Anti-bias Education

Introduction to Topic

This chapter introduces the concept of taking an anti-bias approach to education. Unfortunately, children do not grow up with equal opportunities, they can be disadvantaged or advantaged because of their social identities. Taking an anti-bias approach means that you are aware of these inequalities and take steps to create an environment where differences are celebrated as well as creating an awareness around the different positions children may have in society. Taking an anti-bias approach is necessary to ensure you are an educator who is truly inclusive in their teaching, and it also prevents children from being further disadvantaged in the classroom. This chapter will take you through the goals of anti-bias education and provide you with the information you need to start taking an anti-bias approach to teaching.

Key aspects

What is anti-bias education?

Anti-bias education is an approach to teaching that acknowledges and celebrates differences in identities. It is about building a community that encourages diversity, critical thinking and self-discovery. With an anti-bias approach, children can be strengthened in their self-identities as well as their social identities and learn to interact respectfully with others despite their different backgrounds. Inclusion and equity are the heart of anti-bias education, so students are taught about the impact and unfairness of bias and discrimination and how they can stand up for themselves and each other.

Why is anti-bias education important?

“Children are not only learning to read and write texts: they are learning to read and write human possibilities. They read each other’s faces and clothes as they do any storybook, and they write each other’s future in the stories they imagine” (Dyson, 1997).

Societies around the world are becoming increasingly heterogeneous, socio-culturally, strongly due to the continuous movement of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers (Adebayo and Chinhanu, 2020). While the sociocultural changes experienced in societies globally have brought about a richness in diversity, it has also led to the observation of “how many societies try to fit people into a cultural box” (Adebayo and Chinhanu, 2020; Vandenbroeck, 2007). In other words, minoritised and disadvantaged communities/people worldwide continue to experience bias and discrimination due to their backgrounds.

Furthermore, recent events in the United States have brought about the urgent need to respond to institutional and structural racism worldwide. Within the context of education, the momentous Black Lives Matter Movement has highlighted the cruciality of developing anti-bias education and promoting equity and inclusion in education (Adebayo, 2020). Additionally, the recent COVID-19 outbreak led to the closing of schools worldwide, and this resulted in “1.6 billion children missing out on education, which has further amplified inequalities inherent in many education systems” (Adebayo, 2022).

Furthermore, the current global landscape highlights the urgent need to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations in 2015, specifically SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, new evidence indicates that the world is falling short of achieving these targets by the set date of 2030 (Adebayo, 2022; UNESCO, 2020). One crucial aspect hindering the progress of SDG 4 is the challenges faced by teachers who play a vital role in realising the goals. In multilingual and diverse classrooms, educators are struggling to meet the diverse needs of their students (Adebayo and Chinhanu, 2020; UNESCO, 2019). These classrooms are characterised by a wide range of languages spoken, varying cultural backgrounds, and unique learning requirements, making it increasingly challenging for teachers to provide inclusive and equitable education.

The demands placed on teachers to accommodate diverse learners require specialised skills and knowledge that many educators currently lack. Inadequate training and resources often leave teachers ill-equipped to effectively engage students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This deficiency in teacher preparation directly impacts the quality of education and hinders progress towards achieving SDG 4 (Adebayo, 2022; UNESCO, 2020). To address this pressing issue, it is crucial to invest in comprehensive teacher training programs that equip educators with the necessary tools and strategies to effectively teach in multilingual and diverse classrooms. By empowering teachers with the skills to navigate cultural and linguistic diversity, we can create inclusive learning environments that cater to the unique needs of every student.

Following the above, we posit that the development of anti-bias education and competencies for teachers is crucial for education systems worldwide to ensure that all learners have access to equitable and quality education. According to Killoran and colleagues (2004: 150), “many teachers only scratch the surface of what a true anti-bias education should be.” Therefore, we argue that anti-bias knowledgeable teachers can be considered ‘quality teachers’ in this contemporary era (Adebayo, 2019).

Furthermore, anti-bias education is crucial to an inclusive learning environment (Dash and Peters, 2021; Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2019; Vandenbroeck, 2007). Therefore, we cannot genuinely have an inclusive teaching and learning environment without anti-bias education. Apart from adding richness to students’ learning experience, anti-bias education has many benefits, and they include the following:

– Anti-bias education develops students’ skills to think critically and be culturally aware to recognise, acknowledge, and confront discrimination and bias personally, institutionally and within the society at large.

