ESOL Endorsement-Homann: Reflection 2

ESOL Endorsement-Homann: Reflection 2: Let's try something different.  See if you can post your reflection as a comment to this page and then when you want to comment on another p...

 

Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism

 

 

Running heading:  RACE & ETHNICITY IN THE CURRICULUM

 

M. Cylar

Race & Ethnicity in the Curriculum

September 29, 2012

            Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism”, are not new to the world that we live in.  It is my believe just like Noel points out in chapter 2, it is easier for many people and myself included at times to just sweep certain beliefs or viewpoints underneath the rug rather than admit and even talk about them.  The term stereotyping can be defined as “the creation of mental categories in order to group people, items, or events” (Noel, p. 43 -45).  Noel explains that we as human beings are exposed to so much information that our brains become so overwhelmed. So order to decipher and make sense of everything we develop a way of processing things, information, and people which is known as stereotyping.  In simpler terms stereotyping can be viewed as our safety device in an effort to stay sane.

            Noel goes on to explain how stereotypes are formed based on several concepts.  She states that the most common is the salience (characteristics/attributes that are most vivid to us, e.g. physical features, race, gender etc.).  I learned there is the heuristic thinking, which simply is described as the normal or natural way that we process information.  There is also the dispositional and non-dispositional characteristic. Dispositional is considered to be the stable individual who is in control.  On the other hand non-dispositional behavior is viewed at as being the opposite.  These people’s actions are said to be no fault of their own because outside factors have a strong influence on how he or she conducts themselves. (I personally believe in many situations non-dispositional behavior is only a copout).  Researchers conclude that stereotyping is a natural concept having its pros and cons (Noel, pp.46 – 48).

            Why we as humans engage in prejudice behavior has been the study of researchers for many years. There are five theories discussed in chapter two, the first theory being “Racial and Cultural Differences”, which focuses on how people are different physically and culturally. The second is the “Economic Competition” that centers on the threat of economic factors such as jobs and housing.  The third theory has to do with a “Traumatic Experience” this is where a traumatizing experience occurs to an individual or a group of people. Fourth, is the “Frustration-Aggression Theory” this is simply where needs are not being meet.  Finally, there is the “Social Control” where society preplaces individuality (Noel, pp. 51- 56).

Noel concludes that racism extends beyond just color, it also includes physical features as well as “cultural, and emotional characteristics”. Racism is the belief that one ethnic group is better or superior to another group of people.  Racism is not only displayed amongst people, it rears its ugly head in society as well. Institutional racism infiltrates just about all area of life so it is considered to be the most toxic to the human race (Noel, pp. 61-63).

In conclusion, stereotyping, prejudice, and racism have lasting effects.  When individuals are consistently bombarded with verbal and nonverbal images that reflect negative communication (e.g. television, newspapers, and individuals who believe their race is superior), the less powerful group will often begin to reject their own uniqueness.  This sort of negative impact can also be found in the classroom as well.  Self-fulfilling prophecy, tracking, and subtractive schooling are three practices in schools that are the direct result of unfair treatment of children simply due to their ethnic make-up, financial status, and Native language (Noel, pp. 67-75).   

Reflect: (What did it mean to you?)

            While it may be easier to ignore, go into denial, and even chose not to talk about stereotyping, prejudices, and racism these ideas have been and will continue to be a part of our society.  As I think about my own behavior at times I have to admit that I have been guilty of engaging in stereotyping and judging others. This chapter has made me aware that these concepts frame who we are as individuals, and they are a normal part of the world that we live in. Now that I am aware that I have been engaging in stereotypic behavior and prejudicial tendencies, I will work toward developing a hermeneutical consciousness (recognize that differences exist in society and know that our identity as human beings is tied to/formed by our exposure) (Noel, pp. 43-44).  It is my belief that you must first examine your own short falls before pointing the finger at someone else/others.  Consequently, you don’t know how another person or race feels until you have been in their shoes/the victim!     

Refine: (How will you use the information in the classroom?)

As I focus on this chapter I recognize the impact that stereotyping, prejudice, and racism can have in the classroom. It is my responsibility as an educator to examine my ideas to ensure that diversity acceptance is a norm in my classroom.  Setting high expectations for all students and differentiating instruction are also keys to successful and productive students.     

