Prejudices are preconceived and ingrained ideas and opinions about others. One experiment compared the effect of different history lessons content on childrens attitudes to African Americans. In 2013, researchers investigated whether this contact and social connectedness with others leading to sharing in cultural activities could reduce prejudice. There are several different categories of social psychology techniques used to reduce prejudice attitudes in individuals and among groups. Loving-kindness meditation a practice that involves consciously sending out compassionate thoughts toward othersmay also help. These results suggest that telling children to be more inclusive can be a useful intervention at the school level, but must work in conjunction with an effort to encourage peer groups to be positive and inclusive between each other. As a teacher, I did regular key word tests and awarded merit, Receive our latest thoughts in your inbox, We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on the CfEY website. Eliminating Racism in the Classroom by Richard Morgan, D'Youville College "It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person." Levy et al. 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. 1 schools or communities for example. Given these practical objec-tives, it is natural to ask what has been learned about the most effective ways to reduce preju-dice. In a study we just published, my colleagues and I carried out an experiment with 229 seven to 11-year-olds to explore this further. Editors Note: Britney L. Jones, Neag School doctoral candidate in the Learning, Leadership, and Educational Policy program, prepared the following issue brief in affiliation with the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) examining school and district policies and practices aimed at eliminating racism. Some pupils may have a vested interest in stopping racism and, as such, may be able to work to help bring an end to racist practices. The evidence on the effectiveness of anti-racist teaching is mixed. This is problematic because viewing group members as highly similar (a sense that theyre all the same) has been linked to higher prejudice. Half of the children heard a message recorded by a teacher instructing them to act in a kind and inclusive manner towards people from other groups and schools, or risk the consequences. Unfortunately, this was not always the case. Luke McGuire receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. For this group, effects on interest in Mexican cultural activities and attitudes toward immigrants maintained at a 6 month follow up. aimed at prejudice reduction in schools, work-places, neighborhoods, and regions beset by in-tergroup conict. At first, she made the brown-eyed children the superior group, favouring those children and pointing out mistakes and weaknesses of the blue-eyed inferior group. Teaching candidates in the Rutgers Alternate Route Program are exploring the phenomena of Stereotype Threat, a theory developed by social psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson to describe the anxiety students experience when confronted with situations in which they fear confirming negative stereotypes about their social groups, especially members of groups believed to be In this blog I suggest a way forward through two simple policies that can increase access to education and housing for young people while reducing, Writing Bridging the Word Gap at Transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020, I couldnt help reflecting back on my own time in the classroom and what I did (or didnt do) to support my pupils vocabulary. Form a group of interested students to start a club related to the issue. Our research pinpoints that we can successfully intervene in schools to help minimise prejudice between groups of children. This may help explain why the, This blog was written by CfEYs newest recruit, Baz Ramaiah The COVID-crisis has badly damaged the long-term life prospects of young people and the government must act to help them. In second grade, if there was somebody I thought was cool, all I had to do was go up to them and ask, do you want to be friends? and boom - Evidence-based prejudice reduction approaches are presented that teachers and school administrators can use to improve school culture and climate. Some research has found that anti-racist teaching reduces prejudice and increases empathy. This means educating students about the history of heterosexism, and encouraging these students to speak out in support of the LGBT community. An inclusive and open learning or working environment that consists of multiple ethnicities can help promote understanding and tolerance. [17] In the main experiment, participants took part in a conversation with a Latina American undercover researcher who posed as another participant, and the researchers manipulated two conditions: This resulted in four different conditions, see table 1. A new way to combat prejudice. When teachers and schools remind children to be inclusive, How to reduce prejudice among groups of children at school but little work has tested how efficient it is in beating prejudice. The following chapters are included: (1) Institutional racism doesnt just affect adults but children in K-12 schools as well. Though we can draw only limited conclusions from this uncontrolled, small-scale experiment, it does illustrate how this type of exercise, where people experience discrimination themselves, could potentially develop empathy and make people less likely to be prejudiced towards others in the future. This shows that one off events which focus on multicultural education do not necessarily translate into a multicultural and inclusive curriculum. October 2011, Vol 42, No. Anecdotes from families, research studies, and discrimination lawsuits all reveal that children of color face bias in schools. In this case, the children were asked to imagine that they were going to compete in a drawing competition. Educators