how can prejudice be prevented in the classroom

10 Ways Teachers Can Fight Racism and Teach Tolerance

• 1. Get (and Stay) Informed Sometimes, we think we know more than we actually do. When it comes to racism, you cannot neglect the importance of being informed. ...
• 2. Speak Up ...
• 3. Give Your Classroom a “Diversity Audit” ...
• 4. Commit to Listening ...
• 5. Bring Empathy Into Your Classroom ...
• 6. Enhance Your Curriculum ...
• 7. Set High Expectations (And Lead By Example) ...
• 8. Learn From Other Teachers ...

Full Answer

How can teachers break down barriers of prejudice?

Imagine having a classroom of students who are engaged and constantly improving; it is every teacher's dream. Building friendships, empathy, trust, and tolerance are some of the best ways to break down barriers of prejudice.

Can learning about racism reduce prejudice?

The researchers discuss that learning about racism can potentially reduce prejudice as it provides an alternative explanation (i.e. discrimination) for the social status inequalities which children are frequently aware of.

Is there prejudice in education?

We don’t usually talk about it, but prejudice does exist in education. Teachers and students are only human, after all. What are prejudices? What consequences can they have for a person's identity and further development?

Why take an a level prejudice course?

A course on prejudice can help not only convince you that unconscious bias exists; as you better understand the phenomenon of unconscious bias, you’ll likely also become more aware of your own biases, enabling you to address them.

How can teachers reduce prejudice in schools?

Taking part in cultural activities Researchers believe that fostering genuine relationships with members of 'outgroups' and thus taking part in the 'cultural activities' of another group can reduce implicit bias. 'Contact' with other groups has long been shown to improve intergroup attitudes.

How can you reduce prejudice?

Given these consequences of social categorization, changing the way in which we categorize people may help to reduce prejudice and discrimination. There are four main approaches: common in-group identity, dual identity approach, multiple categorization, and endorsement of multiculturalism.

How can we prevent racism in the classroom?

Ask your teachers and even your principal to include units on racism built in to the curriculum; there are lots of books and lesson plans that address racism. You can also ask your teachers to include books with diverse themes. school to celebrate the history of other cultures at school.

What is prejudice reduction in education?

Prejudice reduction, described by Banks (2004) as one of the five key dimensions of multicultural education, is an umbrella term referring to deliberate attempts to reduce prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, and to develop positive attitudes between different ethnic and cultural groups.

What are some examples of prejudice?

Types of PrejudiceGender Identity.Sexism.Nationalism.Classism.Sexual discrimination.Racism.Religious discrimination.Linguistic discrimination.More items...

How can prejudice be reduced in the workplace?

Below are some of the ways to avoid prejudice in the workplace:Have written policies and sanctions on office discrimination. ... Educate employees on anti-discrimination policies. ... Maintain professionalism in the workplace. ... Actively investigate and give sanctions on incidents of discrimination.More items...•

How do you address discrimination in the classroom?

This can take different forms, including:using inclusive language.including human rights, democratic citizenship and intercultural education in the curriculum.encouraging the discussion of controversial issues.promoting student voice.involving students in peer education and peer mediation activities.More items...

How do you teach racial equality in the classroom?

Create a Welcoming Classroom and School. Each class has its own culture and learning climate. ... Root Out Biases and Barriers. ... Encourage Self-Expression. ... Be Open Yourself. ... Engage, Don't Avoid. ... Create Opportunities for Discussion. ... Talk About Racism and Racial Equity. ... Establish and Enforce Group Norms.More items...

How would you deal with discrimination issues in school as a teacher?

This can be done in a variety of ways, including:challenging stereotypes when they are heard.discussing stereotypes with students.identifying stereotypes in the curriculum.highlighting stereotypical images and roles in textbooks.allocating posts of responsibility equitably.More items...

How do teachers deal with bias?

Confront the teacher.Choose an appropriate time to talk with your teacher. Either after class or at the beginning or end of the school day.Don't be aggressive or rude.Tell them how you feel. ... Be open minded to the teacher's point of view. ... If you find yourself getting upset, walk away until you have calmed down.

What are the types of prejudice and discrimination in schools?

This can be based on things such as race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sex, body, socio-economic status, gender, religion, sexuality, age or ability; rather than personal experience. Discrimination is an unjust or negative treatment of a person because they belong to a particular group.

What can we do to reduce the impact of implicit bias in our schools workplaces law enforcement or other settings?

How to Reduce Implicit BiasFocus on seeing people as individuals. ... Work on consciously changing your stereotypes. ... Take time to pause and reflect. ... Adjust your perspective. ... Increase your exposure. ... Practice mindfulness.

