Preschool Teacher-Student Interactions and Expectations

Public preschool is becoming more prevalent, but not all teachers have the same expectations of all of their preschool students. Teachers may have biases based on a student's race, gender, or social class. By having these preconceived notions, the teacher may change his/her interactions with that student and even limit what is taught to that student. The results of this study show that both teachers had an academic agenda that focused on skills rather than substance. Overlooking what the children could do, both teachers taught academic content to their Black students in the same way, almost as routine. The knowledge and competencies that children brought with them into the classroom were overlooked and as a consequence, neither teacher is really getting the children to the levels of literacy and numeracy that they need to be at to be successful in kindergarten. The children were aware of their teachers¿ expectations of them: that the wanted them to learn, not excel, but just get through the basics.