I am currently reading Still Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do About It, by David Sadker and Karen Zittleman. While people often focus on the gender achievement gap in math and science, I think this book is an essential read for all teachers. I think it is important to recognize our own potential for bias as educators. Bias is somewhat of a sensitive subject because all dedicated educators strive to be equitable and treat students fairly regardless of their appearance, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or economic status. Treating students fairly is particularly important because teacher expectations have a dramatic impact on student performance.
While the book’s focus is on gender bias, its suggestions can also be applied to other biases. I believe that the first step to trying to overcome our subconscious biases is to acknowledge the fact that each of us is biased in some way. This is difficult to admit, but once you try to recognize your own bias you can try to correct it. I found Harvard’s Project Implicit very useful in helping to identify areas of slight bias. I was relieved to find out that according to the tests I have no automatic preference for people based upon race, age, or ability and disability. The test did reveal that I have a slight tendency to associate males with science and females with liberal arts. While I can explain this bias by my being female and having a predilection for the liberal arts, I must also take it into consideration in my teaching and be careful to have high expectations for both my male and female social studies students. The results of the Project Implicit tests were very interesting and have helped me devise ways to not allow my subconscious bias impact my ability to treat my students fairly and maintain high expectations for each of them.
I believe teachers are most likely to reveal their biases during class discussions and questioning. To solve this problem and make questioning and discussions seem more random, I make a note card for each student. I shuffle the deck and draw student’s names randomly. Once a student has answered I keep their name in the deck so students don’t think they are done participating. I keep a class roster handy as well during discussion and I begin to strategically select students to participate once I have noted everybody has participated at some point. I then continue check students’ understanding and present more challenging questions to students based on their previous responses. I also make notes about student participation on their note cards if they make a particularly insightful comment or seem as if they need addition help with a concept. I have found that using discussion cards helps me get in the habit of randomly selecting students. Students also stay focused on the discussion because they know they are expected to participate and may be called on at any time.
When leading discussions and questioning students, I am also sure to allow every student ample time to formulate an answer. Because I question students randomly I recognize students will need some time to organize their thoughts. I always give students time to say something. If a student says they don’t know or aren’t sure I tell them they can use a life line and call on one of their peers but I will come back to them for the next question. I use this method of questioning because I want to convey to my students that I believe each of them is able to answer my questions. I also want to encourage students to participate, and realize they can learn from each other.