and policy makers are learning from past experience as they devise programs to prevent or reduce prejudice and discrimination (see Banks, 2009 edited book on multicultural education). Its also good advice for the organisations setting and moderating exams. Theyre disciplined more harshly, less likely to be identified as gifted, or to have access to quality teachers, to name but a few examples. The following techniques all work to decrease prejudice through emotional methods. This is the good news: Parents can be a positive force in combating prejudice in their children. Boy being builied via Monkey Business Images/www.shutterstock.com, self-identity is reliant upon our membership of flourishing social groups, participants suggesting they would verbally bully. This review is not the rst to pose this ques-tion. She explained that although her school celebrated GRT history month, they made no mention of the hundreds of thousands of Gypsies murdered in the Holocaust when covering this topic. Here are some of the ways that parents can help reduce negative bias in At the root of many cases of bullying are stereotypes, or generalisation about a group of people, and prejudice, an unfavourable opinion about a group based on such stereotypes. In doing so, they gain a sense of understanding and even allegiance with that group. White American college students that are placed with Black American roommates show reduced implicit bias for example. 143 pp. The Jigsaw classroom technique involves children of different races, classes, gender or nationality working together co-operatively on academic projects. When children thought their team mates within the competition would be able to read their answers to the survey, they reverted to saying they wouldnt like or trust members of the other team. But it is vital to recognise that school rules alone are not enough to change attitudes. However, in doing so, they should draw on the wealth of evidence on how best to do this. Instead, reinforce children's natural curiosity, and explain the distinction between noticing social differences and being prejudiced. Allow them to do so by creating an after school club or similar school-related group dedicated specifically to reducing racism. Elliot, a third grade (year 4) teacher in Iowa, divided her class into blue eyed and brown eyed children. PhD Candidate, Social Developmental Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London. The results of this study demonstrate the potential benefits of arranging for pupils to take part in minority group cultural activities. A few months ago, during my research on the under-representation of GRT pupils in higher education (for Kings College London), a young Romany Gypsy told me about her experience of school. Many schools adopt such a method, but little work has tested how efficient it is in beating prejudice. This suggests that nonjudgmental awareness, even when not specifically focused on reducing prejudice, can help reduce unconscious biases. The children were then given a survey and asked to rate how much they liked, trusted and would like to play with members of both their own, and the other team. The best approach is likely to involve a blend of different activities and a well embedded culture of inclusivity to avoid activities feeling tokenistic. Thats good advice for students taking exams. This avoids them hypothesising that a particular group tends to have lower status or poorer outcomes due to some inherent or biological trait. Racist and anti-immigration views held by children, warned a recent headline in The Guardian, reporting the results of a survey of nearly 6,000 British schoolchildren conducted by the charity Show Racism the Red Card. As discussed in part one of this series of blogs, one mechanism in the development of prejudice is the manner in which adults draw attention, either implicitly or explicitly, to certain categorisations. In the first section, we discuss the invitational method proposed by Haberman (1994) that is intended to facilitate teachers' self-awareness with regard to their own prejudice. This depends on highlighting similarities between groups rather than differences. The Delors Report (UNESCO, 1996) describes four pillars of education: learning to learn, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together. Teachers can use a storybook as a way to introduce and illustrate these difficult topics for younger school age children. Our Social cohesion report and our report for 3FF: The role of Intercultural education in schools and communities, present further insights and examples on how to create a whole school culture which fosters inclusion and how encouraging pupils of different backgrounds to interact builds understanding between groups. Elliot noted that the blue-eyed children were less cruel in their role as the superior group, perhaps because they had experienced being oppressed beforehand and therefore felt more empathy for the other group. Prejudice Reduction. Eliminating Racism in the Classroom by Richard Morgan, D'Youville College "It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person." Other techniques, such as education or discussion between social groups, can also be used to help reduce prejudice and discrimination, By attending school, children agree to adhere to this set of generic rules. Among the most powerful influences on young peoples behaviour are norms: the rules, stated or otherwise, which govern society. The next week the roles were reversed. (Baldwin, p.190) This quote from James Baldwin reflects the duty and moral obligation of modern educators to attempt to eliminate racism in today's classrooms. Only then can they avoid some of the potential pitfalls. (Baldwin, p.190) This quote from James Baldwin reflects the duty and moral obligation of modern educators to attempt to eliminate racism in today's classrooms. Research suggests that cross-race friendships are an important factor in decreasing prejudice, probably because they help