– Anti-bias education helps students in developing intercultural relationships by embracing cultural diversity.

– Anti-bias education commits teachers and educators to the emotional and cognitive development of all students, irrespective of their cultural values.

– Anti-bias education creates room to support the development of students’ self-confidence and identity by recognising, acknowledging and celebrating cultural diversity and differences.

How is anti-bias education connected to inclusion?

Anti-bias education connects to inclusion because it promotes interaction between children who are different from each other. Instead of shying away from and being uncomfortable with these differences, an environment is created where these differences are accepted, understood, and celebrated. At the same time, children are taught that society does not treat or value everybody in the same way, precisely because it does not embrace the differences in identities. Anti-bias education helps children grow up with a better understanding of themselves, others, and society in general and – hopefully – a more inclusive mindset. Anti-bias education is based on the same values as inclusion. It can be seen as a practical approach to inclusion. One big question that teachers have regarding inclusion is often “But how exactly can I do it?” Anti-bias-education provides an answer to this question.

Why should anti-bias education be an essential part of teachers’ everyday work?

It is essential that teachers make anti-bias education part of their everyday work because students cannot just leave their social identities at the door. There is a very institutional element to discrimination and marginalisation, and unfortunately schools are no exception. Without an anti-bias approach, we are not equipped to adequately recognise and respond to discrimination within the school. If a black student faces racism, we need to be able to acknowledge that, name it and act accordingly. Without the proper knowledge and tools, we might (accidentally) downplay situations in which students faced discrimination, or we might even subconsciously discriminate against students, making the classroom an unsafe environment. We might put or hold barriers in place that students must work hard to overcome or cannot overcome at all, giving them a disadvantage that could affect how they perform in school. For example, there is the possibility that we might overlook access needs or other ways in which we are unaccommodating, making education inaccessible for children with a disability. If we want to be fair to students and make sure they feel included and seen, anti-bias education is indispensable.

The anti-bias approach assumes that everyone has biases. It does not distinguish between “good” people who are not biased and “bad” people who are. Everyone has some amount of unconscious bias. We might not think of ourselves as biased, or we might not know about our biases even though they are within us; that’s the unconscious part. It happens quite often that we are biased towards people or towards certain groups.

We have grown up in societies with, for example, racist, sexist, ableist, or fatphobic ideas ‘floating around’ and they are part of our way of thinking, of the stories we tell ourselves as a society, of our languages, and the words we use. There are so many words which have hidden messages about certain people, and certain groups. Furthermore, these ideas, this bias, are also in our institutions and structures. We are all surrounded by these ideas from the first moment we are born. Research has shown that children “know” about differences and stereotypes when they are 3 to 4 years old and apply them in interactions with other children and other people in general (MacNaughton, 2006: 3, in German: Wagner 2009).

The problem with biases is: They influence how we perceive other people and their actions. In this way, they also influence our work with other people, whether we want to or not. It is important for everyone to learn about their unconscious bias, but it is especially important for teachers. Bias influences how we perceive people, how we perceive their actions and how we treat them. For example, bias impacts who we perceive as capable. Who do we think is capable of learning and doing certain things, and who might be seen as incapable?

When our biases are not conscious, it happens that we create barriers for students and their families without even realising it. So, we will unintentionally produce barriers for students which could harm their wellbeing and their chances for learning. It is also possible that we do not recognise barriers that already exist for them. Hence, if your bias remain unconscious you will not be able to do a good job as a teacher. Of particular importance is that from the perspective of anti-bias education, it is not possible to be “bias free”, but it is possible to be “bias conscious.” The German version of the anti-bias approach is called “Vorurteilsbewusste Bildung und Erziehung” and the word “vorurteilsbewusst” translates as “bias conscious.” The idea is, thus, already in the wording of the concept (Derman-Sparks, 2010).

Another important thing to note is that becoming conscious about your own biases is a long, maybe even lifelong, process. It is not something that is done in a week of training.

