I believe that with the mixture if ethnicity/race, sex, socioeconomic status, intelligence level, language preference (and the list could go on), it is likely that most teachers create stereotypes and biases towards students. I feel that teachers commonly try to predict their students’ potential based on their ethnic background. I imagine that there are some racist teachers who are creating stereotypes and biases in the classroom due to their ignorance but I feel that the majority of teachers care about all of their students well being and successes. Perhaps some teachers have conditioned themselves to feel one way or another about a particular group due to past experiences in their classroom. For example, for the past three school years, a teacher has struggled trying to get her female students to enjoy science. The girls in her class have showed little interest in their classroom discussion during science and they score far lower than the boys in her class on science exams. The teacher then inherits the stereotype that all girls hate science and they put forth little effort to understand it. She will begin expressing a bias towards boys in her future science classes, leaving the girls at a disadvantage.

I believe that students perform better in the subjects which there are expected by society, or teachers, to do well in. Students also give less effort and perform worse in the subjects that they are not supposed to be good at. Most students are aware of biases and stereotypes in the classroom, giving them reason to make up excuses for either excelling or falling behind in areas of school. Just as students put forth less or more effort in the areas that they are expected to do good or bad in, teachers give students more attention when teaching their students stereotypical “area of interest” or “strong area”.

I believe that teachers use race to form an impression of a students and his or her potential. If a teacher has had classroom experiences in which her African American students tend to not perform as well academically as her White or Asian students, then she begins to put forth less effort in teaching certain African American students. She creates a stereotype that African American students are less capable of comprehending subjects in school and she will probably back off from extensively working with them in an area of need, creating the mindset that “she probably will never really understand it anyways…” So basically, students are being cheated when they need that extra explanation and example more than other students do.

I believe that students are very aware of the biases and stereotypes that their teachers place on them. Some students care more than others about what their teacher thinks. If students sense a bias towards another group or that there is a stereotype placed on their own group, they may try harder to please their teacher. If the teacher never acknowledges their efforts or the stereotype is not broken, I believe that these students are left feeling that nothing that they do is good enough for their teacher. I know that they would carry those feelings with them throughout school.

While observing classrooms for methods courses, I have recognized a gender bias towards males in the class. As a woman and a future teacher, this really makes me sad! I have noticed boys receiving more praises in the classroom when they answer something correctly. The girls tend to only get this “okay” or nod of acknowledgment when they answer correctly. The strange part is that I have learned how female students typically do better on tests, have less discipline problems, are at a lower rate of attending remedial classes, and are less likely to receive special education, yet teachers give boys more praise and attention than they give girls. Could this be because boys act out and tend to demand more attention? So in all actuality, both failing female students, along with girls who are excelling in classes, are being penalized due to gender bias in the classroom. This allows girls to fall behind in subject areas, while they learn that because they are female, it’s expected of them to do so.