Black children exist and are entering the teaching profession. In fact,
the field of education is the top collegiate choice for Black males in postsecondary settings and
through such programs as Call Me Mister program at Clemson University, Black Men to the
Blackboard, and the AASU Pathways Program, Black professionals, albeit in small numbers, are
entering the pathway to teaching (Bryan & Browder, 2013; Lewis, 2013; Lynn, 2006; Meidl,
2019).
To shed light on why Black professionals are entering the pathway to teaching and the
elements that contribute to their success and persistence despite better working conditions and

24
increased salaries that are possible in other settings (Fraser-Abder, 2010), we turn to the
scholarship in this area. Although scarce, the existing literature on this topic legitimizes the
voices of Black teachers and we are able to understand the reasons why they, like the Black
teachers who preceded them, work as agents of change, creating conditions for students to be
able to succeed, in a system often rife with pedagogical inequities and culturally insensitive
curricula.
The explanations for this can be viewed through the lens of the tripartite framework, a
widely cited model on teaching motivations, as noted by Kyriacou and Coulthard (2000) and
Moran, Kilpatrick, Abbot, Dallat, and McClune (2001). This framework provides three
categories that influence one’s teaching choice:
1. Intrinsic motives, referring to internal satisfaction in the work of teaching; 2. Altruistic
reasons, which explain seeing teaching as a socially worthwhile endeavor contributing to
the growth of the individual and the advancement of the society; 3. Extrinsic factors can
be rewards or other benefits related to teaching. However broad these three categories
are, they do not seem to be able to capture the intricate and interrelated influences on
one’s teaching choice. (Low et al., p. 30)

Consistent with the findings from research conducted in western countries on teaching as
a career choice (Kyriacou & Coulthard, 2000; Manuel & Hughes, 2006), literature suggests that
Black professionals are primarily intrigued by intrinsic and altruistic reasons to join teaching,
while the influence of external factors is far less prominent.
To extend this idea, I highlight Fraser-Abder’s (2010) study, Reflections on Success and
Retention in Urban Science Education: Voices of Five African-American Science Teachers Who
Stayed. Fraser-Abder highlights five African-American science teachers who have taught
successfully in the urban system for over 10 years. All participants agreed that an in-depth
knowledge of the subject they were teaching and the constant search to expand that knowledge
caused them to enter and remain in the field.

25
These teachers went on to name other intrinsic and altruistic reasons for remaining in the
profession:
knowing and caring for the whole child; effective classroom management skills and the
ability to model the appropriate skills needed to succeed in science; setting high
expectations and knowing how to motivate students to meet them; an understanding the
varying limitations of parental involvement; and, because of their intimate involvement in
the community, an awareness of the culture and ethos of the community, which made
them better able to both relate to the problems that students bring into the classroom from
their homes and understand and communicate with parents and guardians. Furthermore,
these teachers fully recognized that the culture of their students demanded them to be a
teacher, a mentor, a friend, and a parent to their students. (pp. 242-245).

The reasons and motivations highlighted in Fraser-Abder’s study are echoed throughout
literature. Black teachers' motivation to impart knowledge as well as their desire to change or
improve public education, enhance social equity, and make social contributions is found to be a
significant predictor of their educational and career aspirations. (Brown & Thomas, 2020). As
well, teachers’ desire to change or improve public education, enhance social equity, and make
social contributions (Leech et al., 2015) influences their decision to enter and stay in the teaching
profession.
For Black male educators in particular, the dearth of them entering the profession can be
attributed in part to their negative and racially hostile K–12 experiences from which stems their
determination to have a positive impact on society through teaching (Brown & Butty, 1999;
Brown & Thomas, 2020; Graham & Erwin, 2011; Lewis, 2006; Shipp, 1999). However, these
teachers see themselves as change agents and role models with a unique ability to advance the
Black community, concerned with centering their life on uplifting and filling the needs of others
(Lynn, 2002; Tafari, 2013).

26
Where extrinsic motivation is concerned, scholarship reveals job security, time for
family, and job transferability (Leech et al., 2015) are motivating factors for Black professionals
to enter and stay in the teaching field.
Interestingly, many Black professionals who chose to become teachers in recent years
were older and career changers (Albers, 2002; Feistritzer, 2005; Gist and White, 2011;
Humphrey & Wexler, 2007). These teacher candidates expressed a desire to work with young
people, give back to their communities, and follow their family traditions of becoming teachers
(Chin & Young, 2007, as cited in Madkins, 2011).
The reasons for Black professionals entering and staying in the teaching profession are as
varied as the individuals themselves, and the surfeit functions they serve within schools (e.g.
parent, psychologist, and friend) provide powerful imagery and aspirational ideals for
impressionable students (Milner & Howard, 2013; Sandles, 2020). These well-prepared,
culturally competent teachers have the potential for improving the educational outcomes of
students of color and thus can contribute to closing the achievement gap that historically has
existed between students of color and their white peers (Leech et al., 2015) So, maintaining
educational spaces in ways that provide opportunities for Black educators to persist in the
profession and live out their calling is a matter worthy of meaningful attention.
Contemporary Teacher Stressors
It is reasonable for one to read about the history of Black people in the teaching
profession and the contemporary reasons why they continue to choose teaching as a career and
feel a sense of high regard for these noble professionals. Undoubtedly, the Black teaching force
is a doggedly unrelenting, capable, and innovative group of people. Yet, present in their work are

27
conditions that induce frustration and stress, impacting teachers’ ability to deliver instruction
effectively, which has implications for student learning and achievement (Ransford et al., 2009).
Teacher efficacy, along with classroom climate, and the quality of teacher-student
relationships are considered core resources for effective teaching and student learning. However,
it has been hypothesized that prolonged teacher stress can get in the way of developing these
core resources and have lasting implications on both student achievement and the ways teachers
view themselves (Hamre & Pianta, 2005). Before directing our attention towards ways to
preserve the wellbeing of educators and minimize conditions that induce stress, we turn to
scholarship on teacher stress and the causes of it.
Kyriacou (1977), a pioneering researcher on the topic of teacher stress, developed a
model that viewed stress as a negative emotional experience being triggered by the teacher’s
perception that their work situation constituted a threat to their self-esteem or wellbeing. Other
researchers defined stress as an individual's response to work-related environmental stressors,
with reactions that can be psychological, physiological, or behavioral (Selye, 1976) and a
disruption of the equilibrium of the cognitive-emotional-environmental system by
external factors (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; McGrath, 1976, as cited in Demerouti, 2001).
Additionally, a number of researchers have focused on the notion of teacher burnout, which is
seen to be a state of emotional, physical and attitudinal exhaustion which may develop in
teachers who have been unsuccessful in coping effectively with stress over a long period
(Guglielmi & Tatrow, 1998; Kyriaco, 2010; Maslach, 1980; Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999).
Teacher stress is not an isolated situation experienced only by Black teachers. Rather,
teacher stress is a global problem at local schools, international schools, private schools, colleges
and universities, and even community centers (Dos Santos, 2002; Seth, 2002), and is usually

28
considered to be a major cause of education professionals leaving their jobs and the resultant
shortage of staff. Teachers find themselves facing varying degrees of stress as they engage in the
work of teaching and attending to the needs of their students that reach far beyond academic
instruction.
Such problems like work overload, pressure from parents, problems in curriculum
implementation, lack of autonomy in execution of responsibilities, conflict between work and
family responsibilities, poor academic performance of students, students’ indiscipline and poor
working environment constitute occupational stressors. Oboegbulem (2011) identified those
stressors which are intrinsic to the job and which border on unpleasant working conditions as:
total school working hours, physical or environmental factors like overpopulation of students;
problems with the school plant; inadequate and ill-equipped teachers with lackadaisical attitudes
towards work; students with poor academic background and negative attitude towards learning;
parental ambivalence towards the educational wellbeing of their children; low motivation;
inadequate resources to run the school, low prospects of advancement, lack of job security and
poor staff development programs. Others are personal problems including role conflict; societal
problems and pressures; financial problems and domestic worries (Adebola & Mukhtari, 2008).
Occupational stress can eventually affect both physical and emotional wellbeing if not managed
effectively.
Efforts to identify the empirical predictors of teacher stress have isolated individual
predictors (e.g., gender, age, years of experience, prior mental health functioning) and
organizational predictors (e.g., classroom and school climate, workload, role ambiguity),
with organizational factors more consistently predicting stress (Burke & Greenglass, 1995;
Dorman, 2003 in Shernoff et al., 2011).

29
The types of stressors that impact teachers are as varied, unique, and specific as the
teachers themselves. Studies reporting sources of teacher stress (Benmansour, 1998; Travers &
Cooper, 1996; Pithers & Soden, 1998) indicate that the main sources of stress facing teachers
are: teaching students who lack motivation; serving as disciplinarian; time pressures and
workload; coping with change; being evaluated by others; dealings with colleagues; self-esteem
and status; administration and management; role conflict and ambiguity; poor working
conditions. These stressors, although wide-ranging, are not all-encompassing of the stress-
inducing realities that teachers persist through.
Shernoff and colleagues (2011) studied the sources and impact of stress on urban
teachers, finding that:
The lack of access to basic supplies and equipment (e.g., books, paper, pencils, and
computers), a lack of human resources (e.g., no school nurse, limited in-class support)
and access to coaches, mentors, and content specialists, which left them feeling isolated,
and a lack of autonomy in instructional practices and choosing curriculum content were
the most prominent source of stress among this teacher group. (p. 64)

Within the classroom space particularly, the task of differentiating instruction for large
groups of students with varied academic levels and needs also contributes to work stress
(Somech, 2016). Some teachers reported this as a source of frustration and were distressed when
it was difficult to engage or apathetic towards their learning.
Teachers also report an intense amount of stress, pressure, and personal responsibility to
raise students’ test scores and feeling helpless when students did not make adequate progress
stemming from accountability policies (Shernoff et al., 2011). In part, these policies are designed
to address race and class disparities in educational outcomes by creating tighter links between the
policy environment and instruction (Diamond, 2007; Hallett, 2010).

30
An unintended and adverse consequence of these policies, however, is its mental and
corporeal effects on those whom the policies are developed to hold accountable. These policies
lead to a narrowing of instructional content, marginalizing of low-performing students, and
increases in teacher-centered, didactic pedagogy (Anagnostopoulos, 2006; Booher-Jennings,
2005; Diamond, 2007; Lipmann, 2004; McNeil, 2001; Vasquez Heilig & Darling-Hammond,
2008), which in turn leaves teachers feeling a lack of autonomy in planning and executing
lessons and ethically torn by mandates that teachers’ focus intensively on students most likely to
reach proficiency on standardized tests.
Undoubtedly, the educational profession is filled with a variety of stressful events and
circumstances that potentially impact teachers’ physical and psychological wellbeing (Somech,
2016). The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created unprecedented challenges for schools,
educators, families, and students. With the first impacts felt in the Spring 2020 semester,
COVID-19 only magnified the already high levels of stress reported by educators (Herman et al.,
2021; Horesh & Brown, 2020; Kaden, 2020; MacIntyre et al., 2020; Reich et al., 2020).
Uncertainty about the duration of school closures, lack of training and preparedness for
online education, and the suddenness of closures have been noted as contributing factors to
teacher stress (Kim & Asbury, 2020). Moreover, an unfamiliarity and lack of preparation to
manage student disruptive behaviors, attendance, and engagement in virtual classroom spaces
settings contributed to the amplified stressors experienced by teachers (Kaden, 2020).
With professional and personal uncertainties looming, many teachers described
themselves as being confused, concerned, overloaded, sad, and angry. Due to the additional
personal, mental, and emotional concerns brought about by their working environment, some

31
teachers and education professionals have blamed themselves for not being considerate towards
their students. (Dos Santos, 2020).
Some of these factors such as classroom management skills and student disruptive
behaviors, attendance, and engagement are directly related to classroom instruction. With the
shift to online instruction due to COVID-19, it is likely that these classroom-related stressors
were amplified by how they play out in online settings, as well as teachers’ unfamiliarity and
lack of preparation to teach in these settings (Kaden, 2020).
These COVID-19 enhanced stressors included excessive bureaucratic tasks, lack of
support and training, and inadequate infrastructure (Espino-Díaz et al., 2020). Some of these
factors were indirectly related to teaching and learning whereas other factors such as classroom
management, student behavior, student attendance, and student engagement are directly related
to instruction itself. The transition to an online setting proved potentially stressful, as teachers
struggled to develop their skill sets and tools for online teaching within extremely constrained
timelines (Espino-Díaz et al., 2020; Fleming, 2020), while also struggling to keep students
engaged (Trust & Whalen, 2020). Furthermore, teachers’ digital and pedagogical skills (as
reported by school principals) varied substantially within socio-economically advantaged schools
having considerably higher digital and pedagogical teacher skills than socio-economically
disadvantaged schools (OECD, 2020b; Wesphal et al., 2022)
In addition to navigating the pressures of their evolving instructional duties, teachers had
to quickly develop ways to manage their colliding work and home lives during the months of
lockdown. From caring for family members who had become ill to coping with the deaths of
other teachers might have even needed to family members, friends, or colleagues, many teachers
had to manage these challenges while being isolated from friends and family members (Wesphal

32
et al., 2022). Although instruction for most teachers has returned to in-person, teachers are
navigating educational spaces still in recovery from the disruptive effects of COVID-19.
Amid the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in May of 2020, racism—specifically
structural racism or the ways in which history, laws, policies, practices, and customs maintain
and perpetuate racism—moved to the forefront of the national conversation (Arango et al.,
2022). Large companies issued statements describing a new approach to combating racism and a
commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) (Krebs, 2022). Resources like Nikole
Hannah-Jones of The New York Times’ 1619 Project—a collection of essays, podcasts, and
learning tools that center American history around the consequences of slavery and contributions
by Black Americans, were described as divisive by some conservative leaders (Shwartz, 2022).
Calling teachings on historic and structural racism “toxic propaganda,” then-President
Trump established a committee called the 1776 Commission to counter “radicalized views” and
foster patriotic education (Clifton, 2021). Then, in September 2020, the Trump Administration
issued a memo from the director of the Office of Management and Budget that banned
“propaganda effort[s]” within federal governmental training, including lessons around CRT and
white privilege (Vaught, 2020). The memo described CRT as “divisive, false, and demeaning”
and “un-American propaganda training sessions.” The memo also specified criteria for banned
training, forbidding “[efforts that teach] (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil
country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil (Vaught, 2020).
The fears critics have expressed about CRT are caused to a great extent by a
disinformation campaign designed to convince parents that this theory poses a threat that in
many cases does not exist (Zadrozny, 2021). This campaign has resulted in fourteen states
passing prohibitions on teaching about race in potentially divisive manners, or what are

33
colloquially known as “anti-critical race theory” legislation or “CRT bans” since February 2022
(Schwartz, 2022).
Pressure to uphold these prohibitions are antithetical to the aims of many teachers who
maintain a committed stance towards critically addressing matters of public concern in their
classrooms—racism, discrimination, and injustice included. The fears educators have about
these new laws involve how they will distort history and punish teachers for teaching the truth.
In addition to fining and even dismissing teachers for not following the rules, some bills threaten
to withhold school funding until the “school provides evidence to the commissioner that [it] is no
longer in violation” of the statute (Marnin, 2021; Vaught, 2020). Moreover, if the teacher was
dismissed for such teaching, it is unlikely that any approach to K-12 educators’ First Amendment
rights would immunize the teacher.
From inadequate resources and accountability policies, teaching is filled with a variety of
events and circumstances that may act as stressors that create harmful and maladaptive reactions
to those stressors, impacting teachers’ physical and psychological wellbeing (Jex, 1998; Lepine
et al., 2005; Somech, 2016). Thus, teaching is widely considered to be a demanding profession
with an attendant high risk for stress and burnout (Dunham & Varma, 1998; Kyriacou &
Sutcliffe, 1977 in McCarthy et al., 2001). Therefore, understanding the broad range of teacher
stressors can be helpful in laying the groundwork for reducing stressful occurrences within
educational spaces.
Racialized Experiences, Racism, and Racial Inequities, in Specific School Environments
From the time Black educators traverse preservice programs to the time they enter the
teaching field, they must navigate a gauntlet of challenges, including inadequate
university/department support (Brown, 2018), dispelling misconceptions about Black

34
professionals (Walker, 2019), and teaching at schools as the only (or one of a few) Black
teachers (Lewis & Toldson, 2013). Yet, policymakers and educators in the United States,
acknowledging that these teachers are especially suited to understanding the cultural experiences
of their students and engaging in instructional practices that support students from non-
dominant communities, advocate increasing the racial and cultural diversity of the teacher
workforce to serve the educational needs of students of color (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011;
Haycock, 2001; Irvine, 1988; Villegas & Irvine, 2010; Villegas & Lucas, 2004) while doing little
to attend to the race-related needs of Black teachers.
Furthermore, while other self-reported measures of stress have been accepted widely
(e.g., those assessing job strain, life events, and daily hassles), there exists a tendency to discount
Black teachers’ reports of racialized experiences simply because they involve a subjective
component. Consequently, Black teachers’ efforts to illuminate and change racist conditions that
induce psychological and physiological stress responses remain largely ineffective. (Burchfield,
1985; Clark et al., 1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Matheny et al., 1986). This truth makes
broadening the conversation of occupational stressors to include the racialized experiences that
impact wellbeing of Black educators a necessary task.
I also consider it a necessary task to hold space for the multifaceted gendered and queer
realities of Black educators. For example, Black women are subjected to a different reality than
both their respective gender and racial counterparts (Farinde et al., 2016) making them
marginalized twofold (Crawley, 2006; Green, 2022). Furthermore, the realities of Black women
are not fully represented in Black men or White women, as Black women are too often forced to
shield themselves against racist, classist, and sexist oppression simultaneously (Evans-Winters,
2015). Furthermore, due to their race and gender identity and access to limited resources in a

35
racist, sexist, classist, society—Black women confront a triple jeopardy, which is a special kind
of oppression (Guy-Sheftall, 1995).
Indeed, Black women educators (past and present) are more than teachers; they are role
models, mentors, counselors, advocates, (Farinde-Wu, 2018) and othermothers (Dixson &
Dingus, 2008) to countless underserved youth. They have cared for Black children in ways that
schools do not. Still, they often find themselves confronting or encountering stereotypes and
racism, existing under a microscope, grappling whether to code switch or not to code switch, and
feeling a lack of support in the working environment (Green, 2022).
Research suggests Black women teachers are confronted with racialized and gendered
experiences that threaten their commitments to minoritized youth (Farinde-Wu et al., 2017).
Their experiences include: identity oppression from white colleagues (e.g., racial
microaggressions), organizational role entrapment (e.g., positioned as the disciplinarian),
increased stress as a result of their sacrifices to support minoritized youth, working in racially
hostile climates, and social isolation associated with the lack of other Black teachers in the
school (Fitchett et al., 2017; Griffin & Tackie, 2017; Kelly, 2007; Kohli, 2018; Mabokela &
Madsen, 2003).
Black women teachers are often caught at a complex intersection–one that forces them to
balance their own wellbeing, and the needs of minoritized youth, amidst difficult organizational
conditions. In order for these teachers to successfully navigate from novice to veteran educators,
assumptions about their teaching potential, professional capacity, expertise, and ability to lead
and govern has to be challenged and dismantled (Farinde-Wu et al., 2020).
Howard and Reynolds (2013) emphasize that Black men are racialized beings in a
predominately White supremacist society, as such issues tied to race and racism work to their

36
detriment and bring a multitude of challenges with them. Their decision to engage the noble task
of teaching does not shield them from the cacophony of discrimination and gendered racism that
stems not only because they are Black and male in America, but also because their career of
choice is dominated by white middle-class women (Ferguson, 2001; Hicks Tafari, 2018; Howard
and Reynolds, 2013; Kunjufu, 1985; Lewis and Toldson, 2013; Newman, 1999). Moreover,
Black men are subjected to gendered racism and because they have chosen a profession that has
been historically feminized (Newman, 1999) are consequently subjected to a lower social status
(Bradshaw, 1995; Hicks Tafari, 2018; Lynn, 2002).
Black male educators report racial and gender isolation coupled with strained
relationships with the adults in the building (Bristol, 2018). Moreover, they experience not only
little professional support around their practice, but also a sparsity of same-race advocates. Thus,
it is challenging for them to confide in veteran teachers from different backgrounds (Walker,
2020). This is not to suggest Black male teachers cannot benefit from mentorship from non-
Black teachers; however, their life experiences are usually influenced by strained interactions
with white educators—a lived reality of many Black teaching professionals (Bryan, 2017;
Goings et al., 2015).
Compounding the previously mentioned challenges, and against a back-drop of systemic
inequities that have contributed to current trends of Black educational underachievement, Black
male educators are imagined as and pressured to be a patriarchal panacea to the plight of Black
children in America’s urban schools and communities (Brockenbrough, 2018). Pabon (2016)
puts the Black male teacher-as-savior problem this way: “I maintain that embedded within this
discourse is a racialized and gendered dominant narrative about Black men.” This narrative,
which reproduces the perceived characteristics about Black men (verbal directness, expressive,

