Discusses "The Color of Teaching," which explores reasons for lack of interest in the teaching profession among students of color through interviews with urban teachers of color and addresses immigration, segregation, exclusion, separation, and discrimination as contexts for understanding teachers of color. The study finds that regardless of…

Examined Asian Americans' resistance to becoming teachers. Interviews with Asian American student teachers, and interviews by those students with Asian American citizens, highlighted: intense pressure from parents to strive for certain positions; sense of personal inadequacy related to Chinese cultural standards about teaching; fear of working…

One of the most common misunderstandings about the composition of the teaching profession, and hence, educational administration, is that it is merely a professional choice: someone chooses to be a teacher rather than a business person, a lawyer, a food service worker, a nurse, a truck driver. In reality, many decisions are made for young people…

This study examined whether minority group teachers working in urban settings were recommending teaching as a career to minority group young people. One hundred forty teachers in three urban school districts (Cincinnati, Ohio; Long Beach, California; and Seattle, Washington) were asked if and to whom they recommended teaching careers. They were…

The focus question of this article, why students of color are not entering teaching, is part of a larger study which explored impediments people of color face in their search for an adequate education. The 17 themes that emerged from the minority teachers' responses focused on negative experiences in school, social and economic obstacles, and…

The student population of urban schools reflects widely diverse socioeconomic, linguistic, and ethnic backgrounds, yet few teacher training programs are currently addressing the need to recruit and train teachers reflecting this diversity. The Seattle Public Schools/Western Washington University (SPS/WWU) post-baccalaureate paraprofessional…

This study explored the issue of respectability and the changing image of public school teachers through interviews with 140 teachers of color in 3 urban school districts--Cincinnati (Ohio), Seattle (Washington), and Long Beach (California). Almost half the respondents felt that either the negative image or low status of teaching was one of the…

This paper reports on part of a larger research study on the reasons for the shortage of minority students entering colleges of education and the teaching profession. Interviews were conducted with 140 teachers of color in three urban school districts: Cincinnati (Ohio), Seattle (Washington), and Long Beach (California). The focus of this part of…

This paper examines the complex and interrelated issues of inadequate schooling for urban ethnic minority children and declining numbers of ethnic minority teachers. Two observations underlie the paper's approach: teachers are becoming less able and willing to teach students who are different from themselves, and as a result, teacher "inadequacy"…

This paper explores the issue of low interest and involvement in teaching careers by students of color. The study discussed in the paper was designed to consider the following general supposition: teacher education programs, as they have traditionally selected, trained, and supported teachers, no longer suffice for the needs of today's…