·         Knowledge base, interests, and strengths

·         Ambitions and fierce desires

·         What the individual likes or dislikes

·         Life history

·         Major learning methods

·         Potential blockades to learning

There’re also other factors considered important by either the student or teacher. Learner profiles aim to bridge any barriers between teachers and students and help educators understand their students more clearly. As such, it eventually results in the development of the most inclusive classroom where teachers are well aware of what kinds of accommodations need to be made for each student to thrive.

Learner profiles have the potential to fuel personalized learning via better data that can inform learning in meaningful ways and encourage a transition to a competency-based education system. Here’re different ways learner profiles encourage competency-based learning.

They encourage student ownership: Learner profiles can be utilized as a part of a mechanism teachers use to ensure proficiency before moving to the next level. Learner profiles can also be used as assessments of learning. In this scenario, the students use their learner profiles as a place to maintain information and a place where they can meaningfully reflect on their work via journaling and writing, upload, and own the documents.

They allow portability across systems: When students transfer, their transcripts, student records, and other information move with them. This helps educators and other providers learn about their needs, strengths, interests, and other relevant information, thus providing the students with personalized access to high-quality learning. As students think about applying for a job or applying to post-secondary institutions, the information in their learner profiles can be gleaned and mined for use in a job and/or college application scenario.

They encourage anytime, anywhere learning: A learner profile houses a variety of data, including information that goes beyond what may be found in an official transcript or a data backpack. It can contain measurement and data from different providers that are accessible by parents, tutors, community-based organizations, and therapists. These entities can support students’ competency-based learning by understanding their needs, strengths, preferences, and more. Learner profiles also facilitate the demonstration of students’ career and college readiness.

The K-12 system can use learner profiles as both a tool for pupils and their learning and structural support to accomplish competency-based learning.

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1. The First-Year Teacher’s Checklist: A Quick Reference for Classroom Success by Julia G. Thompson

Few natural forces are as powerful as a committed instructor. You are correct, Julia G. Thompson. She questions how we manage to multitask while entertaining and nurturing others. She briefly reviews some of the essential concerns affecting teachers today in her book, “The First-Year Teacher’s Checklist.” Highlights include establishing a strong rapport with your pupils, excelling above your peers in professionalism, and creating engaging lessons that will engage all kids. Keep this handy resource nearby your desk all year long.

2. The Organized Teacher: A Hands-on Guide to Setting Up & Running a Terrific Classroom by Steve Springer, Brandy Alexander, and Kimberly Persiani

We lose sight of the fact that we are “the most important aspect in the classroom,” according to Steve Springer, who begins this book that has been a steadfast companion for many instructors. Without us, learning cannot occur. He continues by warning us not to overwork ourselves and always to remember to take care of ourselves. He playfully deconstructs the anatomy of a teacher, from the ears that have the compassion to the hearts that create nurturing settings to the eyes at the back of their skulls. Additionally, you’ll discover pupils at every school level and how their anatomy often reveals their preferred learning method.

3. The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher’s Guide by Erin Gruwell

You’ve probably seen the fantastic Hilary Swank movie, but the story began in room 203 with a first-year instructor. Erin Gruwell wasn’t ready for the harsh realities her students had to deal with, like seeing violence, drug use, and dysfunctional families up close. Gruwell asked her students to create their own stories in response to questions from students about how a particular book related to their own lives. She made a classroom community centered on the values of fostering tolerance, promoting cooperation, utilizing past knowledge, demanding accountability, and celebrating accomplishments through the use of these stories.

4. The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom by Rethinking Schools

Although teaching is a career-long job, the initial years in the classroom are typically the most challenging. This anthology of essays will assist teachers in maintaining the enthusiasm and principles that inspired them to become teachers. You’ll hear sage advice on negotiating the educational system, building beneficial connections with coworkers, and interacting with children and families from various backgrounds.

