communities. The presence of more Black educators across school boards is important regardless of the composition of the commu- nity. There is abundant research that tells us that increasing the number of Black educa- tors teaching all students has universal posi- tive impacts. We need the perspectives and life experiences of Black individuals in all of our public schools. This is essential to a holis- tic experience for all students. The perception of how students would


view me is something that I took into account when deciding which path I would take as an educator. In the media, the representations we see of Black people are largely negative or stereotypical (sports and entertainment figures). Knowing this, I was intentional in the subjects I chose to teach. Although I love sports and would have enjoyed a career as a physical education teacher, I wanted to pivot from that and teach core academic subjects such as language arts, mathematics and science. It was important, even critical to me, that all students saw me in this light with the intent of showing them that Black men are not a monolithic group. It is my belief that the tapestry of the individuals students receive their education from is one better formed when woven with a diverse cultural thread. Black educators are one of those threads, but they are unfortunately significantly underrepresented. I was fortunate not only to be an at-


tendee of the Generation Black symposium, but also to serve as a panelist for one of the discussions. Our panel talked about why there are so few Black male teachers in pub- lic education and how to better recruit them to the profession. These are questions that I have wrestled with and have recently begun to tackle in my school board. In my expe- rience, the same negative encounters that many Black male students face in the school system prove to be barriers to even consider teaching as a profession. Logically, it would be hard to convince anyone to willingly par- ticipate and engage in a system where there may have been past harm. As a pilot project in my school board, and with the support of colleagues, I have developed a program where Black students learn about the teach- ing profession through workshops with Black educators. My hope is that together we can showcase how rewarding a career as an educator can be. For those who say that such an endeavor


is a laborious undertaking, there are less for- mal things that can be done to help achieve this goal. Simply pulling aside a Black stu-


dent in your class, school, family or commu- nity and suggesting education is a career they should consider may put the wheels of pos- sibility in motion. There is a lot to be said for the impact of tapping someone on the shoul- der and this is something any teacher can do, regardless of race. However, imagine how much more willingly this suggestion might be received when delivered by someone who reflects the student. My elementary school teachers, Mrs. Fraser and Mr. Cummings, and my secondary school teachers, Mr. Gra- ham and Mrs. Hoyte, influenced me to enter the field of teaching without directly speak- ing to me about it. It is my hope that there is a combined effort on the part of all teachers to steer more Black students into a career in education. I hope that real, targeted discus- sions will one day lead to many more Black teachers and end the need for a symposium like Generation Black to exist. n Chad Mills is a member of the Peel Teacher Local.


“ OUR PANEL TALKED ABOUT WHY THERE ARE SO FEW BLACK MALE TEACHERS IN PUBLIC EDUCATION AND HOW TO BETTER RECRUIT THEM TO THE PROFESSION. THESE ARE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE WRESTLED WITH AND HAVE RECENTLY BEGUN TO TACKLE IN MY SCHOOL BOARD.”


ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 21


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