Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Children's Ideas About Different Groups of People
cWhen I was in my field placement last week, I overheard a very interesting conversation between a few of my first graders. Many of the students live in the same apartment building and talk about their experiences together about being at home. One student was talking about the building she lives in. She started describing to me that all of the doors in the apartment were green. This really bugged her and she said that she wished they could all be a different color. The other girl agreed and said she wished she could change it too. I suggested to the girls that maybe they could make some artwork and hang it outside the door to decorate a little more. The girls thought this was a good a idea but then started complaining about the smell in the hallway. The first girl said, "Those dang Russians are always stinking up the hallway." I was really taken off guard by this comment. She went on, "Those Russians stink up the hallway because of all the food they make. Their food smells sooooo bad. And they cook a lot. But sometimes though they can cook up some really good meals." Well, I asked her how she knew they were Russian, and she tried to avoid my question. The best answer I got was that she had heard it from an older girl who also lives in the building. Then from the rest of the conversation I got the impression that she had been invited to dinner to eat sometime before, but I wasn't entirely sure because her comments were not consistent. This made me think that this girl had these preconceived notions about the "Russians," based on what she had been told by different people. It seemed to me however, that she very strongly believed that only the Russians in her building would cook strong smelling food. I just found this conversation very interesting and found it worth mentioning. This was the result of a young impressionable girl taking on ideas that may or may not be true of a group of people. I fear that these notions will stick with her, and begin a cycle of stereotypes or worse. It is important that as teachers, we realize how impressionable these kids really are, and that they are influenced by many outside sources. This is why in teaching it is so important to get at the students misconceptions and previous knowledge, ideas, and understandings, in order to start breaking those walls down.
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4 comments:
I think you make some great points Nicki. I really want to address issues like this in my own classroom. I find that children have made many generalizations about people, cultures, living styles, etc. Children are so quick to pick up the ideas they hear around them, especially from older children that can not really know what they are talking about. I think it is a really important part of teaching to help students learn tolerance and not to judge others. Sometimes school is the only place children go outside of their homes so the practice of getting along with others and learning to inquire about things they have heard rather than just take another person's ideas are important ideas to teach students. In my classroom I would like to have posters, centers, presentations, etc from a variety of cultures and people so that students can be more educated in the world around them and learn to value differences. I think it is great that you had the opportunity to experience that conversation because you can see how young students are when they begin developing the stereotypes that impact their ideas and decisions for the rest of their lives. I think that is is never too early to help students become more aware and accepting of diversity.
Wow Nicki--this was in interesting post to read! I remember that we started talking about religion in classrooms last week during our roundtable, but this tops even that!
I can't help but ask--aren't you in a fairly multicultural classroom?
I share the same thoughts about this topic as you and Erica, but I have to admit, this is a concern of mine, especially because of my placement next year. I will be interning in a VERY rural setting with a lot of "farm" kids. This is a very similar community to the one that I grew up in and I know that multicultural literature was not a part of my elementary education. I went through the inevitable "culture shock" when I came to MSU. So then I ask myself, how can I introduce different ethnicities in my future classroom. I feel like the community that you are teacing in will be the best indicator to the most appropriate way to bring different cultures into your classroom--you might have to introduce new cultures via art, books, history, etc--but you need to know about the students you are teaching and it's great it you can figure out what their preconcieved notions are ahead of time.
I think in this particular case, because it is a story based around foods, I might try and bring in some different foods (I was thinking vinegar right away) and have the students smell it and talk about the different foods it is used in. It's important to "nip" this stereotype that Russian food stinks and American food is the best early--and I would personally pull off of the "stinky" aspect :)
I'm glad you posted about this, Nicki, because I have overheard similar conversations among students before as well. I feel like it is extremely important to confront your students about these misconceptions or stereotypes they hold, but the question is.. how do you do it in an effective way? Children are very influenced by what their parents, or other older influences in their lives, have to say. Not only do they believe everything they hear, but they repeat it to their friends as well. I feel that it is so important to promote open-mindedness in the classroom and if presented effectively, students will not have negative views toward any certain group of people. This is definitely going to be a challenge to accomplish, but can be done!
Nicki,
Wow! I think this is such a huge issue and can honestly say that I am not surprised that children have these notions and ideas of others. As a minority myself and being in an elementary school where it is extremely diverse I have not even heard of such comments from my students. But, I know the world we live in and what society is saying about others "who are different" than you or me. I think your students did raise a good way of making things different and that everything is the same. Which surprises me of them wanting things to be different but yet the girls complained about a food that was different. I think as teachers this could be an open door to introduce diversity and that not everyone is the same. We all come from different places and all bring something different to the table, but need to value what everyone brings. Also, this makes me think about when I was in 7th grade we had a diversity day and were able to present where we were from and make a type of food from our country of origin. I thought it was really eye opening and diversifying for students to see that we all come from different places. Even though we are Americans we all have a place or origin and nationality that is crucial to who and where we come from.
Anyways, I agree that this is a very important issue that needs to be talked about and cannot be put to the side.
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