Hi guys, Lissette here for DNews. Teachers are an important part of our learning and development.

嗨，我是 DNews 的 Lissette。在我們的學習和發展過程中，老師佔了很重要的角色

I still remember every single one of my elementary school teachers -

我依然記得我的每一位小學老師—

the ones I thought were good as well as the ones I thought were not so good. But what did they think of me?

印象中我認為好的，以及不好的老師。但他們對我是什麼看法呢？

Or you? How did that affect our learning?

又或者對你是什麼看法？而那又是如何影響到我們的學習呢?

Well, a recent study, published in the Journal Economics of Education Review.

Journal Economics of Education Review 發表了一篇近期的研究

Looked at data from thousands of students across the US and their teachers to see where race and gender fall into the equation.

從美國數千名學生和他們的老師做出來的數據，來看種族和性別在這研究上扮演何種角色

In the study, different teachers were asked to rate the same 10th grade student

在這項研究中，不同的老師被問到對相同的 10 年級生（即高一生）做評價

and predict his or her highest level of educational attainment.

並預測他／她可能獲得的最高教育學位

The researchers found that predictions varied based on the gender and race of both the student and teacher.

研究者發現，根據學生和老師兩者的性別和種族下去做的預測，結果多變

In general, the expectations of black teachers for black students were 30 to 40 percent higher than those held by non-black teachers.

一般來說，黑人老師對黑人學生的期望，比起非黑人老師的話，高了 30 到 40 個百分點

In other words, they believed black students

換句話說，他們相信黑人學生

would do far better. To illustrate, 37 percent of black teachers, when asked about a black student,

能夠做得更好。用圖解說明，百分之三十七的黑人老師，當被問到關於一位黑人學生時，

let’s call her Samantha, thought she would obtain a four year college degree.

我們就姑且叫她 Samantha，認為她能拿到四年的大學學歷

In contrast, only 28% of white teachers thought she would do so. Now if she were a Samuel instead,

相反地，只有百分之二十八的白人老師這麼認為。現在，如果「她」變成了「他」— Samuel

this effect would be even greater. White male teachers, in particular,

那兩者間的百分比差距則更大。尤其是白人男性老師

have very low expectations of black boys. They don’t believe they’ll do as well.

對黑人男學生有著非常低的期望，他們不相信黑人男學生能有好的作為

The problem is… that what teachers believe has a serious impact on student outcomes.

問題在於，老師所相信的，對學生的未來成就有很大的影響

We know from this and other studies that expectations matter. In this particular study,

我們從這項研究和其他研究得知，期望是很重要的。在這項特殊研究中

the researchers found black students who had a non-black teacher in a specific subject in 10th grade

研究員發現黑人學生在高一時，若有一門特定科目不是由黑人老師教導的話

were less likely to pursue that subject later in their schooling. But it’s more than just subject

他們之後不太可能會再去學習那一門科目。但「教師期望」不僅僅在講學科

area preferences. It influences how well students do in school and to some degree

領域的偏好，它影響到學生在校的表現，以及某個程度上

the quality of their education.

學生接受的教育品質

In the infamous Pygmalion In The Classroom study from the 1960s, researchers Rosenthal and Jacobson conducted an experiment with elementary children in public school.

1960年代，低劣的《教室中的比馬龍》一書研究中，研究員 Rosenthal和 Jacobson 對公立學校的小學生做了一項實驗

At the beginning of the school year, the researchers gave all students an IQ test as a baseline.

在學年的一開始，研究員先讓所有的學生做了智商測驗

They then told teachers, erroneously, that a certain subset of those students would

然後他們故意錯誤地跟老師說，這些學生當中有一部分

show an “intellectual growth spurt” over the course of that year. This was a lie.

在這一年期間，會出現「智能成長陡增」的現象。這當然是謊話

In fact, the students were chosen at random. But, that suggestion to teachers had a measurable

事實上，學生都是隨機選出來的。但是，他們說的話，對老師產生了很大的

effect: by the end of the year, the students who were labeled as growth spurt students

效應：學年結束時，那些被貼上「智能成長陡增」標籤的學生們

actually did perform better than the rest of their classmates. On average,

確實比其他同學的表現更好。平均來看

they gained 3.8 IQ points more.

他們的智商比其他人多了 3.8 分

And, these differences were even greater for younger children. Looking at first grade students only,

這些智商差距在年幼的學生之間更明顯，只單看一年級學生的話

the difference was 15.4 IQ points. This suggests that there is a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy happening.

智商之間的差距是 15.4 分。這意謂著「自我實現預言」正在發生中

Teachers who believe their students will do well are more likely to act

老師相信他們的學生能做得很好，便很有可能會付諸行動

in ways that will lead to that happening. Since the 60s, other studies have dug in to

使其期望成真。自六十年代起，其他的研究也深入探討

try to figure out what exactly teachers might be doing that leads to this bias. And, it looks like

試圖弄清楚老師到底可能會做什麼，而演變成偏見。而他們所發現的情況

it could be things like - giving children they believe are smart more time to answer questions when called on,

大概像是—當叫到他們認為是聰明的學生時，給那些學生更多的時間來回答問題

giving them more challenging questions, or recommending them

給他們更多有挑戰性的問題；或是推薦給他們

for gifted and talented programs.

資優方案

Teacher expectations are powerful. So much so, that today, we largely consider it unethical

教師的期望帶有很大的力量。這股力量強大到，今日，我們基本上認為這是不道德的

to label students the way we did in the Pygmalion study. It wouldn’t be right to knowingly put some students at a disadvantage.

就像在比馬龍研究中，給學生貼上標籤。故意地把某些學生處於劣勢是不對的行為

Which is why labels like race and gender are so

這也是為何標籤像是種族和性別

tricky in a classroom. These labels don’t require a researcher: Teachers can automatically

在課堂上是很棘手的。這些標籤不需要研究員：老師會自動地

and involuntarily apply them to students. So, it's especially important to grapple with

不由自主地將學生貼上標籤。所以，盡力了解

and examine the expectations attached to them.

和審查附加在標籤上的期望顯得尤其重要

For a deeper dive into race itself -

想知道更深入的種族議題—

what it really is and what it means, check out this episode on The Science of Racism.

什麼是種族，以及它的意思是什麼，請看 The Science of Racism 裡的這部影片

In terms of biology, race doesn't exist. And let's not to say race isn't real. Though it's important to understand that race is a cultural construct, like human created this, and has nothing to do with our biology.

以生物角度來看，種族不存在，但也不要下定論說種族不是真的，還是要知道，種族不過是文化下的產物，由人類創造出的術語罷了，和生理一點關係都沒有

Do you have an experience where you felt your teacher was biased against you? Or maybe

你有過任何你認為老師對你有偏見的經驗嗎？或者也許

favored you in some way? Share your thoughts in the comments and remember

在某方面特別偏愛你？在留言區分享你的想法，並記得

to subscribe so you never miss an episode of DNews. Thanks for watching.

訂閱我們的頻道，才不會錯過新的 DNews 影片。謝謝收看