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Awareness
of stereotypes
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| Type
of Submission: |
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This
idea is a submission for:
__A
curriculum idea
__Cool things to do
X A special
issue
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| Age
group for whom this activity is appropriate: |
3-5
years
| Brief
description of activity: |
This
involved discussions at our class meetings about stereotypes.
| What
I did to set this up and how I followed through: |
| We
always have a morning meeting in which in addition to going
over calendar concepts or today’s schedule we talk about
things that are important to our class. I initiated a discussion
of stereotypes. |
| Materials
used: |
| All
our software but especially the character-driven games (e.g.,
Mickey Mouse). |
| What
the children had to do and what I wanted them to learn: |
- This is a
talking rather than a doing activity.
- The kids
had to think about what makes a stereotype and how not to get
caught up in stereotypical thinking
- The main
idea is not to be limited in what you think you can or can’t
do because of someone else’s categories
| Background:
How I got the idea: |
| The
kids really enjoy software that has characters that they know
and like. I noticed, however, that while these characters can
be appealing, they can have built-in constraints that are sometimes
subtle. For example, Minnie Mouse is shown liking flowers. I
questioned the kids about whether boys could like flowers, too.
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| Analysis:
How the kids and/or parents responded: |
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Although you could think of this as a negative example, it provided
a good opportunity to talk about stereotypes, a topic I think is really
important for kids of all ages. It’s amazing how much of the
media that kids are exposed to (software, TV, even books) has assumptions
about boys and girls or about race and ethnicity. I want them to go
beyond those categories. |
| Extension |
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