Racism in the Classroom

Destiny, Luke, and Nicole

The belief that all members of each

race possess characteristics or abilities
specific to that race, especially so as to
distinguish it as inferior or superior to
another race or races.

A Few Facts About Racism in General...

What does Racism look like in the

Classroom?
Micro-aggression: everyday verbal,
nonverbal, and environmental slights,
snubs, or insults, whether intentional
or unintentional, which communicate
hostile, derogatory, or negative
messages to target persons based
solely upon their marginalised group
membership.
psychologytoday.com

What does Racism look like in the

Classroom?
From Peers:
Name calling
Stereotyping
Teachers encourage racial othering
when they diminish peer-on-peer racial
discrimination to simply kids being kids
or assuming it is the job of a parent to
teach cultural sensitivity.
Children Speak About Racism

What does Racism look like in the

Classroom?
From Teachers:
White teachers tend to have lower
expectations of students of colour.
80% of teachers are white. Nearly half (and
growing) of students are youth of colour. (USA)
Taking a colour-blind approach rather than
being culturally responsive
Racially coded language i.e. ghetto
Tokenizing students culture

Teacher Expectations Reflect Racial

Biases
-John Hopkins University Study
White and other non-black teachers were 12 percentage points more
likely than black teachers to predict black students wouldn't finish high
school.
Non-black teachers were 5 percent more likely to predict their black male
students wouldn't graduate high school than their black female students.
Black female teachers are significantly more optimistic about the ability
of black boys to complete high school than teachers of any other
demographic group. They were 20 percent less likely than white teachers
to predict their student wouldn't graduate high school, and 30 percent less
likely to say that than were black male teachers.
White male teachers are 10 to 20 percent more likely to have low
expectations for black female students.
Math teachers were significantly more likely to have low expectations for
female students.
For black students, particularly black boys, having a non-black teacher in
a 10th grade subject made them much less likely to pursue that subject by
enrolling in similar classes. This suggests biased expectations by teachers
have long-term effects on student outcomes, the researchers said .

Are teachers unintentionally racist?

1:22

Effects of Racism
Educational performance
Socioeconomic status
Teacher expectations
Individual happiness and self
confidence
Health
Cultural identity
LGBTQ community
Mispronouncing names

How to Prevent Racism in the

Classroom

Teaching Children About Ra