During the second week of school my students watched a short film on Bookfilx, called “Do Unto Otters – the Golden Rule”!  This was the perfect presentation to demonstrate to students what it means to accept others for their differences, as well as treating others the way they want to be treated.  The story was based on Otters moving next door to Mr. Rabbit, who really doesn’t know how to act toward his new neighbors (Keller, 2007).  Not only was this the perfect story at the beginning of the year, I believe it is appropriate to continually reiterate the message about manners. So, I plan to order the books and then have my students write about their rendition of the “Golden Rule”.  Having students participate in sharing their science “Family Life Cycle” project was another lesson where students took pride in and really enjoyed sharing their heritage.  Therefore, I will continue to seek ways on how to incorporate more diversity in my lessons as well as including/creating lessons that celebrate my student’s cultures.  

            All students regardless of economic status, ethnicity or race deserve a quality education. Therefore, when schools, educators, and administers engage in practices such as what is known as “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”, “Tracking/race & socioeconomic class”, and “Subtractive School” minority and less fortunate students miss out on many opportunities to pursue an higher education in addition to going on to achieve the American dream.  

References

Noel, J. R. (2008). Developing multicultural educators. Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc.  

Keller, L. (2007).  Do unto Otters: A book about manners. Retrieved from

            www.lauriekeller.com/books/otters 

Ch. 2 Reflection - Jennifer Worley

Review

Stereotyping – we all do it, even if we try not to do it. It is defined by Noel (2008) as “the creation of mental categories in order to group people, items, or events” (p. 44). It is a cognitive strategy we use for dealing with the multitude of information we are bombarded with on a daily basis from many sources such as, the people we encounter, television, radio, newspaper, social media, and other websites. This information can be as trivial as the type of clothes a person is wearing or as crucial as a news report involving an individual. As human beings, we stereotype, innocently. Stereotyping becomes a problem when we allow ourselves to form judgments about individuals because in our minds they are part of a group based on race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors. For example, if I walk in Monday to find out that I will have a new student joining my class from Japan, and I automatically say, “Oh, I bet my new student is awesome in Math!” Just because many students from Japan are good in Math, that doesn’t mean all Japanese students are good in Math. Likewise, it becomes a problem if we allow ourselves to form judgments about an entire group of people based on what we know about one member of that group. For example, if I had a negative encounter with a father of a student from Greece, I may think that all Greek men are like him, which is probably not true. When we allow ourselves to judge others in this way, we have become prejudiced.

The theories on prejudice are many. People become prejudiced because of traumatic experiences, fears of economic loss, and racial differences, to name a few reasons. This is part of being human. As long as we continue to share communities and interact with each other, prejudices will form. So, all we can do is be aware of our own feelings and, as teachers, not allow those prejudices to make their way into the classroom.

Reflect & Refine

            To me this chapter is about being aware of my own human tendencies towards stereotyping and prejudice. If I can recognize when I am stereotyping, and stop and think about my students as individuals, I will be much less likely to allow myself to prejudge them based on their race, ethnic group or other factor. With these conscious efforts to be more tolerant, I can know that racism will be eliminated as a possible danger in my classroom. For example, I know that “9/11” was a traumatic experience for all Americans. It was also the first time I became aware that there were groups of Muslims who don’t like Americans, and that Muslims, in general don’t like Christians. Now, the fact is that there are many Muslim children in our schools. Since “9/11” I have had them in my classroom a few times. My first instinct when meeting one student’s parents was to think, “Do they hate me because I’m American? Do they hate me because they assume I am Christian?” Then, I talked to them, and they were nice. They did not appear to have any ill feelings toward me. In fact, they showed me respect and thanked me for teaching their child. Most importantly, I told myself that the child was just a child, and they certainly did not have political views regarding Americans. They were just there to learn and looked up to me as their teacher, just like all of the other children who weren’t Muslim.

            Next, once I feel well-practiced in recognizing when I stereotype people, I hope to be able to teach other teachers how to recognize when they are doing it, and educate them about the negative effects of stereotyping, prejudice and racism, so that they will want to avoid them.

 References

Noel, J. (2008). Developing multicultural educators (2^nd ed.) Long Grove, IL: Waveland    

           Press Inc.

Reflection 2- Ellis

Review of Chapter 2 Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism

Review- What did you learn?

