Empathy Intervention to Reduce Implicit Bias in Pre-Service Teachers

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Teacher Education

Background:

• Concerns persist about discriminatory discipline for culturally and linguistically diverse students.
• Limited research exists on empathy interventions' impact on pre-service teachers' biases.
• Implicit bias can influence teacher perceptions and disciplinary actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if a brief empathy intervention can decrease implicit bias in pre-service teachers.
• To assess the intervention's effect on bias towards Black individuals.
• To explore implications for teacher education and equitable student discipline.

Main Methods:

• Randomized pretest-posttest control group design.
• Utilized a brief empathy-inducing intervention.
• Measured implicit bias using the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Main Results:

• The empathy intervention demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in implicit bias.
• Specifically, White female pre-service teachers showed reduced bias towards Black individuals (F=7.55, η²=0.22, p=0.01).
• Control group did not show significant changes.

Conclusions:

• Brief empathy interventions show promise in mitigating pre-service teacher implicit bias.
• Findings suggest potential for improving equity in disciplinary practices for diverse students.
• Further research is recommended, including exploring longer intervention periods.