stereotyping B.ED NOTES PLURALISTIC SOCIETY

1. COURSE 1
MODULE 3
Unit 6
Namrata Saxena, Asst Professor, PCER, New Panvel.
a) Childhood and growing up in the context of Stereotyping
Stereotyping
Definition
Stereotyping is when you judge a group of people who are different from you
based on your own and/or others opinions and/or encounters.
Stereotype
• Definitions:
• a simple idea that has special meaning about a group of people
• Beliefs that group members possess some characteristic (not an attitude
which has a positive or negative evaluation)
• What is a stereotype?
• An oversimplifiedideaor image about a certaingroup of people that is
widelyaccepted by others
• Can be positive or negative
• Examples
– All Americans have guns.
– Black people are the best athletes.
– Chinese people always eat rice.
• Other examples of stereotypes:
Stereotypes can occur withindifferent ethnic groups, social classes,
religious groups and opposite sexes
– Lower class people are uneducated
– Jewishpeople are good withmoney
– Men are stronger than women

2. • Why do stereotypes occur?
• Stereotypes arise as a way of explaining or justifying differences between
groups
• Lack of exposure to other groups, cultures, etc.
• “I saw this in a movie or TV show.”
• What are Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination?
• Stereotype – a general beliefabout a group of people
– Differs from prejudice in that it can have positive or negative
connotations
– Runs the risk of becoming prejudicial and leading to discrimination
• What are the Sources of Stereotyping?
Sources of stereotypes:
• Social Sources
• Cognitive Sources
• Social Sources: Social Learning
• Many of our attitudes are formed in the home
• Parents are an enormous source of information and influence
• Peers (classmates, friends) also shape our attitudes
• Cognitive Sources
Social categorization
– Dividing people into categories based on common attributes
• Race, gender, other common features
– Are we instinctivelydrawn to categorizing based on differences?
– Outgroup homogeneity
• The beliefthat "all of them are the same."
• Seeing outgroup as being very similar
• Seeing ingroup members as very diverse
• Studies show that this can occur very early in life, even in
infancy
• May be contributed to by a lack of familiarityof the outgroup
• Ingroup Favoritism
• The "we/us versus they/them" mentality
• Can lead to discriminatorybehavior

3. • TYPES OR FORMS OF STEREOTYPING
• (READ CHILDHOOD AND GROWING UP DR SK MANGAL AND DR
UMA MANGAL)
• Gender
• Religion
• Socio economic status
• Intellectual abilities
• Role of the teacher
• What are the Consequences of Stereotyping? (impact of stereotyping)
Read CHILDHOOD AND GROWING UP MANGAL
The dangers of stereotyping are many
– Influences our perceptionof others
– Affects our behaviors
– Affects the behaviors of the stereotyped group
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
– “A belief that causes itself to be true"
– Can lead to positive or negative behaviors
• How might a student perform who is told that she is "excellent?"
• How might that same student perform if she is told she is
"average?"
– We may inadvertently promote such outcomes based on how we interact
with people
• Stereotype Threat
o The riskof confirming a negative stereotype about oneself
o Similar to the self-fulfilling prophecy
o When we are aware of stereotypes, we might live down to
them
 It breeds prejudices in the children against the persons or groups stereotyped
 It puts labels about how a person should act or live according to their sex, race
etc.
 Creates misconception about people
 Results in discrimination
 Denial opportunities result out of stereotyping
 Affects performance of stereotyped children

4. • To Avoid Stereotyping: interventions
• ROLE OF TEACHER
• Acknowledge the existence of your own preconceptions.
• Be critical of yourself. Don't take for granted any opinion that pops into your
head.
• Work to understand how your preconceptions impact the way you view others.
• Know your labels and to whom you relegate them.
• Slow down and get more information.
• Avoiding stereotypes. Teachers should avoid promoting sexual stereotypes.
• For example, they can assign jobs in the classroom without regard to gender,
avoiding automatically appointing males as group leader and females as
secretary, and can ask both males and females to help in physical activities.
• Teachers should also refrain from stating stereotypes, such as “Boys don’t cry”
and “Girls don’t fight,” and should avoid labeling students with such terms as
tomboy.
• Teachers should encourage students who show an interest in activities and
careers that do not correspond to cultural stereotypes, such as a female who
likes math and science.
IN CLASSROOM:
There are four techniques that can be used to reduce stereotypes.
• Contact Hypothesis
– Increased communication between groups reduces stereotyping
– Equal contact between the groups is also essential
• Group Interdependence
Gordon Allport proposed 4 conditions to decrease prejudice
– Equal status between groups
– Institutional support for both groups
– Intergroup cooperation
– Common goals for both groups
• The Jigsaw Classroom (Aronson, et al., 1978)
– Each student serves a necessary purpose
– A common goal can’t be completed without each purpose being present
– Fosters cooperation
– Leads to a decrease in negativity

5. • Education
– It is not enough to just talk about it
– People have to participate in order to reduce prejudice and
discrimination
• Motivation
– Motivation can reduce automatic processing that leads to prejudice
– It is important to make people aware of their own prejudices to create
positive change