Teacher's pet

Not to be confused with Classroom pet.

For other uses, see Teacher's Pet (disambiguation).

A teacher's pet is a student who is viewed most favorably by their teacher in a school.^[1][2][3] They can be viewed unsympathetically by other students due to jealousy or envy in certain situations. The phenomenon is extensively acknowledged by the public, but actual research on the topic is very limited.^[4] Various cognitive biases may influence a teacher's judgment of their students, such as gender, ethnicity, physical appearance, and other characteristics.^[5] In classrooms with teacher's pets, negative opinion of the teacher by students is more prevalent.^[4]

A Spanish broadside from 1864 shows how "the teacher tenderly rewards [the good student's] good writing."

References

1. "teacher's pet". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/7740224967. Retrieved 2024-11-10. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
2. "teacher's pet". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
3. "teacher's pet". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
4. Trusz 2017, p. 708.
5. Tal & Babad 1989, p. 98.

Cited works

• Tal, Zohar; Babad, Elisha (1989). "The "Teacher's Pet" Phenomenon as Viewed by Israeli Teachers and Students". The Elementary School Journal. 90 (1): 97–108. doi:10.1086/461605. ISSN 0013-5984.
• Trusz, Sławomir (2017). "The teacher's pet phenomenon 25 years on". Social Psychology of Education. 20 (4): 707–730. doi:10.1007/s11218-017-9388-8. ISSN 1381-2890.