"That is still the case in this country for too many students, the soft bigotry of low expectations. If you don't expect them to learn, if you don't expect them to succeed - then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy"
About this Quote
Tavis Smiley names a form of prejudice that hides behind kindness. Low expectations often come dressed as empathy or realism: we do not want to push a child too hard, we assume their home life is too chaotic, we tell ourselves that rigorous work will discourage them. Yet that softness becomes its own kind of barrier. When teachers, administrators, or society at large expect little, they design classrooms, assignments, and pathways that deliver little. Students receive fewer challenges, diluted curricula, and smaller horizons. Over time, they internalize the ceiling others have placed above them.
The phrase became widely known in the early 2000s political debate about education, but Smiley places it squarely in the day-to-day experiences of students, especially those from marginalized communities. It is not the slur or the outright exclusion that wounds here; it is the polite shrug, the resigned smile, the quiet tracking into less demanding courses. Research on the Pygmalion effect shows that expectations shape outcomes. Students rise toward belief and sink under doubt. If the adults around them anticipate mastery and provide support, performance improves. If they anticipate struggle and lower the bar, the prediction fulfills itself.
Smiley is not arguing for empty motivational slogans. High expectations without investment and care are another form of neglect. The point is to pair belief with resources: great teaching, rigorous material, tutoring, counseling, and culturally responsive classrooms that affirm identity rather than pathologize it. Expectation becomes a lever only when attached to opportunity.
The urgency in the words still the case warns against complacency. Despite decades of reform, too many students are told, subtly, who they are not allowed to become. Undoing the soft bigotry of low expectations requires an ethic of capacity: assume brilliance, build structures that cultivate it, and hold systems accountable when they do not. When we expect students to learn and succeed, and act accordingly, we change the prophecy.
The phrase became widely known in the early 2000s political debate about education, but Smiley places it squarely in the day-to-day experiences of students, especially those from marginalized communities. It is not the slur or the outright exclusion that wounds here; it is the polite shrug, the resigned smile, the quiet tracking into less demanding courses. Research on the Pygmalion effect shows that expectations shape outcomes. Students rise toward belief and sink under doubt. If the adults around them anticipate mastery and provide support, performance improves. If they anticipate struggle and lower the bar, the prediction fulfills itself.
Smiley is not arguing for empty motivational slogans. High expectations without investment and care are another form of neglect. The point is to pair belief with resources: great teaching, rigorous material, tutoring, counseling, and culturally responsive classrooms that affirm identity rather than pathologize it. Expectation becomes a lever only when attached to opportunity.
The urgency in the words still the case warns against complacency. Despite decades of reform, too many students are told, subtly, who they are not allowed to become. Undoing the soft bigotry of low expectations requires an ethic of capacity: assume brilliance, build structures that cultivate it, and hold systems accountable when they do not. When we expect students to learn and succeed, and act accordingly, we change the prophecy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Teaching |
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