Elementary Teachers’ Attributions for Racially Minoritized Students’ Classroom Behaviors

Disciplinary action towards racially minoritized students compared to their White peers is disproportionate and these actions often result from teachers’ lived experiences, socialized perceptions, or a homogenous teaching workforce consisting of predominantly White middle-class women with limited social interactions with minoritized communities. We used in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore nine elementary teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between race, culture, and behaviors, and their attributions for racially minoritized students’ challenging behaviors. Findings suggest that teachers often attributed minoritized students’ family circumstances, home environment, and race or culture as contributors to problem behaviors.