Can Teachers' Expectations Influence Students' Performance? |
Posted: May 4, 2017 |
Sometimes there is very little difference between expectation and reality; hence the term ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. It’s really very simple when you think about it. Once people develop an expectation, even if it is faulty, they will behave as though it is true. Their behaviour leads to the expectation becoming reality. This is very obvious when it comes to student-teacher interactions. Many researchers have spent years studying these interactions and how the teachers’ expectations can affect the behaviour of their students; because one thing is very clear – there is no doubting the fact that the expectations teachers have of their students are often fulfilled by those students. Differential Behaviour Patterns Studies were conducted in which teachers’ behaviours towards high-achieving students and average or low-achieving students were observed. These behaviours were divided into four categories – input, output, affective feedback and socioemotional climate. Input – This took into account things such as how far the student’s seat was from the teacher, how much the teacher interacted with a particular student, the amount of information the teacher gave to students to learn or complete problems and how difficult and variable the assignments were. Output – This aspect looked at things such as which students were called on during class discussions, whether the teacher provided clues and rephrased or repeated the question for a student, how long the teacher waited for the student to respond and how detailed and accurate the feedback was. Affective Feedback – This particular aspect observed things such as how much criticism and/or praise the teacher doled out, the basis for both and the anger or pity expressed about low performance. Socioemotional Climate – This took into account things such as how often the teacher smiled and nodded at a particular student, and the friendliness that the teacher displayed towards the student. What was observed was that when teachers had higher expectations of a student, the input, output, affective feedback and socioemotional climate were significantly different than they were for a student of whom the teacher had lower expectations. However, the more important observation was that these differential patterns actually increased the gap between high-achievers and average or low-achievers. Students, who were given more clues, were called upon more and received better feedback, for instance, ended up learning more. In fact, even things such as the affective feedback or socioemotional climate affected what student believed about themselves and their competencies. The fact is that some teachers pay more attention to those students who are high-achievers. Others engage in what are known as ‘compensatory’ behaviours towards those students of whom they have lower expectations. In other words, they try to pay more attention towards such students. However, they also reinforce their expectations through negative behaviours such as tension, anxiety, hostility and condescension. Pity and Anger Emotional responses of teachers can have far-reaching effects on students and nowhere is this more evident than in the emotions of pity and anger. By the age of nine, children have learnt that anger is expressed when they fail because of something they controlled such as effort or the lack thereof. However, pity comes when they fail due to uncontrollable factors such as lack of ability. As such, teachers’ emotional responses may be counterproductive to what they actually intend. For example, if a teacher were to express exasperation and anger with student A for a task that hasn’t met expectations, the student is likely to believe that the teacher questions the effort he or she put in. This leads student A to think that the teacher believes in their ability and, therefore, their self-confidence is boosted. However, if the teacher expresses sympathy over such a task with student B, he or she might believe that the teacher thinks that they aren’t competent enough to deal with it. Where the teacher might have intended support, student B sees lack of faith, something that will lower their self-confidence. There are plenty of existing differences between high-achievers and low-achievers. Teachers need to understand how important their influence can be in maintaining, increasing or decreasing this gap. While it may be easier for them to pay attention to the high-achievers, they may actually gain more by focussing equally on the low achievers as well.
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