Black Teachers on Teaching (New Press Education Series)

I can't put it down. As a young woman growing up in rural Arkansas, I attended a small, formerly segregated school and saw the impact of not having many Black teachers. In fact, I never had a Black male educator throughout my K-12 experience. I appreciate Foster's inclusion of retired, veteran, and novice educators. I also served as a high school history and government teacher in DC and love that rural and urban teachers were included in this work. The showcase of the actual history of Black teachers is also very helpful to the learning process. Thank you for this one!

I found the book to be informative and easily digestible

On it thanks

I am a college student majoring in middle grades and education and I chose to read this book and present it to my class from a list of several other books. I have to admit the reason I first wanted to read the book was because of the title. I thought it was something that surely only black furture teachers would benefit from. After reading and studying the pages of this book I think anyone interested in the basic needs of students' welfare should read this book. Not just the welfare of African American students because the book addresses so many issues that many teachers strive for, for their students everyday. It just so happens that this book looks at those concerns from the prospective of blacks about blacks. That is why I said don't turn away because of the title. In this book there are some sharp ideas on the topic of teacher role models, ethics, learning environments,etc. I highly recommend this book.

This book was very informative for me. I never knew about all the obstacles that black teachers, as well as black children, had to deal with in the past. I enjoyed reading their experiences and was extremely pleased to know that these teachers made a change in the lives of other black teachers and the schools that they taught in. There were a couple of teachers that really impressed me, as well as their philosophy's of education. Everett Dawson's philosophy was never give up on a child and Ruby Middleton Forsythe's philosophy of getting the children to realize that they need to be somebody and go somewhere with their lives is a very important goal. As teachers we must never feel that a child is not worth fighting for and we must always try to keep our students focused on learning because that is indeed the key to success.

"Black Teachers on Teaching", is a thought-provoking oral history of black teachers before, during and after integration. This book is a timely treasure for anyone interested in becoming an educator. It is also a good resource for black parents as it offers insight into why some black students don't perform as well as they should in our integrated school systems. Not only do you get a feel for what these teachers experienced during their years as educators you also get informative ideas on how to motivate and challenge students. If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be, honesty. These people are honest about what they felt and still feel. Again, this is a must read for anyone interested in becoming a teacher.

If there are any questions in your mind on whether or not you should become a teacher, then this is the book for you. I was very encouraged when I read of how my race really aided the cause of Education by making so many significant contributions to the cause. I would encourage everyone to read this book so that one could obtain more facts about the history of Education, visualize the knowledge or Mother Wit that was displayed by so many learned Black professionals, and to feel the struggles that they went through in order that we may enter into a classroom one day.

The essays and wisdom of twenty teachers, "novice," "veteran" and "elder" in their craft, sheds light on our history of teaching black children. Ms. Foster's book provides sound basis for the argument that "integration" is not a panacea. Perhaps "transformation" of our schools will enable us to be a free and democratic society devoted to the pride, dignity and education of all of our children. All teachers and teacher educators can learn much from the voices heard in this book.