37
assertive, etc.), conflicts with a predominantly White work environment and sustains
discrimination against them (Cornelius, 2013). At the same time, this recurrent discourses on
Black male teachers as role models and father figures leave little room for these men to express
uncertainty, vulnerability, or defeat (Brockenbrough, 2018).
hooks (2004) posits that “negative stereo-types about the nature of Black masculinity
continue to over determine the identities Black men are allowed to fashion for themselves” (p.
8). For Black men to overcome these notions and debunk deficit thinking around the construction
and performance of their identities, it becomes crucial for them to find spaces for themselves in
the diverse settings in which they operate (Sewell, 2021).
Traversing issues like the absence of Black mentors, encountering stereotypes, and the
belief that they must save every Black student can create unnecessary burdens for Black male
educators who want to make a difference in the lives of students and add to the myriad of
stressors they must address to remain engaged and effective.
Black queer educators—those with same-sex desires and identities, as well as transgender
and other nonconforming gender identities and expressions—are situated at the intersection of
two distinct professional legacies–the affordances of black teachers’ culturally mediated
pedagogical traditions and the dilemmas of queer teachers’ vulnerability under homophobic
surveillance (Brockenbrough, 2012, 2015).
Effective Black teachers enjoy a cultural solidarity with Black students, link classroom
content to Black students’ life experiences, infuse Black cultural patterns of collectivity into
classroom culture, and incorporate Black communicative styles into learning activities (Foster,
1994). Yet, marked in the Western cultural imagination as perverts and sexual predators who
pose a threat to childhood innocence, Black queer teachers have been the targets of recurring

38
efforts in the United States to purge the teaching profession of queer interlopers (Graves, 2009;
2015; Griffin & Ouellett, 2003). As with other derogated forms of social and cultural difference
in Western societies, schools have played a notable role in reproducing the marginality of black
queerness (Brockenbrough, 2012).
Against this backdrop, the literature on queer teaching professionals has chronicled queer
teachers sense of isolation and vulnerability, their experiences with harassment and violence, and
their fear of being accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward children (Endo et al., 2010;
Evans, 2002; Griffin, 1992; Jennings, 1994; Khayatt, 1992; Kissen, 1996; Sanlo, 1999). Some
scholarship also has described the variety of strategies employed by queer teachers to manage
others awareness of their sexual identities within while Black queer teachers are situated at the
crossroads of two distinct and weighty professional legacies, their negotiations of these legacies
generally have been overlooked by the extant scholarly literatures (Brokenbrough, 2012).
The differences in racialized experiences of Black teaching professionals are not only
richly complex because of identity, but also manifest differently in school settings (e.g. urban
and rural). While I have described experiences of teachers in urban school settings, in rural areas,
schools are bereft of critical resources for Black teachers who are forced to contend with the
sparsity of Black mentors and advocates, which limits candidates’ access to individuals who can
relate to their experiences. Black teachers also face encountering stereotypes, and the belief that
they are educational saviors who must devote their practice to saving every Black student
(Aragon, 2016; Ratcliffe et al., 2016). Also in rural communities there exist other external issues
including housing segregation, limited economic opportunities, and state funding that they
cannot control (Brockenbrough, 2012) but impacts the effectiveness of Black teachers.

39
Traversing each issue can create unnecessary burdens for educators who want to make a
difference in the lives of students.
Black teachers, regardless of identity and location, are also expected to be liaisons for
schools and advocates for families (McCready & Mosely 2014). King (2016) notes that Black
teachers, have: (1) an expectation to serve as disciplinarians, rather than academic instructors, for
Black boys, (2) uncompensated time spent in informal leadership roles as the unofficial liaison
with families of Color, (3) being skipped over for more formal (and often paid) leadership
opportunities and (4) being expected to teach remedial—instead of advanced—courses.
It is clear that one does not escape the societal disadvantages and hurdles to overcome
that come built in with being Black in America because they dedicated their lives (or at least a
season of it) to educating our youth (Farinde et al., 2016). In fact, Black teachers often find
themselves not only witnessing racialized moments in a setting where race is purported to—is
supposed to—not matter, but also acting on behalf of Black students in ways that undermine
colleagues’ authority (and in some ways their own) to address immediate needs without
necessarily confronting the heart of the injustice (Lewis, 2003). Stovall (2018) notes that this
phenomenon often occurs in spaces primarily populated by low-income/working class people of
color. So, while Black educators are acting on behalf of their students, they do so while
contending with the idea that this population has historically been declared disposable by the
state.
Teaching is a profession that requires sacrifices and a commitment to supporting
underserved and marginalized communities. Regrettably, Black educators do not traditionally
receive the adulation comparable to athletes, social media personalities, or musicians (Walker,
2020). Still, these educators find ways to figure out how to understand, navigate, and even

40
transform educational spaces (Lynn, 2002) that were designed to maintain the social and
economic order, both of which position Black people on the bottom (Mosley, 2018).
Impact of Workplace Stress on Professionals
One who is not a teaching professional might consider the examples of teacher-related
stressors I have covered and find that their experiences have been either the same or very similar
to those of educators. That is because, for the most part, these stressors are not at all exclusive to
those in the teaching profession. Workplace stress—a particular individual’s awareness or
feeling of personal dysfunction as a result of perceived conditions or happenings in the work
setting (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Parker & DeCotiis, 1983; Shiram et al., 2004; Wong et al.,
2020)—is felt in very real ways throughout a broad range of professions.
While workplace stress is often associated with particular jobs and certain categories of
employees such as teachers, civil servants, elderly employees, specific categories of healthcare
workers, employees in social security institutions, migrant workers, and law enforcement
workers (Constantin, 2016; Daly et al., 2018; Marcatto, 2016; Nilsen, 2014; Tsu-Yin, 2012; Val
& Sue, 2016). Peterson and Wilson (2004) point out that nowadays there is almost no job that is
stress-free or a person who has not experienced some kind of work-related stress (Ilíc Petkovic
and Vesna Nikolic, 2019). Moreover, de Tocqueville (2000) gives consideration to the values of
American working culture and describes it as a nation in constant state of agitation, that is, it is a
“nation under stress.” So, although not a modern phenomenon, workplace stress has become the
subject of interest among the researchers and authors dealing with occupational safety and health
in recent years.
Workplace stress is not typically appraised as something favorable, positive, or
welcomed. However, occupational stress can have positive effects; energizing and challenging

41
human growth and function (Lahey, 2003). On the other hand, one’s inability to effectively deal
with stress can have serious mental and physical implications and death. This idea is more deeply
explored by stress researchers, who found that stressors that people tend to assess as rewarding
work experiences that create opportunity for personal growth (i.e., challenge stressors) should be
distinguished from stressors that people tend to assess as obstacles to personal growth or
demands that interfere with or hinder one’s ability to achieve valued goals (i.e., hindrance
stressors). Consequently, these two types of stressors are differentially associated with employee
job attitudes, behaviors, and performance. (Boswell et al., 2004; Cavanaugh et al., 2000; Olson-
Buchanan, & LePine, 2004; Podsakoff et al., 2009).
Hindrance stress tends to be perceived as unmanageable factors that unnecessarily thwart
personal goals (Lepine et al., 2005) of professionals in the workplace. The results from numerous
studies indicate that workplace stress leads to health problems in employees (digestive disorders,
cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, etc.) and affects their productivity and workplace
injuries, that is, work-place safety (Lin et al., 2014; Van der Doef and Maes, 1999, as cited in Ilíc
Petkovic & Vesna Nikolic, 2019). As well, several writers have identified symptoms of work-
related stress consistently mentioned are insomnia, loss of mental concentration, anxiety,
absenteeism, depression, substance abuse, extreme anger and frustration, rigidity of views, and
difficulty in thinking rationally. Others are out of place aggression, withdrawal from
relationships and physical ailments such as heart diseases, migraine, stomach problem, and back
pains (Santrock; 2001, Auerbach & Gramling, 2006; Sharma, 2007). Researchers also observed a
consensus among medical professionals that there is a strong link between experience of stress
and premature death. (Agbonluae et al., 2017).

42
Workplace stress can lead to physical and psychological health problems, lowered
productivity, absenteeism, and poor organizational commitment (Agarwal et al., 2019). There
also exists a link between workplace stress and temporal substance and illicit drug use among
professionals, as exposure to workplace stress can induce substance use as a means of mitigating
experienced tension and strain, which is referred to as stress-induced substance use (Frone, 1999;
Frone, 2008; Sayette, 1999).
Another byproduct of workplace stress is burnout, a theoretically and conceptually
distinct construct, whereby individuals experience emotional, physical, and attitudinal exhaustion
(Maslach & Goldberg, 1998; Pines, 1993). According to Freudenberger, who coined the term,
burnout is "a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life, or
relationship that failed to produce the expected reward” (Freudenberger, 1974; Freudenberger &
Richelson, 1980).
Studies on the topic of workplace stress is plentiful and research continues to find that
occupational stress is a key predictor of such negative outcomes as emotional exhaustion, job-
related depression and anxiety, as well as job dissatisfaction (Barsky et al., 2004; Dartey-Baah et
al., 2020; Evangelia & Demerouti, 2001; Hight & Park, 2019; Yousaf et al., 2019). The sheer
number of business press articles attesting to the negative effects of stress on employees and the
organizations that employ them (Stroud, 2008) is a testament to the magnitude of this
phenomenon, its longevity, and the need to develop mechanisms to reduce its impact on
employees.
How Professionals Manage Stress
Irrespective of the occupation involved or the category of worker, professionals may
encounter experiences and work within conditions that potentially evoke a range of negative

43
emotional or physical responses (Agbonluae et al. 2017; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Schaufeli
& Bakker, 2004). On the other hand, when professionals possess the ability to effectively change
cognitive and behavioral efforts in order to manage specific external and internal demands,
feelings of pressure and stress in the workplace can be decreased (Kelty & Gordon, 2015). The
aim of the section is to provide a concise overview of strategies shown to be effective in
ameliorating the mental, emotional, and health effects of exposure to workplace stress. These
strategies include coping, mindfulness, and peer support.
A professional’s ability to prevent psychological distress is closely related to his, her, or
their personal resources, and specifically to the effective use of coping strategies (Khramtsova et
al., 2007; Salami, 2008). A coping response may be said to buffer stress when, among
individuals exposed to the stressor, those who engage in that response (or who engage in it to a
greater degree) are less likely to experience a negative outcome than those who do not (or who
engage in it to a lesser degree) (Brondolo et al., 2008). These responses can either be adaptive
(reduce stress) or maladaptive (stress reduces in the short term, but increases in the long term).
Additionally, they are important in determining how individuals respond to stressful events.
The most widely accepted definition of coping strategy is that of Lazarus and Folkman
(1986), who define it as an adaptive response to a specific stressor. Building on this definition of
coping, Parker and Endler (1992) describe coping as the process through which a person seeks to
deal with stress, using a wide range of psychological strategies and mechanisms (both cognitive
and behavioral) in order to reduce, minimize, control or tolerate it.
A professional's ability to cope with workplace stress in adaptive ways can lead to
reduced stress and positive emotional and physical outcomes as well as enhanced job satisfaction
(Kelty & Gordon, 2015). Therefore, one’s awareness of their coping style and how they use

44
coping strategies to react to major life events or critical incidents is helpful in their stress
management efforts. Some common adaptive coping strategies employed by professionals to
alleviate workplace stress and to “bounce back” after adverse events include: exercise, social
resources, reading, hobbies, movement, prayer, meditation, religious activities, discussion of
feelings, getting emotional support, empathy from family members, religious leaders and
colleagues (Agbonluae et al., 2017).
Some coping strategies may not be advantageous (maladaptive), regardless of how well
an individual is able to use that specific strategy (e.g. blaming themselves, self-medicating
through alcohol use, and isolating oneself from support networks or avoidance). Professionals
who employ maladaptive coping strategies would not be expected to have a more favorable
outcome compared to if they had just used only one strategy such as seeking support, given that
self-blame and alcohol use are unlikely to help (Lazarus & Folkman, 1987; Kato, 2012; Kelty &
Gordon, 2015).
Coping is an evolving process that changes in response to context, in an effort to manage
different internal and external demands and the availability of numerous coping strategies may
be an important precursor to coping flexibility, given that flexibility can only be obtained if an
individual is able to access and use different coping strategies (Heffer & Willoughby, 2017).
However, individuals who are more adept at coping use various strategies including changing the
way they think about the source of stress (appraisal-focused), dealing with the cause of the stress
(problem-focused), releasing emotions (emotion-focused) (Kelty & Gordon, 2015). Thus,
adaptive coping may require an ability to use coping strategies that are at least relatively positive
in nature.

45
It is not uncommon for professionals to live lifestyles centered around constantly meeting
stress-inducing job demands. Feeling tense, restless, rushed, exhausted or overwhelmed as a
result of daily life expectations has become the accepted normal, with professionals living their
lives without actively addressing these issues (Harini & Savithri Nilkantham, 2022). Because of
the reality of workplace stress and its far-reaching implications, it is important for professionals
to consider how they will actively engage practices that lead to the improvement of their
wellbeing and health (Stansfeld & Candy, 2006; de Bruinet et al., 2017).
The impact of workplace stress depends largely on the employee’s sense of control or
decision-making latitude available for dealing with the pressures (Harini & Savithri Nilkantham,
2022). Given the numerous research studies that show the positive and beneficial effects of
mindfulness practices include stress reduction and improved wellbeing and health (Marthiensen
et al., 2019; Stahl & Goldstein, 2010; Suyi et al., 2017), it is not at all surprising that many
organizations have moved towards including mindfulness components in their employee
wellness programs.
Mindfulness, a tradition of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy; the spiritual and healing
practices of mindfulness meditation began more than 5000 years ago (Chiesa, 2010) has been
finding favor and extensively studied in the West over the past few decades (Baer & Sauer,
2009; Chiesa & Malinowski, 2010; Dane, 2011). The first leading (or popular) meaning of
mindfulness was defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, an important scholar in the Western tradition.
According to Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness can be defined as “paying attention in a particular way:
on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” and as “insight.”
Kabat-Zinn (1994) states that while mindfulness techniques are not
difficult and preparation to use them is not required; there are, he asserts, a lot of ways to

46
practice meditation and mindfulness, such as meditation, walking, sitting, breathing, body scan,
and yoga. This belief is borne out by research that shows beneficial results from mindfulness in
many areas, including yoga, (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1997; Chong et al., 2011; Finnan, 2015) mindful
walking (Teut et al., 2013; Thich, 2008), and meditation (Behan, 2020; Gorvine et al., 2019). In
addition, practicing mindfulness does not need a medical prescription, allowing people to
practice anytime and anywhere; far from being a formal religion, professionals can use
meditation as a secular activity.
Mindfulness-based programs can be implemented in education as valuable tools to reduce
stress and anxiety for students, teachers, and administrators. Mindfulness-based approaches
provide meaningful improvement of individuals with psychological issues and mental health
problems in both clinical and non-clinical aspects (Kabat-Zinn, 1992). Moreover, mindfulness
and its practices are associated with indicators of social and emotional intelligence when
engaged in interactions with other people (Goleman et al., 2002). These practices, which include
meditation, yoga, and mindful awareness for stress reduction, are easy to begin, and can be done
daily by virtually anyone, anywhere (Grossman et al., 2004; Kostanski & Hassed, 2007).
Feeling supported by immediate colleagues and supervisors is helpful in reducing
workplace stress (Agarwal et al., 2019). Additionally, healthy working relationships and
supervisor support have been previously shown to be positively correlated with job performance
(Alessandri et al., 2017) and job satisfaction (Agarwal et al., 2019; Alessandri et al., 2017).
Many organizations are becoming increasingly interested in peer support programs, as research
shows that peer support at work may support psychological resilience by enhancing coping skills
and providing social support (Agarwal et al., 2019).

47
Peer support programs can prevent organizational mental ill health–related behaviors
such as disengagement, absenteeism, and intentions to leave the organization (Shatté et al., 2017;
Whybrow et al., 2015). Studies suggest that peer supporters can have a positive effect on the
individuals they provide support to, and the organizations where they work (Meehan et al., 2002;
Salzer et al., 2013). (Agarwal et al., 2019)
An example of peer support is found in the Black Teacher Project (BTP), an organization
that supports, develops, and sustains Black teachers through designing spaces of support,
learning and healthy career development that are culturally responsive to a specific racialized
group who experiences the stresses and other consequences of institutional racism in particular
ways (Mosley, 2018).
The BTP, piloted with Black teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City,
demonstrates how racial affinity spaces can help sustain teachers in their practice of transforming
educational spaces. For these teachers, gathering in racial affinity allowed them to feel connected
to a professional learning community where they could “be (them)selves and not have to talk a
certain way or hide emotions” (Mosely, 2018).
Mukherjee (2005) and Aggarwal (2007) observed that the most effective way to cope
with workplace stress is to deal with the source of stress or control the reaction to it. Although
not exhaustive, the examples of workplace stress management strategies examples I have
provided position professionals can employ in both individual and collective contexts towards
managing stress and sustaining their wellbeing.
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS
In the previous two chapters, I explained what has happened to Black educators from
emancipation until now, the reasons why Black educators persist in their profession, as well as

48
the far-reaching implication of occupational stressors—racialized and otherwise—have on their
ability to perform their job duties. In this chapter, I discuss the research design of my
dissertation—providing an explanation of the methodological details used in this study. I provide
my rationale for using qualitative research methods as well as my methodological approach. I
then describe the methods I used to select participants and the samples for data collection. Then,
I detail my data collection procedures and data analysis procedures. I conclude this chapter with
strategies I employed to ensure the trustworthiness of my findings and the role of the researcher.
Rationale for the Use of Qualitative Methods
Qualitative inquiry is based on the belief that knowledge is constructed by people in an
ongoing fashion as they engage in and make meaning of an activity, experience, or phenomenon
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Its strength derives significantly from how it frames the world in
terms of people, situations, events, and the processes that connect these (Maxwell, 13). Van
Maanen (1979) describes it as “an umbrella term covering an array of interpretive techniques
which seek to describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the
frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world” (p. 520).
In more practical terms, and in the context of this study, qualitative inquiry is the
mechanism through which I investigate and understand how Black educators construct reality in
interaction with educational spaces and how they make meaning of their experiences (Agee,
2009; Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). For example, I did not seek to find out the percentage and
characteristics of those who have been exposed to occupational stressors in educational spaces,
which I could have done through a survey. Instead, I used qualitative inquiry to explore how
Black educators think about stress-inducing occurrences (racialized and otherwise) in the
workplace and the processes they engage in when attending to their psychological well-being.

49
At the heart of qualitative inquiry are methods for representing what Geertz (1973) called
the ‘microscopic’ details of the social and cultural aspects of individuals’ lives. This idea of
magnifying the microscopic details of Black educators’ shared workplace experiences—those
aspects which are invisible to the naked eye or have just simply been avoided—is the central
purpose of this study.
Methodological Approach: A Phenomenological Approach
A key concern of qualitative research is understanding the phenomenon of interest from
the participants’ perspectives (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Philosopher Edmund Husserl presented
phenomenology early in the twentieth century as a major orientation to social science. His most
basic philosophical assumption was that we can only know what we experience by attending to
perceptions and meanings that awaken our conscious awareness” (p. 116) (Merriam & Tisdell,
2015). Patton (2015) explains that through phenomenology, researchers study how people
describe things and experience them through their senses.
Crotty (1998) offers that one way to characterize the theoretical standpoint of
phenomenology is as concerned with “what-experiences-are-like.” He goes on to explain that
once this characterization of this standpoint is adopted in a qualitative context then the
methodological approach which follows is one where the researcher relies heavily on simple
descriptions of an individual’s experience, as such descriptions purportedly convey what the
experience is like (Williams, 2021). These often intense human experiences—love, anger,
betrayal, joy, frustration, and so on—are front and center of phenomenological studies. As such,
my task is to depict the essence of these educators’ experiences, placing my prior beliefs aside,
albeit temporarily, so as not to interfere with seeing or intuiting the elements or structure of their
experiences (Merriam & Tisdell, 2017).

