Erasmus Plus
2018-1-DE03-KA229-047491
Dealing with stereotypes in education
Manifesto
In the course of this project, we have been dealing with different types of stereotypes and we have come to realize what they are and in how far they might make the educational process more difficult or even impede it altogether.
We need to define the term stereotypes and distinguish it from related terms such as prejudices and even discrimination. Therefore, stereotypes are overgeneralized beliefs about a particular group of people. Those beliefs are sometimes necessary in a complex world such as ours to pigeonhole people and behavior. Thus, we believe that stereotypes are not automatically negative, but they can turn out to be. Many times, there is some truth in stereotypes.
We have identified different types of stereotypes. There are…
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national stereotypes e.g., Germans are punctual, French do not want to speak English, Italians use their hands a lot while speaking etc.
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racial stereotypes e.g., Asians are very diligent, Africans can easily run long distances etc.*
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religious stereotypes e.g., Muslims are aggressive believers, Catholics are very strict etc.
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gender stereotypes e.g., women cannot drive, football is a man’s game, a nurse is always female etc.
Prejudices against a group of people can be distinguished from the term stereotypes. We assess it to be the next level towards open discrimination. The term prejudice originates from pre-judgement and it means an unjustified, typically negative attitude towards an individual or a group.
It is our belief that both stereotypes and prejudices can lead to discrimination, which is the actual behavior when stereotypical beliefs are combined with prejudicial attitudes and strong emotions such as fear, hatred, and hostility. Discrimination is illegal since all humans have their human rights. But in order to fight discrimination it is common sense for us to start with stereotypes and their effect on human relations.
Tolerance and respect are the central issues to deal with stereotypes successfully. The Cambridge Dictionary defines tolerance as following:
willingness to accept behavior and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them
It is this concept that makes it possible to live together peacefully. Tolerant people can accept differing opinions, preferences, and ways of life. As Ernst Ferstl (German poet and aphorist) said: “A healthy self-confidence originates in the courage to oneself and leads to tolerance towards others.”
It is the aim of any educational organization to help young people to develop healthily and successfully. Here are general strategies on how to develop tolerance in people.
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Make an effort to empathize with the people even though their views might be different.
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Gain understanding by asking people for an explanation to their views.
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Use I-statements in your communication in order to prevent people from being ruled by your views.
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Value the differences and do not see them as a threat to your own views. Expose students to as many different opinions and views as possible.
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Invest in learning about other cultures and people. The more you know, the less you need to fear.
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Reflect on your own intolerant thoughts – you need the courage to realize that we all think in stereotypes at some point. It is those who reflect on it that can overcome them.
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Build perspective – put yourself in the position of the other person. It is a cognitive process and a social-emotional-intellectual skill
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Use your mind/reason – teach people to always think twice. Teach people to NOT ‘judge a book by its cover’
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Raise awareness - have regular lesson to talk about discrimination and stereotypes and how you should deal with them
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Create a safe space for everyone at school – have a person to talk to and to trust
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Have lessons about getting to know yourself and the others.
We, the participants for Poland, believe that we can and must do something to prevent stereotypes at our school. Our suggestions are:
Help the ones who have been discriminated against. In our school, the problem is not accepting people e.g., because of different opinion/ opinion from the majority, different behavior, other interests and others like:
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that girls learn better than boys etc.
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mocking the height
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different hobbies, weight, make-up, family, personal life, hair colour, wealth, cheaper clothes than others, different lifestyle, experience
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the school should organize meetings with people with a different skin color, hair color and orientation
How to counteract stereotypes/ what to do to change it?
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make posters about it
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create special activities
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send anti-discriminatory posts on platforms like Facebook or Instagram
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there should be short films on the school website to prevent stereotypes.
Wertheim, 26/02/2021
Signatures