As a tutor and school teacher, I have witnessed firsthand how an educator’s work can profoundly impact a student’s development and progress. Early in my studies in Education, I became particularly interested in the issue of unconscious bias in the classroom. The research behind the Pygmalion Effect offers a compelling lens through which to explore this topic. The aim of this article is to raise awareness about unconscious bias and discuss strategies for addressing it.
What is the Pygmalion Effect?
The term Pygmalion Effect, takes its name from the Greek myth of Pygmalion, where a sculptor’s love and adoration for his statue resulted in the statue’s transformation, as she came to life.
Now the term, also known as the Rosenthal effect usually refers to a psychological phenomenon observed in a classroom-based study led by psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson in 1968.
The study demonstrated that the expectation of a leader/educator inevitably impacts on the performance of the person they are leading/teaching.
In any given area, low expectations of someone’s abilities may lead the latter to performing poorly whilst high expectations may lead to improved performances. (Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. 2003)
Let’s first explore the study behind the Pygmalion Effect before examining how it works.
What was the study behind Pygmalion Effect?
Rosenthal and Jacobson led an IQ test in a primary school. The researchers then gave teachers a list of children which they pretended had been selected upon their high academic potential. They actually had been selected randomly. However, when tested at the end of year, it showed that these selected students, despite no particularly high academic potential, had excelled and had done better than their peers. Rosenthal stated that the contrast in potential was ‘in the mind of the teacher’, not the student's. (Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. 2003)
In this study it was demonstrated that when we expect students to act in a certain way, our beliefs about them informs the manner in which we behave towards them. As a result, this behaviour influences the students’ beliefs about themselves, and in turn they are more likely to fulfil these expectations.
How does unconscious bias in the classroom impact on behaviour?
Rosenthal & Jacobson observed that if a teacher had high expectations of a student, their behaviour would contribute to the success of that student in 4 specific areas which they referred to as climate, input, output, and feedback.
Unconsciously the teachers with high expectations, would be:
More friendly and warm towards the students. (Climate)
Devote more time and energy for these students, (Input)
Call more often on those students to give answers and engage. (Output)
Give more detailed and constructive feedback. (Feedback)
The Pygmalion Effect usually refers to the positive outcomes generated by high expectations for a student. However, given how this phenomenon works, we can also infer that if a teacher's expectations are low, it will have the opposite effect on students.
When it comes to being given less opportunities and less constructive feedback, this inevitably impacts negatively on the student’s ability to self-reflect and improve his knowledge.
This is why, as educators and leaders, it’s important to be aware of this psychological phenomenon.
It is really important to mention educators behave this way unknowingly and expectations result from unconscious prejudices and stereotypes. These can touch on diverse areas such as social background, race, gender, religion etc…
It has to be noted that expectations are of course not the only determining factor in a student’s academic success as there are other variables, but the purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the link between expectations and performance.
There have since been numerous studies on unconscious bias (see references for examples) as this phenomenon has gained much awareness over the years.
Educators and leaders now have a wide range of strategies available to address this issue. What follows is a blend of my own empirical experience and research on the subject.
What can teachers and leaders do to address bias and make the most of the Pygmalion Effect?
Awareness and mindfulness
- Take time aside to self-reflect. Keep asking questions such as:
Am I objective in my interactions?
Who do I behave differently with? What could be the cause? Is this to do with the students’ past results, their attitude or my beliefs and expectations based on gender, race, religion, social & economic backgrounds, etc?
- Observe your spoken words and body language to get hints on your underpinning beliefs
Personal growth
- Read up on the topics such as implicit bias, inclusivity and diversity to gain more knowledge and understanding.
- Participate in trainings. There are now many trainings available on unconscious bias within the classroom or workplace (see sources below) or you can ask your institution for workshops to be put in place.
- Have conversation with others. It’s often a taboo topic but there’s so much to say about this and we can all learn from each other when sharing experiences or thoughts about this subject.
Quality interactions
- Praise often. Praise the strengths, the efforts, the achievements whenever it warrants it, regardless of who the student is.
- Give constructive and detailed feedback to ALL students, to allow everyone without exception to understand, act upon and improve. Affirm their capacity to improve from the feedback.
- Ensure to be inclusive when giving opportunities to engage and respond
- Give the same energy to ALL students
Useful sources for training and reading up on the subject:
Bias training for teachers:
Unconscious bias training: Online course (2024) CORA Learning. Available at: https://coralearning.org/product/unconscious-bias/#:~:text=The%20implicit%20bias%20training%20on,discipline%20students%20in%20the%20classroom. (Accessed: 18 September 2024).
Books and websites on gender and racial bias:
Benson, T.A., Nixon, L. and Fiarman, S.E. (2021) Unconscious bias in schools: A developmental approach to exploring race and racism. Old Saybrook: Tantor Audio.
Francis, Becky (2002) Boys, girls and achievement addressing the classroom issues. Routledge.
Sieghart, M.A. (2022) The authority gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men, and what we can do about it. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Gullo, G.L., Capatosto, K. and Staats, C. (no date) Implicit bias in schools, Google Books. Available at: https://www.google.es/books/edition/Implicit_Bias_in_Schools/VYV7DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=unconscious%2Bbias%2Bin%2Bschools&printsec=frontcover (Accessed: 18 September 2024).
References
Rosenthal, R. and Jacobson, L. (2003) Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupil’s intellectual development. Carmarthen: Crown House.
Serrano, N.C. (2022) Negative consequences of the Pygmalion effect on children, You are Mom. Available at: https://youaremom.com/children/what-should-you-know/childhood-behavior/pygmalion-effect-2/ (Accessed: 21 September 2024).
Raudenbush, S. W. (1984). Magnitude of teacher expectancy effects on pupil IQ as a function of the credibility of expectancy induction: A synthesis of findings from 18 experiments. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(1), 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.76.1.85 (Accessed: 21 September 2024).
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