50
Taking a phenomenological approach to studying the experiences of contemporary Black
teachers positions me to examine the conscious experiences of their life-world; that is, their
“everyday life” in educational spaces (Schram, 2003; Van Manen, 2014) and make evident what,
to many, is hiding in plain sight. In this phenomenological study, I used visual media (videos)
uploaded and shared by Black educators via TikTok, a social media platform used to create
content, edit posts, and auto-publish videos across multiple social media platforms.
Visual Media
Visual media and their messages have not only come to dominate mass communications
in contemporary society but have also helped to magnify and elaborate an understanding of the
social enactment of activities, interactions and relationships through a detailed and multifaceted
perspective (Croghan et al., 2008). In this dissertation, I used visual media (videos) posted on
the TikTok social media platform to glimpse into the lives of Black educators, seeing them as
they have chosen to reveal themselves, their experiences, their workplace stressors, and the
reactions to those experiences.
Visual sociologist, Douglas Harper, (2012) highlights that visual sociology leads to new
understandings and insights because it connects to different realities than do conventional
empirical research methods” (p. 4). In his earlier work, Harper (1988) discusses the potential
uses of photography in sociological research. Using “photographs” to describe still photography,
film, and video, Harper emphasizes four points about the use of photographs in research:
a) Phenomenally minded sociologists and artists have used photographs to explore the
nature of their own perception and knowledge; b) Visual sociologists know from their
own experience that it is no less difficult to take theoretically meaningful photographs
than it is to make useful observations or to identify relevant variables; c) The camera is
merely a means through which an informed vision can be made concrete; and d) It is
through the unabashedly subjective potential of photographs that the communication is
made (pgs. 60, 66).

51
While photographs and videos may not form a wholly objective representation of reality,
how these messages—generated by Black educators themselves—are produced, what they
encode, and how they are consumed opens up a vein of data that powerfully activates the
phenomenological approach to this study (Grady, 2001). The following research questions will
guide my inquiry:
1. What are Black educators communicating via social media about the complexities of their
shared workplace experiences?
2. What variations exist in the stories Black educators share via social media?
3. What do Black educators communicate in social media posts about the impact of
workplace stressors on their wellbeing?
4. In their social media posts, how do Black educators say or demonstrate their coping with
workplace stressors?
Sampling and Participants
I collected visual multimedia (videos) data from the TikTok social media platform. I
selected the 30 top video posts (a total of 150) from five hashtags: a) #blackteachersoftiktok
(Black teachers of tiktok); b) #blackteachersontiktok (Black teachers on tiktok); c)
#blackteachertiktok (Black teacher tiktok); d) #blackmaleteachers (Black male teachers); and e)
#blackschoolcounselors (Black school counselors).
The top videos in these hashtags, which represent videos made by Black educators that
have been viewed over 250,000,000 times, were determined by TikTok. According to the TikTok
Newsroom (2020), TikTok suggests content after taking into account user preferences as
expressed through interactions with the app (e.g. hashtags; videos liked or shared; device type).
TikTok explains:

52
While a video is likely to receive more views if posted by an account that has more
followers, by virtue of that account having built up a larger follower base, neither follower
count nor whether the account has had previous high-performing videos are direct factor
in the recommendation system (2020).

These videos were available to the public for viewing and none required permission from
the TikTok users to view or access. Additionally, I did not follow or befriend any of the TikTok
users included in this study nor did I like or comment on the videos included in this study.
While viewing videos in the #blackteachersoftiktok, #blackteachersontiktok, and
#blackteacherstiktok hashtags, I noticed the underrepresentation of content posted by Black male
educators. Considering Black men comprise such a small number of the educators, this was not
surprising. Even so, my desire to hold space for their stories led me to add the
#blackmaleteachers hashtag to the sample of TikTok videos I used for this study.
These videos fulfilled certain criteria: a) involving the educators as active participants in
an event or activity in the educational space; b) involving educators preparing for an event or
activity that will take place in the educational space; c) involving children and/or adults and
educators in conversation with each other; d) involving educators reflecting on an experience
they had with colleagues, students, parents, or other educational partners; e) involving educators
reenacting interactions they have had with colleagues, students, parents, or other educational
partners; d) involving educators acting out scenarios that are common for professionals within
educational spaces.
Data Collection Procedures
Using the “Search” option on the TikTok platform, I typed in each of the five hashtags I
listed in the previous section. I selected the 30 top videos for each hashtag, copied the video link
for each video, and entered it and the video caption onto a spreadsheet. I then played each video
and, using ATLAS.ti software, transcribed the audio aspects of the videos as they play. While

53
each video played, I took notes on the visual aspects of the video. I uploaded those notes to
ATLAS.ti for analysis.
Data Analysis
Data analysis happened formally in four phases. In Phase 1, after watching and
transcribing the videos, I read through each transcription to gain a sense of what each narrative
was saying. In Phase 2, I used the transcriptions stored in ATLAS.ti to analyze the distinct
concepts and themes for categorization. In Phase 3, I conducted a close read of the notes I took
on the visual aspects of the videos and uploaded the notes into ATLAS.ti to organize similar
words and phrases, concept-indicators, in broad initial thematic domains. Finally, in Phase 4, I
identified the major codes that emerge as aggregates of the overlapping codes for which
supporting evidence is strong to codify and present the study results.
Trustworthiness
Because human beings are the primary instrument of data collection and analysis in
qualitative research, interpretations of reality are assessed directly through their observations
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Consequently, it is necessary to employ strategies to ensure
trustworthiness of the study. To this end, I engaged in adequate engagement of the data,
considering how many videos to study and for how long. As well, I studied the data until my
findings were saturated with hearing/seeing the same thing. I coupled this with purposefully
looking for variation in the understanding of the phenomenon, including looking for data that
supported alternative explanations.
Further, I ensured trustworthiness by assembling a peer debriefing team (Creswell &
Miller, 2000), consisting of seven Black classroom teachers, school counselors, and school
administrators. This team of educators scanned some of the raw data and assessed whether the

54
findings are plausible, based on data. I organized virtual meetings via Zoom to discuss what they
believed the data was telling them. Lastly, I clearly explained my biases and assumptions
regarding the research to be undertaken.
Limitations
Even as I committed to employing the above strategies to ensure trustworthiness, with all
research, limitations do exist. In the case of this study, I relied on digital media only to illustrate
arguments, which could be problematic, as the play of intuition and the passion of educators, as
well as a desire to increase viewership, may sometimes lead to a loss or weakening of the
essential message. Furthermore, by relying on videos alone, I did not have the opportunity to
interview the educators to probe deeper into their ideologies, beliefs, epistemologies, and
practices. These interviews would have likely provided deeper insights into the phenomenon
under study.
Role of Researcher
The researcher is the main instrument in qualitative research, and coding is primarily an
interpretive, heuristic, and exploratory process that requires a problem-solving process and a
synthesis of the data (Williams & Moser, 2019). Therefore, in my role as researcher, my
responsibility was to listen to the voices and perspectives of those understudying (in this case, for
Black educators to talk through and be seen by my observation) to provide compelling, fair
evidence (Milner, 2007).
Furthermore, I engaged in processes that could circumvent misinterpretations,
misinformation, and misrepresentations of individuals, communities, institutions, and systems I
studied (Milner, 2007). In my collections and analysis of the data, I remained present and aware
of the dynamic nature of the data, its thematic connectivity, intersectionality, and emergence

55
toward theory creation (Williams & Moser, 2019). I also remained “close to the data,” (Charmaz,
2014), as I immersed myself in it to not only to explore its nuances and surrender biases so that
the rhythm or cadence of analysis could occur, but also to help me be methodical and, perhaps,
pedantically focused on identifying textual subtleties that fueled the construct of meaning.
Researcher’s Positionality

I opened this dissertation with the story of my grandfathers; both named Robert; both fled
Jim Crow South; both married extraordinarily brilliant Black women (Arlesta and Victoria,
respectively); both experienced racism and discrimination in the places they migrated; both used
every bit of ingenuity, skill, and cunning their minds and bodies could conjure to create and
sustain existences that would matter. They both had children; two of whom (Robert and Sandra)
would meet and marry at the historic Apostolic Faith Home Assembly Church, and five years
later, give birth to their first son, me.
I bring my grandfathers back into this study, as I attribute my longstanding interest with
the strivings of Black people in the United States largely to their histories. Of particular interest
to me is how Black educators remain effective and determined in educational spaces rife not only
with the occupational stressors experienced by the broad range of professionals, but also racism,
discrimination, and other forms of anti-blackness. I also make very brief mention of a point in
my parents’ origin story to lay the groundwork for my dissertation title, which I hold space for at
the conclusion of this section.
For over 20 years, I have worked in traditional and charter public school spaces where
Black educators have banded together in underground-like fashion. Our planning, strategizing,
venting, uplifting, comforting, loving, and healing, have occurred in private spaces, away from
the gaze of those whom we perceive responsible for sustaining the conditions that produce the

56
psychological, physical, and symbolic violence that Black people know all too well (Givens,
2022).
My transition into leadership over a decade ago did not alienate me from my peers.
Instead, they have continued to welcome me into these spaces as an ally. Yet, I remain mindful
that my interactions with them—the way I observe, monitor, critique, coach, learn from, and,
when necessary, correct them—are now informed by my years as an administrator. To
demonstrate my continued solidarity, I use my position to effectuate change, auditing policies
and practices, and connecting educators (Black and non-Black alike) to ongoing professional
learning on topics that center matters impacting Black students and educators,
Additionally, I take full advantage of opportunities to facilitate learning on these topics at
professional development meetings, conferences, and so on. In these moments, I explain my
positionality to the audience using three “I Am From” (Klein, 2019) statements; one of which is,
“I am from Pentecostal churchin’... saved, sanctified, talk back to the preacher, turn to your
neighbor, run, shout, sing at the top of your lungs, know the Word for yourself, revivals, choir
rehearsal, fasting, praying, and staying at the altar until you get it.” I situate the preach-like
cadence of my speech in my history rooted in the Pentecostal Black church, where communities
have historically gathered and co-envisioned new possibilities in the light of challenging realities
(Emdin, 2016; Williams, 1974). Rather than concealing this dimension of myself, I lean into
what Emdin (2017) calls Pentecostal Pedagogy—teaching and learning strategies born out of the
Pentecostal Black church and effective in activating innervisions and being culturally relevant or
teaching in the key of life.
On any given Sunday in a Pentecostal church, such as the one in which I was brought up,
one might hear declarations like “It’s already alright!,” “He’ll make it alright!,” or “I know He’s

57
alright!” These are not just mere phrases; they are prophetic utterances. In this context, Alright
conveys a sense of wholeness or completeness. Alright expresses that what was lost will be
restored, what was broken will be made whole, and whatever compromises one’s well-being will
cease. So, the decision to title this dissertation “We Gon’ Be Alright…,” a phrase popularized in
the mainstream by Hip Hop artist, Kendrick Lamar, stems from my unwavering belief that just as
Black educators have always been, we will be alright.

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS

In this chapter, I present key findings that emerged from my analysis of the 150 TikTok
videos I viewed to understand and describe the workplace experiences and stressors
contemporary Black educators share via social media. I draw from a combination of video
captions, text displayed in the videos, and video transcriptions to amplify what these educators
are showing us about their “everyday life” in educational spaces (Schram, 2003; Van Manen,
2014). In this way, the voices and stories of Black educators remain their own.

58
The findings in this chapter are based on research questions stated in Chapter Three,
whereby each section includes key themes and findings pertinent to each query. Specifically, the
following research questions guided this study: (1) What are Black educators communicating via
social media about the complexities of their shared workplace experiences? (2) What variations
exist in the stories Black educators share via social media? (3) What do Black educators
communicate in social media posts about the impact of workplace stressors on their wellbeing?
(4) In their social media posts, how do Black educators say or demonstrate their coping with
workplace stressors? The thematic categories: (1) This Is How “We” Do It; (2) You Got Me (3);
Stressed Out; and, (4) Alright—song titles by Montel Jordan, The Roots featuring Erykah Badu,
Tribe Called Quest featuring Faith Evans, and PJ Morton, respectively—are described and
discussed below. Each subcategory is introduced with phrases offered by the educators either in
their videos or in the captions of their videos. The presentation and discussion of the categories
are followed by a summary at the end of the chapter.
In the first section, This is How “We” Do It, I highlight the gendered differences in the
stories Black educators amplify via social media, the nuanced and culturally-informed ways
Black educators communicate with their students, and how Black educators draw from their
Black cultural experiences to bring the learning environment through Gospel, R&B, and Hip
Hop music.
In the second section, You Got Me, I present the various complexities about the shared
workplace experiences of Black educators centered around their relationships with students.
Within the context of this study, I do not focus on complexities as they relate to complications;
rather, I discuss the intricacies that exist within the stories Black educators choose to share via
social media.

59
The key findings presented in the third section are representative of the wide range of
workplace occurrences that induce stress in Black educators. Although these educators do not
explicitly state that these occurrences are stress-inducing, these occurrences are consistent with
the occupational stressors I cover in Chapter Two and are therefore included in this section
appropriately titled Stressed Out.
I conclude Chapter 4 with the fourth section, Alright, in which I share key findings that
emerged as they relate to how Black educators cope with occupational stress and attend to their
wellbeing.
This Is How “We” Do It
“Black Male Teachers Taking Over”
Despite being a small minority in the teaching force, Black educators have an undeniably
impactful presence in educational spaces. In their TikTok videos, these teachers show the range
of their experiences, starting with amplifying the reality that being a Black male educator is a
source of tremendous pride and worthy of acknowledgement.
In nearly half the TikTok videos selected for this study featuring Black men, these
educators highlight their presence in the teaching profession. Moreover, in a show of defiance
against the stereotypes perpetuated about Black men, Black male educators arrive on campus
well dressed and well groomed. Wearing tailored suits and sporting tight fades, freshly twisted
locs, and newly trimmed beards, they walk the halls of their schools greeting each other with
head nods and fist bumps, and interacting with colleagues and students. There is an undeniable
air of pride about them as they walk throughout the campus.
In a top #blackmaleteachers TikTok video, educator @qoachjones records himself along
with 14 well-dressed Black male educators that work on the same campus. He captions the

60
video:
I am Black, male, and an educator. Yes, we exist! But the numbers are bleak.
According to the Stanford Graduate School of Education, only 2 percent of
America’s teachers are Black men.20+ BLACK MEN IN ONE PUBLIC
SCHOOL“SETTING THE STANDARD! MODEL SCHOOL FOR THE DISTRICT,
STATE, AND THE NATION!
Other Black male educators share similar stories on TikTok. Although these videos
spotlight one to five Black male educators—not the 15 Black male educators in one space like
@qoachjones’ video—the imagery is just as powerful, and the sentiment remains the same. In
the words of educator @mooreteachers, “We represent and represent well.” In his video, he
welcomes viewers to “Black Male Educator TikTok” and shares information that speaks to the
significance of Black men in the teaching profession (See Figure 2).
Like @qoachjones and @mooreteaches, Black male educators on TikTok use their
platform to present this group as I have described above. With videos captioned “We changing
the teaching game! Y’all go follow bro!” and “Bro and em pulled up for the collab!,” young
educator @aaron.zay and his contemporaries use TikTok to present a different way Black male
educators show up in educational spaces. Wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers, accessorized with
earrings and chains, and showing their tattoos, these young teachers establish their presence on
campus (See Figure 1). Furthermore, the certainty of their knowledge regarding the impact of the
presence is evident in their declaration, “Black male teachers taking over.”
“Somebody Come Get These Chirren”
Unlike their male counterparts, Black women educators with TikTok videos in the
hashtags selected for this study do not devote their videos to emphasizing the fact that they are
Black women in educational spaces. Also, unlike their male counterparts, they do not produce
their videos in ways that highlight and celebrate the presence of other women in their space.

61
Instead, they share stories about their instructional practice that range from effective pedagogical
strategies to humorous interactions with students.
In her video captioned, “I’m tryna be a material gworl too!,” educator @buttabella shows
herself holding space for and interacting with a male student from whom she is receiving a
lesson on how to correctly say “gworl.” This pronunciation of “girl,” used by Black gay men,
was brought into the mainstream by Saucy Santana, an openly gay, gender nonconforming, Hip
Hop artist whose popularity skyrocketed with his song “Material Girl” and a recurring guest star
role on the television show, Love & Hip Hop: Miami. @buttabella makes repeated attempts at
precisely mimicking her student, and he patiently coaches her towards her goal (See Figure 1).
Educator @_jjtayler invites viewers into her classroom to witness what happened when
she attempted to provide her students with instructions for a pre-lunch time reading activity,
@_jjtayler says:
1-2-3; eyes on me… What I want y’all to do. Don’t open your laptops yet; you don’t
need them. Just read your library books until it’s time for lunch. Don’t come bother me.
Uh Uh! Don’t ask me nothing. Don’t touch nothing. Don’t tell me no unnecessary
information. Unless a fire breathing dragon comes up in here and lights every last one of
y’all on fire. Other than that, don’t bother me.
Just when it appears that she has the undivided attention and cooperation of her students,
a student asks, “Is your wig fake? My momma got one of those.” Clearly caught off guard by
the question, the teacher’s mouth drops open (See Figure 1). With students erupting into
laughter, @_jjtayler twirls her hair with her fingers and informs the student that “This real hair
but it’s not my hair.” She goes on to tell him “That’s why the fire breathing dragon gonna come
up in here and light you on fire first.” She appropriately captioned this video, “Somebody come
get these chirren 😭😭😭 I love my babies!!! 🤣❤.”
The above examples are two of the many TikTok videos that depict Black women

62
educators engaged in lighthearted and funny interactions with their students. Although they do
not use their videos to explicitly emphasize the significance of their presence in educational
spaces, they hold space for sharing experiences with their students that demonstrate
connectedness and bring laughter.
Figure 1
TikTok video screenshots: @aaron.zay, @buttabella, and @_jjtayler

“Do You Have Two Extra Pairs of Legs?”
Across all the TikTok hashtags selected for this study, Black educators demonstrate their
versatility and artistic handling of the English language. These teachers do not show an
eagerness to maintain the stiffness of standard English. They neither make an effort to conceal
the language that connects them to their students nor do they make a show of emphasizing their
command of standard English. In other words, code switching is not prioritized in these spaces.
There seems to be a technical artistry on display when these teachers communicate with their

63
students. It does not sound practiced or contrived; rather, it comes across as an expression of
their essence. They speak in other tongues as their Blackness gives utterance and the
interpretation of these tongues is made evident by the responses of their students.
Educator @iamtylerdillard demonstrates his mastery of Black Teacher Vernacular in his
video captioned, “why do I love being an educator? because there’s no day that looks the same.
🙂🧡.” In this video montage, @iamtylerdillard addresses his students’ behavior, saying:
I tried giving you the benefit of the doubt but clearly the doubt has benefited, hasn’t it?;
Either you can pay attention to the example on the board or imma make an example out
of you. You choose which example you want to follow; Sit down before down sit you;
and, Now why was you sitting up there like that? Do you have two extra pairs of legs at
home which you can glue together? Exactly!

In her Memphis classroom, educator @ssajaner provides a masterclass in redirecting her
students. She addresses DeVar, Tavarus, and their peers, saying:
Focus on sayin it right on your work and stop twirlin your hair. Um hmm…gonna twirl
your way right on to an F; It ain’t about what you can see, it’s about what you can do, and
right now you ain’t doing nothing; I’m not talking for my health; this for yours. I know
this stuff already; and, You came into this world alone, you gonna do your work alone.

It is not merely what @iamtylerdillard, @ssajaner, and others educators say, it is the
placement of inflection, cadence of their speech, over emphasized facial expressions, and hand
gestures that transform their words into an experience their students can lean into. Moreover,
these educators do not inquire about whether or not the students understand what they are saying
or if rephrasing is needed (See Figure 2).
To interlopers, these teachers could be perceived as mean, lacking empathy, or overly
demanding. To the culturally connected, however, these teachers are justified. Wrapped in “Do
you have two pair of legs at home…?” is the teacher’s concern for the student’s safety and a
command for the student to sit somewhere safe. Situated in “I’m not talking for my health; this
for yours…” is the teacher’s desire for the student to redirect their focus to what will cause them

64
to be successful in her class. In both cases, what they said was sufficient. This language—the
ability to speak it fluently and be understood fully—is the heritage of Black educators.
“If You Wanna Be Somebody, If You Wanna Go Somewhere”
Another level of complexity illuminated in the TikTok videos of the Black educators in
this study is their understanding of the multidimensional uses of music and their intentional
inclusion of music in spaces where they educate children. In classrooms, hallways, and
cafeterias, these teachers summon melodies, rhythms, and rhymes, and use them to get their
students’ attention and move forward with instruction.
In her video captioned, “We love new callbacks 🤣 its giving I really formed a childrens
choir with these callbacks 💃🫶,” educator @tobiediane’s students lift their voices to finish song
lyrics by Black Gospel, Hip Hop, and R&B musical artists as she calls them back to attention
from tasks in which they are engaged. Where a callback like “If you can hear me, clap once”
could possibly suffice, @tobiediane taps into the funds of knowledge of her students and brings
the music they listen to in their homes, churches, and other gathering places into their classroom
(See Figure 2).
@tobiediane sings and raps lyrics from such artists as Kirk Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Andra
Day, Mary J. Blige, and Rod Wave, and her students respond by finishing the phrase in the song.
At times, they get carried away and sing more than the callback requires; yet the effectiveness of
this classroom management strategy and the honoring of her students’ culture and aptitude for
singing is undeniable.
Like @tobiediane, Black educators in all of the hashtags selected for this study use music
as a mechanism for engaging students. More specifically, teachers record themselves tapping
into their inner emcee to spit freestyle rhymes as a means of providing instruction, celebrating

65
student achievement, affirming students’ presence, and modeling behavior for their students.
With hand clapping, desk banging, foot stomping, and perfecting placed “Hey” and “Yeah,”
students hype up their teachers, transforming their classrooms—for a moment—into a Hip Hop
concert.
Teachers do not hog the mic, so to speak. Instead, they share the stage with their
students, as they call forth their creative spirit. An example of this is given to us by educator
@princecharmin who leads his students in the “Shabooya Roll Call” from The Proud Family:
Louder and Prouder.
Teacher: I’m Mr. C.
Students: Yeah!
Teacher: Don’t play with me.
Students: Yeah!
Teacher: I like to party.
Students: Yeah!
Teacher: Let’s get it started.
Student: My name Addy.
Classmates: Yeah!
Student: And I’m a baddy.
Classmates: Yeah!
Student: I’m super smart.
Classmates: Yeah
Student: And I love art.