5. First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg

In Julie Danneburg’s funny picture book, we are all transported to a familiar setting—the beginning of a brand-new, uncharted journey. Sarah Jane Hartwell isn’t interested in getting up and going to school. She has no acquaintances and expects she will detest it. She gradually faces her worries thanks to Mr. Hartwell. Just consider all the new pals you’ll make, he advises. We are taken on a voyage through her first day’s shenanigans by the vivid drawings. It’s a well-known tale with a heartwarming twist in the end.

6. The Exceptional Teacher’s Handbook: The First-Year Special Education Teacher’s Guide to Success by Carla Shelton and Alice Pollingue

This outstanding work is accessible to readers who are not special education teachers. Starting off, Carla Shelton and Alica Pollingue quote renowned educator Annie Sullivan. “All things are transformed, my tiny pupil, for the knowing light has flashed onto his mind.” Many instructors leave the job after a year or two because they do not notice the difference they make straight immediately. This book helps you identify a mentor teacher to enlist for assistance and set aside time for reflection. Shelton and Pollingue will demonstrate instructional techniques for maximizing student performance and designing alternative assessments for all students.

7. The First Year Teacher: Be Prepared for Your Classroom by Karen Bosch

With this resource linking teacher preparation programs to first-year teaching experience, Karen Bosch seeks to better prepare instructors for transitioning from campus to classroom. She believes that if a teacher is effective, student learning will improve. This book stands out because it starts with the application process and advice on how to get your first teaching job. It’s time to draught your resume and put together a comprehensive portfolio.

8. Guided Reading: Responsive Teaching Across the Grades by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

You have probably heard of the guided reading program developed by Fountas and Pinnell. All new educators should read this. This book explains how teachers can give beginning readers content tailored to their unique learning requirements. The writers’ research on early literacy is extensive. The book also emphasizes the significance of classifying students according to assessment results.

9. A Fabulous First Year and Beyond: A Practical Guide for Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers by Vanessa J. Levin

Vanessa Levin wants to be your “teacher next door” for any issues you face in the classroom, regardless of the grade you teach. She regrets the arduous hours, meager compensation, and scarcity of materials and resources we meet. She claims that if Levin can make your experience as a teacher just a little bit simpler, she will feel successful. She starts in Feng Shui fashion. Everything begins with the room’s design, giving pupils a welcoming and exciting learning space. According to Levin, kids’ brains will anticipate learning to be beneficial if a teacher is successful. It is a tremendous gift in and of itself that young people have trusted us with their ideas.

10. The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry Wong and Rosemary T. Wong

Even just reading the dedication page will make you shiver. Harry K.Wong acknowledges his parents, who wished he would pursue a career in brain surgery. “I exceeded their expectations and became a teacher and a scholar,” he boasts. A principal told her that she required “improved classroom management abilities,” according to Rosemary K. Wong.

The book, written by these bright brains and translated into five other languages, is utilized in over 2,114 college classes, over 120 nations, and thousands of school districts. The foundational notion of this motivating piece is that every effective teacher has a plan for the first day of class. Additionally, “having positive expectations for student achievement, being an extraordinarily competent classroom manager, and knowing how to create lessons for student mastery” are three qualities that make a teacher effective.

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The Importance Of Self-Care

Just as airlines state to place an oxygen max on yourself before helping others, a similar approach should be taken by teachers. Self-care is vital to help remove the overbearing cloud of stress, anxiety, and loss of sense of purpose that teaching can place on educators. Everyone has their own self-care techniques that are personal to them. Some of the most common and effective are:

• Reading
• Writing
• Drawing
• Hiking
• Meditation
• Video Games
• Gardening
• Yoga
• Board Games
• DIY projects
• Counseling
• Cooking
• Exercise
• Developing more or stronger social relationships

Find Purpose And Passion Again

After useful self-care techniques are found and used, a teacher can then start to more easily evaluate their career as a teacher and not let the negatives diminish the positives. Having the ability to find purpose in one’s self is strongly linked to a longer lifespan. When teachers can rekindle that purpose and approach their job with passion instead of dread it can create a cascading effect. 

