Racial bias in preschool teachers

[Anonymous]

I am curious how this plays out in your schools?

I saw bias play out at my child's summer camp. I knew many of the children from my kids school- black and white - all typical kids and typically behaved good children. At camp it seemed only the kids of color - who were age 4 and 5 - were being threatened to be kicked out of camp for stuff that seemed pretty typical behavior for kids.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/09/27/yale-study-suggests-racial-bias-among-preschool-teachers/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious how this plays out in your schools?

I saw bias play out at my child's summer camp. I knew many of the children from my kids school- black and white - all typical kids and typically behaved good children. At camp it seemed only the kids of color - who were age 4 and 5 - were being threatened to be kicked out of camp for stuff that seemed pretty typical behavior for kids.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/09/27/yale-study-suggests-racial-bias-among-preschool-teachers/

Only pre school? -- get used to it, grows with the grades. People just get better at dressing their bias as something else.

[Anonymous]

This makes me sad. Several FB friends have shared this today. As mom to an AA daughter--but not a son--I almost feel a little guilty that my child will be somewhat protected from this treatment.

Yes, I know she could still be subjected to racial bias, but it seems this sort of subtle, unfair treatment is much more likely to happen to black boys.

I hope we can get to a point where we can at least be aware that we all have these biases--seems that would a long way to prevent just reflexively acting on them. At least, I hope.

[Anonymous]

I read about the study on NPR this morning.

The participants didn't know the kids in the study. I wonder if the implicit bias is still a problem after the teachers get to know the student.

I guess I'm naively hoping that after the teachers see that the kids are well behaved the implicit bias become less of an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious how this plays out in your schools?

I saw bias play out at my child's summer camp. I knew many of the children from my kids school- black and white - all typical kids and typically behaved good children. At camp it seemed only the kids of color - who were age 4 and 5 - were being threatened to be kicked out of camp for stuff that seemed pretty typical behavior for kids.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/09/27/yale-study-suggests-racial-bias-among-preschool-teachers/

At our preschool it was the opposite. Teachers bending backwards not to discipline a misbehaving black child so that they wouldn't be accused of "bias."

What I noticed too is that several black kids appeared to be used to a quite "authoritarian" parenting style at home, and completely ignored "softer" cues, so the misbehavior continued until other parents had to complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read about the study on NPR this morning.

The participants didn't know the kids in the study. I wonder if the implicit bias is still a problem after the teachers get to know the student.

I guess I'm naively hoping that after the teachers see that the kids are well behaved the implicit bias become less of an issue.

It's possible, but it's equally possible that confirmation bias will just cement their views.

[Anonymous]

Weird thread.

[Anonymous]

it our school, the majority of black children come from extremely low income families and the parents are rarely involved or when they do show up its not good and they are so mean to their kids. And the kids follow suit and act out in class. Some of its bias but some of it is the kids really do misbehave through no fault of their own but from their horrible home lives.

[Anonymous]

In our preschools, there are usually two teachers and a staff support, it seems pretty common that they are two different races. I think the diverse representation helps model behavior of two adults working with each other and seems to work towards the common goal of supporting the little ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it our school, the majority of black children come from extremely low income families and the parents are rarely involved or when they do show up its not good and they are so mean to their kids. And the kids follow suit and act out in class. Some of its bias but some of it is the kids really do misbehave through no fault of their own but from their horrible home lives.

I think that is why some schools are pressing for home visits to form an alliance with parents.

[Anonymous]

I do not see any overt indicia of bias at Stokes. The teachers seems to passionately care about the children equally.

[Anonymous]

Everyone has implicit biases. The results of this study are not surprising. What we need to know is what is causing this bias? Why do teachers - of both races - expect black kids to behave worse than white kids? I wish our country could have an actual conversation about this and deal with it. Until we can, I'm not sure it's going to get any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has implicit biases. The results of this study are not surprising. What we need to know is what is causing this bias? Why do teachers - of both races - expect black kids to behave worse than white kids? I wish our country could have an actual conversation about this and deal with it. Until we can, I'm not sure it's going to get any better.

This.

It is so important for teachers to look inward and see where their own culture/upbringing/communication styles/preferences may be affecting how we perceive and respond to our students.

I recently attended a conference where a presenter talked about studies that found that the darker-skinned the perpetrator of a crime, the harsher the sentence, with all other things being equal. Here's one example from NPR:

"In fact, there are new findings to add to that dreadful stack, courtesy of Jennifer Eberhardt, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford. In the May issue of Psychological Science, Professor Eberhardt reports that convicted murderers who look more stereotypically black - broad noses, thick lips, dark skin, kinky hair - are more than twice as likely to get the death sentence than are fairer skinned black men. That is, as long as the victim is white.

Let either man kill a black person, and the likelihood of capital punishment fades away."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has implicit biases. The results of this study are not surprising. What we need to know is what is causing this bias? Why do teachers - of both races - expect black kids to behave worse than white kids? I wish our country could have an actual conversation about this and deal with it. Until we can, I'm not sure it's going to get any better.

This.

It is so important for teachers to look inward and see where their own culture/upbringing/communication styles/preferences may be affecting how we perceive and respond to our students.

I recently attended a conference where a presenter talked about studies that found that the darker-skinned the perpetrator of a crime, the harsher the sentence, with all other things being equal. Here's one example from NPR:

"In fact, there are new findings to add to that dreadful stack, courtesy of Jennifer Eberhardt, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford. In the May issue of Psychological Science, Professor Eberhardt reports that convicted murderers who look more stereotypically black - broad noses, thick lips, dark skin, kinky hair - are more than twice as likely to get the death sentence than are fairer skinned black men. That is, as long as the victim is white.

Let either man kill a black person, and the likelihood of capital punishment fades away."

Yes, several studies have found the above (i.e., more Negroid features were associated with harsher punishments for the same crimes). I'm an academic in a related field and came across these studies recently. Also, remember the famous darkening of OJ Simpson's photo on the front of Newsweek?

Implicit bias is definitely something we're all susceptible to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it our school, the majority of black children come from extremely low income families and the parents are rarely involved or when they do show up its not good and they are so mean to their kids. And the kids follow suit and act out in class. Some of its bias but some of it is the kids really do misbehave through no fault of their own but from their horrible home lives.

I think that is why some schools are pressing for home visits to form an alliance with parents.

+1.

It has little to do with racial bias. It has a lot to do with parenting and conditions at home.