Teachers Should Not Stereotype Students

Everyone is given an ascribed status. Whether it is race-ethnicity, sex, or social class it is involuntary and determines how people look at the individual. Someone can not change the stereotype that comes along with their ascribed status, but a person can earn an achieved status by not following the norms they associate with. For example, it is common for people to connect a low-income student with failure in education. The targeted child can disprove this propensity by getting honors in school and graduating college. Society has conformed to these learned ideas of a dominant group with specific characteristics holding power over those unlike themselves, from our society’s subculture. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a benchmark for the American nation which prohibited discrimination for any individual whether their race, color, religion, sex, or origin. Unfortunately, to this day our culture has it still imbedded in their minds that people unlike themselves are inferior and therefore is given unequal treatment. One instance of taught prejudice is watching a parent lock the car doors when driving though certain parts of town. Although racism is not always verbally spoken someone who is unlike the majority is likely to be directly scrutinized with subtle actions. This idea of unconsciously judging others follows into schools today. It is a controversial issue that teachers are unintentionally treating their students differently according to how they look. Educators within school districts are unknowingly sharing bias among their students depending on their social class, race, or gender which is leaving some students more advantaged than others.

There are many stereotypes about poor families and education. The top five most commo...

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