Just as with self-care, each teacher will find their purpose and passion in different ways. For some, it might be redecorating their classroom completely. Others might take a fresh look at their curriculum they haven’t changed in 15 years and start to implement different activities. Even simply standing outside the doors of their classroom every day and fist-bumping each student with a smile and “good morning” might be all some need to start making steps towards becoming a passionate and purposeful teacher again. 

Finding Your Roots

One of the best ways for a teacher to ground themselves within the profession again is to dig deep and search for the roots of why they became a teacher to begin with. It could be a pivotal moment in their lives such as their 7th grade social studies teacher making the content fun for the first time or taking the time to ask them if anything was bothering them. Maybe numerous family members are or were teachers and growing up and hearing their stories encouraged them to follow in their footsteps. A quick phone call to hear some of those stories or get advice can make a world of difference.

Conclusion

 There is no one solution for how an individual teacher can get their purpose and passion back into teaching. It is a daunting task trying to find that motivation again under the weight of everything the profession entails which makes it not easy to do. 

The best piece of advice is to take it a day, or even just an hour at a time, take care of yourself, and celebrate even the smallest successes in the lives of the students. 

The post Developing Your Sense Of Purpose, Evaluating Your Passion, And Tapping Into Why You Began Teaching appeared first on The Edvocate.

Certain vs. Uncertain Rewards

In one study, students participated in a math quiz. They were provided two options for rewards: 1 point guaranteed (Mr. Certain), or 0-2 points awarded randomly (Mr. Uncertain). Students reported that they “felt a range of emotions in relation to Mr. Uncertain, including frustration, but this frustration was not considered bad by the students.” In fact, 61% of the time, Mr. Uncertain was chosen.

Additionally, Mr. Uncertain was chosen more over time, and out of 50 students, 30 chose Mr. Uncertain over Mr. Certain. One student told the researcher that the frustration actually motivated him to choose Mr. Uncertain more. These results suggest that students respond best to rewards that are introduced at random intervals, especially when the frequency is not connected to their own abilities or academic performance.

Using Rewards to Build Persistence

In the same study, students rolled animated dice, and then answered a question. If they answered correctly, they would earn their points and be offered the opportunity to roll the dice again. If they rolled a pair of ones, though, they would wipe out their previous points. The students could pass their turn to the computer, who suffered the same consequences if it rolled ones, but it always answered the questions correctly.

Results from the study found that this activity separated the student’s confidence and motivation from their abilities. For example, if they answered a question incorrectly, they would accept it, learn the answer in case the same question was asked again, and celebrate that they didn’t lose anything for answering incorrectly. They had better post-test results, implying that this was an effective strategy for factual learning. Additionally, they also perceived the computer as having an unfair advantage and found this to be the more unfair part of the game rather than losing their points or answering a question incorrectly. These results suggest that intermittent rewards can have a positive effect on confidence, persistence, and motivation.

Dopamine Levels and Attention

High dopamine levels have been correlated with increased attention, and motivation (though research is divided as to what extent dopamine controls these outcomes). Researchers used this knowledge to measure dopamine levels in adults while they played a game with uncertain rewards. Participants were randomly asked questions within various tiers of difficulties that offered random incentives. When they would return to a tier, their dopamine levels would rise when they discovered a larger than expected reward would be offered from the question or tier. This suggests that by offering unexpected rewards, or changing reward and incentive strategies at random intervals, you may be able to increase your students’ dopamine levels – therefore increasing their motivation and attention levels.

