Black Males are Teaching Social Studies to Empower Social Justice

Black males are teaching Social Studies to empower Social Justice which is needed more than ever in these times. 

My wife was really my inspiration for getting into teaching. When she and I first met in the winter of 2015, she was a high school math teacher at City College in Baltimore City. At the time, she was transitioning out of the profession and preparing to go to law school; while I was a personal trainer who had grown disillusioned by the practice. 

After our first few dates she suggested I consider teaching as an alternative to personal training. Ultimately, with the help of my then girlfriend and family, I determined that grad school was the best option for me to obtain certification and I enrolled in the Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Teaching program. I chose Social Studies as my focus because I was a history major at Morehouse. 

While the impetus for my entry into the teaching profession was a desire to mentor and inspire young people, the reasons I teach now are actually quite different. 

I’ve come to believe that the impact I have on the personal lives of my students cannot be generalized. If I’m to be honest, I don’t know which of my students view me as a mentor or an inspiration, which of my students view me as a friend, and which of my students see me as just another teacher. I think determining that would require a third party to ask each of them, independently, in private, what they think of me. 

I currently teach to develop my students into active and critically aware participants in America’s democracy.  

I was first introduced to the thematic approach to teaching U.S. History by my friend and mentor Devin White. Devin is a fellow high school U.S. History teacher in Howard county, albeit at a different school, who I was introduced to by his wife and my school's Social Studies Department head, Jessica White. Jessica, who is primarily a Government teacher, mentioned Devin's thematic approach to U.S. History to me in passing at the end of my second year at Wilde Lake High School (I am currently in my 3rd year there). I was initially dumbfounded by her mention of this approach . . . because I never even thought it was possible.

Upon seeing my surprised expression, Jessica briefly explained how Devin did not teach U.S. History chronologically, as most U.S. history teachers do (including myself at that point), but instead broke the discipline down into several broad themes. He then explores each theme separately with his students, giving them the tools to discover how the history of that theme plays out in America from 1865 to now. During each of my first two years as an educator, I had consistently tried to incorporate current events into my practice to make the topics I explored with my students more relevant to them. But that was extremely difficult to do when teaching history chronologically. Oftentimes I found myself jumping back and forth throughout history, trying to compare the build-up to the Vietnam War to the build-up to the Iraq War, for example; and all of it ultimately went over my students’ heads. This thematic approach, however, would allow my students to learn broad, relevant lessons about our country historically and contemporary. 

I eventually met with Devin, and, after hearing his in depth explanation of his thematic approach to U.S. History, I decided to completely redesign and plan my lessons and units in preparation for this year. Thematic teaching has also given me the tools to provide historical context for each of these phenomena, so students understand that these issues are reflected throughout U.S. history and have a tangible effect on them, their families, and their ancestors. 

As I continue to sharpen the thematic approach, I can continue to come closer to fulfilling my aforementioned purpose as an educator - developing my students into critically aware and, if they so choose, active participants in America’s democracy. 

Joseph Press IV is a graduate of Morehouse College (Class of 2015). He is a 3rd year certified secondary educator at Wilde Lake High School in Howard County, Maryland. His story is apart of the Profound Gentlemen story telling series.