Teachers need a certain knowledge, certain skills, to make their classroom more inclusive, to realise anti-bias education. The knowledge needed is different from what people often imagine it to be. Sometimes, teachers imagine they now have to learn about every disability that exists, or they have to know all the languages spoken in their classroom, and so on.

However, a different kind of knowledge is needed. For example: Teachers need to know about which differences exist in their society and how these differences influence people’s experience of the world because we are not all experiencing it in the same way. Teachers need to know about inequality, about barriers that exist for some people, and privileges that exist for others, and also how privilege makes it really hard to perceive barriers. This knowledge helps them understand why they might be able to perceive some barriers but not others. Teachers need to know how discrimination works and what form it can have, so they can detect discrimination when it happens at school. All this knowledge helps to identify barriers that affect or may affect students and their families. Only then can teachers remove the barriers and make it possible for all students to feel welcome, to feel seen and appreciated, to learn and develop well.

If we want to analyse situations or institutions so that we can work against discrimination, we need to know what discrimination can be, what it can look like, or else we do not recognise it.

However, the problem is, when we think about discrimination, we often think about a certain type of discrimination that happens in interactions between people. We imagine one person with bad intentions saying something discriminating against another person, or even becoming physically violent. However, discrimination is so much more than these situations. Many forms of discrimination are more subtle and are not so easily recognised, especially for people who are not affected by it.

For instance, these can be the so-called microaggressions. These are very small situations that seem harmless for someone not affected by it. However, for the people affected by it, they happen again and again and again, and become something that takes up a lot of energy and can be very hurtful and damaging. One example in Europe or North America is the question “Where are you from?” to people who are not white and are perceived as not coming from the country they are living in, even if they might have been born there. For some people this is a harmless question, but for others it is something they hear again and again in their life, and it comes with the message of “you do not belong here” and a feeling of being excluded. This is a form of microaggression that happens to people who are perceived as having a migration background, be it is because they have dark hair, maybe dark skin, but also maybe because they have a name that seems to be not, for example, German or Dutch or Swedish. There is a video explaining microaggressions and it uses the metaphor of mosquito bites. It says that some people get bitten once every so often, but other people get bitten by mosquitos several times every day and all these bites really add up, and it is really harmful for people affected by it (Fusion Comedy, 2016).

Turning back to discrimination in general, to put it in a nutshell can be very tricky: discrimination can even happen when we have really good intentions, and this can also happen at schools. Teachers may discriminate against students, their families, or colleagues while having the best intentions. For example, if a teacher has internalised the prejudice that disabled people are not as capable and competent as other people and therefore, gives a disabled student easier tasks, even though the pupil would be able to work on more difficult tasks, and able to learn more. It is not the intention of the speaker or the person doing things that decides if something is discriminating, but the effect it has on other people.

It is important to know that discrimination does not solely exist on a personal level. Discrimination is also systematic and institutional. It can be woven into processes, how things get decided, into how things are done in institutions. If you do not know about these processes or instances, you cannot detect them in your classroom, or in your school, then discrimination just perpetuates itself and forms barriers for students.

An intersectional approach to realizing anti-bias education

Intersectionality is a way of describing how social identities such as race, disability, and gender intersect. Picture it as a crossroads where different identities come together, which causes specific forms of discrimination and marginalisation, such as mysoginoir (mysogyny directed towards black women). Intersectionality is crucial in anti-bias education, as a student can face more than one form of discrimination. In order to accommodate them accordingly and create an inclusive and safe environment, it is important to be aware of the fact that someone can be marginalised in more ways than one.

In this chapter, we use the work by Crenshaw (1991) on intersectionality, as well as by Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) and Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2019) on anti-bias education as a conceptual framework to address the “simultaneous intersections” (García and Ortiz, 2013) between languages, cultures, gender, race/ethnicity, (dis)ability, and socio-economic conditions. Indeed, diversity can be, and should be, conceptualised as “the broader array of multiple social identities”, rather than (only) different abilities (García and Ortiz, 2013: 32). Derman-Sparks & Edwards’s (2010; 2019) framework enables teachers to support each child to develop to their fullest potential.

People can be discriminated against or marginalised because of different dimensions of their identities. An immigrant female student’s experiences of being bullied may be shaped by her being a girl and having a migrant background, and not speaking the local language well enough yet. Her experiences may become even complex if she has dyslexia, and if she has just moved from a country at war.

