Chapter 5: Helping Preservice Teachers Come to Terms With Unintended Biases

The teacher workforce in the United States is not nearly as diverse as the student population. Over 80% of public school teachers are White (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), while the percentage of White children ages 5 to 17 is only about 50% (Musu-Gillette et al., 2017). This disparity between teacher diversity and student diversity is disturbing in view of research indicating that White teachers’ experiences predispose them to a view of students of color that works against the students’ academic progress and even against White teachers’ earnest efforts to support the students’ progress (Marx, 2006). White teachers are, for example, less likely than teachers of color to hold high expectations for students of color (Grissom & Redding, 2016), to serve as advocates for students of color, or to confront issues of racism (Villegas & Irvine, 2010).