Generally speaking, teacher preparation and professional development programs help teachers to develop reward systems but can fall short when explaining the reason why these systems are effective. It is also worth noting that many educators use consistent rewards due to the belief that they provide the most motivation for student learning. However, when we look at recent research, we actually see inconsistent rewards providing students with the motivation for attention, persistence, and risk-taking. Either way, administrators and educators need to understand recent discoveries in student motivation, and find ways to scale those findings for their own classrooms.

The post Using Research to Create Effective Student Motivation Strategies appeared first on The Edvocate.

When it comes to classroom jobs, there are so many to choose from. I will just name and talk about a few. My students loved the idea of being the line leader, as it gave them a sense of importance and relevance. It helped me keep students in check behaviorally and academically, as they wanted to make sure they got their chance to be the line leader every five or so weeks.

Another student and teacher favorite would be classroom helper. Students love the idea of being second in command, and getting a chance to pass out papers, collect papers, sweep the room, run errands, etc. On the flip side, teachers can always use an extra hand, and a good classroom helper is worth their weight in gold.

Last but not least, the group leader. When I put students in cooperative learning groups, I would choose roles for each group member. This is because I wanted to keep the students honest and ensure that they had a chance to see what it was like to fill various group roles. The most coveted position was always as a group leader, as it made students feel like they were in charge. It also made them feel like they were an extension of the teacher.

I think that this was a good question to ask, as we usually think of classroom jobs as an afterthought, not as a vital part of the educational process. I always used classroom jobs to help students gain valuable skills in leadership and management. I think it worked, and I hope that my former students are better for it.

The post What Classroom Jobs Do You Think Will Work Best in the Classroom, and Why? appeared first on The Edvocate.

Bringing me back to my clinical placement allowed me to focus on the best practices I could implement. Those best practices would also shine through when I became a principal.  Not only did I learn how to strategize to meet my annual progress goal, but I learned how to negotiate all of the needs of the various stakeholders.  I reflect on these two points in my career wondering how we will train our principals and teachers in a virtual world? What will clinical placements look like?

The traditional model in teacher education expects aspiring leaders and pre-service teachers to engage in internships.  These internships, called clinical placements, provide aspiring leaders to learn side by side, in schools with mentor principals and pre-service teachers with the opportunity to student-teach.  For example, aspiring principals develop leadership skills such as resolving issues with an upset parent or giving feedback after a classroom observation to a teacher through mentorship.

Pre-service teachers learn to engage with children and deliver instructional strategies monitored by highly effective teachers. Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of clinical placements for educators and leaders, serving as an important part of a leader and educator’s learning trajectory that doesn’t translate through Zoom calls. Further, culturally relevant scholars describe being in schools that are different from the identities and experiences of pre-service leaders and teachers, give them insight and decrease issues of equity.  When pre-service educators do not have clinical placements, they lose the ability to learn about the human connection that binds educator and leader to student and teacher. Most importantly, they lose the indisputable joy of being in a school.

We need to prepare for the possibility that clinical placements will look different in the fall and beyond. Clinical placements bring many benefits, but they also bring the reality of teaching and leading to educators who may have only experienced schools through texts and videos. Even in a “new normal,” this is not normal, and the importance of clinical placements shouldn’t be diminished. Education programs should begin the conversation with their partner schools about the hours of service and rules of engagement if schools remain virtual.

We must also move fast to re-design elements of education programs that will train its aspiring leaders and pre-service teachers for the new educational landscape.  Many teachers are acclimating to the hard turn of a completely virtual learning experience.  Virtual learning requires a host of pedagogical skills which typically is not the focus of education programs.  Leaders have to learn how to assess academic growth while teachers have to learn how to bridge the gap and encourage learning.

This generation of pre-service teachers and aspiring leaders need to learn these methods as well.  Preparation programs should evaluate how they will accomplish this task by gathering together to develop an example of supplemental material that could look like addendums to syllabi. No longer will teaching online be a mere addition to the typical curriculum.  It will become a concrete practice in need of mastery.

