to an individual, even though sometimes, we just assume that “white privilege” is the only privilege out there. For example, I am a male, so I have male privilege. I am also Christian, which results in me having Christian privilege. I'm able-bodied, and I'm heterosexual, both privileges that equate to benefits that I have in society, which I didn't necessarily earn or ask to have.
However, these privileges benefit me nonetheless, and I must reflect upon this fact and acknowledge that some people don't have the same privileges that I enjoy. Our realities will be different because of that. Therefore, we must keep in mind that there are things that we experience that maybe our colleagues and students don't share or things we must think about that maybe our colleagues and students don't have to consider.
Now, when we're thinking about conversations about race and ways to facilitate them, we must put our biases aside and acknowledge that we are coming from our own place of privilege. We must reflect on that before we have these conversations with our students because when we try to navigate discussions through our own experiences without considering the experiences of others, the talks won't be nearly as impactful.
The bottom line is that we all must acknowledge that we have those biases. We must acknowledge that we have privileges. Then, we can use those as stepping-stones to further discussions about race and ethnicity with our students.
Preparing the Ground: Self-Reflection
The journey to fostering an equitable learning environment requires you to examine your own assumptions, biases, and positioning. Start with looking into understanding your own cultural identity. Self-reflection helps establish a method of internal investigation into why you became an educator and what the values are that you have for your students. After a deep reflection on your own perceived identity and assumptions, consider taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT) at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html. The IAT measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. It may be difficult, but we must be able to see what experiences contributed to our current view of the world.
Always remember that everyone's experiences are different.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Who am I as an educator and as a cultural being?
What are my assumptions, and what are my beliefs?
How do those beliefs and assumptions impact the way I view people who are different than me or the same as me? How do those beliefs and assumptions influence the way I interact with students, families, and their communities?
If you want to create a safe and productive environment, use these reflection questions to consider how effectively your current beliefs impact equity in your school. Keep in mind that self-reflection is an ongoing learning process of self-awareness and self-identity. Identify at least one accountability partner to help you with recognizing some areas in which you can focus on your teaching methods. The knowledge that you have about yourself informs what you believe and what you do. Furthermore, your behaviors and the things you do in the classroom inform what students believe about themselves and each other.
We all have biases, and we make judgments about others. Some of the biases are racially based on stereotypes and result from a lack of understanding of groups and cultures. It's okay to have biases because they are a natural part of who we are. The key is to recognize those biases and reflect on how to overcome them to establish a learning environment in which you have high expectations for all students regardless of your perceived knowledge of their abilities and backgrounds.
Keep in mind that the information you receive about groups of people because of how they are represented or not represented in the news, media, and books influences all of us. From a teacher's perspective, that is part of the society that is inundated with generic messages about groups of people; those messages tend to be most harmful to students of color.
Again, develop self-awareness of your biases toward your students and work to overcome them. Do not view a student's abilities from a deficit lens or associate students with labels (stereotypes, socioeconomic status, gender, or race). Those terms are labels that society uses to tell you a student is incapable of meeting high standards. Instead, view your students' backgrounds, culture, and abilities as assets to help them thrive in their learning.
Mitigating Implicit Bias
Although we may not realize it, implicit bias impacts the decisions we make as educators. Here's an overview of five common forms of implicit bias. For each type of bias, there are two concrete examples of how this bias might manifest in an educational setting. For each example, there is a corresponding scenario that shows how one might mitigate implicit bias in the situation.
| Type of Bias | What Does this Bias Look Like in Action? | How Might One Mitigate This Type of Bias? |
|---|---|---|
| Affinity Bias Affinity bias is when a person gravitates toward individuals with whom they have an affinity, such as a common interest or experience. | An administrator reviews candidates' application materials during the hiring process and gravitates toward applicants who are like them or who are like teachers with whom they have worked. | The administrator selects a diverse hiring committee and intentionally brings in candidates with a range of backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives. They recognize that overcoming biases requires us to place value in diversity. |
| A particular student reminds a teacher of their own biological child, and the teacher unconsciously gives that student preferential treatment. | The teacher makes a concentrated effort to increase social interaction with students who are different from them. As the teacher develops these connections, they discover commonalities! | |
| Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is the tendency for an individual to interpret new evidence as confirmation of their previously existing beliefs or theories. | A teacher notices multiple disciplinary referrals in a new student's file. When the student displays hyperactivity during class, the teacher writes them up for insubordination and noncompliance. | Before taking disciplinary actions, the teacher reflects on the underlying factors that may be influencing this student's behavior. The teacher audits their classroom resources and practices to ensure that the learning environment promotes the student's success. |
| Asian American students in a particular school division have traditionally outperformed their peers in math. It becomes school practice that if an Asian American student has a high overall GPA, the school counselor encourages the student to enroll in AP Calculus. | School counselors, teachers, and leaders get to know their students as individuals to advocate for them. After identifying students' interests, educators provide them with experiences and opportunities that both reflect those interests and expose them to new ideas and perspectives. | |
| Conformity Bias Conformity bias is a bias that is formed through peer pressure. | A first-year teacher tries to support a new student who speaks Spanish as their first language by using visuals and nonverbal cues to make the content more accessible. After learning that other teachers at the school do not offer these supports to English language learners, the first-year teacher decides not to offer them to the student either. |
The first-year teacher seeks to develop a group of critical friends, who may or may not be the colleagues who
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