Mastery and Performance-Focused Practices: Teachers’ Implicit Attitudes, Respect, and Responsibility for Resolving Intergroup Conflicts

• In Event: Motivating Learning Settings

Abstract

This study examines how teachers’ implicit racial attitudes relate to their mastery and performance approaches to instruction. We hypothesized that the relationship between teachers’ implicit racial attitudes and the instructional practices they endorse is mediated by teachers’ perceived responsibility to promote mutual respect and resolve intergroup conflicts. Path analyses demonstrated that teachers who held implicitly favorable attitudes toward White relative to Arab/Arab American students were less likely to promote mutual respect among students, feel responsible for resolving intergroup conflicts, and subsequently endorse mastery-focused instructional practices. Findings suggest that teachers’ implicit evaluations of different groups can affect their classroom behaviors. Therefore, we should encourage teachers to critically reflect on their attitudes and beliefs and its consequences on their classroom behaviors.

Authors

• Revathy Kumar, University of Toledo

• Stuart A. Karabenick, University of Michigan

• Jacob Burgoon, University of Toledo