Where do we need to show empathy?
Teachers’ Bias and Perception in Education
Most teachers are well intentioned, but their dispositional empathy or tendency to react to the observed experiences of those who are different from themselves is influenced by implicit social cognition or implicit attitudes; negative or positive involuntary actions, reactions, or thoughts; and feelings toward presented stimuli, based on past experiences with, or understanding of, the stimuli (Devine, Forscher, Austin, & Cox, 2012; Fiske, 2000; Greenwald & Banaji, 1995; Konrath, O’Brien, & Hsing, 2011). Implicit bias can contribute to discriminatory discipline. In other words, a person can be concerned about racism, but unless they understand their part in it, they remain unmotivated to focus on behaviors, and they might be exhibiting that perpetuate racism. Similarly, it may be difficult for a teacher to empathize with students if they do not understand who their students are or the experiences they bring to the academic setting. (14)
The common hindrance in teaching empathy to children is the educator themselves. Through voluntary and involuntary bias in the teacher personality, the example of empathy that teachers are supposed to be at times gets lost. Often times this lack of empathy and negative bias is involuntary. This is similar to when a person acts on what they learn without even knowing that they are doing something wrong. Learned behavior is something that usually must be dealt with on a personal level, but when it comes to educators there is no time to hesitate or delay. We have been dealing with the problem of racism and lack of empathy for far too long and as educators we no longer have an excuse. We tell students to look past your differences, your color, your religion, your gender, and to get along, but now for teachers this is not the time to just say it, but to do it, with educators participating one hundred percent.
Several researchers across multiple fields have theorized that school and university-based empathy programs are necessary to increase and maintain empathy for teachers in various educational settings. (15) I do think as an educator, we need professional development sessions aimed at empathy education, and empathy sessions or discussions should be a part of school culture. Along with eliminating the lack of empathy, teachers need to make sure their example is consistent. Educators have to make sure their actions speak louder than their words. Another issue in teaching empathy is that educators cannot let their perceived bias affect how they treat students of color. It is very important that students are treated fairly, not based on their color but based on their work ethic. It is impossible to eliminate all bias, but it is also essential that educators work hard to not let that bias enter the classroom. One thing students can pick up on right away is negativity, and they know if a teacher truly cares or if a teacher is pretending to care.
Research shows that lack of awareness and acknowledgment among teachers could also limit their concern for child and adolescent students’ intentions. If teachers do not know or understand the disparities faced by their students of color at school and in their daily lives, they may be more likely to react to student behavior due to negative biases and less likely to understand and empathize with them, in turn leading them to react negatively and punish students of color for perceived behavioral infractions, simply based on who the teacher implicitly believes the student is, rather than what the student has actually done. (16) Sometimes the misconception made about students causes them to be punished unequally. A lot of the time students of color are treated as troublemakers. They are not given the same opportunities as their counterparts. The disproportionate punishment of children of color many times leads to students believing that they are going to get in trouble anyway, so what would be the point of following the rules. There is an overwhelming need for teachers to be understanding of the background issues leading to undesired behavior before assuming that it is part of a person of color’s character. Many times, these undesired consequences, like being kicked out of the classroom, can push students of color further down the line to more extreme behaviors.
Okonofau and Eberhardt (2015) conducted a simulation study in which they asked teachers to assign the severity, disruption, and irritation levels, in addition to disciplinary action necessary for multiple infractions by racially stereotypically named fictional students (e.g., Darnell or Deshawn for a black student and Greg or Jake for a white student) and found racial biases in teacher responses. Teachers were more concerned after the second infraction by a fictional student with a stereotypically black name than after the second infraction by a fictional student with a stereotypically white name. Teachers believed the black students’ second infractions should be met with more severe discipline than the white students’ second infractions. Furthermore, the more likely teachers were to assume the student was black, the more likely the behavior was perceived as an indicator of a pattern of misbehavior and a tendency to label the student as an agitator. Misperceptions, overreactions, and racial discrimination contribute to a chain reaction that pushes black males toward ever-increasing gaps in discipline and academic achievement, leading to limited access to college preparatory opportunities, and impacts on postsecondary access, future earning power, economic stability, and increased likelihood of incarceration (Aud, Fox, & KewalRamani, 2010; Butler et al., 2014; Fenning & Rose, 2007; Rocque & Paternoster, 2011). (17)
We need teachers to examine their motives, hearts, understanding, and thinking. We claim we want our students to succeed but in reality, we are the ones that are failing them. We need to train and learn more about empathy. We need to build practices into our classrooms that teach empathy and build a culture of empathy. Our assumptions and perspectives need to change.
Empathy takes hard work, long discussions, and a lot of understanding, but it is worth the fight if it saves at least one child. We must always remember that our children’s lives are at stake. Not color, not gender, not religion, not race, but children who are growing up looking at us as the example. So, what example do we want to set, the example that we are all important and that we can be a family of empathy, or we can continue the example that we do not need each other, and we can create a family of hatred because of skin color. Just like the body has many parts and works together to keep a human being alive, healthy, and intact, we all need each other’s part and need to work together to keep our world alive, healthy, and intact.
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