Barriers to Bias-Reduction: Understanding Teachers’ Willingness to Implement Race-Related Classroom Activities

Abstract

The present research investigates barriers to the implementation of bias-reducing interventions in U.S. public schools. Specifically, the present research analyzes survey data from an original study of practicing teachers (n = 74) to understand how teachers’ implicit and explicit racial biases, perceptions of social norms regarding race-related classroom content, and perceptions of classroom constraints impact the degree to which they are willing and likely to implement race-related classroom activities (i.e., activities that explicitly address racial prejudice and discrimination). Results from multiple regression analyses indicate that teachers’ perceptions of social norms and perceptions of how well race-related activities fit with their current curricula significantly predict the degree to which they are willing and likely to implement these activities. As such, teachers who perceive social norms as hostile towards race-related classroom activities or who perceive these activities as ill-fitted to their current curricula are significantly less willing and likely to implement race-related activities. Analyses indicate no significant main effect of teachers’ explicit biases on the degree to which they are willing or likely to implement race-related activities and a significant negative effect of teachers’ implicit biases on their willingness to implement race-related activities only when they exhibit low levels of explicit bias, or when they perceive social norms as hostile towards race-related activities. Policymakers are encouraged to consider teachers’ perceptions of social norms and perceptions of the curricular fit of race-related activities as meaningful constraints on the implementation of race-related activities, and potentially other bias-reducing interventions, in U.S. classrooms.