Pretending Colorblindness

 

Colorblindness: 

The mere idea of having any tendencies towards racism evokes fear and shame among even the most socially conscious among us.  Isn’t it better, if we can just teach ourselves to see all people as equals, rather than seeing the difference that divides us?

Racism is morally wrong; we learn that from a young age.  Yet the messages we are sent subtly and even overtly reinforce the underlying tenets of racism.  From a young age, I believe, we begin to internalize these messages to the point where they are like the “water the fish is swimming in” – so pervasive in our world as to be imperceptible to us.

Kim Case and Annette Hemmings (2005) looked at the struggles of white, female pre-service teachers to deal with, express and process their uncertainties about racism and their role in maintaining a culture where racist attitudes and actions go unchecked. They found that strategies such as remaining silent, evading questions, and claiming to be “colorblind” were used to avoid talking about or dealing with these issues on any real or meaningful level.   This strategy of colorblindness is based on the idea that through conscious will, immersion, and association with people of color, we could learn not to see color as a defining feature.  To be, in essence, blind to color differences between people. 

Case and Hemmings also found that these strategies did not help to break down the barriers between races, bringing understanding and enabling true relationships.  Instead, they helped to perpetuate the status quo.

While these strategies of silence are certainly pervasive in our society, and not limited to white, pre-service teachers, what better place to start than within our classrooms.  According to James A. Banks ( 2006 ), we can only begin to create a true equity pedagogy and multicultural classrooms if we as educators set the example and begin to model this for our students.  By teaching and modeling critical thinking about social justice issues, our classrooms can become microcosms reflecting the changes we hope to see in the world.

Resources for learning about and teaching about social justice issues: 

EdChange:  This site has many useful resources and handouts about issues including multicultural and social justice education, and diversity, equity and social justice issues in society as a whole.

Rethinking Schools:   Rethinking Schools has been working for years to spread the word about bringing social justice into classrooms.  Rethinking schools is an activist organization, that is, it is written by and for teachers, parents and students, with the goal of being a catalyst for change.  The website and their longstanding publication, which can be accessed through their site, focuses on problems in urban schools, particularly problems of racial inequities. 

Teaching Tolerance:  while I do not prefer the word “tolerance” as it implies “putting up with” rather than true understanding and acceptance, I find this web site to be an excellent teaching tool.  There are many classroom materials, such as videos and links,  as well as lessons that can be used in classrooms for all ages.

Teaching Diverse Students Initiative:  The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The goal of TDSI is to help educators enhance the learning opportunities, especially the quality of teaching, experienced by students of color.  TDSI aims to help educators improve their professional skills and understandings, particularly as these relate the race and ethnicity of their students.

Sample Classroom Exercise:  Arab Americans in the U.S.
http://www.tolerance.org/activity/who-are-arab-americans 
This exercise is from the Teaching Tolerance website, and it is designed to help increase knowledge about Arab Americans, while challenging the misperceptions students may have about Arabs and people of Arab descent.  This exercise, which can be adapted for use with students from 3rd-12th grades, teaches critical thinking, while helping to dissipate the prejudice and harassment that Arab Americans have been experiencing since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Mix-It Up Day Exercise

National Mix it Up at Lunch Day is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center designed to address racism in our schools through promoting cross-cultural understanding.  It’s a simple call to action: take a new seat in the cafeteria. By taking a risk, this one day, students can cross the lines of division in a safe, controlled environment, meet new people, and help build an inclusive and welcoming school community.  This websites provides information and opportunities for any school to participate.
This year, National Mix it Up at Lunch Day will be held on October 18, 2011.






Sources:

Banks, J. A. (2006). Cultural diversity and education:  foundations, curriculum, and teaching (5. ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Case, K. and Hemmings, A. (1995). Distancing Strategies:  White women pre-service teachers and antiracist curriculum. Urban Education,40 (6).  doi: 10.1177/0042085905281396

Educating for Social Change: Environmental Justice

About five years ago, I became an environmental justice advocate for urban youth and their families. These families lived, worked, and played in communities plagued with air, water, and soil contamination issues. At the time, I was an environmental educator and my curriculum was infused with opportunities to instill a sense of environmental justice in my students. By giving them a voice, I began cultivating an environment where children understood their right to have access to open space, green space, parks, and the outdoors, as opposed to people thinking that the local park is a concrete basketball court.