In this situation in real life, therefore, different discourses such as sexism and racism (and xenophobia and disablism) intersect. However, despite these realities, in feminist and anti-racist practices, these discourses are often not seen as intersectional (Crenshaw, 1991)

Crenshaw (1991) observed that in the response of activists to combat social injustices, it is often that the multiple dimensions of our lived experiences are treated separately. Feminists and anti-racist activists, for example, tend to view the discriminations and other disadvantages happening to a girl student of an immigrant background as if the issues are disassociated. Crenshaw argued that such a single-faceted approach that sees identity as girl/woman or person of colour or having poor language skills, and then responds to one or the other dimension, is in fact not effective. This is because it will cause such a student to be marginalised in all three dimensions: gender, racism, and languages/cultures (and/or disability, or class). Rather, an intersectional perspective and approach that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of separate discourses, and that recognises the student as having intersectional identities and being affected by them, is necessary. This intersectional approach responds to all three dimensions, and therefore, will be helpful in understanding people’s experiences and informing responses and practices.

As a single-faceted theoretical lens seems not comprehensive enough to address the complexities of social injustice discourses, teachers may want to adopt more intersectional approaches. These approaches help them understand the multiple dimensions of anti-bias education, attend to within-group differences, and start to employ it in the classroom.

Avoiding a deficit approach: ‘microwave’ anti-bias education

Within the context of anti-bias education, teachers need to understand the differences between equity and equality in education. While there are complexities around the two concepts, equity in education is how teachers respond to the specific needs of all students to ensure they access quality teaching and learning. On the other hand, equality is based on fairness, that is, treating all students the same (Adebayo, 2022). In other words, equality is ‘giving everyone a shoe’ while equity is giving ‘everyone a shoe that fits’ (Naheed Dosani).

A deficit approach to anti-bias education bases its implementation on a perspective that foregrounds students’ problematic sociocultural background to argue for their poor academic performance (Vandenbroeck, 2007). This particularly concerns students from marginalised or culturally diverse backgrounds. In other words, a deficit approach personalises failure, i.e., when educators believe that if students work harder, there will be no need for anti-bias education. This approach to anti-bias education must be avoided to ensure that all students have access to equitable and quality education, irrespective of their sociocultural background. Anti-bias education is for all students. We can avoid a deficit approach to anti-bias education by taking it as a school-wide commitment that adds richness to the learning experiences of all students (Dash and Peters, 2021).

A US-based educator named Cornelius Minor came up with the term ‘Microwave Equity,’ which is explained as a situation in which teachers and educators attempt to quickly reach the goal of equitable education for all learners. Mirroring this idea, one may also identify ‘microwave anti-bias education’ when educators intend to achieve the goals of anti-bias education within a short time. However, both are not possible because equitable education for all, and truly implementing anti-bias education require patience and a substantial investment of time (Adebayo, 2022).  The real work towards anti-bias education is a lifelong process that requires the continuous investment of resources and efforts to create an anti-bias teaching and learning environment. This is why Dash and Peters (2021: 59) strongly emphasise that educators working towards anti-bias education should continue to ask themselves: “Are we doing the right thing?”

An intersectional framework for classroom anti-bias education

As indicated above, anti-bias education is based on the value that differences are good, and differences need to be respected and celebrated (Derman-Sparks et al., 1989; Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019). However, the framework is also action-oriented: it enables teachers and students to identify and confront unfair beliefs and behaviour. In particular, Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010; 2019) discussed the four goals of anti-bias education which include the dimensions of identity, diversity, justice, and activism.

Goal 1: Identity: This goal is seen as the starting place for all children, in all contexts. Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010; 2019) proposed that each child shall have the opportunities “to demonstrate their self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2019: 7). Children are able to confidently express who they are, while respecting who others are. They are also able to positively describe their social or group identities (for example, gender, racial/ethnic, cultural, language, religious, and socio-economic class groups) without being superior, or inferior, to others (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019).

Goal 2: Diversity: With this goal, children are able to “express comfort and joy with human diversity, use accurate language for human differences, and form deep, caring connections across all dimensions of human diversity” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2019: 7). Children learn to understand the differences, as well as similarities, between themselves and others, and use that      to treat each other in a caring and just way (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019).

