Classroom Teacher and Teacher-in-Training Susceptibility to Stereotypical Bias

Two groups of classroom teachers and two groups of teacher trainees completed behavior checklists, first for a hypothetical child labeled either normal or emotionally disturbed and then for a videotaped child, labeled normal or emotionally disturbed. From an ANOVA of their responses, it was concluded that teachers and trainees hold quantitatively similar stereotypes for normal and disturbed children but differ in their susceptibility to label-induced bias. Teachers tended to be more realistic in their evaluations of “normal,” nonbiased behavior, but were influenced by the biasing label to a greater extent than the trainees. The authors discuss limitations of the study and its implications for training programs.