Free 25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them by Carolyn Orange

that teacher. That was the first time I ever got a C in any class.
    Expectations, sexual stereotypes, and tolerance are major factors in gender bias, a dimension of favoritism. The old adage descriptors of “snakes and snails and puppy dog tails” for males and “sugar and spice and everything nice” for females epitomize sexual stereotypes. Initially, it was thought that teachers favored females who were nicer, less aggressive, and easier to teach. A study by Good and Brophy (1991) indicated that teachers favored girls. Brophy and Evertson (1981) found that young males received more disapproval and blame than did young females. A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW; 1992) provided contrary evidence that schools shortchanged females in a variety of ways. These studies leave no doubt that males and females are often treated differently. Sometimes males are favored; sometimes females are favored. Which ones are favored depends on the teacher, the situation, how the teacher exhibits gender bias, the student’s socialization in sex roles, society’s conventions of what is appropriate for each sex, and what is expected of each sex.
    In this scenario, gender bias is combined with achievement bias, a provocative combination that favors young females. The teacher gave the top-achieving females more liberties than were given to a young male who was not rated as a high achiever. It is possible that he was a high achiever in other classes because hesaid he received his first C from this particular teacher. His low grade may have been influenced by the teacher’s bias. A different perspective of the problem in this scenario is that the teacher expects females to talk more and her tolerance level for males talking was much lower.
    Fair-minded teachers know the importance of treating males and females equally. To teach without bias is to discard sexual stereotypes, socialization processes, and educational practices that focus on treating males and females differently. The key to eliminating favoritism is consistency. Teachers must be consistent in their treatment of all students. Before they can do that, they must be cognizant of how much gender affects their expectations of their students. Once they are aware of their preferences, biases, and expectations, they can change both their behavior and their thinking, and try to balance their treatment of both sexes. For example, teachers can give boys more interaction privileges and can take girls more seriously as they encourage both groups to be independent. The bottom line is that it is unfair to treat either group better than the other.
SCENARIO 5.3
Teacher’s Pet
    In fifth grade my teacher made me her “pet.” I was new in the school so all the kids hated me for it. Then I had to go to middle school and later high school with these same students. This same teacher also used to come and ask my opinion about her cat that had to be put to sleep. That was devastating to even think about, even though it was best for the cat. She would even cry about her cat, and what was I, at 10 years old, going to tell her?
    “Teacher’s pet,” is a label dreaded by any self-respecting preadolescent. Students resist roles that cast them outside of their peer group, especially if it is an adult role. The teacher in this scenario probably sensed an unusual measure of maturity or responsibility in this ten-year-old and made the child her classroom companion. Sometimes teachers of young children are very isolated and devoid of adult interaction. Inadvertently, some teachers strike up a friendship with a student. Unfortunately for these teachers, the line that is drawn between what is shared with adult friends and what is shared with students becomes fuzzier and fuzzier. Inevitably, these teachers cross that line and start treating students like adults. The role and the burden of an adultlike friendship are often cast upon an unsuspecting, unwilling child.
    Wise teachers know