Goal 3: Justice: This goal helps children develop a sense of fairness and justice. They will “increasingly recognise unfairness (injustice), have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2019: 8). Children learn to empathise with others, but also to engage in critical thinking in order to identify negative, hurtful, unjust practices around them. These can be in the form of ideas and attitudes (for example stereotypes), comments (for example teasing, shaming), and behaviour (for example exclusion, discrimination) (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019).

Goal 4: Activism: This goal aims to enable children to stand up to unjust ideas, attitudes and behaviour, and act against injustice: “children will demonstrate a sense of empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discriminatory actions” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2019: 8). Children learn to take perspective, perform positive interactions with others, resolve conflicts, and create a fair classroom environment (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019).

Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010; 2019) emphasised that the four goals are interconnected and all of them should be continuously incorporated into the curriculum and daily educational practices. In realising the four goals of anti-bias education, the role of teachers is to encourage and nurture students’ construction of identities, perspectives, and the ability to take action. It is important, therefore, for teachers to observe and listen to students’ questions, thoughts, and ideas, to be aware of the hurtful biases, stereotypes and misinformation that students are exposed to, to look for ‘teachable moments’ – where teachers see the opportunities to expand students’ thinking, to help them further develop knowledge and understanding, and to plan the curriculum and teaching accordingly. Anti-bias education should be a combination of student-initiated activities, teachable moments, and teacher-initiated activities (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2016; 2019).

How can teachers implement anti-bias education in the classroom?

Embracing and implementing anti-bias education is a process, and entails challenges (Derman-Sparks et al, 1989). However an awareness of, and a sensitivity to, emotions, attitudes, beliefs, identities, as well as stereotypes, biases, and even discomfort (Nganga, 2020) will be a starting point for teachers. In what follows, we suggest implications for anti-bias education, classroom tools and inspirations for teachers that may help them in this process.

Creating opportunities for students to express their identities

As establishing a confident, strong sense of personal and social identities serves as the foundation for students to continue to achieve the next three goals of anti-bias education (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; 2019), teachers can help create as many opportunities as possible for students to express who they are with confidence. Ice-breaker activities that allow students to introduce themselves, their family, and backgrounds can help students start talking about their identities in a natural context. For example, an activity called “The meaning of my name” can be an engaging homework activity. When discussing that homework in the class, the teacher can start by explaining their name first: what it means, what it means in their family, and what it means to them, personally; then students, in pairs or small groups, can talk about their names. This activity can especially be relevant and meaningful for a culturally and linguistically diverse classroom and can be a good start to introduce plurilingual and intercultural competence. Students can also creatively express their identities, something special and unique about themselves, what they like, what they dislike, through narrative and creative writing (free writing, story, poetry), and by using multimodality (for example combining talking, writing, drawing, dancing, and acting). These activities can accommodate students’ different needs, interests, abilities, and language capabilities. Regarding identity expression, Derman-Sparks, Edwards, and Goins (2020) suggest that teachers can also use materials as a tool to make all students feel welcome; for example, by including images of people from diverse groups and backgrounds in the materials.

Supporting students in respecting and celebrating differences

Teachers can help students change their attitudes towards differences: often differences are the cause of discrimination. Students will understand that each person is unique – they have unique traits, appearance and physical features, and different opinions and ways of thinking; and these differences in their personal and group identities must be respected. More than that, these differences can also be regarded as positive because they help widen and enrich one’s knowledge, experiences, and world views. At the same time, students also need to learn about how they are similar to others (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2016), so that they can relate to, and connect with, each other. This can be done by teachers asking students to share their prior experiences, for example, in solving a problem, or in dealing with a real-life situation or dilemma that is relevant to their contexts. Discussion activities that encourage students to express their personal thoughts and opinions can also help students learn to respect differences, for example, traditional music from different countries, or the paralympics can be possible topics.

