Project TRACE-ED
Tracing Cognitive Processes in Educational Decisions
Teachers‘ attitudes are considered a key factor in educational inequality, particularly affecting disadvantaged student groups. Social-cognitive process models allow for a differentiated analysis of the implicit and explicit processes behind such attitudes. Applying these models in educational research aims to support targeted interventions for disadvantaged groups.
The TRACE-ED project aims to better understand how teachers’ attitudes contribute to educational inequality and how this can be addressed. Ethnic minority students or students from families with low socioeconomic status are particularly disadvantaged in the education system. A key explanatory factor is teachers’ negative and mostly implicit attitudes toward these student groups. Implicit, automatic reactions in particular are considered influential. To assess implicit attitudes, researchers use indirect testing methods such as the Implicit Association Task (IAT). While these reveal implicit attitudes, it remains unclear what is driving them. That is why TRACE-ED draws on social-cognitive process models such as the Quad Model. These break a test result down into individual components: How strongly is an automatic reaction triggered? How well can a person consciously control it? And how much do general response tendencies, that are unrelated to the attitude itself, play a role? This more differentiated analysis aims to shed light on how stereotypical judgments arise in everyday school life, for example in grading. In the long run, the findings should help develop targeted interventions that reduce bias and improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students.
Selected publications:
- Glock, S. & Kleen, H. (2023). The role of preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes and causal attributions: A deeper look into students ‘ ethnicity. Current Psychology, 41(10), 8125-8135. doi: 10.1007/s12144-021-02000-2
- Schell, C., Dignath, C., Kleen, H., John, N. & Kunter, M. (2024). Judging a book by its cover? Investigating pre-service teacher’s stereotypes towards pupils with special educational needs. Teaching and Teacher Education, 142, 104526. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2024.104526
- Schell, C., Kleen, H., Dignath, C., John, N. & Kunter, M. (2026). Pre-service teachers’ explicit and implicit stereotypes towards pupils with different special educational needs. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 612-630. doi: 10.1111/bjep.70041
Funding
