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About this paper symposium
Panel information |
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Panel 8. Education, Schooling |
Paper #1 | |
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How Resources Shape Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices About Disadvantaged Students in the Kyrgyz Republic | |
Author information | Role |
Dr. Kelly Lynn Ziemer, Leiden University, Netherlands | Presenting author |
Nazira Zholdoshbekova, Aga Khan Foundation Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Republic | Non-presenting author |
Hae Yeon Lee, National University of Singapore and Yale-NUS College, Singapore | Non-presenting author |
David S. Yeager, The University of Texas at Austin, United States | Non-presenting author |
Eddie Brummelman, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | Non-presenting author |
Abstract | |
Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) and migration backgrounds tend to underperform in school compared to their peers (United Nations, 2020). One reason is that teachers may believe that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have lower potential (Brummelman & Sedikides, 2023; Sabarwal et al., 2022; Turetsky et al., 2021). Such beliefs may lead teachers to invest less in children from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially if teachers face a lack of resources—including personal (e.g., low pay) and school (e.g., unstable internet access) resources. We investigated this question in the Kyrgyz Republic—a country that faces unique challenges regarding socioeconomic deprivation and migration (OECD, 2018). We recruited teachers working with 5-, 10-, and 15-year-olds through Schools2030 and implemented a participatory approach by involving local stakeholders. In Study 1, we conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers (N = 30). Two findings from ongoing thematic analyses show that teachers shared: (1) it was harder to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., those who migrated) learn and grow their intelligence; and (2) a shortage of resources (e.g., “there are not enough textbooks”, “lack of state funding”) impedes the quality of teaching. In Study 2, a preregistered experiment (N = 290), we presented teachers with six vignettes about a student: (1) with/without a migration background, (2) from a low-/high-income family, and (3) from a family with a low/high level of parental education. After each vignette, teachers rated their beliefs about the student (e.g., “There is little I can do to help the student learn”). We then told them that the student failed in school and then measured teachers’ attributions (e.g., “I might worry that the student isn’t good at this subject”) and practices (e.g., “I would give the student easier assignments next time”). We examined whether teachers held biases against disadvantaged students’ potential for learning. Teachers believed that children with a migration background (M = 3.66, SD = .90) are less likely to become top students in their class than are children without a migration background (M = 3.86, SD = .82), t(225) = -2.74, p =.007. Teachers also believed that there is little they can do to help a child from a low-educated family (M = 2.31, SD = .91) learn than a child from a medium-to-high-educated family (M = 2.16, SD = .85), t(217) = 2.19, p = .030. Both effects were more pronounced for teachers with low personal resources. After learning about the child’s failure, teachers with low personal resources were more likely to infer the child is not good at the subject, t(109)= 2.50, p = .014), and those with low school resources would give the child easier assignments, t(100)= 2.34, p = .021), if the child was from a low-income than a high-income family. Our study uncovered that Kyrgyz students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and migration status can shape teachers’ beliefs about their potential for learning. Teachers’ perception of resources played an important role in modulating their beliefs. Teacher-focused interventions and resource provision are avenues for increasing equal treatment in the classroom. |
Paper #2 | |
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Does Teacher’s Praise Make You Feel Less Smart? A Virtual Reality (VR) Experiment | |
Author information | Role |
Ms. Lena-Emilia Schenker, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | Presenting author |
Jellie Sierksma, Utrecht University, Netherlands | Non-presenting author |
Eddie Brummelman, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands | Non-presenting author |
Abstract | |
