Teacher Influences: How Teacher Identity and Implicit Bias Effect Expectations


“I can't automatically judge kids based on my frame of reference. They're not coming up with a different answer because they're stupid, but because they have a different lens that they see the world out of” (Sparks, 2010, pg. 1)


        As the student population in schools is becoming more and more diverse, the teachers in these schools are composed primarily of white, middle-class, females. This can cause problems for students and teachers, because these teachers do not have the experiences with race and “otherness” to relate to their diverse students’ experiences. In her article, “White Fragility,” Robin DiAngelo discusses whites’ inability to discuss and deal with race related issues because of their lack of exposure to people of color and the viewpoints of people of color. In our society, people have also been systematically conditioned to believe the views and experiences of white people are the norm and anything which deviates from this norm is wrong (DiAngelo, 2011). This view that white, middle-class views are the norm greatly impacts the expectations which these predominantly white teachers hold for their students.

            Teachers have certain expectations for the “basic” skills their students should come into the classroom already knowing, but “what we call basic skills are only ‘basic’ because they are one aspect of the cultural capital of the middle class” (Delpit, 2012, pg. 53). This means the strengths of students who deviate from the norm, minority and low-income students, are often overlooked, because teachers only see their weaknesses. “Research shows that teachers, particularly those who are white middle-class, tend to overemphasize academic and social challenges for poor and ethnic-minority students, sometimes overlooking students' potential to succeed” (Spark, 2010, pg. 1). Many students from minority and low-income households have better problem-solving skills than white, middle-class students, but teachers do not use this to their advantage. The only notice the student does not know the school knowledge they believe they should have. “When [teachers] don’t see evidence of what they believe to be ‘basic skills,’ schools frequently judge the students and their families, rather than the instruction, as deficient” (Delpit, 2014, pg. 55). The expectations teachers have for those certain skills blinds them to the opportunities for them to adapt them practices for more effective instruction.

            The academic and behavioral expectations teachers hold for students are influenced by their implicit biases. Implicit biases are, “attitudes or stereotypes that are activated unconsciously and involuntarily… [which] may be fueled by stereotypes perpetrated in the media, or beliefs passed along by parents, peers, and other community members” (Walker, 2015, pg. 2). Everyone has their own implicit biases based on their experiences and having implicit biases does not mean someone is racist. The strong media depiction of white, middle class values as the norm makes negative implicit biases towards poor, minorities common. These implicit basis’ can cause teachers to notice the misbehavior of particular subsets of students while ignoring the same behaviors in other subsets of students. Teachers will notice the behaviors which reinforce the expectations set by their implicit biases. Delpit gives an example of this when she discusses African-American students’ struggle with, “invisibility inside of the classroom, hypervisibility outside the classroom” (Delpit, 2012, pg. 171). When African-American students do something to disprove a stereotype, like participate or give the correct answer in class, they are often ignored. This can lead them to feeling invisible and rejected inside of the classroom. At the same time, people with biases, uncouncious and conscious, are always looking for these stereotypes to be reinforced. This means outside the classroom, African American students feel they are being watched in public, like people are waiting for them to “attack” or perform any other action which would justify their racist thought.

Teachers cannot take offense to realizing or having their implicit biases pointed out, because defensiveness and anger are not productive in improving expectations and overall education for all students. Teachers can make the effort to correct their implicit biases by drawing attention to them and making the conscious effort to disprove them. This can be done by replacing false biases with information they know is true. For example, “it’s not true that all Black boys are loud and disruptive; it is true that students who talk a lot often are enthusiastic” (Walker, 2015, pg. 3). Teachers must reflect on their identity, privilege, and biases to make the conscious effort to refute implicit biases. When they do this, teachers can recognize the actual strengths of their students instead of their weaknesses. Recognizing these strengths will allow teachers to create educational experiences which better meet the needs of their students. Recognizing strengths will also increase the likelihood of teachers setting raised expectations for their students. When teachers can see the individual worth in each of their students, they will set high expectations and hold those students accountable for those expectations.



References

Delpit, L. (2012). Multiplication is for White people: Raising expectations for other peoples’ children. New York: The New Press.

DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, vol. 3, page 54-70. Retrieved from https://moodle.louisiana.edu/pluginfile.php/1717167/mod_resource/content/1/White%20Fragility%20.pdf


Sparks, S. D. (2010). Effort Targets “Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations”; By Including Students in Teacher Workshops, a N.J. School May Open Educators’ Eyes to More Students’ Potential. Education Week, (07). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ucs.louisiana.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,uid,url&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.240390951&site=eds-live

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