The Intersection Between Perceptions of Teachers, Implicit Bias, and Semiotic Discussion

• In Event: 56.074 - Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings, and Multimodalities

Abstract

This study examined teacher images created by preservice students. A discussion concerning perceptions of teachers, implicit biases, and visual semiotics occurred in class after the first images were created. This discussion was influential in the re-thinking of the students’ initial images and subsequent reshaping of second images. Semiotic analyses of the first set resulted in teacher presentations that were isolated, static, and superficial. Analyses of the second set resulted in presentations that were enthusiastic, engaged, and adept. Examining tacit misconceptions and implicit biases about teachers through images can benefit new teachers as they begin to formulate their teacher identities. Such focused discourse becomes a means of proactively changing subliminal and potentially negative perceptions as they continue in their teacher training.

Author

• Elvira K. Katic, Ramapo College