Teachers often praise children who work hard. If two children achieve the same success, teachers give more praise to the child from a lower socioeconomic status (SES) background, because they assume this child worked harder to achieve the success (Schoneveld & Brummelman, 2023). This might backfire, however. Children may know that teachers praise for effort (Celniker et al., 2023; Weiner & Kukla, 1970), and they perceive effort and ability as compensatory (Muradoglu & Cimpian, 2020). Thus, if one student receives praise, while a similarly achieving student does not, this might imply that the praised student had to exert more effort to achieve the same result, thereby implying lower ability. Indeed, when children witness one out of two equally performing children receive praise, they perceive the praised child as less smart (Barker & Graham, 1987; Schoneveld & Brummelman, 2023). For the first time, we examined the effect of unequal praise on children themselves. We utilized Virtual Reality (VR) to create a highly controlled virtual classroom, where the behavior of teacher and classmates were standardized. VR offers both ecological validity and experimental control (Blascovich et al., 2002). Participants were 215 children aged 8 to 12. Following our preregistration, four children were excluded because praise was delivered incorrectly (Final N = 211, Mage = 9.71, 59% female, 1% non-binary). Children solved tasks in a VR classroom along with a virtual classmate. Afterwards, both students received bogus feedback indicating they achieved the same score. The teacher then praised only the participating child or only the virtual classmate for their performance. Afterwards, children reported their self-perceived ability and effort. Children felt immersed in the VR (a large majority said the experience “felt real” and that they were “absorbed”). The experimental manipulation was effective, as the majority of children correctly recalled who had received praise. Contrary to our preregistered hypotheses, children who were praised (while their classmate was not) did not report lower self-perceived ability, t(209) = 0.35 β = 0.03, p = 0.727, or higher self-perceived effort, t(209) = 0.66, β = 0.05, p = 0.511, than did children whose classmate was praised (while they themselves were not). Is it possible that children perceived the praise as a sign that the teacher liked them (rather than of low ability)? To explore this possibly, we asked children who they thought the teacher liked better. There was no significant difference between conditions, t(209) = -0.96 β = -.07, p = 0.338. Our research suggests that, in a classroom, children do not feel less smart when being praised while an equally performing classmate is not. At first blush, this seems to contradict research showing that children do use praise as a cue of ability when they observe other children being praised (Barker & Graham, 1987; Schoneveld & Brummelman, 2023). Yet, it suggests that receiving praise oneself is fundamentally different from witnessing others being praised. Perhaps driven by self-enhancement tendencies (Thomaes et al., 2017), children may interpret praise they receive themselves more favorably, giving themselves the benefit of the doubt. |
Paper #3 | |
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Young Children Expect and Approve of Adults’ Gender Stereotypes | |
Author information | Role |
Marianna Zhang, New York University, United States | Presenting author |
Mika Asaba, Yale University, United States | Non-presenting author |
Julia Leonard, Yale University, United States | Non-presenting author |
Abstract | |
Gender stereotypes contribute to gender disparities in the classroom and workforce. While children are known to develop gender stereotypes early in life (Bian et al., 2017; Master et al., 2021), it is unclear how children reason about and evaluate other people’s gender stereotypes. Here, we asked (i) whether children expect adults to hold gender stereotypes, separately from their own beliefs, and (ii) how children evaluate adults who act on gender stereotypes. We focused on the gender stereotype that boys are more interested in engineering than girls, which children endorse around age 6 (Master et al., 2021). In Experiments 1 and 2 (total n=275 US-based 5-7 year-olds; preregistered; asynchronous over Lookit), children predicted whether teachers would assign an engineering (boy-stereotypical) or story activity (girl-stereotypical) to a boy student and to a girl student, respectively. To distinguish children’s own beliefs from the teacher’s beliefs, children were always told which activity the student was interested in, while teachers sometimes knew and sometimes did not. In Experiment 1, participants met students interested in counter-stereotypical activities (i.e., boys liked stories, girls liked engineering). We found that participants calibrated their predictions based on the teacher’s knowledge of the student’s interests: When the teacher was knowledgeable, participants expected the teacher to give the story activity to the boy and the engineering activity to the girl, but this pattern was attenuated when the teacher was ignorant (b=3.27, p<.001). In Experiment 2, when the students were equally interested in both activities and the teachers were always ignorant, participants now predicted that teachers would assign students stereotypical activities (b=1.50, p<.001). Experiments 1 and 2 established that children expect adults to act on gender stereotypes, even if they know such stereotypes are inaccurate. Next, we explored whether children approve of such actions. In Experiment 3 (n=90 US-based 5-7 year-olds; preregistered; synchronous over Zoom), participants evaluated two teachers who, ignorant to students’ interests, assigned boy and girl students to engineering or story activities. Strikingly, participants provided positive ratings to a teacher who assigned the engineering activity to only boys and the story game to only girls (Stereotype Teacher). Participants also provided positive ratings to a teacher who assigned the engineering activity and story activity to both boys and girls (Egalitarian Teacher). Although participants overall did not rate the teachers differently (b=-.02, p>.05), participants who held counter-stereotypical interests (e.g., a girl participant who preferred engineering) preferred the Egalitarian Teacher over the Stereotype teacher (b=-1.04, p=.007). In all experiments, children’s responses were not related to their own gender stereotypes. By the time children enter school, they expect adults to hold gender stereotypes, even if they know that such stereotypes are inaccurate. Further, children positively evaluate adults who act on gender stereotypes, but not when this would impede their own interests. Together, these studies suggest that we need to intervene not only on children's own stereotype development, but also on their expectations of others’ stereotypes, to ensure gender equality. |
Paper #4 | |
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Children’s Evaluations and Predictions About Teacher Racial-Ethnic Bias | |
Author information | Role |
Elise Marie Kaufman, M.Ed., University of Maryland, College Park, United States | Presenting author |
Melanie Killen, University of Maryland, College Park, United States | Non-presenting author |
Abstract | |
Teachers play an important role in student development of values and fair treatment of others (Nucci & Ilten-Gee, 2021). Research has documented contexts in which teachers display ethnic and racial bias (Peterson et al., 2016, Okonofua et al., 2016), which has negative implications for children’s mental health and fostering values about fairness. Recent findings reveal that children and adolescents detect teacher racial-ethnic biases in selecting classroom leaders (Killen et al., 2024). Yet, little research has been conducted on whether children perceive teacher bias regarding opportunities for academic recognition in the classroom. In this study, we investigated how children and adolescents evaluated teacher bias regarding academic recognition and whether they view teachers as capable of changing their bias when exposed to anti-bias messages. Based on our theoretical model, we expected that adolescents would be more likely to detect teacher bias than would children and that racial-ethnic differences would appear regarding expectations concerning the display of bias after being exposed to anti-bias messages. We surveyed U.S. children ages 8-14 (N = 303, Mage= 11.49, 51% female, 47.5% Black/African American, 36.9% White/European American, 15.5% Asian American/Pacific Islander) using a vignette in which a teacher selected students of one racial-ethnic group (Asian, Black, or White) to have an opportunity for academic recognition. Participants were then informed that the teacher was exposed to anti-bias messages at a school meeting. Participants were then asked to: (1) evaluate teacher bias before the anti-bias exposure, (2) evaluate teacher decisions after the anti-bias exposure (maintained bias, equal treatment, or rectifying), and (3) predict the likelihood of a teacher maintaining their bias post-exposure. Repeated measures ANCOVAs and ANOVAs were applied to the data. We found that with age, participants more negatively evaluated teacher bias (p = .009). Participants also evaluated teacher bias more negatively after witnessing teachers being exposed to anti-bias messages (p = .02). Further, participants viewed a teacher giving equal and rectifying opportunities for classroom recognition as more okay than when a teacher maintained their bias after the anti-bias exposure (p < .001). Finally, we found that Black children on average predicted a higher likelihood of a teacher maintaining their bias after the anti-bias messages, more so than did White (p = .04) participants. These results revealed that children and adolescents are aware of teacher bias regarding academic recognition and they judge teacher bias more harshly after an exposure to the anti-bias message. Children positively evaluated a teacher selecting students from the previously disadvantaged racial-ethnic group after the bias exposure. When children detected a teacher bias, they preferred those children who have been disadvantaged by the bias to receive recognition for their academic work. We also found that when children considered racial-ethnic bias wrong, they did so regardless of whether their own group was advantaged or disadvantaged. In sum, informing educators about children’s sensitivity to teacher bias may help to create inclusive classrooms which enable all students to learn and thrive. |
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Unequal Treatment in the Classroom: Origins and Consequences
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Paper Symposium
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Session Title | Unequal Treatment in the Classroom: Origins and Consequences |