@princecharmin serves as hype man for all his students as they brag about what makes
them who they are.
Whether singing, rapping, or dancing, Black educators recognize the asset music is and
use it to facilitate learning, boost self-efficacy, and make the learning environment relatable and
fun. I conclude this section, however, by calling back @tobiediane who, along with her students,
raise this truth: “If you wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, you better wake up
and pay attention.”

66
Figure 2
TikTok video screenshots: @qoachjones, @iamtylerdillard, and @tobiediane

You Got Me
In this section, I highlight the findings that emerged as complexities Black educators
communicated via social media about their shared workplace experiences. Time and again, Black
educators share experiences wherein they observe, are impacted by, and then respond to the
needs of their students that could be considered non-academic. On the surface, these situations
might seem insignificant. However, the magnitude of these occurrences can be more deeply
appreciated upon more careful examination of what is actually taking place. For example,
educator @tlash82 observes a student in crisis and steps in to fix her hair; thus, changing the
trajectory of the student’s day. I write more about this later in this section.
This high stakes cycle of teacher sees; teacher feels; teacher responds; and, teacher makes
things well, is experienced daily and in multiple ways. Contemporary Black educators, like their

67
predecessors, move seamlessly from one role to another, giving what is needed in the moment.
They do this, not because it guarantees increased compensation or workplace advancement, but
because they prioritize the wellbeing of their students.
“The COOL Teacher”
Through the situations shown in their top TikTok videos, Black educators demonstrate a
continued dedication to making their classrooms and offices safe and affirming spaces for their
students. These educators do not maintain the traditionally rigid ideas of what good teaching and
effective classroom management looks like (Ladson-Billings, 2011). Instead, they show how a
high level of sensitivity and responsiveness to the various psychological and physiological needs
of their students informs alternative classroom structures.
Examples of this are seen in @itsmevsharem2’s video captioned, “The COOL teacher.”
She tells her viewers:
My students can have a snack in class! I snack throughout the day, so they can too! I give
them free time/brain breaks frequently! They line up before the bell rings. Just don't
open the door before the bell rings!
Similarly, educator @hannahhhreneee welcomes viewers to:
…the side of teacher tiktok where we don't give homework, bring kids food, let students
sleep if they need to, and all of them feel comfortable telling you any and everything in a
judgment free zone (See Figure 3).
There is nothing present in these videos to suggest that these teachers position themselves
as cool, for the sake of engendering affection or praise from their students. Moreover, being a
cool teacher does not manifest as allowing students to disregard procedures and practices; nor
does it mean that students are held to low academic standards. It does, however, show that
teachers operate with an awareness that developing the intellectual dimension of their students
encompasses more than maintaining the fixed set of “common sense” rules that have become the

68
standard in many classrooms.
It is not just that these teachers have cultivated educational spaces that do not reflect
hegemonic ways of being in school, it is as if they seem to reveling in their rebellion—
celebrating with music and dancing the knowledge that Black students are learning in spaces
curated to cause them to feel seen, heard, valued, and trusted. Interestingly, giving students
autonomy over their bodies—excusing themselves to the restroom; eating when they are hungry;
and, resting when they determine it to be necessary—is such a revolutionary practice that
educators who engage in it, distinguish themselves from their colleagues. Still, these teachers
risk backlash as they empower students and share control of these spaces with them.
“My Kids Tell Me EVERYTHINGGGG”
Black educators share another layer of complexity to their existence in educational
space—being a safe space for children to seek comfort, guidance, and support. In their videos,
Black students share details about their lives that clearly violate the “What goes on in this house,
stays in this house” rule that governs many Black households. In addition to opening up about
family matters, students talk about interactions with educators that have negatively impacted
them, as well students discuss aspects of their interpersonal relationships that cause them both
happiness and discontent.
Visibly affected by what they hear, these educators remain calm, neutral, and affirming of
their students’ willingness to communicate with them in such a vulnerable and intimate manner.
Later in this chapter, I discuss how teachers manage the stress-inducing aspects of this type of
engagement with students. For now, I situate my findings within the context of students seeing
their teachers as a place in which they can safely express the range of their thoughts and feelings.
Educator @lucivspade4, reenacts a conversation with a student wherein the 12th grade

69
student opens up about his poor decisions during his high school career:
@lucivspade4: So where you think it started at?
Student: When I lost my grandma my freshman year. That shit killed me, Dawg.
@lucivspade4: So I'm taking that she was very important to you huh?
Student: That lady was everything to me, Dawg.
@lucivspade4: So if you could see her right now what would you do?
Student: Give her a hug and repeat 3 words over and over and over.
@lucivspade4: Let me guess. The obvious, I love you, right?
Student: Nah. I fucked up. I fucked up. Your baby fucked up.
This exchange is so sincere and vulnerable that the student’s use of profanity and
addressing his teachers as, “Dawg” does not come across as disrespectful or distasteful (See
Figure 3). @lucivspade4 does not pause the conversation to admonish the student for his use of
profanity nor does he correct the student for not calling him by his name. Instead, he leans into
the discussion, and in a gentle tone of voice, asks questions that provide the student space to
share more. In doing so, he makes himself fully accessible to the student. The student responds
to @lucivspade4’s approach by not giving the “obvious” answer; instead he tells his truth—
“Nah. I fucked up. I fucked up. Your baby fucked up.”
Although all the interactions Black educators show can be categorized as heartfelt, and in
many cases, intense, not all of the candid discussions with students are as heavy as the
@lucivspade4 shows us. Additionally, consistent with the findings shared earlier in this chapter,
Black male educators tend to show interactions with students that are serious in nature while
Black women educators more often post videos that illuminate the humorous aspects of their
students honest and unguarded
Take for example @jasminebare14’s video captioned, “When your students see a picture
of you outside of school.” Viewers hear her fifth grade students commenting on her photo
saying:
"My teacher is a model!" "Like do you thang sis!" "Body shaped like a coke bottle!" "Do

70
yo thang miss!" "In the red lipstick! Don't play wit ha!" “Do yo thing!” "Period!" "Uh!
But you can't get no boyfriend!"

Based on both her facial expressions and her decision not to silence her students, one
could gather that @jasminebare14 is neither surprised nor upset by what her students are saying.
Additionally, like the example above, her students’ behavior does not come across as
disrespectful. Rather, in their very sincere and forthright way, they lovingly compliment their
teacher and she allows herself the space to take in their kindness (See Figure 3).
I bring into this section examples of teacher-student interactions that are on opposite ends
of the spectrum to illuminate the range of this phenomena. In other videos, students share stories
about witnessing domestic violence, fighting their peers, and being treated unfairly by adults on
campus. They also surprise their teachers with critical responses to questions and insights about
life that could be considered unusual for children their age.
Educators share these moments via social media fully aware that viewers who hold
opposing viewpoints about how appropriate adult-child interaction should look and sound could
communicate their disapproval in the comments section. In anticipation of this, educator
@missunderstood105 writes as part of her caption, “No slander of my student will be tolerated!
You will be blocked!” In doing so, she sends a clear message that welcomes and protects these
interactions with her students.
Figure 3
TikTok video screenshots: @hannahhhrenee, @lucivspade4, and @jasminebare14

71

“We’re All Going to Love Our Hair”
It is reasonable for one to suggest, and be met with little disagreement, that the education
profession is a helping profession. For the many reasons people enter and remain in the
education profession I highlight in Chapter Two, at the core of their motivation is to help
children along their journey of becoming who they are. There is, however, much complexity and
variation to how educators live out this desire in educational spaces. In their videos, Black
educators show the power of being welcoming and affirming. They show the benefits of being
nonjudgmental and trustworthy. They also provide viewers a glimpse into the part of their
practice that is as impactful as instruction—fixing their students’ hair.
Educator @tlash82’s student arrived at school with a wig designed for a grown woman.
The other students were picking on her, so she “took care of her.” In another video, @tlash82
shows viewers what happens “when you’re the only Black school counselor, and the little girls
come to school with their hair not done, you got to pull out your pack.” In this case, her pack

72
consists of a package of hair, a container of hair grease, and a comb.
Among the videos that emerged with this theme, I found @saibee___’s video captioned,
“In my classroom we’re all going to love our hair!” particularly compelling. In this video,
@saibee___’s student walks into her classroom with new braids (See Figure 4). After
@saibee___ acknowledges her new braids, the student says that she does not like them. Rather
than dismissing the student’s distress, @saibee___ quickly comes up with a solution and gets to
work with styling the student’s braids. At the end of the video, another student walks into the
classroom, approaches the girl @saibee___ just helped and says, “I like your hair.”
Typically, these hair-related stories center Black girls as those in need of intervention.
Black educators, however, use social media to broaden the public’s thinking about whose
wellness is impacted by issues related to hair. They do this by showing that Black boys too
require their attention and action.
@buttabella understands that “boys need love, too” and recounts the time a male student
arrived at school after attempting to cut his own hair. She describes his haircut—bald patches
and everything—saying, “It was terrible. It was bad.” Knowing he was embarrassed about his
haircut and not wanting him to persist throughout his self-conscious about his haircut, she called
a local barber to cut his hair and “get him right.”
Rather than allow students to go throughout their day wearing a hood or other head
covering, or to sit in distress stemming from their self-consciousness about how their hair looks,
these teachers demonstrate their nimbleness. Put another way, these educator flexibly move from
empathy to action in a chain of events that flows this way: 1) the child arrives at school
distressed over a crisis; 2) the educator observes the crisis; 3) the educator draws from their own
hair-related experiences; 4) the educator uses their knowledge and resources to help the child; 5)

73
the child is positioned to have a better school day; 6) the educator experiences a release from the
stress caused by the student’s condition. In this way, we know that both the student’s and
educator’s needs were met.
There are parts of these stories the educators do not show us. For instance, we do not
know if the educator solicited permission from the student’s parents before acting on behalf of
the student to help alleviate their stress. Yet, these educators willfully take a risk not only to help
their students but also to regulate their own stress. Additionally, educators do not always show
the climax of the situation. Instead, they leave it to the viewer to imagine, feel, and react to their
feelings.
“Now They Won’t Stay Out”
I have devoted this section to the complexities of Black educators’ shared workplace
experiences. Specifically, I have focused on the complexities related to the ways Black educators
intentionally hold space for Black students. It is unlikely that these actions are among the duties
and responsibilities listed in their job descriptions or that they received training on how to
effectively navigate these very highly nuanced situations in their preparation programs. Yet,
these educators demonstrate a fluidity in their practice that is unconventional, beyond what is
professionally required of them, and most importantly, needed by their students.
Other examples present in my findings include educator @mr.jgraves who welcomes
students into the classroom with a personalized handshake while @favoriteteacheralert has a
different nickname for each of her students (See Figure 4). She tells her viewers, “They are a
mess, but they are mine!” @miss.sweat.tee starts the day with a jam session and asks, “If you’re
a teacher and you’re not starting your day with a Jam session what are you even doing with your
life?” @msofficialrich1 clears space in the classroom to learn choreography her students teach

74
her. And, @shortybynature includes her students in such decisions as what her next hairstyle
should be. Based on what she wrote on the whiteboard, her students recommended that she wear
it curly with a side part.
I briefly mention the examples in the above paragraph, not to downplay the complexity of
these educators’ workplace experiences, but to acknowledge that Black educators devote their
time not only to lesson planning, providing instruction, grading papers, providing academic
guidance, and other expected tasks, but also to giving meaningful thought as to how they can
dignify and celebrate their students’ presence in educational spaces.
I end this section by highlighting a consequence that teachers experience as a result of
their careful planning around how to cause students to feel seen—students want to be in close
proximity to them and find ways to accomplish this goal.
@theteacherchronicletea shares a story about the “Late Girls” who show up to her
classroom to inspect and comment on what she is wearing. Although @theteacherchronicletea
appears exasperated by the students’ behavior at the beginning of this video, her tone of voice
and facial expressions soften as she continues to talk about her interaction with them. In their
roundabout way, they complement her outfit by picking apart the elements and questioning her
style choices. In true Black educator form, @theteacherchronicletea turns the table on the
students and questions their style choices. She ends the video by giving viewers a full-body view
of her outfit (See Figure 4).
Similarly, @chucktayla reflects on the intention she set to “build relationships with the
“back kids” on campus. In her video, she uses a conversation between “The Boondocks”
characters, Huey Freeman and Riley Freeman to express her feelings about the outcomes of her
plan:

75
Riley: And that’s when it hit me; the best idea I ever had in my entire life.
Huey: That’s the worst idea you ever had in your entire life.
She explains in her caption, “They’re my favorite kids.. but how do I get em to go
awayyyyy!!
In her top-rated video, @ssajaner yells from her desk for CeCe, a student, to get out of
her classroom. She embeds text within the video to inform viewers, “Kids I don’t teach always
try to come in my class.” That CeCe wishes to be in a classroom wherein the teachers seems to
be spending most of her time redirecting students using a loud and firm tone of voice speaks to
the off-camera success @ssejaner had with cultivating a learning environment so attractive to
students that they are willing to endure the consequences of breaking rules to be in the same
space as her.
Black educators highlight these stories in ways that explicitly and implicitly clarify for
viewers that the seemingly disruptive presence of these students is proof that they have
succeeded at situating themselves as observers of the tangible and intangible needs of their
students and have skillfully shaped their practice in response to what they have observed. Thus,
it is malleable, accessible, and effective.
While Black educators do not explain to their viewers the circumstances that led to their
choices about the ways students experience learning in their classrooms, we are assured that they
created the conditions (developed a positive rapport, built trust) sufficient to sustain this type of
environment.

Figure 4
TikTok video screenshots: @sabiee___, @mr.jgraves,and @theteacherchronicletea

76

Stressed Out
In the previous sections of this chapter, I share findings that illuminate aspects of Black
educator workplace experiences that are drenched in nuance, intricacy, and opportunity for
educators to display their creative pedagogical prowess. Although most of these videos are
lighthearted in nature, these experiences are not to be mistaken as effortless and uncomplicated,
as the skill required to flow in and out of these situations require a high level of nimbleness and
is developed through intentional effort and sustained hard work.
I hold space in Stressed Out to discuss the workplace stressors Black educators
communicate in their social media posts as well as the impact these stressors have on their
wellbeing. Much like the workplace stressors experienced by contemporary teachers I describe in
Chapter Two, these educators place into plain sight of their viewership the aspects of their work
that go far beyond providing academic instruction to students. Whether it be managing student
behavior, differentiating instruction for students with varied academic levels and social

77
emotional needs, work overload, maintaining boundaries, or a lack of job security, Black
educators persist through a number of workplace stressors as they remain in service to youth.
“They Know Not to Play With Me”
Black educators enter the teaching profession with a desire to work with young people,
give back to their communities, change or improve public education, enhance social equity, and
make social contributions (Chin & Young, 2007; Leech et al., 2015; Madkins, 2011). They
transform their desire into a lived reality—serving as teachers, counselors, role models, activists,
and whatever else their students need to thrive in educational spaces. Still, Black educators are
not invincible. They are impacted by workplace stressors and use social media to show the side
of education that requires considerable emotional fortitude. Among the stressful experiences
most communicated by Black educators in the videos selected for this study are those related to
managing such student behaviors as: task avoidance; socializing with peers during instruction;
damaging school property; fighting; acting out in ways that places themselves and others at risk
for danger; and, choosing not to honor classroom agreements.
Educator @thatfitteacher8 shows viewers a small group instruction session in her
classroom. During this session, she is repeatedly disrupted by her students who talk out of turn,
shout out answers, and make excuses for not wanting to engage in the lesson and activities. With
a calm but firm tone of voice, @thatfitteacher8 addresses the behavior and redirects her students
to the task at hand. She makes it clear to viewers that, “It’s a lot going on regardless of class size
😂.”
Taking a comedic approach to present a harsh reality familiar to many educators,
@missunderstood105 shows viewers the difficulties of managing her classroom once a fight has
broken out between two students (See Figure 5). Witnessing students violently assault each

78
other, calling for assistance, managing the reactions of students witnessing the fight, making sure
students do not use their mobile phones to record the fight, and then bringing the classroom back
to order once the fight has ended is undoubtedly an overwhelming experience.
@missunderstood105 says:
This is by FAR the hardest part of the job! These kids will turn a classroom into a
premium championship boxing showdown faster then you can say swish cheese 🥴😩
definitely not easy capturing the hectic nature in a one woman show 🤦

Through their actions, it is evident that @thatfitteacher8, @missunderstood105, and other
educators with videos featuring similar scenarios, relentlessly work towards preserving the
sanctity of their commitment to educating youth. They painstakingly plan the academic and
social-emotional experiences their students will have, and in return, expect their students to
engage the learning environment and process with the honor and respect of which it is worthy.
When students behave in a manner that requires a reminder of what honor and respect looks and
sounds like, these educators are pleased to firmly provide them with that reminder. Put another
way, students step out of line but not for long, as in the words of @missjadahigh, “they know not
to play with me.”
In addition to the student behaviors that manifest physically, attitudes that are
counterproductive to students’ intellectual and personal growth and development are a source of
workplace stress. Attitudes like low motivation towards completing assignments, expecting
maximum reward for minimal output, and deficit thinking about themselves are among the
workplace stressors communicated via social media. Black educators understand the implications
of these attitudes, and do not allow the students to settle in this space. Instead, they challenge this
thinking, and in a way that only a Black educator can, cause students to see things differently.
AP English Literature teacher @vel_shaw admonishes her students who complain about

79
having to purchase a book on the reading list (See Figure 5). Visibly agitated by her students’
attitudes towards making what she considers to be a small investment in their education, she
brings into the conversation the AirPods, Apple Watches, MacBooks, and nice shoes they own.
She disrupts their complaints, saying:
“Don’t complain to me about buying a book in an AP class. Don’t complain to me about
buying no book. If you sittin’ here with a MacBook, do not complain to me about buying
no book. It is a book that is probably $15.00. Y’all go through a drive-thru and probably
spend more than that. You’ll be alright. All this iPhone ish; don’t complain to me about
buying no book.”

She appropriately captions this video, ““Ms. Shaw do we have to buy the book???” Yes
ma’am..yes sir…now take out that MACBOOK and go on your Amazon account to get it!”
In his video captioned, “it’s time to take the limits off!,” educator @mr.jrm3 takes a
different approach to responding to the distressing attitudes of his students (See Figure 5).
Recorded in an empty classroom, and reminiscent of a staged monologue, @mr.jrm3 uses this
video to challenge the deficit thinking of his students:
As an educator, I find myself fighting the fact that there’s nothing worse than being
physically free, but mentally bound. Challenging my students to be creative, and I see
that they're full of so much skill, but yet I’m still sitting here like, who limited you? Who
limited your words? Who limited your creativity? Who told you you can’t? When I can
see that you can. It’s past time for limited power, but now it’s time for power to be
unleashed.

Although he gives no indication as to whether his students viewed this video, the impact
of this stressor is shown through the measures he takes to record and post such a compelling
message to them.
The reactions to students’ behaviors are as varied as the educators themselves and range
from being seemingly amused by their students’ behavior, appearing physically exhausted and
emotionally drained from the experience, to being outright frustrated and moved to take direct
action to correct their students and regulate the learning environment. No matter how educators

80
to their students, it is not hidden from the viewer that they are impacted enough by the student’s
behavior to either pause what they are doing to immediately address the student—even calling a
parent in the moment to report the student’s behavior, or devoting time at a later point of the day
to create and post of video about their experience.
Figure 5
TikTok video screenshots: @misunderstood105, @vel_shaw, and @mr.jrm3

“Teachers Need to Make at Least 80k a Year”
Black educators step into their roles and are forced to manage a variety of intended
consequences. Work overload, role ambiguity, job insecurity, a lack of support from school
leadership, and a disregard for boundaries are among the psychologically and physically
distressing realities Black educators use their social media platforms to raise awareness of and
share their thoughts and feelings about.
In her TikTok video captioned, “Lowkey this deserves a part 2 😂 Send this to someone

81
that needs to know what it’s like being a teacher 🧡,” @taylor.dannise describes the plight of
being a new teacher in a school that has varied and high stakes expectations of their teachers and
does not adequately train and prepare teachers to proficiently meet expectations and successfully
perform their job duties (See Figure 6). Along with the commentary she provides in her video
that lasts for more than two minutes, she reinforces her points with the following in-video text:
“Overloaded classes; class rosters given 2 days before school starts; SPED students, 504
students, students with BIP's; Medical alerts; Insufficient training; Can't take time off
without being guilt tripped; First day of school; Terrible attention spans...continued
bathroom passes; Seek help from admin; Kids complaining about dress code; Enter the
Panorama is 2020; Virtual learning and ZERO preparedness; Parents complaining about
virtual learning; I also didn't even mention not being able to empty your own bladder
without for for coverage.”

