my report on ethnicity in the school setting

1. EthnicityEthnicity
Erika Tanaka
AB Psych - 4

2. DefinitionDefinition
 Shared pattern of characteristics such as
cultural heritage, nationality, race,
religion, and language.
 Full of bias and discrimination all over the
world.

3. Ethnicity ≠ RaceEthnicity ≠ Race
 Race refers to the classification of people or other
living things according to specific physiological
characteristics.
 It is no longer recognized as an authentic scientific
concept because of the diversity of people.
 Social Psychologist James Jones points out that
thinking in racial terms has become embedded in
most cultures.
◦ People often stereotype others because of their
supposed race and inappropriately classify them
as being more or less intelligent, competent,
responsible, or socially acceptable on the basis.

4. Ethnicity and SchoolsEthnicity and Schools
 Educational segregation is still a reality for
children of color in the United States.
 School experiences of students of
different ethnic groups differ in other
ways.
 Schools of students from ethnic minority
backgrounds have fewer resources.

5.  Jonathan Kozol, in his book The Shame of the
Nation (2005), described his visits to 60 U.S.
schools in low-income areas of cities in 11 states.
◦ Many schools were consisted of 80 to 90
percent minority population.
◦ Untidy classrooms, restrooms and hallways
◦ Inadequate textbooks and supplies
◦ Lack of resources
◦ Teachers would ask students to merely
memorize for tests rather than engage in higher
learning.
◦ Teachers using threatening disciplinary tactics
to control the classroom.

6. Prejudice, Discrimination and BiasPrejudice, Discrimination and Bias
 Prejudice
◦ Unjustified negative attitude toward an individual
because of his/her membership in a group
(defined by: ethnicity, sex, age, or any other
detectable difference).
 American anthropologist John Ogbu (1989;
Ogbu & Stern, 2001)
◦ Ethnic minority students are placed in a position
of subordination and exploitation in the
American educational system.
◦ Students of color are treated badly.

7.  Educational psychologist Margaret Beale
Spencer (Spencer, 2006; Spencer &
Dornbusch, 1990)
◦ Well-meaning teachers fail to challenge
children of color to achieve.
◦ They prematurely accept a low level of
performance from these children.

8. Diversity and DifferencesDiversity and Differences
 Recognizing and respecting the
differences among other cultures is an
important aspect of getting along in a
diverse, multicultural world.
 When differences are emphasized
between ethnic minority groups and the
White majority, it’s the ethnic minority
groups who take the damage.

9. Bilingual educationBilingual education
 Teaches academic subjects to immigrant
children in their native language while
slowly teaching English.
 Helps children from ethnic minority
groups learn to properly speak English.
 Immigrant children vary in their ability to
learn English.
◦ Children from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds have more difficulty than those
from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

10. Multicultural EducationMulticultural Education
 Values diversity and includes the
perspectives of a variety of cultural
groups on a regular basis.
 Goal: equal educational opportunities for
all students.
 Includes issues related to socioeconomic
status , ethnicity and gender.
 Prejudice reduction and equity pedagogy
are core components.

11.  Prejudice reduction
◦ Activities teachers can implement in the
classroom to eliminate negative and
stereotypical views of others.
 Equity pedagogy
◦ Modification of the teaching process to
incorporate materials and learning strategies
appropriate to both boys and girls and to
various ethnic groups.

12. Empowering studentsEmpowering students
 Providing students with the intellectual
and coping skills to succeed and make
this a more just world.
 Important theme in multicultural
education.
 Schools should give students
opportunities to learn about the
experiences, struggles, and visions of
many different ethnic and cultural groups.

13. Culturally relevant teachingCulturally relevant teaching
 Seeks to make connections with the
learners personal background.
 Good teachers are aware of and integrate
culturally relevant teaching into the
curriculum.
 Funds of knowledge approach
 Teachers need to have high achievement
expectations for students from ethnic
minority and low-income backgrounds and
engage them in rigorous academic programs.

14. Issues-centered educationIssues-centered education
 Students are taught to systematically
examine issues that involve equity and
social justice.
 To clarify values
 Learn to examine alternatives and
consequences if they take a particular
stance on an issue.

15. Strategies of improving relationsStrategies of improving relations
among children from different ethnicamong children from different ethnic
groupsgroups
 Jigsaw classroom
◦ Developed by social psychologist Eliot
Aronson (1986)
◦ Involves having students from different
cultural backgrounds cooperate by doing
different parts of a project to reach a
common goal.

16.  Positive personal contact with others from
different cultural backgrounds
◦ Relations improve when students talk with each
other about their personal life.
◦ Helps break down group/out-group and we/they
barriers.
 Perspective taking
◦ Exercises and activities that help students see
other people’s perspectives can improve
interethnic relations.
◦ “putting oneself in the other’s shoes”
◦ Help students understand the culture shock that
comes from being in a cultural setting different
from their own.

17.  Critical thinking and emotional
intelligence
◦ Thinking critically and deeply about
interethnic relations can decrease prejudice
and stereotyping of others.
◦ Learn to ask questions, think first before
responding, and delay judgment until
information is complete.
◦ Emotional intelligence skills can help students’
interethnic relations.

18.  Reducing bias
◦ Louise Derman-Sparks and the Anti-Bias
Curriculum Task Force (1989) recommended
anti-bias strategies for teachers:
 Display images of children from a variety of ethnic
and cultural groups.
 Choose play materials and activities that encourage
ethnic and cultural understanding.
 Talk with students about stereotyping and
discriminating against others.
 Engage parents in discussions of how children
develop prejudice and inform them to help reduce
it.

19.  Increasing Tolerance
◦ “Teaching Tolerance Project”
 Resources and materials to improve intercultural
understanding and relations between White
children and children of color.
◦ Teaching Tolerance is a biannual magazine
which is distributed to every public and
private school in the U.S.
 Share views on and provide resources for teaching
tolerance.