Chapter Six

Creating Classrooms that

Address Race and Ethnicity

Roots 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.

We 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.

Religious 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

The Civil War Era Race in education became an issue after the

Civil War.

Freedmen’s 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.

Legislative 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.

The 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)

Characteristics 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 people’s lives.

Teachers understand the historical significance of race.

Teachers are aware that majority children may not understand the role race plays in their lives.

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.

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.

Genotype—shared genetic material

Phenotype—visible traits, e.g. skin color

Textbooks are often inaccurate and dated.

Content materials are often biased (intentionally or unintentionally).

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.

Curriculum 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.

The 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 one’s own virtues

Knowledge: prejudicial attitudes that offer decision-making criteria about members of outgroups

Prejudice Formation

Three components of prejudice:

Cognitive component: the process of categorization

Affective component: the feelings that accompany one’s thoughts about members of outgroups

Behavioral component: discriminatory practices towards members of outgroups

Continued…

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

Extreme 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…

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

Prejudice ReductionCritical to reducing prejudice and

establishing an interculturally sensitive classroom is the teacher’s understanding of, and ability to integrate, intercultural awareness and prejudice reduction activities into the curriculum.

Intercultural sensitivity is not “natural”—cross-cultural contact has historically been accompanied by bloodshed, oppression, or genocide.

Educational Strategies to Reduce Prejudice

Improving social contact and intergroup relationsEqual 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…

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

Some 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.

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

Ten 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

Elements 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.

Improving 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.

Increasing 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”

Something to Think About

…let’s 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 you…your simple comments can go quite far in making change.

--John Gray