A recent educational experiment showed that the difference between “gifted” children and regular ones may have as much to do with 61 as with intelligence. An elementary school teacher was 62 into thinking that her students were above average in intelligence. She then 63 to get them to do outstanding work, even though their true IQ were well within the normal range. It seems that her belief in her students’ intelligence was enough to turn them 64 better learners.
It’s difficult to 65 exactly how much beliefs are expressed. It 66 have to do with how a teacher talks to the class: many positive, supportive expressions and few expressions of impatience, annoyance, or 67 . Non-verbal communication, including 68 expressions, probably plays a role, too. But one thing is clear: Labels and expressions 69 influence results.
Outside of the classroom, labeling can, as 70 as not, have a negative effect. The labels we put on different social groups are usually not inclusive. In fact, they are often sexist or racist. Of course, there is good and bad in all kinds of people. But we tend to accept some ideas about certain groups more readily than about others. The school experiment shows that such labels have a great deal of power. But when labels are unfair and negative they can be very damaging.
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