Preschool teachers’ emotions relate to racialized perceptions of Black and White children’s behaviors

Through a mixed-methods approach, the current study examined preschool teachers’ feelings about and perceptions of children’s non-compliant behaviors, their assessments of children’s behaviors by child race, and their acknowledgement of racial inequity in classrooms. Teachers reported emotional responses to child behavior (via vignettes and interviews) and reported their perceptions of the behavior as severe, representative of a behavioral pattern, and inappropriate. Results indicate that teachers described being frustrated, angry, and overwhelmed in response to children’s non-compliance. Additionally, findings indicate that racialized perceptions related to teachers’ emotions; when teachers reported feeling frustrated or concerned, the association between frustration, concern and perceived severity of the behavior was stronger for Black compared to White children. We found a discrepancy between teachers’ emotional responses to children’s behaviors (quantitative data) and what they described in interviews, such that teachers were unlikely to acknowledge racial inequity or describe differential perceptions of children’s behavior by child race. Results indicate a need for greater attention to teachers’ racial biases in behavior management.