            When I think of the words stereotyping, prejudice, and racism, I typically associate them with people being negative or mean. While reading this chapter, I learned that there are different meanings to these words and they don’t have to be totally negative. It is all about your own perception.

Stereotyping is a way to categorize people that are like us and unlike us. It helps us to form our groups. People that are like us are usually in the “in” group and people unlike us are in the “out” group. Stereotyping is a way that we group people but if we are not careful with this, it can be a dangerous way to label others.

Noel (2008) describes the difference between stereotyping and prejudice by saying that “stereotyping deals with how we describe people, prejudice deals with how we feel about people” (p.51). The author continues to explain this by saying that we form our prejudice thoughts by judging someone often times before we get to know them.  Reading the poem on page fifty six of our text book made me think about how others feel because of prejudice. I believe that it is sad to read but can be true in a lot of situations.  We are born without prejudice and with no preconceived notions about people. Our prejudice is developed over time from the things we see, hear, and learn. Children are influenced by their environment and by their families. I also believe that our prejudice ideas change over the course of our lives.

Noel (2008) explains racism as “the belief that one’s race is superior to another’s and, conversely, that another’s race is inferior” (p.61). I think racism is a big part of our society. Our society is constantly judging people based on skin color or gender or religion. I see examples of racism all the time. Without fixing it or trying to change it, we are all guilty of continuing it. I believe that our society is not going to change until we accept the fact that by judging people, we are harming them. We all need to make a conscious effort to change our thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

Reflect- What did it mean to you?

            This chapter made me about how I treat others. Growing up, I noticed things that my dad said or did that could be considered prejudiced or even racist. As an adult, the things he sometimes says and does bothers me. I think a lot of his beliefs and opinions stem from his age and how he grew up. I try to educate him or even challenge him to think differently and be more accepting. It can be very embarrassing at times. It makes me wonder how much he has influenced me. While I am not perfect, I try to not judge others based on things I hear or opinions I might already have. I do not want to be the cause of someone feeling bad or contributing to a person’s low self-esteem.

Refine- How will you use the information in your classroom?

            In my classroom, I try to embrace the differences in my students. I ask them questions which enable me to get to know them better and help me to understand them. I see people for who they are and try to appreciate them. This has taken a lot of practice. I still find myself judging others; it’s a very hard habit to break. As an educator, stereotyping happens often. For example, it has been said that Asian students are generally hard working, good in math, and their parents’ value education and teachers. Another example would be that Indian cultures want their children to be challenged and often push for the gifted program. I see these stereotypes and I often have thought these things myself. It is very easy to group people because of what you hear or see but not everyone fits into the group or mold.

I have also been known to get frustrated with parents who aren’t involved with the academics of their children. These are the parents that don’t come to conferences or school meetings. Over the years, I have realized that I have been judging these parents and that affects their children in my classroom. I have learned that these are the parents and students that I need to help more. One of the ways is to send home examples on how they can help support their children at home. I have found that parents want to help their children and just don’t know how. Through the school system’s language bank, I could even find some of these strategies in other languages like Spanish. I also can help create positive communication with these parents by calling home to report good things about their children or even sending home notes.         

Noel (2008) explains that if we continue to overlook these issues, “schools and teachers often unwittingly continue to encourage positive self-esteem in some students and negative self-esteem in others” (p. 76). I do not want to be an educator who only positively influences certain students. I want all of my students to feel that my classroom is a safe and loving environment where they are encouraged to be themselves. My goal is to have them remember second grade as a time when they loved being in school.

  

References

Noel, J. (2008). Developing Multicultural Educators. Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc.

Chapter 2 Reflections

                                Chapter 2: Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism

                                                Yvonne Bunkley

                                    GCPS ESOL Endorsement Class

                                                September 26, 20102

            In Chapter 2, Jana Noel discusses the complex issues of stereotyping, prejudice, and racism, and their impact on society and individuals' lives. Noel states, “In coming to understand our own identity, we must recognize the indelible impact that stereotyping, prejudice, and racism have played in our identity development” (Noel 43). Everyone’s identity is formed within the framework of stereotypes, prejudice, and racism. . However, it is very difficult to recognize the prejudices we hold. Hermeneutical consciousness is a means of becoming aware of our prejudices by bringing them to the forefront of our thoughts in order that we can challenge them.