@taylor.dannise manages to sum up the challenges that so many educators face as they
push through as she does, saying, “I think I can do this.”
The laughing emoji is oddly placed in her caption, as nothing she presents in her video is
a laughing matter. However, @taylor.dannise, like other educators with videos in this study, add
laughing emojis, “LOL,” and other nuances to their posts almost as if to either downplay the
seriousness of what they are communicating or to avoid retribution from interlopers who might
be viewing their videos. Nevertheless, the potency of her claims is not diminished in the least.
Educator, @rello7414, shares a similar but different side of this in his video captioned,
“Being a teacher is like working 5 jobs a day on average every teacher needs at least 80k a year.”
Specifically, @rello7414 speaks to the range of tasks he is expected to perform—tasks that fall
outside of the scope of teaching that school leaders take for granted Black male educators will or
should engage in (Adebola & Mukhtari, 2008; Brockenbrough, 2018). In this video, @rello7414
appears to be frustrated as he shares candidly about stepping into the roles of security guard and
therapist without being adequately compensated for his efforts:

82
All teachers need to be making at least 80k, man. Cause I don’t get paid to be no security
guard. I don’t get paid to break up no fights. And I don’t get paid to be no therapist. But I
do that shit every day, bro. I need some more money at this point.

@rello7414 places before his social media audience a tough reality that is often excluded
from the conversation relating to the experiences of Black men in educational spaces—beyond
Black male educators being used to defuse potentially violent situations involving students and
others on campus, there is a lack of regard for the safety and wellbeing of Black mens’ bodies.
They are expected to set aside their own safety and use their bodies to shield others from harm.
An annual salary of $80,000.00 seems to be a more than reasonable request from someone who
sacrifices so much not only for his students, but also his colleagues (See Figure 6).
“We Are People, Too”
Time and again, Black educators demonstrate their willingness and ability to become
what is needed in any given situation. Perhaps displaying such a high level of ingenuity and
capacity has come to work against them, as much to their dissatisfaction, school leadership, work
peers, students, and parents show a disregard for their boundaries. Instead of respecting these
educators as highly trained and well-equipped professionals, they—in all their entitled glory—
make demands that position Black educators in a lower status than they. Thus, it becomes
necessary for them to shield themselves from the psychological impact of these attitudes. Videos
of educators setting firm limits with their supervisors as it relates to not infringing on their
personal time, insisting upon doing what would be considered extra work on their terms, refusing
to allow students to set the conditions for how they will engage them, and pushing back on
parents’ demands to change their childrens’ class after the Add/Drop deadline, are examples of
the actions educators take to communicate to other that they are actual people who are worthy of
consideration, empathy, respect.

83
In his TikTok video, set to the music of DMX’s “What These Bitches Want,”
@sligh_medical and his Black male colleague use the rap lyrics to highlight the amount of
teachers who quit the teaching profession before the end of the school year: “There was Brenda,
LaTisha, Linda, Felicia, Dawn, LeShaun, Ines, and Alicia, Theresa, Monica, Sharron, Nicki.”
The in-video text, “Us Trying To Remember All of The Teachers Who Quit This Year,”provides
context to the viewer and is reinforced by his caption, “Parents please remember we are people
too. Thank you for all that to [you] do. The job isn’t easy that’s why we need your support. Be
involved—make change!” (See Figure 6)
Curiously placed within his admonishment to parents is a brief expression of gratitude.
However, like the laughing emoji used by @taylor.dannise I mention earlier in this section, his
message to parents, a known source of stress for educators, is plain and impactful—do not take
us for granted because “we are people, too.”
A great measure of nimbleness is required of Black educators who aim to be effective in
their service to youth. Despite their distress, these educators remain in the profession and use
their social media presence to bring attention to the full scope of what is demanded of them. The
TikTok videos highlighted in this section are representative of the major findings that emerged
related to the workplace stressors and their impact on Black educators.
Undoubtedly, these stressors cause emotional and physical exhaustion; yet, educators are
compelled to arrive on campus and give their all as if they are not affected by all that is required
of them to function in their roles.
In @dwonehicks’ video captioned, “I’m going to work Monday acting just like my kids!”
He shows himself entering his empty classroom, dragging his feet as he walks with his head
tilted to the side, slamming his bag on his desk, falling into his chair and allows it to roll back

84
into the wall, throwing the dry erase marker on the floor as he turns away from the whiteboard,
and slowly sliding down onto the floor and sits in the corner. Although he includes “#humor,”
among the video hashtag, it is not difficult for one to grasp the message @dwonehicks conveys.
Black educators do not explicitly name their experiences as stressful; yet, based on the
existing literature related to nature of these occurrences and the impact they have on
professionals, it is reasonable to believe that these educators like @dwonehicks—dragging his
feet and all—push through frustration, exhaustion, and other consequences of workplace stress,
demonstrate an impressive level of resolve and dedication to their work.
Figure 6
TikTok video screenshots: @taylor.dannise, @rello7414, and @sligh_medical

Alright
I concluded Stressed Out by discussing various workplace stressors and their impact on
Black educators. For reasons unstated by the educators whose videos are included in this study,

85
the impact of occupational stressors are not explicitly named. Thus, viewers are left to make
inferences about the impact of stress on these educators through examination of their facial
expressions, body language, and actions they take in workplace situations known to cause stress.
Although bombarded with situations that extend beyond the scope of typical teacher job
duties and responsibilities, the educators with videos selected for this study demonstrate their
agility in handling these stressful situations in ways that prevent major disruptions to their job
performance. To properly manage the impact of these occurrences, educators pull from a well-
developed toolkit of coping strategies. In their social media posts, educators demonstrate the
various uses of such coping strategies as setting and maintaining boundaries, providing self-
advocacy language to fellow educators, disrupting colleagues’ use of microaggressions, engaging
in self-care, and intentionally celebrating accomplishments are among the coping strategies
educators demonstrate in the videos in this study. In so doing, they broaden the viewers' thinking
around what coping looks like.
“When You Got That Barber Appointment”

As mentioned earlier in this study, it is important for professionals to consider how they
will actively engage practices that lead to the improvement of their wellbeing and health
(Stansfeld and Candy, 2006; de Bruinet al., 2017). In their TikTok videos, Black educators show
how they engage acts of self-care in their effort to cope with workplace stress and improve their
wellbeing. These acts include prayer and meditation, diet and exercise, hair maintenance,
intentionally celebrating accomplishments, and using music to shift energy.
Dallas area elementary school teacher, @marcus.bornslater chronicles a Friday when his
barber appointment was the only thing on his mind. In this video, he shows himself at different
times of the day, seemingly distracted by thoughts of getting his haircut—an essential part of

86
wellness for man Black men (See Figure 7). He narrates this video, saying:
I can’t even lie to y’all. I woke up with one thing on my mind—that was my haircut. I
mean I was so distracted, I was having random thoughts like, I wonder who came up with
the first classroom? Who idea was this? Why they even hire me? Like, what about my
car? But, then breezy out of here, I had to get up outta here, dawg. Sun was out. That
mean top off, man. I’m getting in my element. I’m getting in my mode, dawg. I walked
in; looked my barber dead in his eyes. I knew he was serious. We ain’t even speak the
whole time. He was just going to straight work. Really, he doing God’s work. And y’all
when I got up, I’m looking like a straight R&B singer, ooh yeah. I mean I'm even
walking different. I forgot how to even move my body right. Ha ha. Naw, but on the
serious tip, it’s Friday. I ain’t got work tomorrow. Energy’s high. You be the best out
here man. Love y’all.

Like the students whose hair stories I share earlier in the chapter, @marcus.bornslater’s
day is made better as a result of engaging in this act of self-care. In his other top Tik Tok videos
in the hashtags selected for this study, @marcus.bornslater shows his daily routine journaling,
meditating, and working out. Along with other educators with videos in this study, he makes
connections between self-care and the ability to thrive in the teaching profession.
“We Don’t Change Schedules”
Black educators' commitment to setting and maintaining boundaries for themselves is a
coping strategy shown in many TikTok videos wherein educators demonstrate steps they take
towards attending to their wellbeing. They devote videos to showing how they stand firm in their
decisions, block students and colleagues from their social media accounts not intended for public
viewing, refuse to discuss matters that are personal in nature, and completely disconnect from
their work responsibilities during Winter Break, Spring Break, Summer Break, and unscheduled
Snow Days. By doing this, they are both resisting the aspects of their work that are proven to
cause that have proven to be physically and physiological harm and are surrendering to what
they believe is necessary to sustain their wellness in the workplace.
High school counselor, @mr.altidor uses rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 hit, “I Ain’t Mad

87
At Cha,” to illustrate his feelings towards parents who request a schedule change for their
children several weeks after the class Add/Drop deadline has passed. In his video captioned,
“repeat, we don’t change schedules after the first 10 days of school..it’s all love though lol,” he
ends the phone call, turns away from the camera, and dances in his desk chair (See Figure 7).
The song choice suggests that although he understands the parent’s desire to advocate for their
child, he chooses to maintain his boundary, which, in this case, is the deadline. Having insight
about the implication of changing a student’s schedule on the student and himself so late in the
semester, he stands his ground. By not caving under the weight of the pleading parent, he guards
himself from the stressful outcomes of pursuing this course of action.
Similar to @mr.altidor, teacher @stephthecoolteacher demonstrates a boundary he set
and maintains with his students as it relates to assignment submission requirements (See Figure
7). He captions his video, “I hate papers with no names!,” and tells viewers:
Why I give papers back. “There’s no name.” “There’s no date.” “You didn’t finish.”
“Look at number one again.” “I DON’T KNOW WHO PAPER THIS IS.” “YOU
DIDN’T FINISH.”

As he hands papers back to his students, @stephthecoolteacher dances in his chair to the tune of
“Sorry Not Sorry (Remix)” by Hip Hop Omeretta the Great featuring Latto.
It seems as if a part of who these educators are is restored back to them as they stand firm
in protecting the boundaries they have set for themselves in the workplace. It is not just that they
are denying unapproved access to students, parents, and colleagues, but that doing so is
liberating and worthy of celebration. Much like the teachers I highlight earlier in this chapter
who hold space for students in unconventional ways, these educators boldly risk criticism to
insist upon others falling in line with their program and not the other way around. In doing so,
they disrupt the narrative that educators ought to prioritize the wellbeing of those whom they

88
serve over their own.
Figure 7
TikTok video screenshots: @marcusbornslater, @mr.altidor, and @stephthecoolteacher

“Being Black Is Just Extra”
Building the capacity to cope with workplace stressors is not a selfish act amongst Black
educators. Through their social media posts, they serve as guides to their colleagues—acquainted
and unacquainted—providing strategies that give educators access to tools helpful in managing
stress. These coping strategies do not look like those I detail in Chapter Two; rather, they are the
product of the nuanced occurrences Black educators experience in the workplace. Strategies like
giving oneself permission to discontinue teaching practices that have become status quo but do
not add value to students, modeling effective classroom management, stepping into professional
development sessions to disrupt racist attitudes, and pushing back on hegemonic ideals about
what professionalism looks like.

89
In her video captioned, “...If we're not going to dig deeper? Why are we here?,”
@mrsmickens97 takes space in a professional development session being held via Zoom to
address racial microaggressions directed towards Black educators (See Figure 8). Clearly
annoyed by this all too common occurrence for Black women educators, @mrsmickens97 sets
her camera to record her response to colleagues' comments:
I’m trying not to be annoyed but I am a little bit. Imma have to push back on a few
things. Um. First, I’m smart and I’m funny. Being Black is just extra. So, I’m not smart
and Black; I’m just smart. I’m not well-spoken and Black; I’m just well-spoken and I’m
funny. Being black is extra. You don’t have to say and or or, cause I’ve been that Black
girl in Catholic school for eight years. Oh, you’re so articulate. And you’re
so…microaggressions are not compliments. That word aggression, aggressive, they’re
meant to be back-handed, negative, you know? And if I don’t know if I’m triggered, but I
just. If I heard a teacher not address like you’re trying to get us to understand; it’s not
really my job to push or go in and talk to anybody. First of all, a lot of people are
uncomfortable talking about race, or diversity, or equity. A lot of people are
uncomfortable on this Zoom right now.

Addressing an occurrence that might be considered low stakes, but has far-reaching
implications for Black educators—especially Black men, educator @teacherdude_ says:
Teachers, PSA: Wear the jeans. Wear the jeans. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday.
Thursday. Thank me later. Wear the jeans. What are they gonna do? What are
they gonna do? Thank me later.

Wearing blue checkered jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt under an unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt,
and a baseball cap, @teacherdude_ backs away from the camera as he is talking to give viewers
a full-body look at his outfit. His message to teachers is a call to action and a call to freedom. He
has found power in agency as it relates to choosing what he will look like and challenges other
educators to do the same. As powerful as the image of Black male educators walking the
hallways of their campus dressed in suits might be, the significance of Black male educators who
choose jeans, t-shirts, exposed tattoos, and locked hair must not be diminished. Moreover,
@teacherdude_ gives permission to educators to dress comfortably appropriately for the often

90
fast paced and unpredictable nature of their workday (See Figure 8).
Educator @ms.m_closet uses her social platform to help educators navigate workplace
occurrences that are known to cause stress. With top videos in three hashtags selected for this
study, @ms.m_closet’s unique brand of humor empowers educators with strategies to advocate
for themselves and approach their ways that can preserve their wellbeing. In one of her popular
videos, “TEACHERS during staff meetings,” @ms.m_closet is selected to provide new teachers
with advice. Eager to help these teachers, she says:
Um one piece of advice I would give to a first year teacher… First of all, welcome.
Welcome to the school. Uh it’s gonna be crazy. It’s not gonna be crazy. It’s gonna be
awesome. Um but the advice I would give you is um during your planning period, make
sure y’all turn the lights off in the room so nobody can see you. So no one knows you’re
in there. You gotta hide. Like hide and seek.

By developing content intended to make viewers laugh, @ms.m_closet has successfully
created a digital space wherein educators can safely access information, strategies, and skills
helpful in maintaining the physical and emotional stamina needed to continue in the profession
(See Figure 8).

Figure 8
TikTok video screenshots: @mrsmickens97, @teacherdude_, and @ms.m_closet

91

On the surface, these educators’ actions might be mistaken for them simply speaking
their minds. However, for those working in a profession where fear of retribution and even job
loss as a result of advocating for themselves is a reality, the opportunity to witness other Black
educators standing in their power to disrupt attitudes, expectations, practices, and structures that
reproduce harm can strengthen their resolve and alleviate stressor that can negatively impact
them.

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS

The central purpose of this study was to understand and describe the nuanced experiences
of contemporary Black educators and to hear directly from them what their workplace
experiences and stressors are. In addition, this study explored the various strategies Black

92
educators employed to cope with occupational stressors. As previously mentioned, this study
sought to tackle the unexplored area of Black educator stress management and wellbeing.
The following research question guided this study: (1) What are Black educators
communicating via social media about the complexities of their shared workplace experiences?
(2) What variations exist in the stories Black educators share via social media? (3) What do
Black educators communicate in social media posts about the impact of workplace stressors on
their wellbeing? (4) In their social media posts, how do Black educators say or demonstrate their
coping with workplace stressors? These questions capture the experiences of Black educators
and their relationship with occurrences in the workplace that cause stress, and how they cope
with these stressors.
150 videos of Black teachers, counselors, and administrators of different genders, ages,
and in various regions of the United States comprised the sample from TikTok. These videos
show Black educators as active participants in an event or activity in the educational space;
preparing for an event or activity that will take place in the educational space; engaged in
conversation with children and/or adults; reflecting on an experience they had with colleagues,
students, parents, or other educational partners, reenacting interactions they have had with
colleagues, students, parents, or other educational partners; or acting out scenarios that are
common for professionals within educational spaces.
In this chapter, I provide a discussion, in which the four themes of the findings are put in
conversation with previous literature on contemporary Black educators, occupational stressors,
and wellbeing. I note consistencies within the findings to the literature reviewed, as well as new
insights that emerged from the research. To help Black educators and school leaders improve
their attempts at creating conditions wherein Black educators safely serve the educational needs

93
of students, I offer implications for practice and conclude with possible directions for future
research.
Discussion
This research study examined how Black educators communicate their experiences in
educational spaces via social media. Mainly, this project was designed to highlight the range of
stressful experiences Black professionals encounter in their work as educators, the psychological
impact of these occurrences, and the various ways they either cope with or guard themselves
against occupational stressors. Although the findings of this study are consistent with
conclusions drawn from the body of literature on occupational stressors, new insights add
complexity to and extend how we understand Black educators’ experiences and their varied
approaches to navigating and coping with occupational stressors.
Consistent with literature on occupational stressors experienced by educators, the
findings of this study confirm that Black educators work in conditions that induce frustration and
stress, impacting but not inhibiting their ability to deliver instruction effectively (Ransford et al.,
2009; Oboegbulem, 2011). Mainly, these stressors stem from such workplace conditions as work
overload, lack of support from school administration, inadequate resources to run the school, low
prospects of advancement, lack of job security, and poor staff development programs.
Researchers explain that policymakers and educational leaders recognize that Black
educators are uniquely skilled at understanding the cultural experiences of their students and
engaging in instructional practices that support students from non-dominant communities
(Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011; Haycock, 2001; Irvine, 1988; Villegas & Irvine, 2010; Villegas &
Lucas, 2004). While they set in place structures to increase the racial diversity of the workforce
to serve the educational needs of students of color, they do little to attend to the race-related

94
needs of Black educators. This has created a dynamic wherein Black educators enter the
profession tasked with educating children and serving the unwritten but required surfeit functions
within schools (e.g. parent, psychologist, disciplinarian, and friend) (Milner & Howard, 2013;
Sandles, 2020). Without adequate training and extra compensation, they serve these functions,
and in many cases, they do so with neither a space to safely voice their own needs nor same-race
advocates positioned to influence the policies and culture, thus leaving Black educators on the
fringes.
Connected to the abovementioned reality of Black educators is an insight that emerged
from my findings that expands how we understand the relationship that exists between Black
educators and the aspects of their work that are seemingly stress-inducing. Although well-
documented as sources of stress for educators and a major cause of education professionals
leaving their jobs (Burke & Greenglass, 1995; Dorman, 2003 in Shernoff et al., 2011; Dos
Santos, 2002; Seth, 2002), Black educators embrace these surfeit functions and are seen
managing these roles with a high level of agility, skill, and care. Black womens educators, in
particular, act as nurturers and preservers of children’s wellbeing. Rather than creating
boundaries that place distance between children’s nonacademic needs and themselves, the
recognition of these needs move them to action.
More importantly, they do not lament having to be present for their students in these
ways. Rather, they highlight opportunities to provide food for children who are hungry, respite
for children who are fatigued, a safe and affirming space for children who need to discuss
personal matters, and being hairstylists to students in need of a quick makeover. Conversely,
they consistently demonstrate an unwillingness to accept responsibility for and engage stressful

95
aspects of their job—tasks that are outside of the scope of their agreed-upon duties that are not
related to their student’s wellbeing.
Also consistent with the literature are findings related to Black women’s encounters with
racial microaggressions and other gendered and racialized experiences that threaten their
commitment to minoritized youth (Farinde-Wu et al., 2017; Fitchett et al., 2017; Griffin &
Tackie, 2017; Kelly, 2007; Kohli, 2018; Mabokela & Madsen, 2003). I do not highlight this
finding to suggest that Black women find themselves helplessly challenged by these occurrences;
rather, I raise this to acknowledge that these stressors exist and create opportunities for Black
women educators to illuminate to their colleagues the ways in which their attitudes and behaviors
towards Black women are harmful and require reflection and change.
Through their TikTok videos, we see that stepping in to fix a child’s hair serves to aid in
coping with stress, just as addressing racial microaggressions and other racialized occurrences
alleviates stress and helps guard against the potential harm these stressors would cause if left
unaddressed and able to pervade the workplace.
My findings also confirm that Black male educators recognize and acknowledge the
unusualness of holding certificated positions in educational spaces (e.g. counselors, teachers,
administrators). As I explain in Chapter Two, the devaluing and dismissal of Black teachers
during integration, the emergence of new professional opportunities, among other factors (Clark
et al. 2013; Dilworth & Brown 2008 in Gist, 2018) resulted in significantly reduced numbers of
Black professionals entering the teaching profession at the end of the 20th century. So, the
inclination for Black male educators to commemorate both their presence in educational spaces
and the value that it adds to the environment via social media amplifies their awareness of this
reality.

