Implicit biases are unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that influence an individual's perception of the world and the people in it, affecting their behavior, decisions, and treatment of others. Due to the unconscious nature of implicit bias—also called unconscious or unintended bias—these attitudes are held without the individual being aware of them and may run counter to a person's conscious beliefs.
When implicit bias affects how an individual treats others, it's referred to as a microaggression. Many adults of non-majority social groups are so experienced with microaggressions that they are adept at recognizing and navigating them.
But for children who lack the life experience and vocabulary to recognize and address microaggressions, these interactions can have deleterious effects that alter the course of their lives. For that reason, it's crucial to become aware of implicit bias in the classroom, including why it persists, how to recognize it, and how it can affect students who are victims of it.
While explicit bias has waned considerably due to the social progress our culture has made in the last 50 years, implicit bias persists in schools and our culture at large. Why has implicit bias persisted, particularly after the previous decade of warp-speed social change? That is likely because implicit bias is unconscious, and it's tough to treat a malady that you don't know is there.
Undoubtedly, every educator in the country would agree that all children are entitled to a comprehensive and equitable education. Yet often, the education provided to children of non-majority social groups is not fair or complete. This is not because educators maliciously deprive students of this, but because they are humans who, just like the rest of us, are affected by implicit bias and unaware of how it can affect the way they treat their students.
In other words, implicit bias in education exists because teachers are human and fallible, but it persists because it is unconscious. Invisible and ephemeral, implicit bias is difficult to rein in without a broad awareness of it and the shapes it takes within the classroom.
Without them being aware that they are treating children with disabilities any differently, implicit biases can cause educators to:
A reading of this list makes two things very clear about implicit bias in the classroom:
In other words, implicit bias leads to lowered expectations which leads to performing at levels lower than natural ability, making implicit bias a perfect circle of self-fulfilling prophecy. If an educator (unconsciously) believes a student will only achieve up to a certain level and then does not support development past that point, the student will likely peak in just the spot that the educator's implicit bias predicted.
In this way, implicit bias presupposes the failure or mediocrity of some students right from the start. Deprived of encouragement and instruction that would challenge them, implicit bias robs students with disabilities of confidence and self-efficacy in the short-term and an equitable education that would set them up for success in adulthood in the long term.
It's essential to qualify this discussion of implicit bias by acknowledging that #NotAllEducators are driven by implicit bias. Nonetheless, it's likely that all educators could benefit from some self-reflection and self-analysis. Improved self-awareness allows for deepening awareness of how one's actions affect others. This, combined with acknowledging the existence of implicit bias, is the first crucial step in eliminating it.