Stereotyping

            In stereotyping, we put people and events into categories. Psychologists believe that humans stereotype in an effort to make sense of, and organize, the large amounts of information that we must process. Stereotypes are formed when our minds notice certain characteristics and assign those characteristics to all members within a group. We assign positive characteristics to those individuals with whom we identify (in-group), and we assign negative stereotypes towards those individuals whom we view as  “different” (out-group).

Prejudices

            While stereotyping involves how we describe people, prejudices are how we feel. Although no single theory can explain all prejudices, researchers have identified five theories to explain why prejudices occur: the Racial and Cultural differences theory believes that fear and dislike of people not like ourselves causes prejudices to form. In the Economic Competition Theory scientists believe that prejudices form when one group fears that their economic way of life is being threatened by another group. Economic Competition  prejudices also occurs when an established “in-group” believes that their values are being compromised by the “out-group”. An example of Economic Competition was highlighted in the PBS special "America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: Clarkston Georgia" (PBS, 2010), where the town of 7,500 people -- 89 percent white in the 1980s --  is now less than 14 percent white after being selected by the federal government as a prime spot in which to settle refugees from countries such as South Sudan, Bhutan, Somalia and Burma. In the documentary, an older white man is interviewed expressing concerns about lowered property values and the burden on local services  as a result of the influx. A black man admits running for Mayor because “he didn’t want immigrants to take over his town”. Traumatic experience theory surmises that peoples’ prejudices form when they experience a traumatic event or when someone they are close to experiences a traumatic event. Many members of my family, as well as myself, have experienced prejudice and racism based upon our race. As a result, the prejudices that I have are rooted in trauma. However, without knowing there was a name for it, I have applied Hermeneutical consciousness processes to examine my prejudices and work to eradicate them. The fourth theory, Frustration-Aggression theory, asserts that certain personality types are more prone to be prejudiced. It should be noted that there are scientists who believe this personality-based theory is questionable.  The final theory, Social Control Theory, states that individuals learn to be prejudiced from the biased society in which we live.

Racism

            Racism is the belief that ones’ race is superior to another. There are six characteristics of racism given: racism occurs more frequently during times of social or economic upheaval, it involves a sense of idealism, there is a need to belong,  feelings of ambition, the need to feel superior and low self-esteem and insecurity are present. The most insidious form of racism is institutional racism because it can affect all areas of an individuals’ life,  including where people live, their employment, what they are exposed to in the media, etc.

Members of minority groups who have been marginalized seek to protect their identity either by rejecting their ethnicity in favor of adopting the speech patterns, mode of dress, hairstyle, etc. of the dominant culture or by totally embracing their own ethnicity while rejecting all others.

This chapter was very in-depth in defining stereotyping, prejudice and racism. As an African American, I have experienced prejudice and racism many times.  As a result, I do harbor some prejudices. However, I actively s challenge these stereotypes  because I do not want others to  experience  the pain, rage, and humiliation that accompany being the victim of racism.

As a special education teacher, I am often confronted with the stereotypes and prejudice that other people, including teachers, have toward my students. One teacher commented “ EBD kids are always the best actors”. My students are neither EBD nor are they all good actors. However, this teacher formed these stereotypes of my students based upon very limited interactions with them!

I’ll use the information I’ve gained from this chapter to teach my students more about stereotyping and racism. During our daily morning meeting, I envision having an Activating strategy that includes a sorting activity where students have to categorize a selection of photographs of people. After sorting into categories, the students would be asked to describe why they grouped things in a certain way. This activity could open a dialogue on how we stereotype people without realizing it.  The Essential Question of the day could be “How can Hermenuetical Consciousness help combat prejudice and racism? I can hardly wait to see the looks on their faces when I present the words “hermenuetical consciousness”.

                        References

Noel, J. (2008). Developing Multicultural Educators (2nd edition).

Public Broadcasting Service, “America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: Clarkston Georgia" ( 2010),

Reflections Journal

Developing Multicultural Educators: Chapter 2 – Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism

Review – What did I learn?

