‘That’s Not Fair!’: UMD-Led Study Finds Kids Notice Teacher Bias

Children Also Seek to Rectify Inequalities in Classroom

Children as young as 8 can identify a teacher’s bias on the basis of race and ethnicity or gender, and will try to correct unequal treatment, according to a new study led by a University of Maryland researcher.

In the study recently published in Child Development, Distinguished University Professor Melanie Killen and colleagues found that students ages 8-14 evaluated a hypothetical teacher who awarded leadership duties only to students of one gender, race or ethnicity as unfair.

“Kids are naturally empathetic,” said Killen, who has appointments in the departments of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, and Psychology. “They care about the equal treatment of others.”

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Published on Mon, Jul 15, 2024 - 4:26PM