I know this all may seem a bit daunting and may not seem relevant to your teaching pedagogy. However, I can't begin to tell you how rewarding it is to see your class inspired and united around an issue that hits so close to home.

For lesson ideas, here are a few links to visit:

edutopia

POV

ethemes

ecology center

National Geographic: Xpeditions

Tell Me a Story: Exploring World Cultures through The Art of Storytelling

Everyone loves a good story. From ancient times before the written word, the oral tradition has preserved the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples around the world. Traditional stories often differ from place to place in terms of language, characters, and setting. Yet, there is a universal theme that unifies these stories together: the human experience.

As fundamental expressions of creativity, these stories provide a vehicle of multicultural exploration in any classroom at any level, especially the ESL (English as a Second Language) classroom. By integrating stories from different cultures into our curriculum, we as educators of ELLs (English Language Learners) can build bridges of understanding between students from different nations. Together, we can work with our students to explore the themes of peace, justice, wisdom, and compassion across diverse cultures. In this way, we can reveal the unity of experience that underlies individual and cultural diversity.

Through the use of storytelling, we can expose our students to other cultural areas of music, dance, drama and the visual arts. By using a variety of modern media to enhance literacy, we can also promote positive personal development and assist in the creation of strong, unified school communities. From podcasts to digital storytelling, we can encourage our students to celebrate cultural diversity throughout the school year, not just during the holiday season. Although storytelling is often an integral part of the ELA (English Language Arts) curriculum, educators can design creative projects that incorporate a wide range of curricular and co-curricular areas such as social studies, science, music, and art.

While it can be challenging to meet the set requirements of district-based curricula, it is necessary to promote cultural diversity in the classroom. A good way to get started is by using the Internet. Listed below are three useful links to websites that provide information on indigenous peoples, the art of storytelling, and interdisciplinary lesson plans on multiculturalism and storytelling.

Useful Links:

Comprehensive Site on Indigenous Peoples around the World:

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/

Topics/Podcast on The Art of Storytelling:

http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/topics/

Interdisciplinary Lesson Plans on Multiculturalism and Storytelling:

http://www.uen.org/mcst/lessons.html

Looking for the book topic about “Diversity” and “Cooperation” with your students?

Swimmy by Leo Lionni is a great book to introduce k-2 students to think about "Diversity" and "Cooperation".

The immigrant population keeps growing and classrooms become more diverse now than they have ever been before. As educators, it is important to teach students acceptance of individual differences and values. This book “Swimmy” introduces students to an idea of diversity and cooperation and helps them think about individual differences contributing to create something by cooperating with each other. Then book discussion with students helps them expand their thoughts about different people around them in class and beyond, and how different people cooperate and keep harmony between themselves.

Synopsis of Swimmy: Swimmy is the only black fish in his school of red fish. After a tuna attacks the school of fish leaving Swimmy on his own, Swimmy must rely on himself to find a new school of fish. Swimmy distinguishes himself as a leader with his bravery and courage.How to Implement: After you read Swimmy, talk about diversity and cooperation and ask the students about these ideas using the prompts below.

Diversity: Swimmy doesn’t look like any of the other fish. Talk to your child about the similarities and differences between Swimmy and the other fish in the story. Help your child to understand that although not everyone looks or acts the same, that we all have things we enjoy or that we are good at doing.

Cooperation: Swimmy and his new friends overcame the “big fish” by working together as a team. Explain the concept of teamwork and ask your child about the kinds of things he or she likes to do with other people. You can also use the example of completing chores together. The job is always easier when you have someone there to rely on for help.
(Synopsis and prompts (diversity and cooperation) are cited from http://www.wxxi.org/education/rtl/activities/Swimmy.pdf)

Activity ideas: Students can make Swimmy and red fishes with different materials such as ink pad or crayon. Then students form a big fish like in the book as in the lesson plan linked above. Or, students can make their own design for a fish. Let students discuss what they can create as a big sea creature using each fish, then make it. Another idea is that students can write about the original story using the character Swimmy and other sea creatures. Give students idea about how Swimmy and other creatures can cooperate and accomplish things together.

Here is an example of an adapted story of Swimmy.

Please click here to see it.