Chapter two discusses stereotyping, prejudice, and racism. There were many things that this chapter reveled to me. The main emphasis that I gained from this chapter was the difference between stereotyping, prejudice, and racism.  Stereotyping is the creation of categories of people in order to put the people into groups sharing a single trait or a shared characteristic. Stereotyping is a cognitive way opposed to an emotional or behavioral way of judging people (Noel, 2008). Examples can be traits such as gender, size, skin color, and maybe even hair color.  Being prejudice is assuming something about someone, but in this case it is because you are judging them even before you get to know them.  Racism is defined as a belief based on the person feeling that their race is superior to any other race (Noel, 2008).

   When stereotypes are formed it helps us organize and simplify the world, to group objects and people. We also stereotype to help process the information and experiences we encounter every day. Many individuals stereotype to help avoid having to get to know the person, possibly based on what they see on the outside of the other individual. People will tend to put themselves in an in-group and those that are not like them in the out-group. Those in the in-group will assign negative characteristics to the people in the out-group (Noel, 2008). A major issue when forming stereotypes about groups of people is that this may become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

   When forming prejudices our book breaks up prejudices into five different theories; Racial and Cultural Difference Theory, Economic Competition Theory, Traumatic Experience Theory, Frustration-Aggression Theory, and Social Control Theory (Noel, 2008). The five theories help explain how prejudices are formed in each person. Prejudices exist in all people and we must learn to identify that we have these prejudices. By identifying our prejudices it allows us to understand why we have these prejudices and how we can react to them and even learn about cultural differences from them. Many people create their prejudices due to two categories in the Traumatic Experience Theory whereas the individual reacts from a primary or secondary source (Noel, 2008). A primary source is where an individual has a direct experience with a group/culture in a negative way. A secondary source is when an individual takes the prejudice from another person’s experiences.

  There are four types of racism, one being unaware/unintentional, unaware/self-righteous, aware/blatant, and aware/covert racism. During a discussion in our class a colleague asked which we thought was worse being aware or unaware. Most people were unsure which was worse, being aware that we are racist or that we are unaware. Some people that are aware of their racism may join hate groups to help support their feeling of their race being superior to other races. Whereas others who may not realize they have racist tendencies might make comments, gestures, or actions that can make another culture very uncomfortable.

Reflect – What did it mean to me?

   This chapter really made me think about many different aspects of stereotyping, prejudice, and racism that I may have in my own life and how I portray it onto others. Many of my prejudices have come from a mix of the primary and secondary source from the Traumatic Experience Theory. As I had mentioned in my reflection of chapter 1, growing up, I never saw a difference the race of people around me. Everyone was the same, just a different color. Then as I moved to a town that had many migrant workers, I started forming some opinions about the way they acted, along with comments from other people about the migrant workers. As my life went on, I had noticed that I had kept that one stereotype in mind about that culture of people. Then six years ago, I met a man who had children of that culture, which made me have to start rethinking the way I felt. I have always thought about this, but in reading this chapter, it really brought it to the forefront of my mind. Although I feel I do a really good job of not stereotyping or having prejudices, I do know (especially after reading this chapter) that I have different aspects to work out in my own life.

Refine – How will I use the information in my classroom?

  As an educator, I must be careful in not using stereotypes and prejudices in my classroom. It is important for me to get to know the students based on who they are, not what people feel about their race, gender, skin color, hair type or anything that would put them at a disadvantage or advantage. Even last week it was commented that I had a lot of Asian students in my class. Once that was said, someone commented that “at least your math test scores will be high”.  Today I regret that I didn’t say anything to that teacher. I knew what she was saying was just a stereotype, but these are the things that need to stop being said. I do have one Asian student that is very quick in math, whereas I have another who is very low in math, with the others falling somewhere in the middle. In my classroom, I have always tried to be as fair to everyone as possible. Studies have shown that teachers tend to ask boys more math and science questions than they do girls. Due to this, I have always tried to make sure that I ask the girls and boys questions equally. Stereotypes, prejudices, and racism come in all forms and can be something very simple, but we need to not let people make other people feel superior or inferior just because of the culture they were brought up in or the color of their skin.

I. Mendoza

Reflection Journal #2

Review-What did you learn?