Why should education programs prepare for the change if no decisions about clinical placements have been made? Because education programs are also facing a shrinking population of students. The survival of education programs around the country will also depend upon their ability to adapt from the financial impact of COVID-19. Several colleges have already laid off adjunct faculty.

Many clinical supervisors are adjunct faculty members.  As a result, teacher education programs will have to do more with less. To do so, teacher educators must put together a thoughtful plan which details what clinical supervision will look like and how it will take place. Will supervisors join Zoom sessions remotely? What about the power of vital feedback? There may be some organizations that education programs can draw upon and learn from, but the conversation has to begin now.

We need to get ahead of this crisis to survive and thrive together. It is time to provide alternate options in education preparation so we can continue to prepare high-quality leaders and teachers within this “new normal.”

The post How Will Teacher and Principal Training Look in a COVID-19 World? appeared first on The Edvocate.

The scarier part is this – most of the teachers who burn out are great at their job. They are the teachers who excel, the kids love them, and their impact is life changing for many. These are the teachers who do the work because they want to do it – they say yes to the extra duties and responsibilities without batting an eye. In the end, they will be the ones to burn out, and it will crush them to leave. I knew as a teacher; this is exactly how I would be. I know myself and I knew my passion. I knew I would lean into every opportunity to sponsor a club, coach a sport, stay late, chaperone, etc. because that is just how much I loved school. And now I can to come to grips with the fact that this could very easily ruin my career before it really even starts. 

When I decided to become a teacher, I met with my old high school history teacher, Mr. H, who had helped me find that path. What you should know about Mr. H is that he is a man who exudes the passion he has for his job. He worked in business before becoming a teacher, so he was older when he got into the profession and still refuses to retire all these years later. His name is known to teachers across the metro area we work in, I have connected with other professionals as a history teacher myself who know and adore him. He is all you could ask for in a teacher – wise, honest, and caring.

I visited him at the school while classes were in session. His students had finished their work early, so he was letting them enjoy a bit of freedom that Friday. Kids were chatting with each other in the background of our conversation, but what struck me was how many kids came up and engaged with him while we talked. A student would come up and talk about how excited they were for the production they were in, or they would walk by and he would ask how baseball practice had been going. Mr. H knew the most important thing about teaching is the relationships we have with our students.

In our conversation that day I expressed to him how I was excited to be starting my certification program but admitted my fear of burnout. I told him I worried about administrators overwhelming me or pushing me from the profession with unrealistic expectations. I told him I worried about making mistakes in the classroom and not giving the kids the skills they need. I told him I worried about handling irate parents regularly. I wanted to be a teacher, but ultimately all these other factors could make me fall out of love with it.

Mr. H paused and looked out at the sea of kids in his classroom and smiled. He told me, “You are here for the kids first. If you do right by them then that’s all that matters. To hell with administrators, parents, politicians, all of them! I know what I need to do in my classroom for my kids and all that other stuff is bologna. They know I am doing my job and doing it well, so I am not going to let them get in the way of that. Ignore them, close your door, and teach. If you live each day of your career with that in the back of your mind, then you will last as a teacher.”

Now, Mr. H was not suggesting ignoring parent emails or administrator wishes. But what he was suggesting is that you not let it ruin the entire job for you. No matter where you teach, you will have some experiences with difficult parents, hard to please administrators, and constantly changing district expectations, among other challenges. But we don’t get into teaching for those things, do we? No. We get into teaching for the kids.

I have taken Mr. H’s advice as simply this: do everything you can for your students and leave it all on the track. When you foster positive student relationships and a great classroom environment, your students learn but also grow as people. If you go to work each day and remind yourself it is for the kids, you will feel a smile creep up as you walk in. When you design your curriculum with your students in mind, they will not only understand, but remember. Then, if your administration, or a parent, or anyone ever questions you – you will know that you did what was best for your students and left it all on the track.