One helpful strategy identified by Derman-Sparks, Edwards, & Goins (2020) is that teachers go through their teaching materials and critically check if they represent diversity fairly and accurately, and if there are possible hidden biases and stereotypes. For example, a gender perspective (Sadker & Silber, 2007) can be used to critically detect if housework is always associated with girls and women and not boys and men (stereotype bias), or if all astronauts are portrayed as men (selectivity bias). Critical multiculturalism can be a lens for teachers (Nganga, 2020; Yu, 2020) to investigate if some particular ethnic groups, cultures, or languages are portrayed as dominant or invisible, privileged or marginalised, or in stereotypical ways.

Extra-curriculum activities can also be designed on themes of diversity, for example, a theme day on the topic of multilingualism (How many languages can students speak at our school?) can generate discussions on languages, cultures, and history. Students are to be encouraged to share their own knowledge and experiences in learning more about other cultures as well as their own cultures.

Teaching students about empathy

Empathy is the ability to imagine oneself in another person’s situation and having understanding and feelings towards their experiences – in other words, changing perspectives to put oneself in other people’s shoes. Research (Athanases & Sanchez, 2020) has shown that drama-based pedagogy can help students develop empathy and be engaged in social justice-oriented discussions. Teachers can make use of role-play and other drama-based activities to help students relate to others’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This will enable them to empathise with others and to see the world from different perspectives. Drama-based teaching, possibly done in small groups, can be beneficial for a diverse classroom, because the approach is inclusive in itself: it allows students to explore, express, and learn in varied, non-conventional ways. Besides drama-based pedagogy, experiential learning can also be implemented to teach students about empathy, for example, thematic days on different forms of impairment can be organised at schools, where people with disabilities are invited to be speakers. Students can visit the home of people with disabilities, so they better understand their challenges and lived experiences.

Promoting students’ critical thinking

To promote students’ critical thinking, teachers may choose a critical approach to teaching, where self-reflection and critical thinking are considered. When working with reading and literature, teachers may ask questions that activate reflective discussions.

Escayg (2019) suggested that anti-bias education on the topic of race can be introduced to even young children by teachers asking questions to help them first deconstruct the system of racial ideologies, power and privilege in everyday life. Based on the responses from students, teachers can then ask students to consider if this system is fair to everyone.

Helping students develop a sense of fairness and justice

Although it is not always easy to define what is ‘fair’ and ‘just’, teachers may introduce      students to essential values such as democracy and human rights, and that aggressive and discriminated attitudes, words, and behaviour including isolation, rejection, and exclusion, can be as hurtful as physical aggression and violence is. Teachers may invite students to express their thoughts and opinions about statements or situations overshadowed by societal inequalities and injustice.

Teachers also need to be explicit when dealing with injustices. As mentioned earlier, children even at an early age can become involved in (race- and ethnic-based) verbal and physical bullying towards their peers (Yu, 2020). It is suggested that teachers should explicitly bring in racial and ethical issues into discussions with children. This can be done, for example, by discussing with the children concepts such as stereotype and bullying, and not just stop at vague scolding such as “being mean” or “disrespectful towards others” (Yu, 2020).

Another way to help students start to engage in the questions of fairness and justice is to support them to approach one problem from as many perspectives as possible. Thus, students will learn to be open-minded, and adopt multi-angled views rather than only one-sided views. Problem-solving and debate activities can be helpful for this purpose. Additionally, teachers can provide students with comprehensive information about particular groups (why helping them be aware that identities are fluid and dynamic) and encourage them to learn to critically evaluate the information they receive.

Facilitating students to respond to injustice issues

In helping students to become activists, to stand up to unfairness, inequality, and injustice, it is important that teachers are their role models. Teachers need to be aware of their own bias and implement anti-bias education, values and principles in their daily practices.

At the same time, teachers can enable students to actively participate in creating a fair, tolerant classroom environment. Students can also learn to resolve possible conflicts. Restorative justice approach is a mediation method implemented in several countries (Reyes-Quilodran, LaBrenz, & Donoso, 2019) where students learn to build peace by acknowledging and owning their mistakes. In order to do that, students need to know the necessary language and communication skills in conflict-resolution. For example, when an incident happens between students, teachers talk to each involved party separately first, then call a conference where all parties talk about what has happened, listen to each other, reflect on their actions, acknowledge their mistakes, and apologise.

