Differentiating teacher expectations: educators’ conceptualisations of teacher expectations in two Western Australian secondary schools

Abstract Teachers can have generally high or low expectations of their students and of the class groups that they teach. Classroom observations and research with students has explored how teachers’ expectations are communicated through differential behaviour, where teachers communicate higher or lower expectations of students that shape students’ respective academic achievement. However, very little research has explored educators’ conceptualisations of teacher expectations and how they perceive that they communicate them to their students. In this paper, findings about teachers’ conceptualisations of expectations and how they intended to communicate their expectations are shared and discussed. The findings are based on interviews with 13 educators, where they shared their conceptualisation of teacher expectations and how they differentiate their expectations, with reference to practical examples from Year 10 classes in two Western Australian schools. The findings include that teachers are balancing tensions between holding high expectations for all students and meeting diverse student needs. These findings are significant for teacher education programs and future research, which could explore educators’ deep reflection about conceptualisations of differing student potential and how teacher expectations might contribute to the effects of social privilege on students’ success at school.