Thursday, April 8, 2021

Bias in The (My?) Classroom

As a female, white, older teacher, does that make me a more biased educator? I think this question is a great one to ponder, not just from a race perspective, but also gender and age.  My students are so diverse and because they are older they share life experiences and their own funds of knowledge regularly.  I am fortunate in that regard that they share openly with the class.  As far as my influence, I try very hard to teach history from varying perspectives.  I also ask questions that, although leading, allow my students the freedom to express their own viewpoints.  If I am not careful, my own race and biases could influence my students (almost toward a single-story viewpoint).  I  also try to find materials and resources that reflect positive stories of people who look like them or relate to them in various ways. 


The concept of “color-blindness” used to be taught in teacher training. I can remember being in college 20 years ago and being taught to “not see color.” But the idea that “color-blindness” is harmful makes much more sense.  The notion of equity as sameness only makes sense when all students are the same. But even within the nuclear family children born from the same parents are not exactly the same. Different children have different needs and addressing those different needs is the best way to deal with them equitably. The same can be said of the classroom.  Each student is unique and deserves to be seen as they are and for who they are.

Color-blindness ignores the differences in our students.  And while we should  strive to TREAT all students the same, it is wrong to SEE them all the same.  Just as we celebrate the uniqueness of each student's abilities, we should celebrate the backgrounds, cultures, etc that make the unique as well.

 

Awareness is key.  I have started to more closely look at my own reactions in the classroom.  How often do I ignore something that is potentially hurtful or offensive for the sake of non-confrontation? Do I stand up for my students when they need me to?

  

For me, this mainly means being sensitive to how I teach American History.  I need to present history in an accurate way, not overlooking those aspects that aren’t “pretty.” I need to present varying viewpoints of historical events and let the students make up their own minds.


One way to confront biases and racism is to confront it always; not just when it is convenient or in public.  I agreed with the idea that we need to confront it in small circles, in one-on-one conversations, etc.

3 comments:

  1. (This is coming from my work email instead of my personal account for some reason, just an FYI) I love this post! Being a human that is in the category for most likely to be insensitive (white, hetero, male) I try my best to ensure everyone feels valued in my room. Now having a daughter who is half Indian, my awareness has tripled. I teach in the southwest suburbs (Minooka) which is an area that is a very blue collar white community. We have had our fair share of issues not only with students, but administration and staff regarding insensitivity and bias. Our freaking mascot is an "Indian" with a massive Native American head on the 50 yard line. When my daughter was born my school mailed me a onesie that had the "mascot" on it with the wording "Indian Pride". I emailed my principal to let him know my feelings (in a polite way) and suggested that because they have been in the very early staging of thinking about changing the mascot that they should change their school apparel to say "Minooka Pride". It has been 2 weeks, I have not been given a response or an apologize for sending my half Indian daughter an outfit that says "Indian Pride" with a Native American on it. The whole thought of "color-blindness" also baffles me. We should not ignore difference, but embrace it and make them feel welcome. Our world does not get better by "white washing." Tyler White

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  2. I just wrote a research paper about being a culturally relevant teacher. A big part of this is not endorsing the "I don't see color" or "color-blind" because that is in fact ignoring identities of students. Throughout my research I found many resources where students can literally check their bias to make sure that they are aware of their unknown ones. I think this is huge! I also with all of the movements and social injustice that has occured have had many cnversations with students. I find this builds a trusting class community where students are not afraid to discuss their fears. I grew up in a "sun-down town" or a "white washed" town. I did not have diversity and realized only after being exposed to the beauty of cultural diversity found how wrong things were in the place I called home for so long. I think asking if you are more bias is the first step to making sure that you are not :)

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  3. Hello, I enjoyed reading your blog post about color blindness. I remember learning about that in school as well, and I loved what you said about focusing on unique differences. Every student is different in his or her own way. I have a sister who is polar opposite, and we come from the same family with the same upbringing. I try to get to know each of my students and learn about their interests and hobbies. I also try to ask questions and learn from my students as well because I do not have all the answers. I grew up in a town that did not have a lot of diversity, and, through different experiences, I have learned a lot about different cultures that made me more of a well rounded educator. I am still learning and growing along with reading multiple books about diversity in education. I think the key is being willing to embrace change and being willing to learn more.

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