Democratic education can also be an approach to empower students to respond to injustice. Students’ voices can be heard through student committees, where they can raise and discuss issues. Schools and teachers can provide opportunities for students (for example by using surveys, polls, forums, and in-class discussions) to express their opinions and wishes to actively contribute to the curriculum goals and content, as well as how this content is going to be taught.

In all cases, it is important for teachers when implementing anti-bias education in their classrooms to remember that all forms of support and intervention need to be closely linked to the realities of children’s lives, and thus their needs (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2019).

Building relationships and partnerships with parents for anti-bias education

Engaging parents in the educating of their children is vital for developing anti-bias education. Some ways educators or teachers can build relationships with parents include teachers making the first move in building trust with parents. This is particularly relevant for parents of minority ethnic migrant backgrounds who may not be familiar with the host country’s school system. This may result in these parents being timid and not effectively engaged in their children’s schooling. Secondly, teachers can find out what culturally diverse parents value in terms of engagement and activities and outcome. It is crucial for teachers to see parents as a vehicle to understand their children’s background. Thirdly, teachers can personally invite parents and use phone conversations and in-person encounters instead of letters or emails, which can be a huge barrier for parents with weak proficiency in the host country’s language of instruction. This will help teachers build a cultural knowledge base useful for effective teaching in culturally diverse classrooms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, implementing anti-bias education in the classroom is a critical endeavor that requires a multifaceted approach. By embracing strategies such as creating opportunities for students to express their identities, supporting students in respecting and celebrating differences, teaching empathy, promoting critical thinking, fostering a sense of fairness and justice, facilitating students to respond to injustice issues, and building relationships and partnerships with parents, teachers can create inclusive and empowering learning environments.

By valuing and affirming students’ diverse identities, teachers lay the foundation for respectful and inclusive classrooms. Encouraging students to share their experiences and perspectives helps promote understanding and empathy among peers. Through activities that challenge stereotypes and biases, teachers can foster an appreciation for differences and promote a sense of belonging for all students.

Promoting critical thinking enables students to question and challenge societal inequalities and injustices. By providing accurate information and encouraging students to critically evaluate the world around them, teachers empower students to become active participants in creating a more equitable society. Furthermore, it is crucial for teachers to model anti-bias principles in their own practices and engage in ongoing self-reflection to address their own biases. Building strong relationships with parents and involving them in the educational process enhances collaboration and cultural understanding, ultimately benefiting the students.

Incorporating anti-bias education into the classroom is a continuous and evolving process. It requires teachers to be open-minded, adaptable, and committed to ongoing learning. By embracing these strategies, educators have the power to create inclusive spaces where all students feel valued, respected, and equipped to navigate an increasingly diverse world. Through their efforts, teachers play a vital role in shaping a more equitable and just society for generations to come.

Local contexts

Literature

About the authors

name: Ira Schumann

Ira Schumann works on the topic of inclusive school development at the University of Bremen. She also gives workshops on topics such as inclusion, diversity, racism/critical whiteness and fat acceptance/fat liberation.

name: Mai Trang Vu

Mai Trang Vu is Associate Professor of TESOL Teacher Education, Department of Language Studies, Umeå University, Sweden. Her teaching and research areas include teacher education, teacher professionalism, teacher knowledge, critical pedagogy, and education policy. She has also conducted research on inclusive education, gender, and internationalisation.

name: Hazar Chaouni

Hazar Chaouni is a passionate disability rights advocate and a member of Feminists Against Ableism, an intersectional disability justice collective. She actively advises organizations on inclusive policies and accessibility, working to ensure that spaces and practices are inclusive and just for all. Through her essays, workshops, and speeches, Hazar aims to create awareness about disability and ableism, promoting intersectional justice and systemic change. Her advocacy is deeply rooted in her personal and professional experiences, and she emphasizes the importance of the principle “nothing about us without us” in all her work.

name: Seun Adebayo

Dr Seun Adebayo has over 10 years of experience and a diverse background in global education, equity and quality education, EdTech, research and policy advocacy. His dedication lies in cultivating transformative learning journeys that transcend barriers and amplify possibilities, particularly for learners from marginalized communities. His journey encompasses collaborations with international organizations, steering curriculum improvements, and integrating technology to establish an educational landscape that is both inclusive and poised for the future. His passion revolves around ensuring education’s accessibility, equitability, and readiness for all.