            This chapter touches it very important concepts of our society; stereotyping, prejudice, and racism.  Although some people in our society wants to deny the existences of these concepts I firmly believe that they are constantly in our presence and these have frame the way we think, act and interact within each other. As Noel (2008) stated in the chapter “However, it is not easy, perhaps it is not even possible, to recognize that our identity is framed in part by such concepts as stereotyping, prejudice, and racism.  For we are all raised in, and have as part of our personalities, communities and societies that are historically informed by prejudice” (p. 44)   In other words, it’s hard to admit that someone is prejudice when he or she has being raised that way and those actions seem normal to him or her.  Therefore, in order for us to recognize prejudice we should developed a hermeneutical consciousness which is the process of looking back at your historically pass and seeing how it has affect you and shape you to become a prejudice person, and how is that affecting your present and how it will affect your future. .  I believe that when a person stop denying that he or she is prejudice and start admitting that he in one way or another is somewhat prejudice is the first step to rectifying his or her behavior.

            Another important concept that this chapter cover is “Stereotypes” as Noe (2008) stated in this chapter: “Stereotyping is the creation of mental categories in order to group people, items or events” (p. 44) In other words we all have one or two thing in common within a certain category and that applies for all the people that are from that particular country or race. For example to assume that all Dominicans are good dancers is stereotyped because my brother, father and sister don’t know how to dance. But the question is why do we stereotype? Based on what I have read and I totally agreed with it, we stereotype because in this era of information, we encountered so much information and experiences in our everyday lives that we have to organize them into categories to be able to assimilate all them.  Once we categorized and break them into chunks is easier to understand and make connections with these experiences.  So for us stereotyping served as a defense mechanism that we utilize to prevent the brain from becoming overwhelmed.

            We start forming stereotypes by identifying things that standout; we called this Salience or vividness.  And we can associate high levels of Salience with things that emotionally interest us as well as people that are close to us and the least levels of saliences with things that interest others that are not close or related to us. We also have to take into consideration the details, how long ago was the exposure to the information all of this are important when we are creating a connection and if it is going to be a long memory event or experience in someone’s life.   The problem with stereotyping is that we tend to focus on the negative aspect instead of the positive aspects.  Stereotypes can be based on gender, origin, interest, job, personality, hair color, race, etc.  When referring to people we tend to find connection with people that are like us that we find that they have a lot of things in common, which we called the in group.   The rest are the out groups people that are different from us that we don’t have a lot of things in common with them.  Once we make that distinction we look for differences between each other and decide if they are based on people’s personality or in the disposition of the individual behavior which is a negative typed of stereotype because it divide us and allows to feel superiors to others.

            This chapter also talked about a very powerful aspect in today society prejudice in comparison to stereotypes which allows understanding others prejudice is how we feel about them which in my opinion has a very negative connotation.  “Definitional, prejudice is a judgment about a certain person or object or event prior to understanding that person, object, or event” (Noe, p. 51) There are many reason why people can be prejudice such as racial, and cultural difference, economic competition, traumatic experience, frustration-aggression and social control, all of these played an important role as well as the social interaction between the person who is the target of prejudice and the person who is being prejudice.

            The chapter also touched on racism which is “the belief that a race is superior then the other” there are many reasons why individuals become racist, it could be the need of attention or need for approval by others.  In addition to that, it can also be institutional racism when a certain race is preventing another race to growth in their jobs.  Semiotics is a good example of how signs and symbols are embedded in our society and continue to foster institutional racism in our society, the best example are the brave symbols which ignore the suffering of Indians Americans and impose the thrived of mainstream and capitalism.

Last but not least, the chapter II goes over the effects of stereotyping, prejudice and racism. The effects stereotyping can be seen in a very broad spectrum such as: schools, society and people.  These are long term effects that affect the self-esteem of individual that at the end feel like they cannot accomplished anything in their life’s because they feel inferior and worthless, which in term creates a cycle which culminate dropping from school and not succeeding in life.

Reflect-What did it mean to you?   

