STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICE: AN EXERCISE IN POSITIVE ACTION

OBJECTIVE: Students will learn about stereotypes, particularly as they relate to the Washoe and other American Indians, and why we will attempt to avoid prejudice in our study of Washoe culture. They will also learn about and practice empathy, identifying feelings, and getting along with others.

TEACHER BACKGROUND: A stereotype is a belief or picture of something, held by a group of people, that is oversimplified and made without sufficient evidence or knowledge. A stereotype is often about another group of people people with a particular shade of skin, people with particular religious or cultural beliefs, people in a particular profession, people from a particular area of the world. Stereotypes lead to prejudice and unnecessary conflict in people's dealings with others. Prejudice comes from prejudge, to judge before having adequate information. People are prejudiced against other people because it is easier than learning about another culture or getting to know an individual from that group. People are prejudiced against other people because it makes them feel better about themselves if they can say that an entire group of people is not as good as they are. Often the people to whom the stereotype refers are discriminated against and made to feel bad about themselves.

Prejudice is all around us on television, in conversation, at school. It is always important to question prejudice when you hear it. If someone says that a person is lazy or dirty or stingy or stupid because he or she belongs to a certain group which comes from a particular place, believes in a particular way of life, or looks a certain way, ask yourself, can every person in that group be lazy or dirty or stingy or stupid? Chances are that that group of people is just like any group of people, and is made up of all different kinds of people.

There are many stereotypes about American Indians. What do you see in a movie when an Indian appears? (feathered war bonnets, war whoops, tipis, broken English, etc.) Tipis and war bonnets are actually part of Plains Indian culture, and there are many different Indian cultures on this continent, with different languages, forms of shelter, and ways of life. The Washoe, who have lived here for over 9000 years, do not and did not fit these stereotypes, and neither do most Native American cultures.

KEY POINTS: What are stereotypes, what is prejudice, stereotypes about Native Americans?

MATERIALS: Balls for Germ Warfare game, overhead projector, Positive Action book for fourth grade, large sheet of paper and large marker (or chalkboard).

MATERIALS FROM KIT: Blue buttons for half the class, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler.

ACTIVITIES:

NOTE: This lesson fits very well with the "You and Me" unit of the fourth grade reading book, Canadian Ginn: Tickle the sun, which is used in at least the Douglas County School District.

1. Have the students play a phys. ed. game like "Germ Warfare", in which the class is split into two teams. Give one of the teams blue buttons to wear on their shirts. Explain that the team without the blue buttons must fall down when they are hit with a ball, while the blue button team does not have to. Give the blue button team more space than the other team in which to play. If the students ask why, do not explain.

2. After the game, have the students come inside but leave their buttons on. For whatever period of time you see fit, give the team with blue buttons special privileges, such as a few extra minutes of free time or the first places in line for lunch. Then switch the privileges to the other team if you want. If the students are upset, begin the next activities right away. If not, wait until the next day.

3. The next day, split the students into small groups and give each group several magazines. Have them look through the magazines to find stereotypical pictures of people and cut them out. Tell them to discuss the pictures in their groups to determine a labels for each one. Then have each group present their stereotypical people and labels to the class.

4. Discuss and explain the terms stereotype and prejudice, using the background information provided as a possible approach. Discuss why the students did or did not give the same labels to the same pictures. Then ask the students how they felt yesterday while they were the team which was not getting any privileges. Ask them how they feel when they raise their hands and give wrong answers in class. How do they think the teacher or the other kids view them?

5. To help the students learn about concepts of empathy, identifying feelings, and getting along with others, see the fourth grade Positive Action lessons, particularly lessons 56, 71-79, and 87-89.

6. Have the students generate a list of things they are not allowed to do. Briefly discuss the differences between restrictions for safety because they are kids and prejudice.

OPTIONS:

1. Have the students' talk in small groups about a time when they felt someone stereotyped them or judged them before he or she got to know them. (Suggestion: How about being a kid? Do people sometimes decide you are not old enough or big enough to do something before they know you?) Give them a time limit.

2. Have the students' talk in small groups about a time they stereotyped someone and then found out that the person was different from what the student expected him or her to be.

3. Have the students cut out pictures from magazines and write descriptions of them. Let the others in the group try to match the picture with the description.

CLOSURE: Read The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler to the class.

EVALUATION: Class discussion about the terms should determine the students' understanding of the concepts. Small group discussions will demonstrate the students' ability to empathize and put the concepts to use.