Charles L. Gordon
neutralizing bias
in your classroom
practice
Do you have a web enabled phone? – please go to pollEV.com/gord
Agenda
1. introductory vocabulary2. mechanism neutralizing bias3. create a group action plan
remove the villain from the narrative
false dichotomy – racist vs.. nonracistunhelpful in bring about meaningful social change
Cultural Knowledge
Treat students fairlyRegardless of Cultural Knowledge
Computer simulationCorrell, Park, Judd, and Wittenbrink
Faster at deciding to Shoot African American vs. European American
Engage cultural knowledge for quick decision
Cultural Knowledge
Personal Evaluation vs. Implicit Normative Evaluation
Cultural knowledge (depicted & treated)Quick decisions
Canadian Shooter Bias Studies
“people with more positive explicit attitudes toward African Canadians tended to show the strongershooter bias”
Quote
Leo Tolstoy1828-1910, Novelist
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, But no one thinks of changing
themselves."
Language of Bias
DiscriminationCognitive BiasAttribution errorChannel factor
Definition
Discriminationpassive, unintended actions, words, that limit a student’s ability to perform,
or saps their enthusiasm for learning.
race, gender, sexual orientation
children learn about their abilities from teachers
high-achievers low-achievers
DiscriminationCognitive BiasAttribution errorChannel factor
Definition
Biasfollowing a rule of thumb (stereotype) to make a decision
DiscriminationCognitive BiasAttribution errorChannel factor
Let’s explore the workings of personal bias
on thinking and acting
Evil Messages
During the 80’s some religious groups supposedly found proof
that Heavy Metal bands were planting evil messages in their songs
Question
During the 80’s some religious groups supposedly found proof
that Heavy Metal bands were planting evil messages in their songs
Answer
During the 80’s some religious groups supposedly found proof
that Heavy Metal bands were planting evil messages in their songs
backmasking
Exploration
Let’s see how the
concept ofhighlights how what we belief affects
what we observe about
people
Exploration
First, listen to a clip of a song
forward and then backward
Second, I’ll get you to tell me the
message
READY!
queen
Queen – Another one bites…
Forward: Another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust.
READY to hear it BACKWARDS?
Queen – Backwards
Backwards:
What did you hear?
queen
What was the evil message?
XX XXX XX XXXXX XXXXXXXXX.
Priming
But I primed you to
hear XX XXX XX XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
It’s just Random Noise
Definition
Biasfollowing a rule of thumb (stereotype) to make a decision
Attribution Errorinferences about a person’s character based on their behavior
character is not the sole determining factor
incentivesconstraintspressures
expectations
DiscriminationCognitive BiasAttribution errorChannel factor
Attribution error
How much you eatpackaging / presentation, and pricingand not by simply a lack of will power
Flu shotdepends on external factors: location and hours
not simply my awareness of the benefits of inoculation
Definition
Channel Factorsmall insignificant features of the social environment that direct or
channel our behavior.
DiscriminationCognitive BiasAttribution errorChannel factor
Environment & Behavior
How temperature affects behavior
Video
Not Included
Take Away
Judgments don’t rest on neutral factsuntainted by bias
Channel factors
Neutralizing Bias
mechanism for neutralizing bias
1. Normative clarity2. Micro-affirmations
Don’t focus on why you can’tBut how you can
normative
clarityin the working personality of a teacherdon’t be blind to color
don’t smear over differencesDon’t ignore the issues
make race, gender, sexual orientation a conspicuous elementof your classroom
Clarity
salientunambiguous
studies on criminal trials racial difference between
defendant & victim
Studies - salient
Conviction Rate
Black defendant
White defendant
Not salient 90% 70%
Made salient 69% 66%
Implicit normative evaluationCultural knowledge
studies on helping behavior of White bystanders and
Black victims
Studies - ambiguity
normative clarity discouraged racial bias
bystander perceived the victim’s plight as undeserved or another party signaled that it was not appropriate to
withhold assistance
normative clarity
in the working personality of a teacherthere should be a clear articulation of right and wrong behavior
action:make race, gender and sexual orientation conspicuous
clearly define appropriate behavior
Clarity
Other people’s evaluation will affect my normative evaluation and behavior
If I hear and see a crowd laughing at a racist joke, will I be more likely to discriminate?
People’s Evaluation -
Signaling
Racist joke targeting people from the Middle East
Laughter No laughter
Normative evaluation
Higher negatives
Discriminatorybehavior
Allocated less money to the MSA
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48(2012) pg 694-706Not all automatic associations are created equal…..
normative
clarityClear unambiguous signal of right and wrong
Summary - Clarity
salientunambiguous
in the working personality of a teachercompliment low-achievers
Students outside your comfort zone
Micro-affirmation
S.P.P.I.F.I.
Micro-affirmation
SpecificPure
PositiveImmediateFrequentIrregular
Tips
4 Big Ideas
on dealing with personal bias
Tips
Think critically about your beliefs and expectations concerning people (students) you have difficulty dealing with.
Personal bias that can cause us to disrespect others don’t go away because someone says its wrongTHERE ARE TATICS FOR NEUTRALIZING BIAS
Be aware of hidden bias that FILTERS what you observeNeutralize by asking
What would I expect to see if my belief and expectation were false?
Be aware that we may cause people to act out our beliefs
Action Plan
how will you integrate the ideas mentionedin your working personality
Reflect and share on your own Work with
someone else
Charles
L.
Gordon
neutralizing bias
in your classroom practice