Self-reflection to identify potential biases

It is not easy to eliminate bias, but you can take some positive steps to avoid bias in your practice and study environment. The first step in avoiding biases influencing our thoughts and actions is to honestly acknowledge the biases we have. This can be uncomfortable. As educators, we are committed to providing a high-quality education for all students. To do this, it is necessary to reflect on where we may be making mistakes when working with multicultural students.

Think about the following first:

  • Does your language always include everyone? Do you unconsciously use expressions such as “Come on, guys”, or do you unintentionally make assumptions such as “We're celebrating Christmas because...”.
  • Do you apply rewards and sanctions correctly in your environment? For example, are there students who are allowed to speak and express themselves more than others?
  • Do you set lower expectations for some learners? What do you think causes this?
  • Do the questions you ask during lectures and activities allow everyone to contribute and assess their learning? What could you do to improve this?
  • Has your previous experience with other nationalities influenced your approach to students?

Reflective practice is essential for good teaching and can be a powerful tool to avoid any unintentional educational bias.

Lecturers can also use feedback from students from mid-course evaluations, end-of-course evaluations or small-group feedback sessions to assess whether their unconscious bias manifests itself in classroom interaction. Ensuring that the student voice reflects the diversity of the student community can help you get a wide range of opinions. This will give you an idea of whether students feel that certain groups or individuals are unfairly favoured or unfavoured.

Lecturers can draw up their own teaching inventory or observation protocol with a colleague or peer, or ask them to visit a session, classroom, auditorium, classroom, to observe student- lecturer interactions and give feedback.