strategies such as student interest surveys or classroom circles to get to know each student beyond the surface level.
Your Bias Is Showing
Although we may not realize it, implicit bias impacts the decisions we make as educators. I have biases; we all do. Does that make us bad people? No, I don't think so. In fact, biases are part of human nature. However, I believe it's essential that we recognize and own those biases that we have and find ways to overcome and challenge them.
The Ohio State University's Kirwin Institute, a leading research group in the field of implicit bias, defines implicit bias as the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.
Often, the biases that we have come from stereotypes, and they're implicit, meaning they're unconscious. We're not necessarily thinking about the situation; they're just revealed by things we do that may come from our backgrounds, lived experiences, and social circles. The important thing is to check yourself whenever you notice that you are acting on your biases. Take a step back and reflect. Why was this my immediate reaction? Why did I respond this way? How could I have responded? How should I answer the next time a situation like this arises?
Implicit Bias and Me
How do I cope with implicit bias when it happens to me? The following is an individual reflection guide that will help you unpack your personal experiences with implicit bias as both an agent of bias and a recipient of bias.
Reflect on a time you have been on the receiving end of implicit bias:
What emotions did you feel?
Did you choose to address the bias? Why or why not?
How did this situation impact how you were treated by others?
Were you satisfied with how the situation was resolved? Why or why not?
How did this situation influence your future behaviors or beliefs?
Reflect on a time you have acted out of implicit bias toward someone else:
What emotions did you feel during the interaction? After the interaction?
Did you address the bias once you recognized it? Why or why not?
What harm did this interaction cause to the individual or community? Were you able to repair it?
How did this situation influence your future behaviors or beliefs?
Implicit Bias Analysis Guide
Let's take a moment to analyze our personal beliefs. The following is a two-part tool that will help you unpack specific behaviors to identify if those behaviors may be rooted in implicit biases. This tool consists of a list of yes/no questions and a brief reflection for each question.
| Part 1 Carefully read each statement in this column. Circle “Yes” if the statement accurately reflects your beliefs or behaviors.Circle “No” if the statement does not accurately reflect your beliefs or behaviors. If you have never been in the scenario described, do your best to predict how you might respond in the situation. | Part 2 If you circled “Yes” for any of the statements in the left column, reflect on the ideas, perspectives, and questions outlined in the following text. Consider how your behaviors may be influenced unconsciously by specific attitudes or stereotypes. |
| I prefer to watch news channels that do not make a big deal about race. I would rather hear about the positive things happening in the world! Yes No | We know that media bias can influence our feelings toward topics covered in the news, including race. Additionally, our discomfort around race topics may engender a biased, negative perception of racial issues in the media. How does talking about or hearing about race make you feel? Anxious? Nervous? Uncomfortable? Try to isolate the factors that trigger these feelings to begin the process of identifying unconscious bias. |
| When someone brings up race at work, I try to change the subject. Race is an inappropriate topic to discuss in a professional environment. Yes No | Race is a component of identity, and identity influences how we interact with each other in a variety of settings. In your professional context, is it essential for you to understand how your co-workers experience the world? Why or why not? What is accomplished or sacrificed by avoiding discussions about race in professional settings? |
| If one of my friends makes an insensitive joke about race or gender, I will just ignore them if no one from that race or gender is around to be offended by it. Yes No | How do you gauge who should be offended by an insensitive remark? If you recognize a comment as insensitive to a particular group of people, does that comment offend you? Why or why not? What are the implications of remaining silent when you hear racist or sexist comments? What are the potential ramifications? |
| I am friends with people from different cultural backgrounds, but I do not invite them to social gatherings because I know they would not be comfortable. Yes No | Consider the individuals you interact with on a social level. How diverse is your social universe? What factors contribute to the cultural diversity of your friend groups? What elements of a typical social gathering do you think might prompt discomfort for individuals of a different cultural background? |
| If a student's name is hard to pronounce, I try to avoid saying it in front of the class so they will not be embarrassed. Yes No | If you publicly mispronounce a student's name, how will you feel? Embarrassed? Are you centering the student's feelings or your own? What is the consequence of refusing to say a person's name? What does this imply about the importance of his/her identity? |
| I try to make sure that I speak loudly and slowly when I meet people who look like they are from a different country so they will understand me better. Yes No | Should we assume that individuals who dress in a way that reflects a cultural or ethnic background are not American? How might our actions convey an assumption that people who speak a language other than English are somehow impaired or deficient? |
| I generally choose professionals who are older than me because they probably know what they're doing. Yes No | What assumptions might you hold about the competence of young professionals? What stereotypes about younger generations might support young people's perceptions that they are less capable, less professional, or less intelligent? |
| When I enter a room full of strangers, I seek out people who look like me (similar age, same gender, similar style of dress). Yes No | We often seek out familiarity to increase our sense of comfort or security in unfamiliar situations. Why do you think this is? Does diversity cause us discomfort? Is diversity inconvenient? |
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When I go to the bank, I will let people in front of me in line so I can wait for a nicer or friendly-looking teller to become available.
Yes
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