Exploring the Boundary

This article uses a phenomenological approach to explore the organizational dynamic of boundary heightening for 27 Black male teachers, across 14 schools, in one urban school district. Black male teachers described being perceived by their colleagues as either incompetent or overqualified to teach their subject matter. These experiences created workplace environments in which participants felt alienated from their colleagues. In response, these Black male teachers strategically erected social boundaries to manage interactions with their colleagues. Black male teacher diversity campaigns in education preparation programs should be informed by Black male teachers’ school-based experiences. The article shows how teacher education programs can redesign facets of their preparation to attend to the boundary-heightening and workplace experiences that Black male teachers may face in becoming teachers of record