25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them (14 page)

Consummate professionals know that no matter how funny, hilarious, or ridiculous a student’s answer might be, as professionals, they must make every effort to stifle their laughter. They also must make it clear to the class that outbursts of laughter will not be tolerated. To take the wind out of the sails of laughter, the teacher can gently correct the student with a smile and affirm the student by acknowledging that all of us make mistakes sometimes. The skillful teacher will get back on track and regain the momentum of the lesson.

2

TEACHER-STUDENT
RELATIONS

“Everyone in my biology class voted against dissecting a frog. But we almost had enough votes to dissect the teacher.”

Mistake

5

Favoritism

SCENARIO 5.1
Snob Appeal

I never really think about this being the worst experience. I was always, and still am, a talker. I was, however, a good student so somehow I guess it balanced out. My parents never really got on me for talking/conduct because I had good grades. Anyway, I guess the teacher I disliked or felt uncomfortable around the most was Ms. W. in third grade. In elementary school I had lots of friends, but never the cute “girlie” types. Ms. W. was always so obvious about who her favorites were; the girls were always rich, white, and dressed right out of Talbot Kids. She was a snob and always made me feel quite small.

Snobs are people who admire and seek to associate with other people they regard as their superiors and may ignore people they feel are inferior (
American Heritage Dictionary
, 1992). The student seemed to think the teacher in this scenario was a snob. Several factors support that notion. The little girls the teacher preferred had snob appeal: They were upper class, very well-dressed, and members of the dominant culture. Most teachers are not rich; they’re usually considered middle class. The teacher could have possibly regarded the favored children and their families as superiors. The student was obviously not rich, not well-dressed, and probably not white. The teacher reportedly ignored the student. It seems the teacher does fit the perception of a snob. I say perception because there might be another, less apparent reason for the teacher’s perceived favoritism.

Where there are rich, well-dressed kids, there are probably rich, influential parents somewhere in the picture. Perhaps the teacher catered to this favored group of children out
of fear of their rich and powerful parents. The teacher’s motives are not as important as the negative effects her behavior had on the less-favored children. The student said the teacher made her feel quite small.

Astute teachers are aware that inequity within gender groups invites resentments. They know that in peer groups, students invariably compare themselves to each other. If teachers favor and esteem certain members of a peer group, the remaining children will understandably have a diminished sense of self-worth. Insightful teachers appreciate the need to take a personal inventory periodically to examine their thoughts and motives. Such an inventory can serve to fetter out both social class and gender bias. If good teachers suspect that they have a bias, they try to become more aware of their snobbish behavior and its effect on students, and they try to take steps to curtail the behavior. They might start with making efforts to find positives in children they possibly regard as inferior.

SCENARIO 5.2
Sugar, Spice, and Very Smart

My high school junior English teacher was constantly on my case about talking (maybe because I’m a guy), but she would let the class valedictorian and salutatorian (both girls) talk away right next to me. I really disliked that teacher. That was the first time I ever got a C in any class.

Expectations, sexual stereotypes, and tolerance are major factors in gender bias, a dimension of favoritism. The old adage descriptors of “snakes and snails and puppy dog tails” for males and “sugar and spice and everything nice” for females epitomize sexual stereotypes. Initially, it was thought that teachers favored females who were nicer, less aggressive, and easier to teach. A study by Good and Brophy (1991) indicated that teachers favored girls. Brophy and Evertson (1981) found that young males received more disapproval and blame than did young females. A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW; 1992) provided contrary evidence that schools shortchanged females in a variety of ways. These studies leave no doubt that males and females are often treated differently. Sometimes males are favored; sometimes females are favored. Which ones are favored depends on the teacher, the situation, how the teacher exhibits gender bias, the student’s socialization in sex roles, society’s conventions of what is appropriate for each sex, and what is expected of each sex.

In this scenario, gender bias is combined with achievement bias, a provocative combination that favors young females. The teacher gave the top-achieving females more liberties than were given to a young male who was not rated as a high achiever. It is possible that he was a high achiever in other classes because he
said he received his first C from this particular teacher. His low grade may have been influenced by the teacher’s bias. A different perspective of the problem in this scenario is that the teacher expects females to talk more and her tolerance level for males talking was much lower.

Fair-minded teachers know the importance of treating males and females equally. To teach without bias is to discard sexual stereotypes, socialization processes, and educational practices that focus on treating males and females differently. The key to eliminating favoritism is consistency. Teachers must be consistent in their treatment of all students. Before they can do that, they must be cognizant of how much gender affects their expectations of their students. Once they are aware of their preferences, biases, and expectations, they can change both their behavior and their thinking, and try to balance their treatment of both sexes. For example, teachers can give boys more interaction privileges and can take girls more seriously as they encourage both groups to be independent. The bottom line is that it is unfair to treat either group better than the other.

SCENARIO 5.3
Teacher’s Pet

In fifth grade my teacher made me her “pet.” I was new in the school so all the kids hated me for it. Then I had to go to middle school and later high school with these same students. This same teacher also used to come and ask my opinion about her cat that had to be put to sleep. That was devastating to even think about, even though it was best for the cat. She would even cry about her cat, and what was I, at 10 years old, going to tell her?

“Teacher’s pet,” is a label dreaded by any self-respecting preadolescent. Students resist roles that cast them outside of their peer group, especially if it is an adult role. The teacher in this scenario probably sensed an unusual measure of maturity or responsibility in this ten-year-old and made the child her classroom companion. Sometimes teachers of young children are very isolated and devoid of adult interaction. Inadvertently, some teachers strike up a friendship with a student. Unfortunately for these teachers, the line that is drawn between what is shared with adult friends and what is shared with students becomes fuzzier and fuzzier. Inevitably, these teachers cross that line and start treating students like adults. The role and the burden of an adultlike friendship are often cast upon an unsuspecting, unwilling child.

Wise teachers know that they have no right to put their students in a position to be an object of ridicule and scorn to satisfy the teachers’ needs. That’s exactly what happens when teachers favor a particular child. Other classmates laugh at and make fun of the child, and many will
dislike the child. It’s a terrible predicament for a young child who wants to belong and be cared for.

Ten-year-olds are still very dependent on parents and teachers and find it difficult and unnerving when the roles are reversed. If students have to be there for their teachers, surely they wonder or worry about who is there for them. Teachers have an obligation not to cross the line with student friendships. They should actively seek to establish collegial and personal relationships with their adult peers.