Ch. 2 : Question # 2 ( five Stereotypes)
Stereotyping is the way of describing people and trying to understand the world. Based on my personal experiences, I would like to talk about five stereotypes.
1. All Asians are good at math.
2. Girls are only concerned about their physical appearance.
3. All African Americans are good at sports.
4. All men are strong.
5. Girls are not as smart as boys.
I don’t think that every stereotype relies on attributions of dispositional characteristics. However, some of the characteristics of stereotypes are consistently displayed over time. The dispositional and non-dispositional characteristics of stereotypes have negative effects on both individuals and groups of people. They can affect one’s own perception of his/her own culture, race, or sex. The stereotypes make people perform poorer in certain situations. Stereotyping is not only hurtful, but also untrue.
Stereotypes cause people make incorrect assumptions based on their perceptions of individuals and groups of people. These assumptions can lead to negative effects such as teachers constantly putting pressure on Asian kids for academic success in math; that would not encourage them to succeed but rather reduce their self-esteem. The wrong assumptions about a girl’s performance in school can lead to a girl getting frustrated and will ultimately lower her performance level in academics. Finally, the stereotyping causes people to make misconceptions and misjudgments about specific individuals and groups of people.
Our own life experiences seem to be very prevalent in how we view stereotypes. I was raised in Kentucky by a father who shared racist views and a mother who would come in behind him and tell me that's wrong. I played sports of all kinds and had African-American teammates all throughout middle and high school. I never felt pressure to not associate with any person of another race, but some of the comments that were made led me to know that I had to at least be aware. Stereotyping also lends itself to be used in comedies. I enjoy really twisted, dark comedies that are politically incorrect. Call it a guilty pleasure. In these comedies there are often stereotypes that are intended to be so over the top ridiculous that to literally believe and feel that way would be funny in and of itself. Teaching in a school that is as diverse as mine makes you more sensitive in how you speak and interact with students and teachers alike. Not everyone shares the same values and interests as I do and I have to be sure I take that into account when interacting with them. I agree with Ms. Duggirala's take and think it was a well written answer to the question.
ReplyDeletePhani-It is incredible the negative effects of making wrong assumptions among students (and everyone for that matter). I've never thought about how our possible stereotyping could put so much pressure on students to perform. Again, as leaders, humanists, educators...we must constantly challenge our assumptions and teach others to do the same. Thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteStereotyping is something that people do based on past experiences and the media. When I first started teaching at Lilburn my family members were concerned that I would be teaching gang members and they were concerned for my safety. There was a misconception about the school because Lilburn had a high Mexican population. This was definitly far from the truth but a big misconcepton. Teaching at Lilburn has taught me to embrace all cultures and see all of my students as equal no matter where there native country is.
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