An anecdote:

I met a class of year 8s for the first time.  I was teaching art. The class were rowdy, chatting to each other instead of listening to the lesson introduction.  It felt like this was the norm. The clas were all white except for one black boy.  He was small for his age but came through the door with a swagger and wrist clicking, setting himself apart.  He was 'cool'.

After repeatedly asking the group to cease the chatter so that I could introduce the lesson, 'Junior' yelled across the room 'Hey, don't dis Miss!'.  I thanked Junior for his support and suggested that I was probably going to manage.

During the whole one hour lesson, Junior was attentive, charming, hard working and polite.  His peers (but I think not his friends) continually warned me that Junior was never like this, that he was usually really disruptive, that he never listened or worked, that I wasn't seeing the 'real' Junior.

I repeatedly responded by saying that the person in front of me, doing what he was doing and being what he was being was Junior and that I was delighted by who Junior was and needed no other information.

At the end of the lesson, Junior approached me and asked if he had bee good.  I acknowledged that he had been hard working and also helpful.  He asked if I would write a report for the usual teacher, to tell her how he had been.  I promised I would and I did.

Questions:

Would the teacher read my report and say 'well he pulled the wool over her eyes!'

Would the broken record of his peers, telling him that he was someone else who misbehaved result in him giving up on 'good' and returning to the stereotype 'bad' boy?

did his colour have anything to do with any of this?

If Junior was as his peers suggested most of the time, how come he could behave as he did for a complete stranger?

I am reminded of Lederach's powerful theory of 'dualistic polarities' which suggest that we reduce characteristics to often) stereotype 'either/ or' categories.