Chapter two is a very interested chapter because it touches concepts that are sometimes hidden in our societies.  In my opinion, we all have being at some point in our lives racist, prejudice and created stereotypes about others, that are part of the human condition.  In my own experience, coming from Dominican Republic an island in the Caribbean which we shared with the country of Haiti.  Historically, we have encountered a lot of issues with the islands.  Haiti dominated the Dominican Republic for 30 years, creating frictions between both countries. After Dominican Republic gained it second independent (first from Spain) and second from Haiti, Dominicans became very prejudice toward Haitians and there have being many stereotypes associated with Haitians such as that all Haitians believe in voodoo and are warlocks.  Education is the number one equalizer, as I got educated and came the United States one of the most diverse countries in the planet, those stereotyped started fading away because I came across some Haitian that were educated, Christians and then I realized that I was making assumption based on what other people had told me about Haitians that I really did not had a good source to created stereotyped of them.  For me this experience was a reality checked because it showed me that we cannot believe everything that people say, we should judge for ourselves like the saying “don’t judge the book by its cover”   I really feel that education and exposure to diversity make you a better person, because you become more tolerant and more open minded.   You start to find that we have more things in common than difference.  One of the reasons why I wanted to become a Spanish teacher was because I wanted to exposed my students to diversity; I wanted to teach my students to embrace diversity.   Once we accomplished that, we become more united society.  Unfortunately, we live in a society were a lot of people are still closed minded and they are racist and prejudice towards other people creating divisions and disconnect in our society.  I just wish that as we move forward in this globalize world we become more tolerant of other people and find in them the beauty of their culture.  

Refine-How will you use the information in your classroom?

                I am currently a teacher at Norcross, what I like the most about NHS is that is 100% diverse.  In my classes I have students from all different ethnicities and social economics backgrounds.  My classes are composed of Hispanics (predominantly from Mexico), African American, Caucasians and Asians.  After reading this chapter I want to continue being tolerances towards my students backgrounds  and avoid creating stereotypes,  a good example of this is avoiding generalization in other words “not all Hispanics are illegals” “not all African American students are disrespectful” “not all Asians students are A’s students” .  In addition to this I will love to embrace my students background by incorporating their cultural backgrounds in my lessons, for example: one of my favorite holidays is coming up November 1^st and November 2^nd “the Day of the Dead” in a lot of different Spanish speaking countries in Latin American they celebrate this holiday by creating very colorful “altar” where they have picture of their loved one that have passed away, these are days of remembering their loved that have passed away.  I am planning on teaching about this event and to make it more relevant to my students I chose pictures of famous people and I tried to target people from different backgrounds such as: Martin Luther King, Elvis Presley, Mohamed Gandhi, Princess Diana and last but not least Selena Quintanilla.  In addition to that I asked my students to bring photos of their loved one that we could display in the altar.  After reading this chapter I realized that I must focus in creating lessons that are relevant to my students and the only way to accomplished this is by incorporating things that students can make connections so they can better assimilate the information and experiences.

 

Bibliography

§  Noel, Jana, Developing Multicultural Educators, (2^nd ed.) (Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc, 2008)

Reflection 2 - Montgomery

Reflection 2 - Montgomery

Review       

            This chapter discusses many different concepts that are difficult to even comprehend.  Stereotyping occurs when people try to take a massive amount of information and put them into more manageable parts.  This leads people into grouping others without first getting to know them (Noel, p. 45).  If certain features stand out to us, and they become important, it is called salience.  We then imagine everyone in that group will share that trait. Race, gender, and what people wear are more noticeable, and therefore, are what we will notice. People often use shortcuts to put people into categories they can remember. This is called heuristic thinking (Noel, p. 46). If we put people into categories to remember them, it keeps us from having to learn more about each person we meet.

             When people gain their sense of pride from the group they associate with or want to be a part of, it is called social identity theory.  The out-crowd is seen as having negative attributes while the in-crowd is seen as having positive attributes (Noel, p. 47). The allocating of positive and negative elements is the focus of the attributional theory. The two different elements are dispositional and nondispositional. Dispositional elements are seen as under the control of the person in all setting and during all times.  For example, if a student performs badly during a band concert, it is because he/she did not practice enough. Nondispositional elements are seen as out of the person's control. Outside conditions are thought to cause the behavior. So if a student performs badly during a recital, it is due to a lack of sleep or the piano was not tuned properly. We tend to think behaviors of our in-group only applies to one member, while the behavior of the out-group applies to everyone in the group (Noel, pp. 47-48).

