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.