The school that hired me as a student teacher was a great opportunity, but it was a really difficult year. By the time fourth quarter rolled along, I was barely dragging the cart to the finish line. This was partially my own doing – I was an inexperienced teacher who came in a little too bright eyed and bushy tailed. But I also took over a classroom from a long-term substitute and therefore inherited classes with a unique set of challenges. Of course, there were other burdens that came from working at that specific school and district. I honestly believe if Mr. H had not given me that advice, I would not have handled the situation correctly and I very well may have left teaching after only one year.

But every time I got another upsetting parent email, criticism from administration, or behavior outburst from a student, I reminded myself why I was there. I worked hard every day to keep my students engaged and build positive relationships. I chose patience and forgiveness even when I felt unbelievably frustrated. I closed the door, and worried about my classroom and did what was best for those kids. When I look back at the end of my career, I will not think about the admin who drove me crazy or the parent who yelled at me… I am going to remember the relationships I built with my kids.

I had a professor from my certification program who once said to us “worry about what is in your zone of control.” I did what was best for my students, and that is all any of us can do.

Bio: I am a second year teacher who has done a lot of learning and growing in the short time I have been an educator. I was hired by a middle school to complete my student teaching and then finished my first year at the school. I currently work in an alternative school for students with behavior and mental health concerns. I am passionate about teaching and my mission is to help other educators maintain their passion for it as well.

The post Teacher Burnout: The Best Advice I Ever Received appeared first on The Edvocate.

This all sounds well and good, but how do we intrigue our students to such a degree that they are eager to investigate the topic on their own? Well, it all comes down to the types of questions we ask students- and how we ask these questions. Rather than a science, asking great inquiry questions is more of an art form. Here, we will provide some helpful tips for you to facilitate inquiry learning in your classroom by asking great questions and asking them well.

Why go to all this trouble?

A teacher-centered classroom is certainly easier to facilitate than a student-driven, inquiry-based learning classroom. So why go to all this trouble of changing the way we do things?

As it turns out, inquiry learning enhances the learning experience, leading to a greater level of engagement by the students and thus less classroom management problems on a day to day basis.

In addition, inquiry learning allows students to build critical problem-solving skills, fosters a zeal and passion for learning among students that they will carry with them forever, and allows students to take control of their own learning.

So, how can we ask questions that facilitate this type of engaged learning environment?

How to ask questions that facilitate inquiry learning

All effective inquiry-based questioning techniques have five things in common:

•         The entire class is included in the questioning.
•         Students are given time to think.
•         The teacher plans out the questions ahead of time to make sure they encourage critical thinking and reasoning.
•         The teacher avoids judging student responses or deliberately correcting them.
•         The teacher responds to these student responses in ways that encourage deeper thinking, often by posing additional questions.

For example, if you teach an art class, you can ask students to think of the words that come to mind when they view a particular piece of art. Then, deepen their analysis further by asking why those words came to mind when viewing the art. Ask the students to be specific and provide visual evidence in their answers. Make sure you allow students time to view the art and contemplate it before asking your inquiry questions.

The don’ts of asking inquiry-based questions

When asking inquiry-based questions, you should avoid doing the following things:

•         Answering the question yourself
•         Simplifying the question after a student doesn’t immediately respond
•         Asking trivial or irrelevant questions
•         Asking several questions at once
•         Asking questions to only the “brightest” students
•         Asking closed questions with only one right or wrong answer
•         Saying things such as “well done” that encourage students to stop inquiring
•         Ignoring incorrect answers

Doing the above things can turn your student-driven lesson into a teacher-centered lecture. It can take time to perfect the art of asking inquiry questions, but practice makes perfect! Use these techniques in your classroom every day to promote the kind of engaged and passionate learning environment you have always envisioned for your students.

The post The Art of Asking Questions to Facilitate Inquiry Learning appeared first on The Edvocate.

