The document discusses the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies and how teachers' expectations of students can influence student performance and behavior either positively or negatively. It provides examples of how a teacher expecting some students to perform poorly due to being in a lower-level class can cause those students to internalize those expectations and put in less effort. Conversely, expecting higher-level students to perform well can motivate them. The document argues teachers should tailor their teaching methods to different student ability levels in a positive way rather than having biased treatment.

1. Journal Entry 3: 3rd Oct 2015
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that has directly or indirectly
causes itself to become true due to a simple fact that a person expects it to become
true. In other words, an expectation towards something or someone is affected by our
thoughts and behaviours towards it which causes the expectation or prediction to
happen and occur. However, in actual fact, the self-fulfilling prophecy could be an
error due to the fact that it was a false definition or concept since the beginning of the
situation where the false conception becomes true later on. The self-fulfilling
prophecy occurs very often in everyday life. This is because each individual have
stereotypes of our own where we intentionally or unintentionally judge people based
on their characteristics or personality. This causes us to treat others in a specific
manner where the opposite person might react and become how we treat them.
A very simple example to explain this concept is by treating a group of people
lowly and thinking of them as weak. As we perceive that this group of people is weak,
we give them less attention, training and monitoring which causes them to be
neglected and ignored. This causes this group of people to slack and maybe laze
around thinking that they are not looked upon by others. When these people are put to
test, they turn out weak which meets the expectation of us thinking that they are weak.
There is a negative outcome to this psychological concept whereby if people are
constantly judging others negatively, most of the response will turn out to be negative.
However, if this psychology concept is used in a motivating and positive method, the
outcome and response from that person might turn out to be better than expected. In
my opinion, the self-fulfilling prophecy can actually make a change or turning point
for a person, let it be for the better or the worst. It can be used in a manner to
encourage or discourage, to praise or to scold, and even in a convincing manner.
In the three final years of my high school days, I have been placed in the first
Science class where all teachers expect the most out of us in both academic and co-
curriculum activities. The expectation of us to be excellent and all rounded has been
an unspoken rule among all teachers. It was like a “must have” characteristics of
everyone from the first class, or else we would be classified as poorer classes’
students. Their expectations for all students from the first class to be excellent and all
rounded is actually unrealistic, because in a class, there is a diversity of people where
each and every person excels in different sectors. For those who score lower in
academics, they are automatically categorized as poorer in studies and are often
looked down by top scorers or typical academic biased teachers. It makes students
like myself, who is more of an average in academic compared to those who excel in
classes, feel bad about myself until the point where I believe that I would never be
able to climb up that level, because I am stuck down here as a poor student. Each time
I receive my exam sheet back, even if I have improved compared to previous exams,
as long as my marks remain lower than excellent students, it “proves” to teachers that
average scorers like myself are just poor students. So when exam results are out, they
are never surprised with my position in class because they have expected someone
like myself to achieve such results, because I am just poor in academics.

2. There was a point of time where I almost gave up on studying because
teachers tend to focus more on those who are really good at academics due to the fact
that they are easier to teach and easier to communicate with. Sometimes, students
with average and poor results in the same class are often neglected when they ask the
teachers questions, because the teachers think that this group of students might just be
fooling around and are not as serious as those who excel in their studies. When
teachers create a habit of neglecting students, these students will soon give up on
themselves too. This will result in students not paying attention in class, incompletion
of homework or even neglecting their studies. When the teacher notices the negative
behaviour of this group of students, they will think to themselves “I knew that these
bunch of students were just fooling around with their studies, which is why they have
such poor results.” In my previous case, we did try to ask questions but the teacher
would just briefly explain it, and if we did not understand, we never had a chance to
clarify and fully understand their explanations because they would have moved on to
another student and not bother if we understood what she explained or not. This
implies and shows that she does not bother if we fully understand it or not because she
believes that teaching us is a waste of time since we are poor academic scorers. This
might not be the major reason to why my score is average, but it shows and proves to
her that my score will always be average or low which causes her to continue treating
students like me differently. On the other hand, teachers usually have more patience
in teaching smarter students who excel in their academics. It might be because
teachers see the bright future installed for them and has high hopes upon them. When
their excellent results come out, their opinions and expectations are met and it proves
to them that these are the excellent students that they should focus on.
Other than student academic differences in the same class, students from
different classes face the same problems with teachers too. When teachers enter a first
class student’s class, they treat students like adults, expecting them to be on their best
behaviour and being mature. When students like myself are treated like adults, we
listen and follow instructions which then meets the criteria and expectations of that
teacher from a first class student’s class. However, when the same teacher enters a last
class student’s class, they treat them differently because of their academic grading.
Most teachers end up shouting in class because they think that force is the only way in
making students obey and listen to them in classes. Sometimes, teachers tend to yell at
them saying that they are so much weaker in studies and much more childish or
immature compared to first class students. Likewise, students might behave more
childish and either scream back or not listen to the teacher because they are treated in
the same manner. Since the teacher has expectance of a weak class having this sort of
behaviour, they are not surprised with such attitude because their expectations of a
weak class is as so. This can actually end up negatively because first class students are
not always able to fulfil the maturity level teachers expect whereas lower class
students could be more mature than the childish methods teachers implement while
teaching in class. When first class students show immature or childish acts, the
teacher can get mad easily because her expectance of a first class students is nothing
like a weaker class student. On the other hand, I have seen weaker class students act
more mature that first class students outside of their classroom. However, teachers

3. never give them a chance to be treated like actual mature student whereby teachers
will not experience teaching a weaker class students like mature first class students.
While some of this seem unfair to students of the same age, there can be
positive outcomes of the self-fulfilling prophecy. I have once been to my sister’s
parents-teachers day event while she was in primary school and her teacher did admit
that she does treat A class students like A class students and C class students like C
class students. However, it not used in the negative manner where students have
different and biased treatment. As an A class student, it is know that you are a smarter
student where you would understand the syllabus and be able to take in information
easily. When the teacher enters the A class student, she has a higher expectation for
them which causes her to teach faster and more during class hours. This is because
she knows that they are capable of understanding more knowledge in a short span of
time because they are from an A class. On the other hand, teachers have a lower
expectation of C class students, however this does not mean treating these students
differently as individuals but differently in their teaching method. By teaching C class
students using a C class method of teaching, the students will be able to catch up in
class and understand their work properly. What makes the teacher teach C class
students like C class students is because of the students slower understanding of
lessons in class, however this different teaching method allows them to catch up and
understand their learnings thoroughly. In short, the A class students are able to
become A class students because of her faster teaching method in class where they
can gain more knowledge due to their better understanding while C class students are
treated differently compared to A class students but they are still able to understand
the syllabus as clear as A class students.
The self-fulfilling prophecy concept is used by everyone in the society no
matter consciously or unconsciously. However, when one is able to master this
psychological concept, they are able to implement it during social interactions in
order to being out the best in each and every person around them.