When Good Intentions Aren't Enough
"Unconscious Bias" and "Let's Talk About Racism in Schools"
Disrupting Inequity
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- Unconscious Bias: When Good Intentions Aren't Enough
- Let's Talk About Racism in Schools
It's easy to forget that, despite the myopic perspectives on race we see in mass media, there really isn't one black or Latino community.
When Implicit Bias Shapes Teacher Expectations
Whether or not a teacher “believes in” her students and expects them to succeed has been shown to affect how well that student does in school, particularly among disadvantaged students. But educators should be aware that those expectations can be influenced by their own implicit racial biases.
In a recent study that looked at interviews involving 16,000 U.S. teachers, Black and non-Black teachers were asked to predict their 10th-graders’ future educational attainment. Would she graduate from high school? How about college? When asked about any specific Black student, White teachers were about 30 percent less likely than Black teachers to predict he or she would someday earn a college degree. For White students, the teachers’ predictions, or expectations, were about the same.
“We cannot determine whether the black teachers are too optimistic, the non-black teachers are too pessimistic, or some combination of the two,” wrote one of the study’s authors, American University’s Seth Gershenson, in an an August blog post. But, he noted, it is worrisome nonetheless, “as systematic biases in teachers’ expectations for student success might contribute to persistent socio-demographic gaps in educational achievement and attainment.”
The study also found that the racial mismatch of expectations was stronger for boys, and that the most optimistic group about Black male students was Black female teachers (even more so than Black male teachers.)
“These results are not meant to, nor should they, demonize or implicate teachers,” wrote Gershenson. “Biases in expectations are generally unintentional and are an artifact of how humans categorize complex information.” Hopefully, the authors suggest, the study’s findings will lead to helpful discussions.
Although the U.S. public school system now has more non-White students than White students, White teachers still account for 84 percent of the teaching force.
What is Implicit Bias and Can it Be Fixed?
Implicit biases are defined by the Kirwin Institute as attitudes or stereotypes that are activated unconsciously and involuntarily. They are not the same as biases that a person might try to hide because they’re unpopular or socially incorrect. Social scientists believe that implicit biases are learned as young as age 3, and may be fueled by stereotypes perpetrated in the media, or beliefs passed along by parents, peers, and other community members.
But what’s important to know about implicit biases is that, once people are made aware of them, those biases can be successfully addressed. “We can mitigate them. We can interrupt them. You can train your mind to catch yourself,” said Costello. “It’s like breaking a habit, but the first thing you have to do is become aware of the habit.”
Researchers also suggest it’s helpful to “refute” and “counter” the negative stereotypes that fuel biases, said Cohn-Vargas. That means recognizing these stereotypes really aren’t true, and opposing them with ideas that are: 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.
Cohn-Vargas suggests it’s also important for educators to recognize their students as people who are individuals.
http://neatoday.org/2015/09/09/when-implicit-bias-shapes-teacher-expectations/
Test Yourself For Hidden Bias
Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington created "Project Implicit" to develop Hidden Bias Tests — called Implicit Association Tests, or IATs, in the academic world — to measure unconscious bias.
To take Project Implicit's Hidden Bias Tests, click here
5 Keys to Challenging Implicit Bias
1. Become aware of your biases so that you can interrupt them.
Before entering a conversation with a student, colleague, or parent who triggers you, takes a ten-second pause to ask yourself: "What are my biases toward this person? How can I disrupt my autopilot thoughts so that I can genuinely see and listen to him or her?" With awareness, you can replace biases with receptive listening and affirming thoughts.
2. Study and teach colleagues about implicit bias.
Here are a few facts that every educator should know:
- Bias is a universal human condition that must be recognized and managed, not a personal defect.
- We all carry biases from swimming in the waters of a racialized, inequitable society.
- According to Stanford social psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, focusing on individual acts of bias, or weeding out the "bad people," won't solve the fundamental problem.
- Listening helps us take in a person's multiple stories and disrupts biased thinking.
3. Pay attention to gap-closing teachers.
We all know teachers who connect with and support the success of every child. Consider how those teachers manage their own biases. How do they get to know their students as complex individuals? How do they build trust? What learning routines characterize their classrooms and humanize students? Through conscious reflection, you can isolate and track instructional practices that interrupt bias.
4. Stop tone policing.
Blogger Maisha Johnson defines tone policing in this way: "When marginalized people speak up about our struggles, and people from more dominant groups focus not on what we said, but how we said it." To challenge implicit bias, we must listen to the voices of colleagues who have been underestimated or misjudged. Often, however, when people of color are brave enough to name bias in schools, they hear that they're "too emotional" or "making things up." There's nothing made up about implicit bias. Learn from those who have the courage to speak up.
5. Tune into implicit bias in your school.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Where do I see implicit biases playing out in our school?
- What fear or apprehension do I have about addressing this issue?
- How can I be an ally to colleagues, students, and families who experience bias in our school?