25 Biggest Mistakes Teachers Make and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 17: Academic Shortcomings
“Never” is such an absolute
term. Imagine a child hearing
that she is “not a math person and
will never be.” Such a label of hopelessness
could easily become a selffulfilling
prophecy (Rosenthal &
Jacobson, 1968). Why would a female
teacher make such a disparaging
remark about a young girl? One
guess is that she may be echoing
comments that were once made to
her or her female classmates. If she is
unaware of the gender bias in math
classes against girls, she may see
nothing wrong with her comments.
When I was in high school, I can
remember a math teacher saying to
me, “You should never take any more
math classes, you’re too careless.” I
internalized this opinion and I freely
told people that I was not very good
in math. I only took the required
math courses in my undergraduate
studies. I only aspired to a C because,
after all, I wasn’t very good at math. I
nurtured this belief until I applied for
graduate school. I froze when I saw
that statistics was a required course.
I was very upset when I realized I
couldn’t get through the educational
psychology degree plan without taking
that statistics course. Fortunately,
I had a great professor, Dr. Linda
Stewart, who was a visionary. She
was aware of mathematical gender
bias long before the study that
rev ealed that girls were often shortchanged
by schools (AAUW, 1992).
She encouraged me to enroll in the
SCENARIOS 17.6 and 17.7
Tread Lightly, but Do Tread
145
program and wait for her to teach the
statistics course. She already knew
that I had been told I was not suitable
for math and had been advised not to
take any more math courses. She
assured me that I would do well in her
course because she had a systematic
way of teaching that made it easier for
women. I received an A in statistics
and I was elated, not so much because
of the grade, but because I could dispel
the myth that I wasn’t good in
math. I regained my confidence, but I
was one of the lucky ones. There are
many young girls that never regain
their confidence, as evidenced by the
author of this scenario.
The first step toward eliminating
bias is to become aware of it. Encour -
aging teachers are necessary to
imbue young girls with the confidence
they need to take more math
courses. The American Association
of University Women (1992) found
that boys have better math scores
than girls on the SAT. They attributed
that discrepancy to girls taking
fewer math classes rather than to a
lack of ability. Maple and Stage
(1991) found that girls are now taking
more math classes and the gender
gap on math scores is closing.
Good teachers never say never,
especially when trying to predict a
student’s success in an area. Possible
is a better word than never; it’s a
word that fosters hope. We can
empower students by telling them
that anything is possible.
All through school I was always labeled as a hyper child so I labeled myself as a hyper
child who had a hard time in school and it was not till I was twenty-two years old I was