Issues to Action: Equity and Diversity

1. Issues to Action: Equity and Diversity Presented By: Julie Gouin Aaron Khalid Matthew Lan Georgia Orr ValiniRamsewak.

2. Agenda • Forum Theatre of Case • What are the issues? • Class discussion/Think-Pair-Share • Our analysis • What are the critical questions? • Class discussion/Think-Pair-Share • Our analysis • Theoretical Framework? • Strategies/Solutions? • Our research-based approach

3. Forum Theatre http://cinemagia.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/augusto_boal.jpg

4. What are the issues evident in this case study? Think-Pair-Share!

5. What are the issues we identified? • Racial humour being used freely • Teacher Candidate not effectively addressing the problem • Repeated incidents have allowed the problem to escalate

6. What critical questions (mitigating factors) need to be considered? Think-Pair-Share!

7. What are the critical questions we have? • Was this happening with the AT before the TC arrived? Has the AT had to address this situation before? If so, how? • Is this student the only one in the class who does this, or are there others?

8. What are the critical questions we have? 3. What is the underlying motive? Class clown? Something more serious? 4. Relationship between student and TC? Too friendly? Combative? Lack of respect? 5. What is going on at home?

9. Theoretical Framework http://www.garden-fountains.com/famous-statues/thinker.jpg

10. Racism: What it is and is not! • Blum (2002) suggests two definitions of racism: • Antipathy Racism • a strong dislike, often tinged with hostility, toward individuals or groups because of their race. • Inferiorizing Racism • treating and viewing people of different races as inferior or of lesser value.

11. Categorizing Racism • More specific definitions: • Racial Insensitivity • Not being aware of, or responsive, to the feelings of others in regards to their race. • Racial Ignorance • When someone exhibits a lack of knowledge or information about a race or racial matters.

12. Categorizing Racism • Racial Anxiety • Occurs while not having dislike/hostility towards a race, or seeing them as inferior, but still acting uncomfortable around them. • Can be due to a lack of knowledge.

13. So, why is race humour inappropriate? Ford & Ferguson (2004) major points: • Race humour "increases tolerance of discriminatory events for people high in prejudice toward the disparaged group” • Race humour "expands the bounds of appropriate conduct" therefore increasing the likelihood of tolerance of disparagement Ford, T.E., & Ferguson, M.A. (2004). Social consequences of disparagement humor: a prejudiced norm theory. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(1), 79-94.

14. Prejudiced Norm Theory - Ford and Ferguson (2004) describe a model of the social psychological processes by which exposure to race humour influences tolerance of discrimination • Humorous delivery of disparagement activates a non-serious humour mindset which 'lightens' the interpretation of the message 2. One in this humorous mindset, the recipient of the humour is less likely to recognize the situation as one in which they need to be critical of discrimination

15. 3. As a result of the latter tolerance, the recipient of the humour is inadvertently reinforcing their personal tolerance of discrimination toward members of the disparaged group • 4. These reactions to disparagement humour reinforce social perceptions of normative and personal tolerance of discrimination. Funny? Racist?

16. What strategies do we recommend (praxis)?

17. Strategies 1. Critical Personal Reflections • What are our own subject positions? How do they impact upon our students? • Remember times when we may have felt similarly excluded and/or misjudged. Ramsey, Patricia. (2004). Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World. New York: Teachers College Press.

18. More Strategies 2. Group Discussions: • It is necessary to both hear and understand each other’s point of view • It is recommended to engage a trained facilitator Ramsey, Patricia. (2004). Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World. New York: Teachers College Press.

19. What Would Karen Mock Do? • Treat every such instance as serious! • For instance, ask the student what you possibly did or said to make them feel that way.

20. More Strategies 3. We must not get angry at seemingly-unprovoked hostility 4. We must become researchers of our students Kincheloe, Joe L. (2007). Teaching City Kids : Understanding and Appreciating Them. New York : Peter Lang.

21. What is going on at home? • Verbal & non-verbal language • Sense of pride in their background • Discuss feelings, emotions, prejudices • Nurture self-esteem • Racism as a crutch • Zero tolerance about racist behaviour

22. Strategies • Race relations experts at parent-teacher conferences • Increasing phone calls to parents • Encourage parents to play a greater role in their children’s education

23. What do I need to do? • Self-reflect • How do I interact with this student? • Is my interaction with this student negative or positive? • Is this a discussion for the individual or the whole class?

24. What do I need to do? • What resources will assist me to address this topic? • What is the problem: • Lack of awareness? Need for attention? • How can I bring awareness to my students?

25. Strategies • Discuss historical racism: • What happened? • How did it affect people? • Have them read a story that discusses racism. • Discuss the story. • What are the common themes? • Have them write a response to the story.

26. Strategies • The purpose is to: • Create awareness • Understand racism • Use of particular terms and humour may trivialize the activist work that came before Finney, Cherian. "Really teaching social justice." Orbit 31.4 (2001): 54-64

27. Conclusion • Forum Theatre = great way to see new perspectives • Different definitions for racism exist and it can be helpful in identifying a problem and working out a solution • Racial humour makes this type of behaviour more acceptable and can raise the amount of incidents that occur

28. Conclusion • Critical reflections, group discussions and constant research of our students can help diminish racial insensitivity in the classroom • Understanding factors at home and communication with parents can reveal key insights into the origins of students’ misunderstandings. • Historical contexts and literature can create awareness and a better understanding of racism.

29. References Images • http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/sss/equity-diversity/assets/images/student-equity/div6.gif • http://images.politico.com/global/chappelle.jpg • http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~ccalabro/theory_practice.jpg • http://traditionalpatriot.info/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/magnifying-glass.gif • http://www.empcp.org/SpecialNeeds/Change%20Images/PERSON_2_THOUGHT_BUBBLES.GIF • http://www.recoilmag.com/news/grfx/teens_too_lazy_0807.jpg • http://mozziestar.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/self_reflection_pic.jpg • http://www.philipgraves.net/images/group%20discussion.JPG • http://conservativedigest.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/racist1.jpg • http://stuffblackpeoplehate.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/racism.jpg Information • Finney, Cherian. "Really teaching social justice." Orbit 31.4 (2001): 54-64 • Kincheloe, Joe L. (2007). Teaching City Kids : Understanding and Appreciating Them. New York : Peter Lang. • Ramsey, Patricia. (2004). Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World. New York: Teachers College Press • Ford, T.E., & Ferguson, M.A. (2004). Social consequences of disparagement humor: a prejudiced norm theory. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(1), 79-94. • Blum, L. 2004. Racism: What it is, and what it isn’t. Studies in Philosophy and Education. 21(3), 203-218. • Mentor, D. (2000). Racism in our schools: what to know about it; how to fight it.. Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Retrieved from http://www.crr.ca/divers-files/en/pub/faSh/ePubFaShRacScho.pdf