Kiara Lee, PhD

Anytime I speak or lead a workshop on biases with teachers, I can always count on one thing: no one wants to admit that they have biases or have what I call “blind spots.”

But the problem is, virtually every teacher does have biases.

In fact, multiple studies have found that the percentage of teachers with racial bias reflects the percentage of the overall public who has racial bias. According to UnboundEd, about 77% of teachers have some sort of racial bias (the same percentage of non-teachers who hold racial biases). Bias describes unfair prejudice that can affect how people view and treat others; with racial bias, this is often based on negative connotations associated with race. 

I remember having a conversation with a leader of a major educational organization. I remember vividly the way she stressed her “colorblind” worldview while discussing data that identified racialized opportunity gaps. “For me, I just don’t see color,” she said. “I look at the person when I meet people, not the color,” she added.

I think the colorblind comment was supposed to make me feel good (maybe?), but all it did was show me that odds are, she was probably trying to hide whatever bias she really had and in her work, she probably does not fully recognize the students her organization serves and all that they are under the guise of colorblindness. 

Virtually everyone is biased (per the data), so now what?

Now, it’s time to call our biases out. Faculty, teachers, and anyone who works in an educational setting (or any setting really) needs to do so.

We need to acknowledge and normalize the prevalence of bias. Colorblindness, turning the other cheek or acting self-righteous or woke just isn’t cutting it. In the same vein, schools and universities need to implement the space and the resources for anti-bias work. This means that educators and other figures in the education sphere need to be able to admit to and deal with their own biases honestly (and safely) while engaging with anti-bias education.

According to K-12 Drive, 1 in 3 students report that they experience racism in schools (and that’s just what ends up being reported). Teacher bias can manifest in interpersonal communication, grading and so much more.

Just as recent nationwide conversations focus on the resurgence of the deadly measles virus, new Covid-19 strains and other preventable diseases, more attention needs to be given to the spread, treatment and prevention of teacher bias, another pandemic that’s out here in these streets. Many teachers that have it don’t want you to know they do and some of them don’t even know they have it; this makes the perfect storm for another pandemic. 

The public, the parents and the teachers need to be made aware of the magnitude of teacher bias; although it may not be deadly to the body, it is indeed lethal to the soul.