            Prejudice is how we feel about a person. Stereotyping is how we view people, either negatively or positively.  There are five theories of how prejudices possibly form. First, prejudging people because they are a different race or have a different background is called racial and cultural difference theory. Children notice color when they see it, but do not judge people because of their color. Next, a prejudice due to competition for economic rewards and jobs is called economic competition theory. Third, if prejudices form against a particular group due to a distressing encounter it is called traumatic experience theory. For example, all men are bad because one hurt your family member. Fourth, the frustration aggression theory causes prejudices toward another group when a person does not satisfy your factual or alleged needs.  This type person wants to penalize anyone who does not follow the rules. The last theory is the social control theory which believe society has had a result on the person. In this theory our family, social contacts, community, and personal interactions are critical. People who have an optimistic, strong identity have a better chance of not developing or continuing prejudices (Noel, pp. 51-57).

            A person who believes his race is better than another is considered to be racist. There were six characteristics mentioned in this chapter that could contribute to racism and people joining hate groups.  Of these characteristics, the need to belong and self-hatred seem to be the two that would have the highest risk. People who are in racist groups usually have low self-esteem. Institutional racism happens when a person who is racist has power. For example, a bank manager who will not loan money to the Jewish because he thinks the loan will not be repaid (Noel, pp. 61-63).

 

Reflect

            As teachers, we have to be careful not to fall into the self-fulfilling prophecy described in our text (Noel, p. 71).  Students achieve at levels we expect, for the most part.  So teachers should not look at a student's IQ or other test scores and not push him/her to go beyond those levels. In fact, some students do not test well. This does not mean they did not necessarily know the material.  I used to have such test anxiety that I could not eat, sleep, or perform well just because tests were so scary to me. A student might be great at math, but totally freeze on a test while being asked to use multiplication to solve a problem. Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has taken steps to decrease the gap between low-income students and higher income students.  The Broad Prize awarded to GCPS in 2010 proved the achievement gap has been lowered  (GCPS).

             Thirty years ago there were more people who were prejudiced, and showed racism.  Some areas of the country may not have understood how anyone different from them could be as good of a person. If they grew up with only one race, they might have been afraid of what they did not know. Today, most people who live in urban areas really do not show racism, stereotyping, and prejudices toward others. However, teachers must be careful not to make stereotypical statements.  For example, teachers may say Asian students should perform higher than any other nationality. There are so many races in cities now that people are used to those who are different from them. It does not matter to my children if their friend's background is different. We should celebrate differences in people. However, we should make sure all students are treated fairly. Listening to what children say is the best way to know what they are dealing with, and how to help them if they are in need.

             I am sure there are some people who still do not live near groups different from them. This would be a marginal amount of people who might show prejudice, stereotypes, and racism. I have never understood racism. Why does anyone think their race is better than another race. Every person has different strengths, weaknesses, and ideas. Each person should be judged on their own merit, not by their race.

 Refine

            When teaching, we need to make sure all students are challenged. They should have differentiated learning. This means learning is changed to meet the needs of every student. Teachers need to have a variety of teaching techniques to meet every need in the classroom. This means, if a student does not succeed with one technique, try another one.  Just because one technique worked today, does not mean it will work tomorrow.

            Teachers need to make every effort to make sure students are not discriminated against. We must look at the needs of each student. Of course, kids do not need to be too sensitive, either. If children are too sensitive, they will have a tough time getting along with their classmates. Children often tell their feelings out loud or write them in stories. I always make every effort to bring out the best in each student.  Children will be encouraged to write about their background. They could then share their experiences with the class as they become more comfortable with their classmates. A student could share with one student, two, and so on as they become more at ease speaking in front of others. Everyone would be assured they were doing their best.

            Four square is a visual organizer I would like to use in my classroom (Gould, no date). This strategy seems like a good one to use for writing.  Anything that makes writing easier for a child is a bonus.

            My hope for every person is that we will not put people into categories to remember them. Everyone is special enough to warrant getting to know them. It does not matter how old someone is, what race they are, or if they are male or female. Each individual should be given the opportunity to tell about themselves in a positive way. This will make our world a much better place.

 

                                                            References

Gould, J. S., & Gould, E. J. (No date given).  Four Square Writing Method, Teaching and Learning     Company, Carthage, IL.

Gwinnett County Public Schools (2012, Sept. 15). Retrieved from             https://www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us.

Noel, J. (2008). Developing Multicultural Educators (2nd edition).

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 30 August 2012. How to cite sources             in APA style.