• Implicit bias operates outside of our conscious awareness.
• Implicit bias is unconscious, automatic, and relies on associations that we form over time.
• We can form bias toward groups of people based on what we see in the media, our background, and experiences.
• Our biases reflect how we internalize messages about our society rather than our intent. Nevertheless, we can still act on our biases in ways that can harm others.

Module 1 check in

Take the quiz

• Implicit bias can turn even our best intentions into unwanted outcomes.
• Teacher’s implicit biases can impact their perceptions of the quality of students’ work and the teaching strategies they choose to implement.
• Implicit biases can impact perceptions of students behavior and is a contributor to racial differences in school discipline outcomes—particularly between Black and White students.
• Institutional and historic patterns of inequity within the education system contribute to the manifestation of implicit bias in schools. A targeted approach to address the negative effects of implicit bias must also include strategies to address these systemic issues.

Module 2 check in

Take the quiz

Take the IAT!

• You can find out your own biases by taking an implicit association test at: https://implicit.harvard.edu/
• All tests are free and take roughly 5 minutes
• Try taking 2–3 tests and reflect on your results

Take an implicit association test

• There are two main ways in which we measure implicit bias. We can understand our biases through examinations of our behavior and by looking at how our brain is activated through the use of imaging technology.
• One of the most utilized behavioral assessments of implicit bias is the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which measures if there are positive or negative attitudes toward a particular concept or social group.
• You can better understand your own biases by taking the IAT, available at https://implicit.harvard.edu/
• It is important to reflect on your results. Consider how your background and personal experiences may have impacted your results.

Module 3: Check-In

Take the quiz

In this process of understanding what implicit bias is and getting to learn about our own biases, it is normal to start to feel like they are too deeply ingrained in our thoughts and actions to be able to combat their effects. However, as more research comes to light, we are able to find more and more ways to either lessen the effects of bias, or change the biases themselves. Although the latter is certainly a larger undertaking, it is very possible to do so. In the same way that our implicit biases were learned over time, we can disrupt this process with intention, attention and time.

This is because the neural connections between our associations get stronger as we take in more information that confirms our stereotypes or biases. By paying better attention to what we are exposed to and making the intentional choice to seek out experiences that go against our biases, we are able to disrupt this automatic chain of events, and those physical connection in our mind can be weakened. Two interventions we will be talking about later—mindfulness and intergroup contact, have shown the ability to not only stop the manifestation of these biases, but alter the implicit biases we possess.

• There are long term strategies and changes that we can engage in to reduce our unwanted biases, such as mindfulness and intergroup contact.
• One of the best ways to prevent and intervene against bias, is by knowing when you are more susceptible to acting on it, such as moments of high ambiguity, subjectivity, or stress.
• Knowledge about the operation of implicit bias can help inform the individual and institutional approaches you take to address inequitable outcomes in your classroom or school.
• Learning about implicit bias provides a lens to help examine causes of racial, gender, or other social disparities, even in the absence of explicit intent to discriminate.

Module 4: Check-In

Take the quiz

Now that you have an understanding of how implicit bias operates, manifests in the real world, and ways to mitigate your biases, it is important to put theory into practice. This scenario workbook provides you with a series of case studies, scenarios, and reflection questions that will assist you in thinking about how to apply what you have learned to your work as an educator.

Download the workbook

Downloads

• Being an Active Bystander (PDF)
• Identifying and Mitigating Implicit Bias Worksheet (PDF)
• Race and Education Timeline (PDF)
• Making Sense of Your Implicit Association Test Results (PDF)
• Myth-Busters: Clearing up the Confusion Surrounding Implicit Bias (PDF)
• Ending Racial Inequity in Out of School Suspensions: Mapping the Policy Landscape and Equity Impact (PDF)
• Race Matters... And So Does Gender (PDF)
• The Principles for Equitable and Inclusive Civic Engagement (PDF)
• Ohio Discipline Data: An Analysis of Ability and Race (PDF)
• From Punitive to Restorative: Advantages of Using Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools (PDF)
• School Discipline Policy: Updates, Insights, and Future Directions (PDF)
• Strategies for Addressing Implicit Bias in Early Childhood Education (PDF)
• Implicit Racial Bias and School Discipline Disparities - Exploring the Connection (PDF)
• Institutional Interventions to Prevent Implicit Bias from Undermining Organizational Diversity (PDF)

Additional Resources

• For more information on how to support equity in K–12 education, please visit the Resources page provided by the Schott Foundation for Public Education

State of the Science Implicit Bias Review

The Race and Cognition team at the Kirwan Institute would like to give thanks to all of those involved in the process of creating and launching the Online Implicit Bias training. Countless hours have been dedicated to the creation of the modules and we do not take that for granted. There are several people we would like to show an additional level of gratitude to:

Contributors

• Kelly Capatosto
• Lena Tenney
• Joshua Bates
• Kyle Strickland
• Robin Wright
• Cheryl Staats
• Preshuslee Thompson
• Ashley Wilson
• Jason Duffield
• Kip Holley
• Rachel Besse
• Karima Samadi
• Amy Malcolm
• Jillian Olinger
• Glennon Sweeney
• Leigha Grosh
• Jocelyn Smallwood

Acknowledgments

• The Schott Foundation for Public Education
• Mills James Production
• Sharon Davies
• Kathy Lechman
• Art James
• Christy Rogers
• Jason Reece
• Tara McCoy
• Jamaal Bell
• Donnie Perkins
• La’Tonia Stiner-Jones
• Zach Kenitzer
• Sheeba George
• Alicea Kouyate
• Mary McKay

Special thanks to the entire staff at The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity—thank you so much for your dedication to this work and your everyday efforts to make the world a more just and inclusive society. We appreciate you!

Thank you so much for participating in Kirwan's implicit bias module series. We are very excited to offer these modules in partnership with organizations and individuals who are committed to addressing and preventing instances of bias and discrimination. As part of this commitment, please provide some feedback to let us know about your experience and how we can be most helpful in engaging others around these topics moving forward. 

Take the survey