Intergroup Contact and Teacher Support are Related to Reducing Bias and Promoting Inclusive Classrooms

• In Event: Reducing Children's Intergroup Biases: Effective Cross-Cultural Interventions

Abstract

When children report having a friend from a different racial or ethnic background, they are more likely to view interracial exclusion as wrong and more likely to display fewer racial biases (Crystal et al., 2008; Skinner & Meltzoff, 2019). Intergroup contact in the form of cross-group friendships can significantly reduce racial biases in childhood (Skinner & Meltzoff, 2019). Both direct contact (friendships) and indirect (reading about a friend) are effective means for reducing bias (Turner & Cameron, 2015). Further, authority support for mutual respect is necessary for intergroup contact to reduce bias (Tropp & Barlow, 2018). This includes teachers supporting mutual respect and facilitating discussions about bias in the classroom. No research that we know of has investigated whether intergroup contact and teacher support in the classroom reduce bias and increase inclusionary attitudes about cross-group friendships.
To fill this gap, we conducted a school-based intervention study with 983 children (502 female; 58.5% White, 17.5% Multiracial, 8.3% Asian American, 5.6% African American, 4.2% Latinx, and 5.9% not reported; Mage = 9.64 years), followed by an in-depth teacher survey (N = 290; 240 female; 46.2% White, 24.5% Black/African American, 8.6% Hispanic/Latino, 6.2% Asian/Asian American, 8.6% Multiracial, <1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 5.5% other/declined to report race) regarding fostering discussions about race and bias in the classroom. The classroom intervention program included eight weekly sessions with indirect contact (watching intergroup friendships in a web-based tool), followed by classroom discussions about peer intergroup friendships (direct contact). Assessments were conducted about (1) interracial exclusion, and (2) trait attributions for diverse peers. In the teacher survey, third through fifth grade teachers across the U.S. were asked about their (1) theory of prejudice (fixed or growth mindset about prejudice); (2) beliefs about the role of race in their students’ education, (3) perception of administrative and parent support for talking about race, and (4) how frequently they talk about race with their students.
In the classroom intervention study, we found that children in the intervention program evaluated interracial peer exclusion as more wrong (t = 6.12, p < .001) and associated more positive traits with White (B = .18, p < .01) and Black peers (B = .12, p < .05) than did children in the control group. In the teacher survey, we found that holding a more malleable theory of prejudice (B = .20, p < .001), more strongly believing that race plays a role in students’ education (B = .23, p = .008), and perceiving stronger administrative and parent support (B = .23, p < .001) all significantly predicted teacher race talk in the classroom (F(3, 286) = 24.89, p < .001). These findings support our theory of change that both direct and indirect contact, along with teacher support in the classroom, are necessary to reduce prejudice and foster intergroup friendships and mutual respect. The results will be discussed in light of strategies to reduce childhood racial prejudice and promote intergroup contact in the form of friendships and mutual respect in the classroom setting.

Authors

• Elise Marie Kaufman, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Jacquelyn Glidden, University of Maryland - College Park

• Arvid Samuelson, University of Maryland - College Park

• Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park