96
How Black male educators show up in educational spaces must not be overlooked. While
older Black male educators show themselves walking throughout the campus wearing suits, dress
shirts, and neckties, young Black male educators demonstrate agency by releasing themselves
from the burden of being aesthetically monolithic, dressing in ways that disrupt dominant
thinking around what professionalism looks like. By wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers;
showing their tattoos; and sporting locks, Afros, and faded Mohawks, they create a counter
narrative—one that situates them as just as educated, professional, and effective as their peers
who fit the more acceptable ways of being in educational spaces.
Another insight that emerged from my findings suggests that the otherwise negative
stereotypes about the nature of Black masculinity that continue to over-determine the identities
Black men (e.g. verbally direct, expressive, assertive) (Cornelius, 2013; hooks, 2004; Pabon,
2016) are accepted by white colleagues when these educators act as teacher-as-savior. For them,
disciplinarian means not only addressing disruptive behaviors but shielding colleagues from
Black students. In this way, Black bodies are not regarded as valuable and honorable; instead,
they are used as ancillary protective barriers between staff and students.
Another insight that emerged from my study is the absence of language—written and
spoken—that gives voice to the sexual identities of Black queer educators. This lack of
representation is not surprising given the notable role schools have played in reproducing the
marginality of Black queerness and sustaining Western cultural imaginations as perverts and
sexual predators pose a threat to childhood innocence (Brockenbrough, 2012). Coupled with
queer teachers’ sense of isolation and vulnerability, their experiences with harassment and
violence, and their fear of being accused of inappropriate sexual advances toward children
(Brockenbrough, 2012; Graves, 2009; 2015; Griffin & Ouellett, 2003), the lack of Black queer

97
educator representation signals the need for educational leaders to cultivate spaces wherein these
educators are safe, affirmed, and assured of the necessity of their presence.
Other findings of this study that are markedly consistent with literature affirm that Black
educators enjoy a cultural solidarity with Black students, link classroom content to Black
students’ life experiences, infuse Black cultural patterns of collectivity into classroom culture,
and incorporate Black communicative styles into learning activities (Emdin, 2016; Emdin, 2021;
Foster, 1994). Expanding this idea are insights based on my findings that suggest Black
educators are not particularly concerned with sounding academic and maintaining the use of
academic language in educational spaces. This is not to say that Black educators do not use or
teach so-called standard English or hold their students to high academic standards; instead, they
embrace their adeptness at communicating in ways that are familiar to students. While there is a
vast amount of literature on code switching—the way Black professionals “switch” their
interactional style to better accommodate new or different environments or persons in positions
of authority (Collins, 2000; Harding, 1986; Payne & Suddler, 2014; Santiago & Crentsil, 2021),
there has not been enough focus on the various ways Black teachers employ this technique to
navigate their presence in the educational spaces. In these videos, however, Black educators do
not limit their creativity by promoting the values and norms of the dominant group. Instead, they
tap into their own cultural resources (Cha & Roberts, 2019; Roberts & Cha, 2016). By doing this,
they cultivate safe and affirming environments and build connections with students grounded in
the sharing of their authentic selves.
In instances where educators drew upon their cultural capital to admonish students in
ways that could be perceived as mean or dismissive--“Don’t come bother me,” for example--it is
important to note that rapport, trust, and safety existed in these spaces. Otherwise, these

98
educators’ actions could be harmful to their students and met with a great deal of resistance.
Therefore, educators who have neither established rapport and trust nor cultivated an
environment of love and safety should refrain from addressing students in this manner.
Furthermore, white educators must be discerning and cautious when considering communicating
with students of color in this manner, as a lack of cultural connection can cause adverse effects to
the educator-student relationship.
Another insight that emerged from the findings of the study is the productive ways in
which Black educators use music. In more than half of the TikTok videos selected for this study,
Black educators use Gospel, R&B, and Hip-Hop music to cope with occupational stressors,
engage students, and narrate their stories. Emdin (2010) and other hip-hop ed scholars have
affirmed and confirmed the value of leveraging music to facilitate the creation of third spaces
wherein educators engage teaching practices/activities that address both the academic and mental
health needs/stressors of young people (Emdin & Adjapong, 2016; Hill, 2009; Keith, 2023;
Lewis, 2015). Although few investigations explore how Black professionals use music as a
coping strategy for workplace stress, it is no wonder that Black educators in this study use songs
such as as “Happy,” “I’ll Rise Up,” and “I Ain’t Mad At Cha,” and others by such artists a
Lizzo, Beyonce, Kirk Franklin, and Soulja Boy to demonstrate their awareness of the usefulness
of music in their efforts to cope with stress and maintain their wellbeing.
The findings of the present study make a contribution to the literature in that I included
insights that expand our understanding of how Black professionals cope with occupational
stressors in educational spaces. Although the existing literature on how professionals manage
workplace stress focuses primarily on adaptive coping strategies like exercise, movement,
meditation, religious activities, and getting emotional support (Agbonluae et al., 2017), there is

99
no meaningful exploration of the unconventional strategies Black educators employ to cope with
occupational stressors. These strategies demonstrate that Black educators do not always rely on
external sources for coping; instead, they draw from internal sources to develop strategies for
coping with occupational stressors. These coping strategies include attending to the diverse
nonacademic needs of students, setting strict boundaries to guard personal time and space,
sharing instructional practices that lead to reduced stress, pushing back against pressures to
reproduce status-quo schooling experiences for students, broadening the scope of what
professionalism looks like, providing language to colleagues to advocate for themselves, holding
space for and aspects of their Blackness to engage students and colleagues, and using social
media to creatively tell stories about their experiences in educational spaces.
Conclusions
Given the findings of this study about the ways in which contemporary Black educators
experience and cope with occupational stressors, I offer six conclusions:
1. Many Black educators demonstrate a self-assurance of their belonging in the education
profession, and show up fully Black, which is to be fully human, in the spaces they
work.
2. Many Black educators draw from their beautifully nuanced Blackness to create learning
experiences for Black children that are culturally relevant and affirming.
3. Many Black educators risk their standing with colleagues to cultivate educational spaces
wherein their students feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.
4. Many Black educators feel the weight of workplace stressors and do not pretend as if
they are unbothered by the occurrences that induce stress.

100
5. Many Black educators lean into stressful situations and reclaim their wellbeing by
drawing on culturally-informed ways of becoming and staying well.
Implications
The findings of this study have important implications for those who seek to develop concrete
mechanisms for Black educators to collectively, and without fear of retribution, interrogate and
confront practices, policies, and ideologies in the workplace as a step towards their sustained
psychological and physical wellbeing. To this end, I offer a series of recommendations for
practice and research in this section. First, I present a set of recommendations for educators who
provide direct services to children, as well as to school and district administrators and
organizational leaders working with Black professionals in educational spaces. Lastly, I conclude
with implications for the future of research.
Implications for Practice
As the findings of this study illustrate, Black educators sustain wellbeing from operating
in their authentic selves. Therefore, it is necessary for Black educators to assess who they are —
exploring the multifacetedness of their existence — and, without trepidation, bring themselves
fully into the educational space. For example, educators who are musically inclined can show
evidence of this in the ways they deliver instruction and other services to students. Educator
@tobiediane, who I highlighted in Chapter Four, uses music as an alternative to callbacks
commonly witnessed in classrooms. Educators also create lessons and activities that provide
space to students to write and perform content-themed raps and engage in a competition/battle to
showcase what was written (Emdin & Adjapong, 2016).
Educators with an ongoing pursuit for social justice should elevate this aspect of
themselves through images they display in classrooms and offices, reading options they provide,

101
as well as efforts for transformational change they lead on campus. I acknowledge that in
Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and many other states that regulate or prohibit discussions of race,
racism, or systemic inequality in schools or that have outright banned books by people of color
and LGBTQIA+ people (Pascarella & Silva, 2023), this act has been met with hostility, resulting
in educators being disciplined and fired. Thus, educators who are positioned to advance equity
and social justice without sanction should hold space for this work and model these radical acts
for their students.
This is not to suggest that educators should go the way of transforming educational
spaces into shrines to their own interests; the cultures, identities, and interests of students ought
to be reflected in the environments in which they learn. However, by unashamedly illuminating
who they are to colleagues and students, they can model what it means to be liberated, authentic,
multidimensional, and fully human in spaces where they are typically seen and valued only for
the services they provide to others. Moreover, by taking ownership of their educator identities
and actively engaging efforts that lead to its development, educators situate themselves as the
definers and not the defined; a powerful position from which to educate children.
Educators featured in the TikTok videos selected for this study consistently and openly
operated in the duality of Black and educator. Following their lead, this double consciousness
ought to embolden Black educators, not diminish their potency or negatively impact how they
instruct and counsel children. The glorious intersection of Black, gender, religion, sexual
identity, and educator sets the stage for engaging learning environments and demonstrates to
children how to see themselves in relation to their Blackness. Furthermore, it amplifies the
invaluableness of Blackness and reinforces within children that their Blackness is an asset to be
cultivated, not a liability to be diminished.

102
Black educators in this study demonstrated an awareness of occupational stressors and
strategies for coping with them. These coping strategies extended beyond mindfulness practices
and other strategies often documented in the literature related to how professionals manage
stress. More often than not, Black educators did not seek respite from occupational stressors
outside of educational spaces; instead, they leaned into the stressful occurrences of the
environment and tackled them head on (e.g. fixing children’s hair; taking dance breaks; insisting
that others honor their boundaries). In so doing, these educators demonstrated a stance towards
wellness by showing others how to exercise power over what could potentially cause them
harm.
Black educators can look to these examples and meaningfully consider the possibilities of
how to attend to their wellbeing in ways that are not commonly documented as coping strategies,
but are appropriate for the situation and best suited to their needs.
Black educators should be aware of how the school districts, charter management
organizations, and other educational institutions they are seeking employment at actualize their
objectives towards anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. While the Black
educators in this study demonstrate comfort with being their authentic selves in educational
spaces, authenticity, especially where Blackness is concerned, is not always welcomed or
celebrated. So then, it becomes the responsibility of Black educators to explore if the
environment to which they are seeking access is safe and affirming in both word and deed, or
they will have to develop strategies for coping with the stress of working in an environment that
forces their Blackness into underground spaces.
Lastly, Black educators should consider using TikTok and other social media platforms
to seek affirmation, advice, and productive destressing in the company and community of other

103
Black educators. This is especially important for Black educators who are underrepresented in
the workplace.
For educational leaders, this study provides context for the importance of availing
themselves to knowing—really knowing—the Black educators whom they lead, develop,
evaluate, and support. Entering educational spaces to observe Black educators with an intention
to learn from them and develop supports that enhance their practice while honoring who they are
and their unique contribution to the intellectual and personal development of their students, sends
a powerfully clear message to these educators. This act communicates that educational leaders
desire to legitimize and validate the unconventional ways Black educators approach their work
and are willing to create and protect spaces where these educators can openly and safely engage
their work without compromise.
To extend their learning, educational leaders also can use TikTok and other social media
platforms as a means to examine the lives of Black educators, exploring what they communicate
about the complexities of their shared workplace experiences in their own voices. By carefully
examining what they are saying and doing, the in-video text, captions, and how they engage
comments, educational leaders can expand their understanding of the nuanced ways Black
educators interact with students and colleagues, what Black educators consider to be workplace
stressors and how they cope with them, and more importantly, what Black educators
communicate are ways administrators can support them, educational leaders are positioned to
effectuate meaningful change and eradicate structures that reproduce harm to Black educators.
Building on in-person and social media observations of Black educators, educational
leaders can privilege the voice of Black educators by engaging them directly around what it
means to be Black in racialized spaces. Understanding that this topic can evoke strong emotions,

104
educational leaders should demonstrate their willingness to remain open to what they are
learning through this dialogue with educators. Further, leaders should remain critically reflective
and self-aware as to ensure these interactions remain safe for educators and that their
vulnerability does not result in surveillance, retaliation, and judgment. Additionally, to prove the
welcoming of this feedback is not merely a performative act, school, district, and organizational
leaders must use their influence to revise policy, change practices, and shift culture in ways that
clearly signals to all that the villainization of Blackness will not be tolerated.
A final recommendation for educational leaders centers their desire for educators to be
healthy and well. While it is common for schools to actualize their commitment to educator
wellbeing by sponsoring wellness initiatives, it is uncommon for these initiatives to be culturally
relevant and structured in ways that meet the needs of a diverse educator group and tailored to a
specific environment. Instead, they tend to be raceless. Thus, educational leaders can supplement
or even replace existing wellness programs with initiatives that are reflective of the articulated
and observed needs of the educators they lead. Admittedly, this approach to educator wellness
will require the allocation of time, energy, and other resources not required when implementing
existing systems; however, the outcomes could prove beneficial for supporting educators’ efforts
towards preserving their wellbeing, and as a consequence, sustaining the positive experiences
students have in the learning environment.
Implications for Research
While there is a growing body of literature that examines the contemporary experiences
of Black educators and the occupational stressors that serve to cause them psychological and
physical harm and disrupt the effectiveness of their practice in general, missing from the
literature is significant empirical research on occupational stressors specific to particular Black

105
educator groups (e.g. Black women educators, Black male educators; Black queer
educators). Also missing from the literature is research on the impact of occupational stressors
and how Black educators cope with these stressors. Therefore, an opportunity exists for
researchers to further investigate not only the intersectionality of Black professionals but also
challenges they face in educational spaces and the diverse ways Black educators activate their
Blackness and harness it to effectively cope with occupational stressors.
Additional research should be conducted that explores how educational leaders can cause
Black educators to feel safe to facilitate learning in ways that seem common sense to Black
people but might appear too out of the box and even inappropriate to others. In the TikTok
videos included in this study, Black teachers show themselves quickly erasing the whiteboard or
changing the subject they are speaking about when school administrators enter their classrooms.
In other videos, Black educators celebrate their resistance to school rules that conflict with their
ideas about how to serve their students. Instead of concealing the aspects of their work that
produce positive outcomes for students, Black educators should be positioned to openly practice
their craft and invite others in to observe, learn, and work alongside them. Research focused on
understanding and amplifying the ways Black educators approach instruction can be helpful in
creating learning environments that center the needs of students and allow Black educators to
thrive in their service to children and each other.

Closing

“I believe in the Negro schoolteachers… With the proper training they are the finest teachers in
the world because they have suffered and endured and nothing human is beneath their
sympathy.” - W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Tragedy of Jim Crow” (1923)

I opened this study with the same words that I close with: I believe in the Negro
schoolteachers. Indeed, we have suffered and endured; yet, we consistently demonstrate that

106
nothing is beneath our sympathy. The Black educators I highlighted in this study epitomize these
words penned by W.E.B. Du Bois 100 years ago. However, to the benefit of others in the
profession and those who will one day enter the teaching profession, these educators have placed
on display for the entire world to witness how they have navigated their suffering and come
through it alright.
As I mentioned in Chapter Three, on any given Sunday in a Pentecostal church, one will
hear it declared that everything will be alright. The nature of declaration is neither aspirational
nor wishful; rather, it is prophetic utterance that fully believes will manifest and in advance of
the outcome, celebrates with singing, dancing, and shouting. That is because in this context,
Alright conveys a sense of wholeness or completeness. Alright expresses that what was lost will
be restored, what was broken will be made whole, and whatever compromises one’s well-being
will cease. So, I conclude this study by inviting readers into an experience that affirms the
findings of this study—where Black educators have been, are, and will be concerned, we gon’ be
alright.
We Gon’ Be Alright: The Call and The Response
Thrash: Before you were formed in the womb God knew you.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: And approved of you as His chosen instrument.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: He marked you with his sign of love
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: And He planned only the best for you.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: Even when it feels like your presence is not making a difference.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: Remember who are and walk in that truth
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: When things become too heavy for you to bare
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: You didn’t just start doing this; you were made for this
You: We gon’ be alright!

107
Thrash: There is absolutely no reason for you to underestimate yourself.
Thrash: Brilliance, courage, and radical love flows through your veins.
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: The ancestors speak, and they say you are worthy.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: Robert and Victoria Thrash speak, and they say stay committed to excellence.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: Robert and Arlesta Garner speak, and they stay the course. Your Village has you.
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: You were not created to suffer, and even though you do.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: What is in you is greater than any force that is outside of you.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: No weapon that is formed against you will succeed.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: So, shake off anxiety, timidity, and fear and make your presence known.
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: Even in those moments you find yourself distressed.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: Do not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: For at the proper time you will reap, if you do not give in.
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: Remember that you are not operating in your own strength.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: But in strength of the One who spoke light and life into existence.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: And when you have been wounded, don’t worry.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: He will hide you in His shadow.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: In the darkness, you will be renewed and restored.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: And you will emerged from the darkness a wondrous sight to behold
You: We gon’ be alright!

Thrash: You are fully loved. You are fully chosen.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: You are fully accepted. You are fully worthy.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: You are fully called. You are fully positioned.
You: We gon’ be alright!

108
Thrash: You are fully covered. You are fully capable.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: You are fully anointed. You are fully free.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: You are fully alive. You are fully you.
You: We gon’ be alright!
Thrash: And because of that I am assured.
All: We gon’ be alright!

References
Achinstein, B., & Ogawa, R. T. (2011). Change agents: New teachers of color in urban schools.
Teachers College Press.
Agarwal, B., Brooks, S. K., & Greenberg, N. (2020). The role of peer support in managing
occupational stress: A qualitative study of the sustaining resilience at work intervention.
Workplace Health & Safety, 68(2), 57-64.
Agathangelou, A. M., & Ling, L. H. (2002). An unten (ur) able position: The politics of teaching
for women of color in the US. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 4(3), 368-398.

109
Agbonluae, O. O., Omi-Ujuanbi, G. O., & Akpede, M. (2017). Coping strategies for managing
occupational stress for improved worker productivity. IFE PsychologIA: An International
Journal, 25(2), 300-309.
Agee, J. (2009). Developing qualitative research questions: A reflective process. International
Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(4), 431-447.
Aguirre Jr, A. (2000). Women and Minority Faculty in the Academic Workplace: Recruitment,
Retention, and Academic Culture. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 27,
Number 6. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome
St., San Francisco, CA 94104-1342.
Akbar, N. I. (1984). Africentric social sciences for human liberation. Journal of Black Studies,
14(4), 395-414.
Albers, P. (2002). Praxis II and African American teacher candidates (or, is everything black
bad?). English Education, 34(2), 105-125.
Alridge, D. P., & Stewart, J. B. (2005). Introduction: Hip hop in history: Past, present, and
future. The Journal of African American History, 90(3), 190–195.
https://doi.org/10.1086/JAAHv90n3p190
Aldrup, K., Klusmann, U., Lüdtke, O., Göllner, R., & Trautwein, U. (2018). Student misbehavior
and teacher well-being: Testing the mediating role of the teacher-student relationship.
Learning and Instruction, 58, 126-136.
Alessandri, G., Borgogni, L., & Latham, G. P. (2017). A dynamic model of the longitudinal
relationship between job satisfaction and supervisor‐rated job performance. Applied
Psychology, 66(2), 207-232.

110
Anagnostopoulos, D. (2006). “Real students” and “true demotes”: Ending social promotion and
the moral ordering of urban high schools. American Educational Research Journal,
43(1), 5-42.
Anderson, J. D. (2010). The education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. Univ of North
Carolina Press.
Aragon, S. (2016). Teacher Shortages: What We Know. Teacher Shortage Series. Education
Commission of the States.
Baker, S. (2011). Pedagogies of protest: African American teachers and the history of the civil
rights movement, 1940–1963. Teachers College Record, 113(12), 2777-2803.
Balderrama, M., Texeira, M. T., & Valdez, E. (2004). Una lucha de fronteras (A struggle of
borders): Women of color in the academy. Race, Gender & Class, 135-154.
Barsky, A., Thoresen, C. J., Warren, C. R., & Kaplan, S. A. (2004). Modeling negative
affectivity and job stress: a contingency‐based approach. Journal of Organizational
Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational
Psychology and Behavior, 25(8), 915-936.
Behan, C. (2020). The benefits of meditation and mindfulness practices during times of crisis
such as COVID-19. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 37(4), 256-258.
Benmansour, N. (1998). Job satisfaction, stress and coping strategies among Moroccan high
school teachers. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, 3, pp. 13–33.
Bireda, S., & Chait, R. (2011). Increasing Teacher Diversity: Strategies to Improve the Teacher
Workforce. Center for American Progress.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). What we were, what we are, and what we should be: The racial
problem of American sociology. Social Problems, 64(2), 179-187.