decrease stress and fears of rejection that may occur in cross-group situations. Additionally, researchers consistently emphasise the importance of highlighting similarities between different groups, avoiding stereotypes and building on existing connections or friendship between different groups. Acknowledging obvious differences is not the problem -- placing negative value judgments on them is. In conclusion, recommendations are made about age- and context-appropriate methods to reduce prejudice in schools and future topics to address in basic research. proposes that these negative side effects could be mitigated by: Empathy training aims to help children understand the experiences and emotions of others. A 1973 study, replicated Elliots experiment, splitting children into yellow and green groups and found some evidence that this type of role play had an effect on prejudice and intergroup behaviour. Souweidane's (2012) 'An Initial Test of an Intervention Designed to Help Youth Question Negative Ethnic Stereotypes' was based on perspective-taking principles and the idea of reducing prejudice by challenging stereotypes. Conditions of Group Contact to Reduce Conflict . Copyright 20102020, The Conversation US, Inc. In 2020, the sudden arrival of COVID-19 left the government without enough time to prepare an adequate alternative to GCSE and A-Level examinations. The class that took part in the activity had less prejudiced beliefs and were more likely to be willing to spend time with a group of other race children than the control group who did not experience the activity. When children were told by a teacher to be more inclusive, it had a positive effect on their attitudes towards their competitors. Understanding historical and current racism and discrimination is important part of accepting that racial prejudice exists and working to reduce it but its clear these topics need to be handled with care. This blog will examine what research can tell us about how to tackle these issues, highlighting the importance of taking an evidence-led approach to reducing prejudice, since some well-intentioned activities may in fact exacerbate rather than diminish negative attitudes. 2. However, there are issues with this approach. Participants were introduced to photographs of children they would never meet and told some were going to be their team mates and the rest the other team. Many schools adopt such a method, but little work has tested how efficient it is in beating prejudice.Making inclusion the normIn a study we just published, my colleagues and I carried out an experiment with 229 seven to 11-year-olds to explore this further. This could in theory make them less likely to be prejudiced. Having high empathy makes children less likely to want to cause distress to others and more likely to want to alleviate it. must feel they connected to members of the minority group. Jane Elliots 1968 controversial classroom experiment is sometimes considered an example of empathy training. the explicit programs to reduce racial prejudice in schools are an important albeit largely indirect legacy of the Brown v. Board decision, and therefore a careful review of their effectiveness and promise is necessary to guide both future The study found that only condition 1, where participants felt a social connection and were free to choose whether they participated in a cultural activity, reduced participants implicit racial bias against Latino Americans. Activities for Teaching about Prejudice and Discrimination - Use these activities to discuss different areas of prejudice and ways to work toward appreciation. Therefore, like all sophisticated and powerful educational efforts, reducing prejudice requires a conscious effort to go beyond intuitive, lazy thinking and primal instincts; it is an act of the will involving critical thinking, self-analysis, metacognition and deliberate selflessness - things that might not come naturally to us and have to be worked on. Its clear that prejudices are present among young people, due to a complex range of influences, many beyond their schools control. But the bad news is that kids can easily pick up prejudice from society at large unless parents do something about it. Look at the culture of the whole school and consider: what your school is required to do under the Public Sector Equality Duty creating a school culture that reflects safety and inclusivity stereotyping and prejudice had decreased. By the age of seven, children are aware of the groups to which they belong, and prefer being a member of an in-group, such as fans of a certain football team or members of a different ethnic group. Reducing Prejudice and Stereotyping in Schools, by Walter Stephan. Things You Can Do in the Schools: Reducing Racial Prejudice to Reducing Racism. A multitude of empathy training experiments have built on these ideas and have found that we can enhance empathy with training. Such rules exist within childrens groups: for example, to share or not to share, how to dress, or who can be included in an activity. How Friendships Can Reduce Racial Prejudice, and What Schools Can Do to Help Sometimes it seems like the older we get, the harder it is to make friends. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. $22.95, paper. Understanding Prejudice offers an extensive list online of many such books (see Resources). Do not minimize or pretend not to see differences in race, religion, disability, or other attributes. Medical schools are yet another well respected and sought-after academic institutions replete with racial prejudice and stereotypes. To prevent prejudice-based bullying, use a whole school approach. Activities for Teaching about Prejudice and Discrimination - Use these activities to discuss different areas of prejudice and ways to work toward appreciation. Nontheless, if you use cases of bias as a vehicle for education, it is quite possible to reduce students' prejudice over time. This could include events that specifically celebrate other cultures or groups, for example, Black History Month and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) history month. We were most interested in what might happen if a pupils peer group urged them to exclude those who were in the opposing team in the drawing competition, but the school stepped in and told the children to behave inclusively. These children scored higher in the survey meaning they were more likely to trust and like the opposite team compared with participants who didnt hear a message from the teacher. For example, one clause might be that all children have the right to learn in peace, regardless of their age, gender or ethnicity. This was still the case even when the childs team mates had asked them to exclude their competitors. This article offers a definition of prejudice and then reviews the literature on relevant theories of its development and methods to identify and map it. 9. Recognize holidays and events relating to a variety of cultural and ethnic groups. This type of purposeful grouping can be replicated in almost any classroom as long as there is some diversity among pupils. Much of the evidence within this strand of research suggests that, on a day-to-day basis, children do not hold negative attitudes towards children outside of these groups, and are more worried about not being excluded themselves. Empathy: asks someone to imagine their life as if they were part of the other group. These resources are meant to aid students in inspecting and challenging their own prejudices. Therefore, like all sophisticated and powerful educational efforts, reducing prejudice requires a conscious effort to go beyond intuitive, lazy thinking and primal instincts; it is an act of the will involving critical thinking, self-analysis, metacognition, and deliberate selflessnessthings that might not come naturally to us and have to be worked on. Anti-racist teaching involves teaching pupils about historic and current events rooted in prejudice and discrimination, such as the Holocaust or the Slave Trade. One method of reducing prejudice -- the contact hypothesis -- assumes that the very nature of requiring people from different social groups to work together reduces prejudicial attitudes among those groups. Despite multicultural schools, prejudice is not decreased as children of different races segregate This can be done in a school or university setting. Prejudice reduction as part of multicultural education decreases student disassociation with school, leading to learning environments that affirm the values of equitable education and social justice. Much research has focused on how self-identity is reliant upon our membership of flourishing social groups. More than five decades after Brown v. Board of Education and four decades after the Civil Rights era, racial prejudice remains a national problem cutting across social class and culture. Previous reviews have summarized evi- pupils must not feel they are forced to take part; and. Write an article and join a growing community of more than 117,600 academics and researchers from 3,794 institutions. This article discusses theories of prejudice and how they inform an understanding of bullying, conflict, and violence in schools. An education for less prejudice. People who are more educated express fewer stereotypes and prejudice in general. Prejudice reduction is a necessary component of multicultural education (Banks, 1994). Others suggest that learning about discrimination experienced by all members of a particular group could encourage children to view members of that group as highly similar rather than internally diverse. In the experiment, participants took part in a pre-study survey, seemingly unrelated to the later experiment in which they reported five idiosyncratic interests such as their favourite book. (Contains 3 tables.) 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. 4 min read Indeed, they may even lead to a sense that including other cultures is something to be ticked off a list leaving pupils more isolated and less included. The aim was to give the children the experience of being discriminated against. This chapter will outline and discuss several techniques that teachers can use in their efforts to prevent or reduce prejudice in students. [Commentaries from Bernadette M. Hickman-Maynard, Robert L. Selman and Clark McKown are included. 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. One variable that makes us less prejudiced is education. View our, my research on the under-representation of GRT pupils in higher education, The role of Intercultural education in schools and communities. As a result, many schools are redoubling their efforts to create an inclusive culture and reduce prejudice. His e-mail address is sharper1@upenn.edu. Part one of this blog described how children as young as three display prejudice and presented a series of research findings regarding how children might develop this prejudice. While teachers and staffs primary responsibility is to teach academic content, challenging behaviors can Contact with other groups has long been shown to improve intergroup attitudes. Going forward, teachers can adopt an anti-bias lens, a form of social-emotional learning that respects diversity and challenges sexism, racism, ableism, classism, and other societal prejudices. Those in the control group who read the same material but are not instructed to empathise do not change their scores as much. Teachers and children must work together to develop a harmonious multicultural environment in British schools. A plethora of children's books have stories about stereotypes and prejudice. Studies have found that over 8 weeks, the empathy scores of children in Jigsaw classrooms increased and intergroup relationships improved. Print version: page 40. In the past, its been shown that this leads to participants suggesting they would verbally bully a member of an opposing team, if members of their own team in the competition asked them to.