Bias in Teaching: Context is Important

Editor's Note: This is the third part of the Bias in Teaching series from Textured Teaching. By Lorena Germán. See parts one and two. 

As we work to deconstruct our imaginations, considering our positionality is necessary. This means taking into consideration your political and social influences and how they build your point of view and lead to bias. Our positionality and context are important in terms of how we relate to our students. Who we are and where we are teaching makes a difference and should determine what we teach. The figure above outlines the more commonly experienced teaching contexts in the United States.

Scenario One

In the first scenario, generally speaking, the White teacher has a heavy load of unlearning to do to effectively reach their students who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). The teacher is not experiencing the society in the same or similar ways their students are and, as members of the dominant culture, they have many blind spots. Seeing through the lens of the students in front of them requires a lot of self-awareness and consciousness. Due to the systems of oppression that these students have experienced at the hands of White people, there is also a nonacademic learning curve for these teachers and their students to build rapport and trust. As much as the teacher wants to believe they are unbiased and nonracist, the students have to discover that for themselves, which will take time. Acts of solidarity where the teacher speaks up for students, serves them, and makes their trust available and tangible are key. Students have to see that these teachers are not here to be a part of the system that is oppressing them, but that they’re willing to take risks and challenge the status quo for them. This work can absolutely be achieved through a Textured Teaching framework.

Scenario Two

In the second scenario, the BIPOC teacher often has a positive power dynamic with their BIPOC students and must use that to leverage the learning that happens in that space. In many cases, due to patterns of oppression and segregation in our country, these teachers are either from that very community or a similar one. As a result, for these teachers, trust from their students comes much easier. They can often bypass the learning curve described above for the White teachers. Because the rapport builds quickly and trust happens, sometimes, naturally, the work of Textured Teaching happens seamlessly and goes deeper faster. Often, in these contexts, students of color tend to do better because of the role model effect, which results in their achieving more and doing better socially and academically (Berg 2019). This is why student activism tends to be more common in these scenarios. Students are more willing to share concerns and these teachers, because they can often relate, create

space for that dialogue, and this often leads to strategizing for change. Unfortunately, one negative aspect of this context is teacher burnout. Because of the oppression that exists in these communities, serving students and families through schools can be exhausting. Schools can’t solve all of society’s issues and that can make the job of the educator burdensome. Students turn to these teachers over other teachers. These teachers, when led by predominantly White leadership, are often overlooked and not supported. Issues develop and the metaphorical cups runneth over, in negative terms. My hope is that this will change sooner rather than later because these teachers deserve it.

Scenario Three

In the third scenario, there is a positive power dynamic like the one above it. White teachers are uniquely positioned here to disrupt White solidarity (DiAngelo 2018) and leverage their privilege, so that critical Textured Teaching happens in these spaces. This context, especially, requires administrative support for it to be effective because White parents tend to be highly critical of and involved in teacher curricular implementation. But it’s possible to gain parental support. When done appropriately, Textured Teaching is highly engaging for students and, overall, a positive experience. Additionally, these units of study offer White students a new lens for seeing the reality of their lives. They need to see themselves as racialized, as part of the dominant and oppressive group, but be offered hope and ways to resist that perpetuating harm. Racism dehumanizes White people by putting them in positions of dehumanizing others. Offering White students ways to practice love and humanity through revolution is Textured Teaching in action. The teacher can be an excellent model for students for how to act, speak, and fight. They need to see you organizing, pushing against the status quo in strategic and important ways. They need to see this teacher vocalizing their beliefs about oppression, racism, and all the other -isms. Centering hope and restoration is an important approach when working in this context.

Scenario Four

This last scenario, my current context, is often tense and uncomfortable for teachers. Most common in private/independent schools and suburban or rural schools in predominantly White settings, this context unearths a challenging power dynamic for the BIPOC teacher who is often dealing with White privilege and other social tensions. These are often spaces where White supremacy goes unquestioned and issues of racism are rarely addressed openly. Depending on the school, Textured

Teaching can be close to impossible because of pushback and hesitation from students, parents, and/or administration. Sometimes, however, White students are more open and willing to hear about these issues from a BIPOC because of their credibility. In spaces where teachers have curricular autonomy and an authentic voice, this powerful combination can open doors for important work and create a great opportunity for Textured Teaching.

Although this figure doesn’t encapsulate all of the teaching scenarios that exist or even their complexities, it does present us with the most common ones, considering our country’s economic and racial segregation. A Textured Teaching approach can exist in any scenario. Considering your positionality in the classroom can help you identify ways to implement it, how far to push students, and how deep to dig into yourself. Understanding your school is key, because of the history of schooling in the United States.

In the end, the work lies in naming systems of oppression, addressing the ways we have internalized them, and pushing back. Textured Teaching requires us to unpack our biases, address them, work on ourselves, then bring that work with tenderness and grace to our students. We become models of the positive social transformation we want them to dream of and work toward. In this way, the work is personal. We grow with our students.

Textured Teaching is complex and it starts with us. Unaddressed trauma begets trauma, and often what we experienced as schooling had major flaws, at best. More often than not, we are perpetuating those flaws and simply handing down pain and structural racism to our students. Once we recognize that education has traditionally been a part of a hate-filled system, we can then begin to acknowledge the need to envision our teaching to dismantle said system. Textured Teaching, at its core, is a fight for social justice, and placing the students and the communities in which they live as a priority is how Textured Teaching begins.