1 / 6

Social Constructs of Difference

EFRT 308. Social Constructs of Difference. What is a Social Construct?. It is a variable that: Influences how people both think about themselves and others and act accordingly. has historically distributed and maintained power, privilege, resources, and opportunity in a society.

nona
Download Presentation

Social Constructs of Difference

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. EFRT 308 Social Constructs of Difference

  2. What is a Social Construct? • It is a variable that: • Influences how people both think about themselves and others and act accordingly. • has historically distributed and maintained power, privilege, resources, and opportunity in a society. • changes in meaning as social, political, and economic conditions of a society change (e.g., shift in the “racial” identification of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe; poverty as deficit in character vs. result of systemic causes; sexuality as “nature” versus “nurture”; etc.) • Examples of social constructs (race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, exceptionality, ability)

  3. What is a Social Construct? • “Bodies of Knowledge” are social products that are passed on to learners from others (e.g., knowledge in your content area; What we “know” about the variables listed above) • They arise from discussion, argument/debate, public demonstration, criticism, collaboration, publication, etc. • See James Banks’ discussion of the Knowledge Construction dimension of multicultural education • Quote: Differences, marginalization, & interpretation/treatment

  4. “Why Should I Care?” • List of academic indicators: • Opportunities to Learn (Home, community, school) • Grades and GPA • Achievement Test Scores • Graduation rates • Referrals to ELL, SPED, & GAT • Sanctions (referrals to Principal, suspension, expulsion) • Health and Fitness • Access to social relationships (providing advice, support, guidance, direction, resources, etc.) • Knowledge and skills for success in college and career

  5. Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s Theory of Racial Formation • Race: A worldview which distinguished people of European descent from “others”, namely of Indigenous and African descent. • It has historically been used as a contentious marker of human difference. • “Racial” categories are not scientifically valid, but they are socially meaningful. • Ideology: Thoughts that guide individuals, groups, or social movements • Examples: Traditional beliefs about“my” racial group vs. “their” racial group; belief in innate genetic differences in racial groups; expected behavioral patterns based on one’s skin color (phenotype) • “New Darwinism” as discussed by Stephen Steinberg. • Racialization: Racial meanings attributed to a group due to economic conditions, political needs, and social relationships.

  6. Race: The Power of Illusion (Part 1) • Significance of the Film? • Race as a scientific category has no validity • Race as a social category remains steadfast in our minds. Why? • Ideologies about race and racialization shape one’s lived experiences • Correlation to the academic indicators? • See highlights of initial readings on race and education

More Related