How Do Teachers Understand Adoption (and What Can Parents Do About It?)

What do teachers understand about adoption? What are the misperceptions? We talk with two researchers on this topic: Dr. Hal Grotevant, the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a Professor of Psychology and current Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University.

In this episode, we cover:

How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of trauma?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of attachment?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of adoption?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of prenatal exposure?
Was there a perception that adopted kids were “troubled”?
What did they know about open adoption?
How accepting were teachers to the idea of modifying assignments to reflect diverse families, including those formed by adoption?
Do teachers know whether kids are adopted? Do they need to know? Do they feel comfortable asking for this information?
Did teachers present lessons that included the diversity that adoption represents?
Does teacher training, either formal or in-service, often include information on adoption?
What can parents do to help their child’s teacher be more adoption-aware or adoption-sensitive?
Where can listeners get more information on your research?
- The “Teachers and Adopted Children” Survey and the Factsheet for Teacher can be found here.