How can we avoid stereotypes?

Develop empathy for others. Try to walk in their shoes. Educate yourself about different cultures and groups. It is important to educate ourselves and continue to do self-assessments about our stereotypes and how they are potentially interfering with our interactions.

What are the main causes of prejudice?

A person's upbringing may cause them to become prejudiced. If parents had prejudices of their own, there is a chance that these opinions will be passed on to the next generation. One bad experience with a person from a particular group can cause a person to think of all people from that group in the same way.

How do you overcome stereotypes?

How do we rid ourselves of stereotypes?Educate Yourself. One good first step is exactly what you are doing now—learn more about the problem. ... Meet New People. Learning about race and racism is good. ... Get motivated. ... Get the facts.

How does prejudice affect your daily life?

Discrimination affects people's opportunities, their well-being, and their sense of agency. Persistent exposure to discrimination can lead individuals to internalize the prejudice or stigma that is directed against them, manifesting in shame, low self-esteem, fear and stress, as well as poor health.

Why are prejudices present in schools?

However, new evidence suggests that schools which work hard to promote an inclusive environment can help curb negative attitudes between groups of children in the classroom.

What does it mean when a teacher tells kids to be more inclusive?

When children were told by a teacher to be more inclusive, it had a positive effect on their attitudes towards their competitors. These children scored higher in the survey – meaning they were more likely to trust and like the opposite team – compared with participants who didn’t hear a message from the teacher.

What are the most powerful influences on the development of children's attitudes?

This matches what other researchers have found: one of the most powerful influences on the development of children’s attitudes, are children themselves.

What are some examples of young people's behaviour?

Such rules exist within children’s groups: for example, to share or not to share, how to dress, or who can be included in an activity.

Do children need to be told to be inclusive?

Children often need to be told to be inclusive. Ludo via Umkehrer/www.shutterstock.com

Abstract

In our chapter, we review the various explicit and implicit forms of prejudice that manifest in the classroom.

About this chapter

Brenick A., Schachner M.K., Carvalheiro D., Karr E. (2019) (No) Space for Prejudice! Varied Forms of Negative Outgroup Attitudes and Ethnic Discrimination and How They Develop or Can Be Prevented in the Classroom. In: Fitzgerald H., Johnson D., Qin D., Villarruel F., Norder J. (eds) Handbook of Children and Prejudice. Springer, Cham.

What is anti-racist teaching?

Anti-racist teaching involves teaching pupils about historic and current events rooted in prejudice and discrimination, such as the Holocaust or the Slave Trade. Topics are taught with an explicit focus on how structural prejudice and racism caused or supported such events.

How does learning about racism affect children?

After the lessons, ‘European American’ children who learnt about racism held more positive and less negative attitudes towards African Americans compared to the control group . The researchers discuss that learning about racism can potentially reduce prejudice as it provides an alternative explanation (i.e. discrimination) for the social status inequalities which children are frequently aware of. This avoids them hypothesising that a particular group tends to have lower status or poorer outcomes due to some inherent or biological trait.

What is Jane Elliot's classroom experiment?

Jane Elliot’s 1968 controversial ‘classroom experiment ’ is sometimes considered an example of empathy training. Elliot, a third grade (year 4) teacher in Iowa, divided her class into blue eyed and brown eyed children.

How does a Jigsaw classroom improve empathy?

Studies have found that over 8 weeks, the empathy scores of children in ‘Jigsaw classrooms’ increased and intergroup relationships improved. This type of purposeful grouping can be replicated in almost any classroom as long as there is some diversity among pupils.

Why is understanding historical and current racism and discrimination important?

Understanding historical and current racism and discrimination is important part of accepting that racial prejudice exists and working to reduce it but it’s clear these topics need to be handled with care. Levy et al. proposes that these negative side effects could be mitigated by:

What is multicultural education?

Multicultural education involves explicitly teaching about the history and culture of specific groups . This could include events that specifically celebrate other cultures or groups, for example, ‘Black History Month’ and ‘Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) history month’. The intention is to increase all pupils’ knowledge and understanding of different groups by ‘including’ them in curricula.

What is the best approach to avoid tokenistic activities?

The best approach is likely to involve a blend of different activities and a well embedded culture of inclusivity to avoid activities feeling tokenistic. Additionally, researchers consistently emphasise the importance of highlighting similarities between different groups, avoiding stereotypes and building on existing connections or friendship between different groups.