111
Booher-Jennings, J. (2005). Below the bubble:“Educational triage” and the Texas accountability
system. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231-268.
Boswell, W. R., Olson-Buchanan, J. B., & LePine, M. A. (2004). Relations between stress and
work outcomes: The role of felt challenge, job control, and psychological strain. Journal
of Vocational Behavior, 64(1), 165-181.
Bristol, T. J. (2018). To Be Alone or in a Group: An Exploration Into How the School-Based
Experiences Differ for Black Male Teachers Across One Urban School District. Urban
Education (Beverly Hills, Calif.), 53(3), 334-354. 10.1177/0042085917697200
Brockenbrough. (2012). Agency and abjection in the closet: the voices (and silences) of black
queer male teachers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25(6),
741–765. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.590157
Brondolo, E., Brady ver Halen, N., Pencille, M., Beatty, D., & Contrada, R. J. (2009). Coping
with racism: A selective review of the literature and a theoretical and methodological
critique. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32, 64-88.
Brown, A. L. (2012). On Human Kinds and Role Models: A Critical Discussion about the
African American Male Teacher. Educational Studies, 48(3), 296-315.
10.1080/00131946.2012.660666
Brown, A. L., & Thomas III, D. J. (2020). A critical essay on Black male teacher recruitment
discourse. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(5), 456-471.
Brown, J. W., & Butty, J. A. M. (1999). Factors that influence African American male teachers'
educational and career aspirations: Implications for school district recruitment and
retention efforts. Journal of Negro Education, 280-292.

112
Brown, K. D. (2018). Race as a durable and shifting idea: How Black millennial preservice
teachers understand race, racism, and teaching. Peabody Journal of Education, 93(1),
106-120.
Bryan, N., & Browder, J. K. (2013). " Are You Sure You Know What You Are Doing?"--The
Lived Experiences of an African American Male Kindergarten Teacher. Interdisciplinary
Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(3), 142-158.
Bryan, N., & Milton Williams, T. (2017). We need more than just male bodies in classrooms:
Recruiting and retaining culturally relevant Black male teachers in early childhood
education. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 38(3), 209-222.
10.1080/10901027.2017.1346529
Burchfield, S. R. (1985). Stress: An integrative framework. In S. R.Burchfield (Ed.), Stress:
Psychological and physiological interactions (pp. 381-394). New York: Hemisphere.
Burke, R. J., Greenglass, E. R., & Schwarzer, R. (1996). Predicting teacher burnout over time:
Effects of work stress, social support, and self-doubts on burnout and its consequences.
Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 9(3), 261-275.
Carey, R. L. (2018). "What am I gonna be losing?" School culture and the family-based college-
going dilemmas of Black and Latino adolescent boys. Education and Urban Society, 50,
246-273. doi:10.1177/0013124517713112
Cavanaugh, M. A., Boswell, W. R., Roehling, M. V., & Boudreau, J. W. (2000). An empirical
examination of self-reported work stress among US managers. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 85(1), 65.

113
Cha, & Roberts, L. M. (2019). Leveraging Minority Identities at Work: An Individual-Level
Framework of the Identity Mobilization Process. Organization Science (Providence,
R.I.), 30(4), 735–760. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2018.1272
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Sage.
Cherl, J., & Travers, C. L. C. (1996). Teachers under pressure: Stress in the teaching profession.
Routledge, London and New York.
Chiesa, A. (2010). Vipassana meditation: systematic review of current evidence. The Journal of
Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(1), 37-46.
Chiesa, A., & Malinowski, P. (2011). Mindfulness‐based approaches: Are they all the same?.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(4), 404-424.
Chin, E., & Young, J. W. (2007). A person-oriented approach to characterizing beginning
teachers in alternative certification programs. Educational Researcher, 36(2), 74-83.
Chirhart, A. S. (2005). Torches of light: Georgia teachers & the coming of the modern south.
University of Georgia Press.
Chong, C. S., Tsunaka, M., & Chan, E. P. (2011). Effects of yoga on stress management in
healthy adults: a systematic review. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 17(1),
32.
Clark, L. M., Badertscher, E. M., & Napp, C. (2013). African American mathematics teachers as
agents in their African American students’ mathematics identity formation. Teachers
College Record, 115(2), 1-36.
Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for
African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54(10), 805.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought. New York, NY: Routledge.

114
Cone, J. H. (2000). Black liberation theology and black Catholics: A critical conversation.
Theological Studies,61(4), 731–747.
Constantine, M. G., Sue, D. W. (2006). Factors contributing to optimal human functioning in
people of color in the United States. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(2), 228-244.
Costa, D., & Lahey, J. (2003). Becoming oldest-old: evidence from historical US data.
Crawley, R. (2006). Diversity and the marginalisation of black women's issues. Policy Futures in
Education, 4(2), 172-184.
Croghan, R., Griffin, C., Hunter, J., & Phoenix, A. (2008). Young people's constructions of self:
Notes on the use and analysis of the photo‐elicitation methods. International Journal of
Social Research Methodology, 11(4), 345-356.
Cross Jr., W. E., Strauss, L., Fhagen-Smith, P. (1999). African American identity development
across the life span: Educational implications. In Racial and ethnic identity in school
practices (pp. 39-58). Routledge.
Daly, A., Carey, R. N., Darcey, E., Chih, H., LaMontagne, A. D., Milner, A., & Reid, A. (2018).
Workplace psychosocial stressors experienced by migrant workers in Australia: A cross-
sectional study. Plos one, 13(9), e0203998.
Dane, E. (2011). Paying attention to mindfulness and its effects on task performance in the
workplace. Journal of Management, 37(4), 997-1018.
Dartey-Baah, K., Quartey, S. H., & Osafo, G. A. (2020). Examining occupational stress, job
satisfaction and gender difference among bank tellers: evidence from Ghana.
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.
Daugherity, B. J., & Bolton, C. C. (2011). With all deliberate speed implementing Brown v.
Board of Education. University of Arkansas Press.

115
De Bruin, E. I., Formsma, A. R., Frijstein, G., & Bögels, S. M. (2017). Mindful2Work: effects of
combined physical exercise, yoga, and mindfulness meditations for stress relieve in
employees. A proof of concept study. Mindfulness, 8, 204-217.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-
resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied psychology, 86(3), 499.
Diamond, J. B. (2007). Where the rubber meets the road: Rethinking the connection between
high-stakes testing policy and classroom instruction. Sociology of Education, 80(4), 285-
313.
Dilworth, M. E., & Brown, A. L. (2008). Teachers of color: Quality and effective teachers one
way or another. In Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 424-444). Routledge.
Dorman, J. (2003). Testing a model for teacher burnout. Australian Journal of Educational &
Developmental Psychology, 3(1), 35-47.
Dos Santos, L. M. (2020). Stress, burnout, and turnover issues of Black expatriate education
professionals in South Korea: Social biases, discrimination, and workplace bullying.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 3851.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1899). The Philadelphia negro: A social study (No. 14). Published for the
University.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (2009). The tragedy of Jim Crow. Crisis Publishing Company.
Du Bois, W. E. В. (1973). Whither now and why. In Aptheker, H. (Ed.), The education of
Black people (pp. 149-158). Amherst, MA: The University of Massachusetts Press.
Dumas, M. J. (2016a). Against the Dark: Antiblackness in Education Policy and Discourse.
Theory into Practice, 55(1), 11-19. 10.1080/00405841.2016.1116852

116
Duncan, G. A. (2002). Beyond love: A critical race ethnography of the schooling of adolescent
Black males. Equity & Excellence in Education, 35(2), 131-143.
Dunham, J., & Varma, V. P. (1998). Stress in teachers: Past, present and future. John Wiley &
Sons Inc.
Emdin, Adjapong, E., & Levy, I. (2016). Hip-hop based interventions as pedagogy/therapy in
STEM. Journal for Multicultural Education, 10(3), 307–321.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-03-2016-0023
Emdin, C. (2019). On innervisions and becoming in Urban Education: Pentecostal hip-hop
pedagogies in the key of life. Maxine Greene and the Pedagogy of Social Imagination,
106–119. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351014830-8
Emdin. (2016). For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of y’all Too: Reality

Pedagogy and Urban Education. Beacon Press.

Emdin. (2010). Affiliation and alienation: Hip-hop, rap, and urban science education. Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 42(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220270903161118
Emdin. (2021). Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success. Beacon Press.
Espino-Díaz, L., Fernandez-Caminero, G., Hernandez-Lloret, C. M., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, H., &
Alvarez-Castillo, J. L. (2020). Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on education
professionals. Toward a paradigm shift: ICT and neuroeducation as a binomial of action.
Sustainability, 12(14), 5646.
Fairclough, A. (2004). The costs of Brown: Black teachers and school integration. The Journal of
American History, 91(1), 43-55.

117
Farinde, A. A., Allen, A., & Lewis, C. W. (2016). Retaining Black teachers: An examination of
Black female teachers’ intentions to remain in K-12 classrooms. Equity & Excellence in
Education, 49(1), 115-127.
Farkas, G. (2003). Racial disparities and discrimination in education: What do we know, how do
we know it, and what do we need to know?. Teachers College Record, 105(6), 1119-
1146.
Feistritzer, C. E., Griffin, S., & Linnajarvi, A. (2011). Profile of teachers in the US, 2011 (pp. 9-
14). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Information.
Ferguson, A. A. (2020). Bad boys: Public schools in the making of black masculinity. University
of Michigan Press.
Ferguson, R. F. (2003). Teachers’ perceptions and expectations and the Black-White test score
gap. Urban Education, 38, 460–507.
Finnan, C. (2015). Getting on the mat: Teachers and students engaging in yoga together.
Childhood Education, 91(6), 463-468.
Fleming, N. (2020). Curbing teacher burnout during the pandemic. George Lucas Educational
Foundation Edutopia.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Gruen, R. J., & DeLongis, A. (1986). Appraisal, coping, health
status, and psychological symptoms. Journal of personality and Social Psychology,
50(3), 571.
Fraser-Abder, P. (2010). Reflections on success and retention in urban science education: Voices
of five African‐American science teachers who stayed. School Science and Mathematics,
110(5), 238-246.

118
Freudenberger, H. J. (1989). Burnout: Past, present, and future concerns. Loss, Grief & Care,
3(1-2), 1-10.
Frone, M. R. (2008). Are work stressors related to employee substance use? The importance of
temporal context assessments of alcohol and illicit drug use. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 93(1), 199.
Frone. (1999). Work Stress and Alcohol Use. Alcohol Health and Research World, 23(4), 284–
291.
Fullan, M. (2006). The future of educational change: System thinkers in action. Journal of
Educational Change, 7(3), 113-122.
Fultz, M. (2004). The displacement of Black educators post-Brown: An overview and analysis.
History of Education Quarterly, 44(1), 11-45.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures (Vol. 5043). Basic books.
Geronimus, A. T. (1992). The weathering hypothesis and the health of African-American women
and infants: evidence and speculations. Ethnicity & Disease, 207-221.
Geronimus, A. T., Hicken, M., Keene, D., & Bound, J. (2006). “Weathering” and age patterns of
allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States. American Journal of
Public Health, 96(5), 826-833.
Gist, C. D. (2018). Growing and sustaining Black teachers: Examining contemporary research in
the field. The Urban Review, 50, 193-196.
Gist, C., & White, T. C. (2011). Testify in' in the 21st century: Recovering the voices of Black
educators from the field of alternative certification. In annual meeting of the American
Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
Givens, J. R. (2021). Fugitive pedagogy. Harvard University Press.

119
Gladney, M. J. (1995). The Black arts movement and hip-hop. African American Review, 29(2),
291–301. https://doi.org/ 10.2307/3042308
Goings, R. B. (2015). The lion tells his side of the (counter)story A Black male educator's
autoethnographic account. Journal of African American Males in Education, 6( I), 91-
105.
Goings, R. B., Smith, A., Harris, D., Wilson, T., & Lancaster, D. (2015). Countering the
narrative: A layered perspective on supporting Black males in education. Penn GSE
Perspectives on Urban Education, 12(1), 54-63.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). The emotional reality of teams. Journal of
Organizational Excellence, 21(2), 55-65.
Graham, A., & Erwin, K. D. (2011). " I don't think Black men teach because how they get treated
as students": High-achieving African American boys' perceptions of teaching as a career
option. Journal of Negro Education, 80(3), 398-416.
Gray, J. A. (2018). Leadership coaching and mentoring: A research-based model for stronger
partnerships. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 13(12), n12.
Green, K. J. (2022). Painting the Experience of Black Elementary School Teachers: A Portraiture
Perspective Case Study. Journal of Black Studies, 53(7), 703-727.
Green, S. K. (2002). Using an expectancy-value approach to examine teachers’ motivational
strategies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(8), 989-1005.
Gregory, S. T. (2001). Black faculty women in the academy: History, status, and future. Journal
of Negro Education, 124-138.
Griva, F., & Anagnostopoulos, F. (2010). Positive psychological states and anxiety: The
mediating effect of proactive coping. Psychological Reports, 107(3), 795-804.

120
Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., & Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress
reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research,
57(1), 35-43.
Guglielmi, R. S., & Tatrow, K. (1998). Occupational stress, burnout, and health in teachers: A
methodological and theoretical analysis. Review of Educational Research, 68(1), 61-99.
Hallett, T. (2010). The myth incarnate: Recoupling processes, turmoil, and inhabited institutions
in an urban elementary school. American Sociological Review, 75(1), 52-74.
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2005). Can instructional and emotional support in the first‐grade
classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure?. Child Development,
76(5), 949-967.
Harding, S. (1986). The instability of the analytical categories of feminist theory. Signs, 11(4),
645–664.

Harini, K. N. & Nilkantham, S. (2022). Role of yoga in managing the consequences of work
stress—a review. Health Promotion International.
https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac038
Harper, D. (1988). Visual Sociology: Expanding Sociological Vision, in The American
Sociologist. Spring 2002.
Harper, D. (2012). Visual sociology. Routledge.
Harper, S. R. (2009). Niggers no more: A critical race counternarrative on Black male student
achievement at predominantly White colleges and universities. International Journal of
Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 697-712.

121
Harper, S. R. (2012). Race without racism: How higher education researchers minimize racist
institutional norms. The Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 9-29.
Hawkins, B. (2010). ‘Call me Mister Initiative’ succeeds in recruiting, developing Black
teachers. The Hechinger Report.
Haycock, K. (2001). Closing the achievement gap. Educational Leadership, 58(6), 6-11.
Hayes, D. W. (1993). Educating the hip hop generation: Communication barriers offset efforts to
reach young minds. Black Issues in Higher Education, 10(14), 30–33.
Haynes, R., Forbes, P., Chism, H., & Harris, C. (2016). Improving teacher training, recruitment,
and diversity in New York: ESI and NYC Men Teach. https
://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern .edu/nyar_vegas /2016/poste r/18/.
Heffer, T., & Willoughby, T. (2017). A count of coping strategies: A longitudinal study
investigating an alternative method to understanding coping and adjustment. PloS one,
12(10), e0186057.
Heilig, J. V., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Accountability Texas-style: The progress and
learning of urban minority students in a high-stakes testing context. Educational
Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 75-110.
Herman, K. C., Sebastian, J., Reinke, W. M., & Huang, F. L. (2021). Individual and school
predictors of teacher stress, coping, and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. School
Psychology, 36(6), 483.
Hicks Tafari, D. N. (2018). “Whose world is this?”: A composite counterstory of Black male
elementary school teachers as hip-hop otherfathers. The Urban Review, 50(5), 795-817.

122
Hicks-Harper, P. T. (1993). Black educators, black elementary school students, and black rap
music artists on educational entertainment rap music video for pedagogy: a cultural and
critical analysis. University of Maryland, College Park.
Hight, S. K., & Park, J. Y. (2019). Role stress and alcohol use on restaurant server’s job
satisfaction: Which comes first?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 76,
231-239.
Hill, M. L. (2009). Beats, rhymes, and classroom life: Hip-hop pedagogy and the politics of
identity. Teachers College Press.
Howard, T. C. (2019). Why race and culture matter in schools: Closing the achievement gap in
America's classrooms. Teachers College Press.
Howard, T. C., & Reynolds, R. (2013). Examining Black male identity through a raced, classed,
and gendered lens: Critical race theory and the intersectionality of the Black male
experience. In Handbook of critical race theory in education (pp. 252-267). Routledge.
Huberman, A. M., & Vandenberghe, R. (1999). Introduction: Burnout and the teaching
profession. Understanding and preventing teacher burnout, 1-11.
Hudson, M. J., & Holmes, B. J. (1994). Missing teachers, impaired communities: The
unanticipated consequences of Brown v. Board of Education on the African American
teaching force at the precollegiate level. The Journal of Negro Education, 63(3), 388-393.
Humphrey, D. C., & Wechsler, M. E. (2007). Insights into alternative certification: Initial
findings from a national study. Teachers College Record, 109(3), 483-530.
Hundley, M. G. (1965). The dunbar story, 1870-1955. Vantage Press.
Ilić Petković, A., & Nikolić, V. (2020). Educational needs of employees in work-related stress
management. Work, 65(3), 661-669.

123
Ingram, D., Louis, K. S., & Schroeder, R. G. (2004). Accountability policies and teacher
decision making: Barriers to the use of data to improve practice. Teachers College
Record, 106(6), 1258-1287.
Irvine, J. J. (1988). An analysis of the problem of disappearing Black educators. The Elementary
School Journal, 88(5), 503-513.
Jackson, I., & Knight-Manuel, M. (2018). “color does not equal consciousness”: Educators
of color learning to enact a sociopolitical consciousness. Journal of Teacher Education,
70(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118783189
Jaiyeoba, A. O., & Jibril, M. A. (2008). Sources of occupational stress among secondary school
administrators in Kano State, Nigeria. African Research Review, 2(3), 116-129.
Janken, K. R. (2003). White: The Biography of Walter White, Mr. NAACP (New York: New P,
2003), 265-273.
Jex, S. M. (1998). Stress and job performance: Theory, research, and implications for
managerial practice. Sage Publications Ltd.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994, September). Catalyzing movement towards a more contemplative/sacred-
appreciating/non-dualistic society. In Meeting of the working group.
Kaden, U. (2020). COVID-19 school closure-related changes to the professional life of a K–12
teacher. Education Sciences, 10(6), 165.
Kato, T. (2012). Development of the Coping Flexibility Scale: evidence for the coping flexibility
hypothesis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 262.
Keith. (2023). On Being Ed Emcees: Toward Hip-Hop Educational Leadership Theory,
Research, and Praxis. Equity & Excellence in Education, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print),
1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2023.2200207

124
Kelty, S. F., & Gordon, H. (2015). No burnout at this coal-face: Managing occupational stress in
forensic personnel and the implications for forensic and criminal justice agencies.
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(2), 273-290.
Khramtsova, I., Saarnio, D. A., Gordeeva, T., & Williams, K. (2007). Happiness, life satisfaction
and depression in college students: Relations with student behaviours and attitudes.
American Journal of Psychological Research, 3(1), 8-16.
Kim, L. E., & Asbury, K. (2020). ‘Like a rug had been pulled from under you’: The impact of
COVID‐19 on teachers in England during the first six weeks of the UK lockdown. British
Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 1062-1083.
King, J. (2016). The invisible tax on teachers of color. The Washington Post. Retrieved from
https ://www.washi ngton post.com.
Klassen, R. M., & Chiu, M. M. (2010). Effects on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction:
Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress. Journal of Educational Psychology,
102(3), 741.
Kostanski, M., & Hassed, C. (2008). Mindfulness as a concept and a process. Australian
Psychologist, 43(1), 15-21.
Kunjufu, J. (2005). Countering the conspiracy to destroy black boys. African American Images.
Kyriacou, C., & Coulthard, M. (2000). Undergraduates' views of teaching as a career choice.
Journal of Education for Teaching, 26(2), 117-126.
Kyriacou, C., & Sutcliffe, J. (1977). Teacher stress: A review. Educational Review, 29(4), 299-
306.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer Publishing
Company.

125
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1987). Transactional theory and research on emotions and
coping. European Journal of Personality, 1(3), 141-169.
Leech, N. L., Haug, C. A., & Bianco, M. (2019). Understanding Urban High School Students of
Color Motivation to Teach: Validating the FIT-Choice Scale. Urban Education, 54(7),
957-983. 10.1177/0042085915623338
Leech, N. L., Haug, C. A., & Bianco, M. (2019). Understanding urban high school students of
color motivation to teach: Validating the FIT-Choice Scale. Urban Education, 54(7),
957-983.
LePine, J. A., Podsakoff, N. P., & LePine, M. A. (2005). A meta-analytic test of the challenge
stressor–hindrance stressor framework: An explanation for inconsistent relationships
among stressors and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 48(5), 764-775.
Lewis, A. E. (2003). Race in the schoolyard: Negotiating the color line in classrooms and
communities. Rutgers University Press.
Lewis, C. W. (2006). African American male teachers in public schools: An examination of three
urban school districts. Teachers College Record, 108(2), 224-245.
Lewis, C. W. (2013). Black male teachers’ path to US K-12 classrooms: Framing the national
discussion. In Black Male Teachers (Vol. 1, pp. 3-14). Emerald Group Publishing
Limited.
Lewis. (2016). Teaching While Black: A New Voice on Race and Education in New York City.
Fordham University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823271436
Lewis, C. W., & Toldson, A. (2013). Black male teachers: Diversifying the United States’
teacher workforce. Emerald Group.

