Using virtual reality to increase empathy and combat bias in the classroom: A pilot study

Teachers hold conscious and unconscious beliefs that may reflect biased or stereotypical understandings of diverse student groups. Biased beliefs can negatively shape teacher expectations and teacher–student interactions, ultimately impacting student academic outcomes. One way to combat bias is to increase empathy for those student groups. Virtual Reality (VR) is considered an “empathy machine,” enabling participants to take others’ perspectives. Included are the findings of a pilot study with 16 teachers designed to evaluate the efficacy of a recently created narrative VR scenario. Developed through research and consultation, participants “live” the day of an Indigenous middle school student in Aotearoa New Zealand. Quantitative measures of teachers’ attitudes and beliefs and qualitative data collected through interviews and focus groups were analysed to ascertain the experience’s impact on teachers’ beliefs, biases, and empathy. The findings show how a VR embodiment experience can impact teachers’ beliefs and potentially motivate behaviour change.