Prejudice

Prejudice is a negative overgeneralization about different persons or groups. It comes from the Latin meaning: to pre-judge. When prejudice is translated into action, it can become discrimination or worse.

Students and teachers

Children develop stereotypical images of themselves and others in relation to race and ethnicity from an early age. These images don’t only get shaped at home, but also in the classroom.

Can education combat prejudice?

Being aware of any of our own prejudiced thoughts is the first step to addressing them, experts say. It is said that building friendships, empathy, trust, and tolerance are some of the best ways to break down barriers of prejudice. This can start in the classroom.

More information

This event will take place on the campus of Tilburg University and we will take into account the current COVID-19 measures.

What is the significance of prejudice and conflict seminar?

A study by Laurie Rudman, Richard Ashmore, and Melvin Gary in 2001 showed that students who had enrolled in a prejudice and conflict seminar showed significant reductions in their levels of prejudice (both conscious and unconscious) compared to a similar group of students who took a research methods course. This study reminds us that our biases are malleable: Learning about them can give you the self-insight and motivation you need to undertake the journey of change.

What is the meaning of prejudice?

The word “prejudice” can literally be broken down into “pre-” and “judgment.” Aptly, much of prejudice stems from our pre-judging other people’s habits, customs, clothes, ways of speaking, and values. We often do this with no basis for the judgment other than the fact that they (the customs, values, food, etc) are different from our own.

Why did the Blacks avoid intergroup contact?

When asked about what led to the lack of intergroup contact, each group correctly said that they themselves avoided contact because of their fears of rejection, but incorrectly attributed the other group’s avoidance to lack of interest.

Why did Sharif induced the boys to all work together?

By contrast, when Sharif induced the boys to all work together—to fix the camp’s water supply (how’s that for a common goal?) —he was able to shift, quite dramatically, their intergroup attitudes: Scouts and Eagles spent more time together during free time, and close friendships developed across group lines.

What is implicit bias in Phillips' statement?

Yet implicit in Phillips’ own statement is the assumption that somehow, your implicit or unconscious biases reveal “the real you”—how you really feel about X or Y group despite your best, superficial efforts to hide it.

What episode of Dateline did Stone Phillips ask about prejudice?

In a 2000 episode of Dateline called “Pride and Prejudice,” Stone Phillips asked viewers whether they would be prepared to take a test to prove that they are not prejudiced. That test is the Implicit Association Test, which you can take online.

Who were the black and white volunteers asked to talk about race relations?

In a recent study by Nicole Shelton, Jennifer Richeson, Jessica Salvatore, and Sophie Trawalter, Black and White volunteers were asked to talk about race relations. Surprisingly, the researchers found that the more egalitarian the White partners were, the less their Black partners liked them!

How can teachers teach tolerance?

Here are 10 ways teachers can fight racism and teach tolerance right now. 1. Get (and Stay) Informed. Sometimes, we think we know more than we actually do. When it comes to racism, you cannot neglect the importance of being informed . Reading books and watching movies is just the beginning of the journey. It’s absolutely essential that we learn ...

How to promote inclusivity in elementary school?

Choose wall decor, such as these beautiful One World posters, to promote inclusivity and spark a conversation. Introduce books that teach diversity to elementary school kids and explore the many ways in which you can help prepare your students for citizenship.

How can teachers foster cultural awareness in their classroom?

One of the ways teachers can foster cultural awareness in their classroom is to express interest in the ethnic backgrounds of students. In the article, Matthew Lynch writes, “Analyze and celebrate differences in traditions, beliefs, and social behaviors.

Why is racism so pervasive?

When we’re disconnected from something, it’s much easier to dismiss it. You might scroll right by a story that has no impact on your life while it tears up people of color in your community. That’s one of the reasons why racism continues to be so pervasive. Some people don’t even recognize it. Do not miss opportunities to get involved.

What is zero tolerance?

An alternative is taking a ‘zero-indifference’ approach to bullying, harassment, and other disciplinary issues. Zero indifference means never letting disrespectful conduct go una ddressed ; school staff always name and respond to behaviors, but they do not implement automatic suspension, expulsion or other punishments.”

Do you have to speak up about racism?

Once you become more aware of the injustices your students, their families, and your co-workers of color face every day, you absolutely must speak up whenever you witness racism in action. Discriminatory policies in your school must be confronted head-on.

Is it okay to look the other way when you see others being mistreated?

One of the most painful things we can experience is people being silent around us while we are suffering. No matter the circumstance, it’s never okay to look the other way when we see others being mistreated and/or abuse d. We must always confront and address racism in all forms every single time.