Focus: HOPE recently held its Detroit Education Summit where it took on the theme, Black & Brown Male Educators Matter. The event coincided with the National Month of the Young Child.
The Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children first named April the Month of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing the impact of childhood development from birth to age eight.
As of 2019, fewer than 3 percent of preschool and kindergarten teachers were men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Focus: HOPE is leading the way in changing that scenario with nearly 40 percent of its educators being Black and Brown men.
The summit will bring together those leading male voices in early education to discuss positive impacts, navigating stigmas and bias as men, and how to eliminate barriers to increase Black and Brown male representation in the classroom.
“I thought the biggest takeaway was the involvement, the questions and comments which everyone had to offer,” said Portia Robertson, CEO of Focus: HOPE. “We have our Obama room as we call. It is fully staffed with Black male teachers but also for boys because we know they often [search for them as role models] in their educational careers.”
The panel was led by early childhood staff at Focus: Hope and educational experts on collegiate leadership, featuring:
- Roland Sintos Coloma, PhD., professor of teacher education, former assistant dean – Division of Teacher Education, Wayne State University, and chair of the Department of Teacher Education, Northern Kentucky University
- Waymond Hayes, director of early learning/youth development at Focus: HOPE Early Learning Center. Hayes remains one of the few men in Michigan and the only Black man to hold a high-ranking position in early education.
- Juan Ruiz, project director for 21st-century youth development program and childhood specialist for Great Start Readiness Program at Focus: HOPE Early Learning Center
A part of the discussion with the panel and participating audience centered on the absence of male educators and why this seems to be a reality in today’s education system.
“Sometimes the question is raised, ‘when was the first time you had a Black male teacher?’” Robertson added. “Some talked about not seeing one until college as a professor. So we know how important it is not only on what they bring on an educational basis but just seeing themselves reflected and knowing people who are teaching them have some of the same experiences they either currently have or have in the future.”
“We have to make that village a reality,” said Eric Brown, one of the participating audience members. “We can’t keep talking about it and no action. When issues surrounding education and crime come up we have to be just as passionate about both. It’s not an either or, they both have a direct inclusive reflection on the other. If we are ignoring one, we are ignoring both.”
Brown’s comments were reflective of some audience comments and questions toward youth violence and recent gun shootings in the city, and the parallel of young people needing to have more positive male role models of color in the classroom to reduce bad decision-making, if they are not seeing such reflection in their household.
Focus: Hope is providing the space for all-male classrooms with the hope for more male educators to step up and be a part of important programming which engages students and parents.
“I try to be the echo of difference in a lot of young men and that model so they can see something different and programs which create a safe place for men to be heard,” said Waymond Hayes, director of early learning/youth development at Focus: HOPE Early Learning Center.
“It’s a real stigma still to this day of men being an educator,” Hayes said. “The pay is not good but the passion has to be there, so some men first enter the field and leave. The money will come as you move up but the passion must stay lit. We must serve as mentors for our young men and other men who may have a dream.”
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