Often we read about the challenges and struggles of being a first-year teacher. This narrative could contribute to the low morale of new teachers. And, as research shows, teacher morale and student performance are closely tied. Not to mention, anywhere from 17% to 40% of new teachers leave the teaching field before they have taught for five years. The high turnover rate of new teachers is disheartening because there are many advantages that schools can gain from having new teachers in their classrooms. For this reason, schools and teaching programs should highlight and celebrate the strengths that new teachers bring to classrooms and help these teachers develop the confidence they need to be successful.

First-year teachers come with new knowledge and practices that other teachers may not be familiar with. Author and educator Thomas Newkirk describes the impact new teachers can have on their classrooms and their schools in his most recent book. For example, his school had strong athletic programs – except for track and field. Newkirk, as a new addition to the school community, saw this as an opportunity and began organizing a track and field team. It was incredibly successful and considered by many to be his largest contribution to the school when he left. 

By the same token, new teachers also tend to have a larger energy reserve than veteran teachers. This means that new teachers can draw on this energy to experiment in their classrooms, start new initiatives within their schools, and take on additional leadership positions.

First-year teachers can also serve as powerful community builders. It is common for new teachers to reach out to teachers and administrators with more experience to receive advice on classroom management, planning, or assessments. By doing this, new teachers can create bridges across grade levels and bring together a network of teachers that can learn and grow together.

Beginner teachers also get the experience of self- and professional-development that is almost impossible to recreate. Because new teachers are beginning with a blank slate, they can explore to find their own classroom-management styles and discover how they best relate to their students. Any teacher can reflect on their performance in the classroom, but new teachers have the benefit of no prior experience to draw on for comparison.,

Teachers will meet many challenges and learn plenty of lessons during their first year in the classroom, but they can also make a powerful impact in their schools. When they join a new school, they provide an outside perspective on the school and administration. The first year of being a teacher is tough – there is no way around that. But beginning teachers should identify and celebrate the special gifts they have from being new to the profession.

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Why does this matter? Because when bias affects learning and living, it becomes a prevalent problem that needs to be addressed. Hair, signs, symbols, images, and overall aesthetics associated with hip-hop or popular culture unreasonably conveys criminality in the general public.

Student Bias

Students sense and witness the bias against them when they are dressed in a certain way, or wear a particular style. They feel that their aesthetics cause a harsher reaction to offenses, creating a harder punishment for offenses where they usually would have a lesser punishment. This is a perspective that needs to be heard when someone is experiencing something, and there is often a good reason why.

Understand the tragedies they have faced within their culture based upon their aesthetics. Remember the distorted representations of their race in popular culture and how that is affecting the population surrounding them. How do we compare popular culture to young people’s identity? How do we allow stereotypes, prejudices, and biases alter our judgment? When do we decide it is necessary to unlearn them? What can we do to prevent and protect those suffering from racial bias?

What Can We Do As Educators?

Awareness is the top priority when combating racial bias. Becoming aware of the stereotypes and prejudices that you may have adopted by following the general population can help you unlearn them. If you don’t realize what you’re doing, how do you expect to fix it? Even by becoming aware, there is still more to do. Educators need to be able to recognize the stereotypes when initially experiencing them and find ways to prevent and educate others from making the same mistakes.

Diverge into media literacy. Many educators originate from isolated white communities and plan to teach in urban school settings without previously having experience with students of color. Most of what they know, or think they know, about students, comes solely from the media. Their representation alters the perspectives of these educators as their portrayal is constrained within crime, music, sports, and entertainment.

Teacher education programs would benefit from the inclusion of opportunities to engage with media literacy. Future educators should be exposed to the media’s portrayal early on and develop the skills to criticize their representations. When teachers develop these skills before graduating or teaching in such areas, they can understand how the media distorts their images in the future and allows them to separate stereotypes from reality. They gain the skills to determine the actual identity of their students instead of judging them by a presumptuous and uninformed racial identity.

The post Where Do Biases Start? A Challenge To Educators appeared first on The Edvocate.