| Abstract: | Based on a life history account of Craig Francis, a young black male teacher living and working in Toronto, Canada, this paper examines his route to teaching, his perceptions and understandings of what it means to be a teacher, and the role of race in his aspirations and experiences. Significant to this examination is the ways in which Craig makes sense of his experiences growing up in Canada as a black immigrant male, the circumstances and structural factors that have shaped his life and informed his choice of teaching as a career, and his perceptions of the opportunities and possibilities that teaching provides him. The evidence indicates that Craig constructs his role as a teacher in relation to his identity as an immigrant black male and his desire to influence the education system and make a contribution to his community. |
