Biasing Effect of Teachers' Political Beliefs in Their Teaching Behaviors as Perceived by Their Students

• In Event: 45.092 - MTCC Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 45.092-7 - Examining Teacher Perceptions, Behaviors, and Policies: Implications for Research and the Profession

Abstract

With the ever-increasing political partisanship that is engulfing our nation, there has been little to no research on how the personal political beliefs of a teacher play into their teaching and interactions with their students. A teacher’s personal political choice create a context that colors every interaction. With social issues of race, ethnicity, income, guns in schools, and immigration dominating the public discourse, the perceived effect of one’s own political biases needs to be examined in the pedagogical practice of educational professionals as interpreted by their increasingly diverse students. This study provides insight into the perceived bias students feel when they interact with their teachers and what students believe mediates that perceived bias, particularly in a politically hyper-partisan, post-truth era.

Author

• Michael Ortiz, University of Houston