Professionalism through teacher training: A case study of Tennessee A. & I., 1930-1940

Abstract

LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES PROFESSIONALISM THROUGH TEACHER TRAINING: A CASE STUDY OF TENNESSEE A. & I., 1930-1940

JOHN MURPHY

Thesis under the direction of Professor Thomas Smith For Southern African-American teachers in the beginning of the twentieth century, the struggle for professionalism was fought, in part, on how the job of “teacher of Negro students” would be defined. The most profound effect of this change would be found at the roots of the career: in teacher education at historically black colleges and universities. The institutions had much control in how these people thought about teaching and how they would practice it in the future. These institutions were not free from outside influences, however. At the start of the twentieth century, nearly all states had at least partial control over the certification process, including setting the requirements for becoming a teacher in their state. In this paper, the author argues that these requirements had a profound effect on the curriculum of Black teacher training institutions, the types of students they were able to attract, and the type of teachers that they were able to produce. To accomplish this, the author employs a case study of one such institution, Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College. Looking specifically at the 1930s, the author was able to observe the mediation of the state’s local standards by the increased rigor of Tennessee A&I’s internal standards and requirements, as well as an emergence of Black education leaders in the struggle to obtain the knowledge, status, and passion that emerge from that professionalism.