Teachers of Color Speak to Issues of Respect and Image

This paper explores the issue of the respectability and changing image of public school teachers through interviews with 114 teachers of color in three urban school districts: Cincinnati, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; and Long Beach, California. Almost one half of the respondents felt that either the negative image or the low status of teaching was one of the main reasons that students of color are not entering the profession. This assessment seemed to have little to do with money and a great deal to do with self-respect as defined in terms of dress, posture, and class. There was strong consensus that a professional image is important to people of color. The judgment that there has been a decline in respect for teaching was mixed. Many informants perceived themselves as leaders within their communities and as professionals and claimed that their people and their families did respect teachers. The problem seemed to lie less with communities of color and more with the dominant society, which devalues teaching.