A Significant Issue in Education: Teacher BIAS

(a) With the growing amount of literature uncovering the racial disparities in school disciplinary practices, this study wanted to delve further and explore factors that contribute to the racial disparities of school suspensions specifically concerning Black students, and examined elementary age children and elementary teachers to perhaps determine a genesis of this discrepancy. The student’s overall level of behavior problems, characteristics of the classroom (i.e., overall level of disruption), and the teacher’s ethnicity were considered as potential factors that may contribute to the overrepresentation of Black students.

[The educator] Shall not on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, marital status, political or religious beliefs, family, social or cultural background, or sexual orientation, unfairly:

Sometimes, the difference make them not want to be a part of each other, yet “that’s true”: they are living in America – a multicultural country that values equality and liberty. That is why they should learn to deal with the differences and take advantages of the similarities as well as to experience different points of views: “as I learn from you, I guess you learn from me”. Through this process, both of them win and neither loses. The professor is “older and somewhat more free” than the student, so he should be free of biases towards the student’s poverty and background.

Schools systematically subjugate minority and black students when a school’s enrollment contains a huge racial majority. If students have no exposure to persons of different ethnicities, cultures, races, and religions, then these students will experience culture shock when they confront “other” people. Even in our class, we talk about black and minority students as another group, one that differs from “us.” We think about the inequalities in school systems as problems we need to fix, not as problems that have influenced our thinking and affect us as prospective teachers. For example, a white graduate student with

In school settings, implicit bias may be seen in staff decisions to send students of color to the office for relatively minor incidents of unwanted behavior (Horner et al., 2010). In several different studies, (Downey & Pribesh, 2004, Skiba et al, 2002, Wallace, Goodkind, Wallace, & Bachman, 2008, Noguera, 2003) African American students were typically referred to the office for subjective behaviors (e.g disrespect, defiance, threatening, loitering, and disruption), which are harder to define, and more susceptible to misunderstanding while white students were typically sent to the office for objective behaviors

African American students account for the larger majority of minorities in public schools in the United States. Most areas in the northern part of the United states and coastal areas are ethnically diverse. However, down south this is not the case. Students of color will experience a harder time in the education system. African American students meet the obstacle of educators who will not want them to succeed based on a preconceived thought. In fact, Caucasian teachers make up for 85% of all

African Americans are not the only ethnicity group to be singled out with behavior. Racial and ethnic minority students report experiencing low teacher expectations, having less access to educational resources, being placed on lower educational tracks, and being steered toward low-paying employment (Kozol, 1991; Olsen, 2008).This low expectation is causing

Systematic racism within education Institutions, such as the lack of adequate funding as well as subtle discrimination, continues to be the root of the problem that plagues this nation. Even though segregation was abolished in 1964, the lingering effects that remain are significant and cannot be passively mended. Although it is tempting to think that this prejudice is caused by a select few and not the many, it is clear that this problem holds more depth. Recent studies conducted by the National Education Studies (NEA) have proven that even in school’s African American students are often times targeted and punished at a significantly higher rate when compared to their white peers. The study states “Black students make up almost 40 percent of all school expulsions [in the] nation, and more than two thirds of students referred to police from schools are either black or Hispanic” (Blacks: Education Issues). This study conducted by the Department of Education, cabinet-level department of the United States

The role of an educator throughout an individual’s life is often downplayed. Their position as a teacher is to help students apply concepts of math, science, etc., in a classroom setting. Despite this, they are seen as pointless and temporary. However, there is an implicit role educators have when it comes to race, and the impact is enduring. Their “silence speak volumes,” and the “students are listening” (Pitts). In Jamilah Pitts’ article “Don’t Say Nothing” from the fall 2016 issue of Teaching Tolerance, she successfully uses pathos and call to action to show the negative effect an educator's silence has on students during moments of racial tension or violence.

Some may ask why is it that the white students didn't bring up their race? That’s because through out the world and especially in America whites are the dominant group so they don't

    For instance at a Milwaukee Public School called Starms, onlookers have noticed that white students are in front of the line, while black students are in the back, kind of like the segregated days. If  a white student picks on a black student, the black students is usually the one who gets into trouble for it. Instead of disciplining or talking to both of the students a white teacher was witnessed pulling on the black students arm and yelling at the black student. As the black student tried to explain the situation, the teacher ignored them and did nothing

Research has been conducted and the study showed that, "Latino students perceived that teachers' actions escalated disciplinary problems and believed that administrators used unfair and discriminatory practices"(90). Educators will never be able to teach students if the students perceive them as being racist. The degree to which education for cultural diversity is realized depends on the teacher's attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. They make the mistake of mismatching their own life experiences and professional training. Le Roux realizes that an increasing diverse school population encounters a mostly middle-class teaching force that is inadequately prepared to manage the reality of diversity in schools, and that is due to lack of knowledge of diversity (46). He also states that some teachers make the mistake of generalizing about particular ethnic groups and cultural groups, as a result of being exposed during training to information about culture; that is very dangerous in itself. Educators also focus mostly on general characteristics of a group instead in a single individual, and this is wrong because each individual is unique and should not be generalized by culture (Le Roux 46).

Her statement would undermine the confidence of her predominantly African American students. She is now unable to effectively function as an educator due to a loss of trust between herself and her students. This constitutes a disruption that warrants a limitation on her freedom of speech (Essex, 2012). In addition, it has damaged her credibility and ability to effectively interact with her fellow teachers. This adds another layer of “material disruption to the school district” (Essex. P. 204, 2012) and renders her unfit for her

School institutional racism is in the form of teachers, resources and harsher punishment that potentially leads to school- to- prison pipeline towards blacks and minorities starting at a young age. Low income neighborhoods have a higher population of blacks and other minorities, and since those neighboring schools are funded through property taxes these schools are extremely underfunded, understaffed, and lack the resources needed to properly provide these students with the education they need. As stated in the article by Myles Moody, “This current system is set up to fail Black Children (Moody, 2016).” Most teachers who are employed in these low income schools may employ inexperience teachers who lack the ability and experience to bond with their students and their cultural needs (Moody, 2016). This lack of bonding is developed because there is a lack of congruency between the students and the staff. The teachers also lack the experience to also build a good rapport with their students’ parents; therefore, there is a high level of mistrust towards teachers that directly impact the students’ level of education (Moody, 2016). When the teacher, student and parent develop a good relationship with one another, the teacher is more inclined and comfortable to report to the parent any possible behavioral or learning discrepancies

Students of color have their experiences at school belittled. “When students look to counseling, they are often told their racialized experiences are in their head -- that the college or university is color blind.” Dr. Ebony McGee, assistant professor of diversity and urban schooling at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of Education and Human Development