Title: Creating Classrooms that Address Race and Ethnicity
1Creating Classrooms that Address Race and
Ethnicity
Chapter Six
2Roots of Racial and Ethnic Conflict in American
Society
- Causes may be political, economic, religious,
linguistic, cultural, or racial. - Conflict is usually due to a sense of injustice
in the distribution of material, social, or
cultural resources. - A knowledge of the sources and dimensions of
conflict is necessary for understanding.
3We Have Been Different from the Beginning
- Columbus introduced European culture in the
1490s. - The Spanish, the French, the Portuguese, and the
English colonized the Americas. - The English emerged as dominant, in part due to
English immigrants desires for religious freedom.
4Religious Tolerance Short-Lived
- White, English-born Protestants were dominant by
the turn of the 19th century. - Fear and persecution of different kinds of
immigrants became prevalent, particularly with
respect to - Roman Catholics
- The Irish
5The Civil War Era
- Race in education became an issue after the Civil
War. - Freedmens Schools were developed to educate the
children of freed slaves. - Public education for black children was most
often segregated, more often in the south than
the north, but in the north as well. - Violence often characterized the development of
black schools.
6Legislative and Judicial Landmarks
- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Separate but equal
facilities for the races in schools and elsewhere
is constitutional. - Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Separate
but equal doctrine is inherently unequal and
unconstitutional.
7The Civil Rights Movement and the Schools
- The Equal Pay Act (1963)
- The Voting Rights Act (1963)
- The Civil Rights Act (1964)
- The Bilingual Education Act (1968)
- Title IX, Educational Amendments (1972)
- Education of All Handicapped Children Act (1975)
8Characteristics of Classrooms that Address Race
and Ethnicity
- Pedagogies Old and New
- Teachers do not shy away from the deep-seated
influence that race plays in peoples lives. - Teachers understand the historical significance
of race. - Teachers are aware that majority children may not
understand the role race plays in their lives.
9- Roles Old and New
- Teachers understand their roles as active agents
of change. - Teachers reach out to individuals and community
groups that represent various ethnic and racial
groups. - Students interact with community groups working
to change the status quo.
10- Place of Content Knowledge Old and New
- The history of diversity in the U.S. is a
critical element. - The concept of race is often used incorrectly.
- Genotypeshared genetic material
- Phenotypevisible traits, e.g. skin color
- Textbooks are often inaccurate and dated.
- Content materials are often biased (intentionally
or unintentionally).
11- Assessment Old and New
- Assessment instruments may be developed and
normed with only one race or ethnic group in
mind. - Assessments should consider the sociocultural
context of the learner. - Biases and stereotypes
- Prior experience of the learner
- Assessments should be varied.
12Curriculum Transformation the Case of Prejudice
- It is human nature to surround oneself with
others who provide social acceptance and help in
times of need. - Individuals begin to think that the familiar
behaviors of their group are good and natural. - It follows, then, that others may be perceived as
less good and less natural. - These judgments may become harsh, discriminatory,
and involve rejection.
13The Functions of Prejudice (Katz)
- Adjustment prejudicial attitudes that aid in
adjusting to a complex world will be maintained - Ego-defensive prejudicial attitudes that protect
self-concepts - Value-expressive prejudicial attitudes that
demonstrate ones own virtues - Knowledge prejudicial attitudes that offer
decision-making criteria about members of
outgroups
14Prejudice Formation
- Three components of prejudice
- Cognitive component the process of
categorization - Affective component the feelings that accompany
ones thoughts about members of outgroups - Behavioral component discriminatory practices
towards members of outgroups
Continued
15- How Children Learn Prejudice
- Observation of respected elders socialization
- Group membership desire to mimic ingroup
attitudes in order to belong - The media reinforcement of stereotypes
- Religious fundamentalism belief that one holds
the truth, that others are at best wrong, and
at worst, dangerous
16Extreme Cases of Prejudice
- ?Hate groups any organized body that denigrates
select groups of people based on their ethnicity,
race, religion, or sexual orientation and/or
advocates the use of violence against such groups
Continued
17- White privilege what occurs when members of the
dominant group (in the U.S., whites) are taught
that racism is something that puts others at a
disadvantage, but are not taught to see the
corresponding advantage their color brings to
them - Racial Profiling law enforcement practice of
targeting someone for investigation in public
spaces on the basis of a statistical profile of
his or her race, ethnicity, or national origin
18Prejudice Reduction
- Critical to reducing prejudice and establishing
an interculturally sensitive classroom is the
teachers understanding of, and ability to
integrate, intercultural awareness and prejudice
reduction activities into the curriculum. - Intercultural sensitivity is not
naturalcross-cultural contact has historically
been accompanied by bloodshed, oppression, or
genocide.
19Educational Strategies to Reduce Prejudice
- Improving social contact and intergroup relations
- Equal status contact when those who are brought
together perceive they are of equal status - Superordinate goals when the purpose of bringing
people together cannot be accomplished without
the participation of all
Continued
20- Encouragement of intergroup interaction should
become a positive school norm - Personal familiarity people must have the
opportunity to get to know the other person in
ways that render the stereotypic image clearly
inaccurate or inappropriate
21Some Cautions in Applying the Contact Hypothesis
- Many schools are monocultural, providing little
opportunity for intergroup contact to occur in
such cases it is best to stress the diversity
that is present, e.g., socioeconomic or gender
diversity. - Equal status contact within the school may
conflict with that which occurs outside the
school.
22- The Importance of Critical Thought
- Increasing Cognitive Sophistication
- Improving students critical thinking skills
- Questioning
- Analyzing
- Suspending judgment until all available
information is collected and studied
23Ten Criteria in the Development of Critical
Thought
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Objectivity reliance on evidence
- Open-mindedness
- Flexibility in thinking
- Intellectual skepticism
- Intellectual honesty
- Ability to be systematic
- Persistence
- Ability to be decisive
- Attentiveness to other points of view
24Elements of Classrooms that Encourage Critical
Thought
- ?Students feel respected and safe.
- ?The classroom is a community of inquiry.
- ?There is a balance between teacher-talk and
student-talk. - ?Students are taught to think about their own
thinking.
25Improving Self-Confidence and Self-Acceptance
- ?A sense of self-worth and self-confidence
supports the reduction of prejudice. - ?Students feel secure and accepted.
- ?Student participation is valued.
- ?Students know the boundaries and limits of
behavior.
26Increasing Empathy for and Understanding of Others
- ?Long-term gains in prejudice reduction require
educational activity that actively engages the
emotions. - ?Writing stories or acting out dramatizations of
cross-cultural situations - ?Any activity that enables students to step into
the shoes of another - ?Classroom simulations that generate culture
shock
27Something to Think About
- lets think about the consequences of silence.
I think about Hitler. He got into power by
people around him being silent and not
challenging him. When you are silent, you are
giving tacit approval of the messages you hear
around youyour simple comments can go quite far
in making change. - --John Gray