“The teacher might not behave toward the White child the way she behaves toward the black child, toward my child.” -Doucet, 2011 , P. 2723
I found this article on bridge building between family and school culture particularly relevant. I have come across a lot of literature lately about a “cultural mismatch” between teachers and students. As a white female, I am in a majority but am teaching minority students. According to a recent NYU study, “For example, in New York City, over 85% of public school students are racial/ethnic minorities, but only 40% of teachers are non-White—a difference of 45 percentage points (New York City Department of Education, 2015)”(Cherng & Halpin, 2016,p. 1). The difference in race between teachers and students in urban schools is important to be aware of. This NYU study ultimately found that student perceptions of teachers does vary by race, “Specifically, we find consistent evidence that students have more positive ratings of Latino and Black teachers than White teachers after controlling for student demographic and academic characteristics,other teacher characteristics, work conditions, and teacher efficacy” (Cherng & Halpin, 2016, p.6).
The quote above made by a parent in this study reflects the implications of different races and cultures between teachers and students. Teachers can have implicit bias they may be unaware of that affects how they treat students. Another study featured in the Huffington Post recently found that as early as preschool, teachers treat black students differently than white students. Evidence of this treatment and implicit bias is shown in a Yale study by Walter Gilliam that, “Black children are 3.6 times more likely to receive a suspension in preschool than their white classmates, according to 2013-2014 data from the Department of Education.” (Klein,2016,The Huffington Post). Awareness of implicit bias is imperative in dealing with students and teachers and teachers and parents. The idea of bridging is important, however, more awareness is in order on the part of teachers and administrators to acknowledge that racial and cultural differences exist and cannot be bridged easily in one fell swoop.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/preschool-biases_us_57ea8bb3e4b024a52d2aa517
http://edr.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/09/27/0013189X16671718.full.pdf+html?ijkey=jMVKA94Rs.J9M&keytype=ref&siteid=spedr
Hello Michelle,
Thank you for sharing the teacher’s ethnic demographic data in NYC. This is very valuable information that teachers and students’ corresponding proportion is not equal here. Another article I have read about in other class asserting that in America most teachers are white female and have higher socio-economic status than average students, which might also another factor influencing parents’ misunderstanding on teachers. Therefore, having diverse background teachers in school is a very good situation. In my student teaching place, there are always phone calls coming to look for translators for immigrant parents. As long as parents hear the same language they relieve for a first breath and the other subject teachers would keep going their topics.
This was a great post, Michelle! I think you speak to what a lot of people don’t want to talk about: that race matters, especially in the classroom. The “colorblind” approach sounds appealing, but it can be so damaging. It denies the lived experience of students and their families and I think it hides the implicit bias teachers have that you mentioned. I also agree with you that bridging is not a simple thing. It requires time and effort for teachers and administrators to acknowledge that racial and cultural differences do exist and they must pause before treating white, middle class culture as the norm against which to judge everyone else.
This, to me, is one of the great problems of teaching in modern urban environments; it is something that is so large and widespread, so ingrained and even subconscious, that it may seem impossible to eliminate this bias in the remotely near future. I have always thought this disadvantage is one prime reason for lower achievement rates among minority students, particularly of a low income background. When expectations are low, it is often the case that these kids feel there is no reason to exceed these expectations. Further complicating this is the vicious cycle of social conditioning related to the disadvantage poor minority students often have. There is a culture of fighting against oppression, even unintentional oppression, by conforming to a certain standard of behavior and thought to avoid “seeming white.” And of course, this perpetuates bias against people of color in schools. Somehow, we must find a way to break this cycle.