126
Low, E. L., Ng, P. T., Hui, C., & Cai, L. (2017). Teaching as a career choice: Triggers and
drivers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 42(2), 28-46.
Lutz, M. (2017). The hidden cost of Brown v. Board: African American educators' resistance to
desegregating schools. Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy, 12(4).
Lynn, M. (2002). Critical race theory and the perspectives of Black men teachers in the Los
Angeles public schools. Equity & Excellence in Education, 35(2), 119-130.
Lynn, M. (2006). Education for the community: Exploring the culturally relevant practices of
Black male teachers. Teachers College Record, 108(12), 2497-2522.
MacIntyre, P. D., Gregersen, T., & Mercer, S. (2020). Language teachers’ coping strategies
during the COVID-19 conversion to online teaching: Correlations with stress, wellbeing
and negative emotions. System, 94, 102352.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102352
Madaus G. F., Clarke M. (2001). The adverse impact of high-stakes testing on minority students:
Evidence from one hundred years of test data. In Orfield G., Kornhaber M. L. (Eds.),
Raising standards or raising barriers? Inequality and high-stakes testing in public
education (pp. 85–106). New York, NY: Century Foundation Press.
Madkins, T. C. (2011). The Black teacher shortage: A literature review of historical and
contemporary trends. Journal of Negro Education, 80(3), 417-427.
Manuel, J., & Hughes, J. (2006). ‘It has always been my dream’: exploring pre-service teachers’
motivations for choosing to teach. Teacher Development, 10(1), 5-24.
Marcatto, F., Colautti, L., Filon, F. L., Luis, O., Di Blas, L., Cavallero, C., & Ferrante, D. (2016).
Work-related stress risk factors and health outcomes in public sector employees. Safety
Science, 89, 274-278.

127
Marthiensen, R., Sedgwick, M., & Crowder, R. (2019). Effects of a brief mindfulness
intervention on after-degree nursing student stress. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(3),
165-168.
Maslach, C. (2017). Burnout: A multidimensional perspective. Professional Burnout, 19–32.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315227979-3
Maslach, C., & Goldberg, J. (1998). Prevention of burnout: New perspectives. Applied and
Preventive Psychology, 7(1), 63-74.
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). Maslach burnout inventory. Scarecrow
Education.
Matheny, K. B., Aycock, D. W., Pugh, J. L., Curlette, W. L., & Silva Cannella, K. A. (1986).
Stress coping: A qualitative and quantitative synthesis with implications for treatment.
The Counseling Psychologist, 14(4), 499-549.
Maxwell, J. A. (2008). Designing a qualitative study (Vol. 2, pp. 214-253). The SAGE handbook
of applied social research methods.
McCready, L., & Mosely, M. (2014). Making space for Black queer teachers: Pedagogic
possibilities. In C. W. Lewis, Y. Sealey-Ruiz, & I. Toldson (Eds.), Teacher education and
black communities: Implications for access, equity and achievement (pp. 43–58).
Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
McGee, E. O., & Stovall, D. (2015). Reimagining critical race theory in education: Mental
health, healing, and the pathway to liberatory praxis. Educational Theory, 65(5), 491-
511.
McGrath, J. E. (1976). Stress and behavior in organizations. Handbook of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, 1351, 1396.

128
McKinley Jones Brayboy, B. (2003). The implementation of diversity in predominantly white
colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 34(1), 72-86.
McNeil, L. M., Coppola, E., Radigan, J., & Heilig, J. V. (2008). Avoidable losses: High-stakes
accountability and the dropout crisis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16(3), 1-48.
Meehan, T., Bergen, H., Coveney, C., & Thornton, R. (2002). Development and evaluation of a
training program in peer support for former consumers. International Journal of Mental
Health Nursing, 11(1), 34-39.
Meidl, C. (2019). Challenges to recruiting black males into early childhood education. Urban
Education, 54(4), 564-591.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2017). Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation. Langara College.
Miller, J. J., Fletcher, K., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1995). Three-year follow-up and clinical
implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the
treatment of anxiety disorders. General Hospital Psychiatry, 17(3), 192-200.
Milner IV, H. R., & Howard, T. C. (2013). Counter-narrative as method: Race, policy and
research for teacher education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(4), 536-561.
Milner, H. R. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen,
unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400.
doi:10.3102/0013189X07309471
Milner, H. R., & Howard, T. C. (2004). Black teachers, Black students, Black communities, and
Brown: Perspectives and insights from experts. Journal of Negro Education, 285-297.

129
Milner, H. R., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2003). Teacher self-efficacy and retaining talented teachers:
A case study of an African American teacher. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(2),
263-276.
Moran, A., Kilpatrick, R., Abbott, L., Dallat, J., & McClune, B. (2001). Training to teach:
Motivating factors and implications for recruitment. Evaluation & Research in
Education, 15(1), 17-32.
Mosely, M. (2018). The Black teacher project: How racial affinity professional development
sustains Black teachers. The Urban Review, 50(2), 267-283.
Nelson, J. D. (2016). Relational teaching with Black boys: Strategies for learning at a single-sex
middle school for boys of color in New York City. Teachers College Record, 118(6), 1-
30.
Newman, L. M. (1999). White women's rights: The racial origins of feminism in the United
States. Oxford University Press on Demand.
Nilsen, C., Andel, R., Fors, S., Meinow, B., Darin Mattsson, A., & Kåreholt, I. (2014).
Associations between work-related stress in late midlife, educational attainment, and
serious health problems in old age: a longitudinal study with over 20 years of follow-up.
BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1-12.
Noguera, P. A. (2006). A critical response to Michael Fullan's" The future of educational change:
system thinkers in action". Journal of Educational Change, 7(3), 129.
O. Jackson, T., Kohli, R. (2016). Guest editors’ introduction: The state of teachers of color.
Equity & Excellence in Education, 49(1), 1-8.
Oboegbulem, A. I., & Onwurah, C. (2011). Organization and management of education: A
Nigerian perspective. Nsukka Great AP Express Publishers.

130
Pabon, A. (2014). Waiting for black superman. Urban Education, 51(8), 915–939.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914553673
Parker, D. F., & DeCotiis, T. A. (1983). Organizational determinants of job stress.
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 32(2), 160-177.
Parker, J. D., & Endler, N. S. (1992). Coping with coping assessment: A critical review.
European Journal of Personality, 6(5), 321-344.
Pascarella, J. and Silva, E. (2023). How can K-12 leaders advance racial equity efforts in the
face of book bans and censorship measures? University of Southern California Race and
Equity Center.
Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and
practice. Sage publications.
Patton, T. O. (2004). Reflections of a Black woman professor: Racism and sexism in academia.
Howard Journal of Communications, 15(3), 185-200.
Payne, Y. A., & Suddler, C. (2014). Cope, conform, or resist? functions of a black
American identity at a predominantly white university. Equity & Excellence in
Education, 47(3), 385–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2014.933756
Perkins, L. (1989). The history of Blacks in teaching. In Warren, D. R. (1989). American
teachers: Histories of a profession at work. Macmillan u.a.
Peterson, M., & Wilson, J. F. (2004). Work Stress in America.
Pines, A. M. (1993). Burnout.
Pithers, R. T., & Soden, R. (1998). Scottish and Australian teacher stress and strain: a
comparative study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68(2), 269-279.

131
Podsakoff, N. P., LePine, J. A., & LePine, M. A. (2007). Differential challenge stressor-
hindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and
withdrawal behavior: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 438.
Ransford, C. R., Greenberg, M. T., Domitrovich, C. E., Small, M., & Jacobson, L. (2009). The
role of teachers' psychological experiences and perceptions of curriculum supports on the
implementation of a social and emotional learning curriculum. School Psychology
Review, 38(4), 510.
Ratcliff, N. J., Costner, R. H., Carroll, K. L., Jones, C. R., Sheehan, H. C., & Hunt, G. H. (2016).
Causes of and Solutions to the Achievement Gap: Teachers' Perceptions. Teacher
Educators' Journal, 9, 97-111.
Rausch, S. M., Gramling, S. E., & Auerbach, S. M. (2006). Effects of a single session of large-
group meditation and progressive muscle relaxation training on stress reduction,
reactivity, and recovery. International Journal of Stress Management, 13(3), 273.
Ready, D. D., Wright, D. L. (2011). Accuracy and inaccuracy in teachers’ perceptions of young
children’s cognitive abilities: The role of child background and classroom context.
American Educational Research Journal, 48, 335–360.
Reich, J., Buttimer, C. J., Coleman, D., Colwell, R. D., Faruqi, F., & Larke, L. R. (2020).
What’s Lost, What’s Left, What’s next: Lessons Learned from the Lived Experiences of
Teachers during the 2020 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic.
https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/8exp9
Roberts, L. M., & Cha, S. (2016). Sources of strength: Mobilizing minority racial, ethnic,
and cultural identities as resources. In L. M. Roberts, L. Wooten, & M. Davidson

132
(Eds.), Positive organizing in a global society: Understanding and engaging differences for
capacity-building and inclusion (pp. 31–36). New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor &
Francis Group.
Rogers-Ard, R., Knaus, C. B., Epstein, K. K., & Mayfield, K. (2013). Racial diversity sounds
nice; Systems transformation? Not so much: Developing urban teachers of color. Urban
Education, 48(3), 451-479.
Salami, S. O. (2008). Psychopathology and academic performance among Nigerian high school
adolescents: The moderator effects of study behaviour, self-efficacy and motivation.
Journal of Social Sciences, 16(2), 155-162.
Salzer, M. S., Darr, N., Calhoun, G., Boyer, W., Loss, R. E., Goessel, J., ... & Brusilovskiy, E.
(2013). Benefits of working as a certified peer specialist: results from a statewide survey.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 36(3), 219.
Sandles Jr, D. (2020). Using critical race theory to explore the Black men teacher shortage.
Journal of Negro Education, 89(1), 67-81.
Santiago, Nwokoma, N., & Crentsil, J. (2021). Investigating the Implications of Code-Switching
and Assimilating at Work for African American Professionals. Journal of Business
Diversity, 21(4), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.33423/jbd.v21i4.4750
Sauer, S. E., & Baer, R. A. (2009). Relationships between thought suppression and symptoms of
borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 23(1), 48-61.
Sayette. (1999). Does Drinking Reduce Stress? Alcohol Health and Research World, 23(4), 250–
255
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship
with burnout and engagement: A multi‐sample study. Journal of Organizational

133
Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational
Psychology and Behavior, 25(3), 293-315.
Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Senesac, E., & Scheibe, S. (2013). Reconciling cognitive decline and increased well-being
with age. Oxford Handbooks Online.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199899463.013.007
Seth, M. J. (2002). Education fever: Society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South
Korea. University of Hawaii Press.
Sharma, & Cooper, C. L. (2016). Executive Burnout: Eastern and Western Concepts, Models and
Approaches for Mitigation. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Shatté, A., Perlman, A., Smith, B., & Lynch, W. D. (2017). The positive effect of resilience
on stress and business outcomes in difficult work environments. Journal of Occupational
& Environmental Medicine, 59(2), 135–140.
https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000000914
Shernoff, E. S., Mehta, T. G., Atkins, M. S., Torf, R., & Spencer, J. (2011). A qualitative study
of the sources and impact of stress among urban teachers. School Mental Health, 3, 59-
69.
Shipp, V. H. (1999). Factors influencing the career choices of African American collegians:
Implications for minority teacher recruitment. Journal of Negro Education, 343-351.
SI Staff (2011) ‘L.A. football star Dannie Farber was shot in senseless killing’, Sports Illustrated,
1 December. Available at: https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/12/01/dannie-farber
(Accessed: 24 April 2023).

134
Somech, A. (2016). The cost of going the extra mile: The relationship between teachers’
organizational citizenship behavior, role stressors, and strain with the buffering effect of
job autonomy. Teachers and Teaching, 22(4), 426-447.
Sowell, T. (1974). Black excellence: the case of Dunbar high school. The Public Interest, 35, 3.
Sriram, K. V., Drisya, R., & Giridhar, K. (2022). Does Work Environment & Work-Life Balance
Influence Women Employees’ Intention to Stay?. Studies in Business and Economics,
17(2), 239-251.
Stahl, Goldstein, E., Kabat-zinn, J., & Santorelli, S. (2010). A Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction Workbook. New Harbinger Publications.
Stahl, Goldstein, E., Kabat-zinn, J., & Santorelli, S. (2010). A Mindfulness-Based Stress
Reduction Workbook. New Harbinger Publications.
Stansfeld, S., & Candy, B. (2006). Psychosocial work environment and mental health—a meta-
analytic review. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 443-462.
Stovall, D. (2018). Are we ready for ‘school’abolition?: Thoughts and practices of radical
imaginary in education. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, 17(1), 6.
Stroud, C. B., Davila, J., & Moyer, A. (2008). The relationship between stress and depression in
first onsets versus recurrences: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,
117(1), 206.
Suyi, Y., Meredith, P., & Khan, A. (2017). Effectiveness of mindfulness intervention in reducing
stress and burnout for mental health professionals in Singapore. Explore, 13(5), 319-326.
Tafari, D. N. H. (2013). “I can get at these kids”: A narrative study exploring the reasons Black
men teach. In Black Male Teachers. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

135
Tenenbaum, H. R., Ruck, M. D. (2007). Are teachers’ expectations different for racial minority
than for European American students? A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 99, 253–27
Teut, M., Knilli, J., Daus, D., Roll, S., & Witt, C. M. (2016). Qigong or yoga versus no
intervention in older adults with chronic low back pain—a randomized controlled trial.
The Journal of Pain, 17(7), 796-805.
Thich NH. (2008). Breathe, You Are Alive! The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing.
Berkely, CA: Parallax Press
Tillman, L. C. (2004). (Un) intended consequences? The impact of the Brown v. Board of
Education decision on the employment status of Black educators. Education and Urban
Society, 36(3), 280-303.
Tocqueville, A. D. (2000). Democracy in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Turner, C. S. (2003). Incorporation and marginalization in the academy: From border toward
center for faculty of color?. Journal of Black studies, 34(1), 112-125.
van der Doef, M., & Maes, S. (1999). The Leiden Quality of Work Questionnaire: its
construction, factor structure, and psychometric qualities. Psychological Reports, 85(3),
954-962.
Van Maanen, J. (1979). Reclaiming qualitative methods for organizational research: A preface.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4), 520-526.
Villegas, A. M., & Irvine, J. J. (2010). Diversifying the teaching force: An examination of major
arguments. The Urban Review, 42, 175-192.
Walker, L. J. (2020). Deconstructing the challenges Black male preservice teachers encounter in
rural schools. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(5), 513-520.

136
Walker, V. S. (2001). African American teaching in the South: 1940–1960. American
Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 751-779.
Walker, V. S. (2015). School "Outer-gration" and "Tokenism": Segregated Black Educators
Critique the Promise of Education Reform in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Journal of
Negro Education, 84(2).
Wallace, D. (2017). Distinctiveness, deference and dominance in Black Caribbean fathers'
engagement with public schools in London and New York City. Gender and Education,
29(5), 594-613.
Westphal, A., Kalinowski, E., Hoferichter, C. J., & Vock, M. (2022). K-12 teachers' stress and
burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology,
5256.
Whalen, J. (2020). Should teachers be trained in emergency remote teaching? Lessons learned
from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 28(2),
189-199.
Whybrow, D., Jones, N., & Greenberg, N. (2015). Promoting organizational well-being: a
comprehensive review of Trauma Risk Management. Occupational Medicine, 65(4), 331-
336.
Williams, H. A. (2009). Self-taught: African American education in slavery and freedom. Univ
of North Carolina Press.
Williams, M. 1974. Community in a Black Pentecostal Church: An Anthropological Study.
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Williams, M., & Moser, T. (2019). The art of coding and thematic exploration in qualitative
research. International Management Review, 15(1), 45-55.

137
Wong, A. K. F., Kim, S. S., Kim, J., & Han, H. (2021). How the COVID-19 pandemic affected
hotel Employee stress: Employee perceptions of occupational stressors and their
consequences. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 93, 102798.
Woodson, C. G. (1990). The miseducation of the Negro. New York: AMS Press. (Original
work published 1933).
Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Dollard, M. F., Demerouti, E., Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W.,
& Schreurs, P. J. G. (2007). When do job demands particularly predict burnout? Journal
of Managerial Psychology, 22(8), 766–786. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710837714
Yousaf, S., Rasheed, M. I., Hameed, Z., & Luqman, A. (2020). Occupational stress and its
outcomes: the role of work-social support in the hospitality industry. Personnel Review,
49(3), 755-773.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Despite being celebrated for their understandings of the cultural experiences of their students and engaging in instructional practices that support students from non-dominant communities, Black educators endure a host of gendered and racialized occupational stressors without having access to systems of culturally informed supports that result in their wellbeing. Extant literature has investigated the occurrences in educational spaces that induce stress among educators generally. However, there remains a lack of scholarship focused not only on occupational stressors specific to particular Black educator groups (Black women educators, Black male educators, Black queer educators, to name a few), but also the impact of occupational stressors and how Black educators cope. Qualitative research methods were employed to conduct a phenomenological study using visual media from the social media platform TikTok. The top 30 videos in five hashtags (a total of 150) were analyzed to understand the shared workplace experiences of Black teachers, counselors, and administrators, and the ways they draw from their Blackness to manage occupational stressors and to attend to their wellbeing. Findings that emerged from this study include gendered differences and culturally-informed ways Black educators communicate with their students; shared workplace experiences of Black educators related to interactions with students; workplace occurrences that induce stress in Black educators; and coping with occupational stress and attending to wellbeing. These findings could be used to inform how Black educators sustain their wellbeing by operating in their authentic selves, how school leaders can affirm the voices of Black educators and co-construct safe spaces, and how researchers can further investigate the intersectionality of Black professionals in educational spaces and the diverse ways Black educators activate their Blackness and harness it to effectively cope with occupational stressors.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

A decolonial praxis of hip-hop: hip-hop culture's connection to resilient youth's critical consciousness and wellbeing

PDF

Working while Black: occupational experiences, hazards, and triumphs of Black staff and administrators in higher education

PDF

Biophilia: a study of how nature-focused environments influence Black student wellbeing through an ecological systems theory

PDF

Perceptions of early childhood educators on how reflective supervision influences instructional effectiveness and teacher wellbeing

PDF

Racism, discrimination and stereotypes: the cost of success for Black women in the workplace

PDF

Authors of our story: Black female students' experience during their first year at a predominantly White institution through a syncretic lens of critical race feminism and Afro-pessimism

PDF

Into the night: A critical race feminist approach for understanding the off-campus experiences of Black undergraduate women in nightclubs

PDF

Broken windows on campus: Policing and racism in higher education

PDF

The lack of Black women in higher education executive leadership in four-year colleges and universities

PDF

Postsecondary students, well-being, and sources of support

PDF

The relationship between Latinx undergraduate students’ mental health and college graduation rates

PDF

Protest of the oppressed: a case study on Black female administrators’ experiences in K-12 education from student to leadership

PDF

U.S. Filipinos in higher education: sense of belonging, validation, well-being, and campus culture as predictors of GPA and intent to persist

PDF

Well-being of school communities

PDF

Executive realness: examining the identity construction of black gay male educators and its influence on authentic identity expression in the K-12 workplace

PDF

Unapologetically me: a narrative analysis on Black queer students’ authenticity and well-being at predominantly White institutions

PDF

Identifying and defining environmental stressors influencing law student wellness and well-being: an exploratory study

PDF

Examining Financial Well-being and Financial Stress: Experiences of Low-income and First-generation Postsecondary Students

PDF

Promoting well-being amid a global pandemic: evaluating the impact on nonprofit employees

PDF

Black women in tech: examining experiences in tech industry workplaces

Asset Metadata

Creator Thrash, Robert James, IV (author)

Core Title We gon’ be alright: A phenomenology of Black educators, occupational stressors, and wellbeing

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2023-08

Publication Date 08/17/2023

Defense Date 05/31/2023

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Black educators,educational spaces,OAI-PMH Harvest,occupational stressors,racialized,Teachers,wellbeing,wellness

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Harper, Shaun (committee chair), Emdin, Christopher (committee member), Pascarella, John (committee member)

Creator Email robjthrashiv@gmail.com,rthrash@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113298450

Unique identifier UC113298450

Identifier etd-ThrashRobe-12263.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-ThrashRobe-12263

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Thrash, Robert James, IV

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230821-usctheses-batch-1086 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu