A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: How Expectations Impact Student Success
“If [people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Nichols, 2016, pg. 371). With school populations becoming more and more diverse, it is important classroom teachers try and create equitable opportunities for all of their students, but teachers may unconsciously limit their students’ chances of academic success by setting preconceived expectations for success. There is a large body of research which describes the impact of high or low expectations on students. Oxford dictionaries defines expectation as, “the strong belief that something will happen or be the case” (Oxford University Press, 2018). These beliefs teachers hold for their students’ success has been proved to have a large impact of the actual success of students and these expectations may actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The expectations which other people hold for an individual can easily influence that individual’s perception of themselves and what they are capable of, and when t...
