IT IS EASY TO CALL THEM STUPIDS

As the word itself state, pre-judice is “a preconceived judgment or opinion” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). So, the judgment is made before collecting enough information about the object which is going to be judged. We can observe an unambiguous example of prejudice in this article about Katrina survivors (Stephens, Hamedani, Markus, Bergsieker, & Eloul, 2009). Observers, leavers, and, showing a lower intensity, relief workers are biased by their own disjoint model of agency, causing difficulties to understand the point of view of people who do not acted according to this agency model. Consequently, their judgement is made without gathering enough information about the other’s point of view, which generates prejudging.

This is why, personally, I decided to live according to the principle of trying not to judge before knowing. Even, realizing the practically impossibility of achievement of this goal, as the implicit-association test shows (“Implicit-association test,” 2014). But, as a philosophy of life or as a moral value, attempts of, at least, trying to know, and to understand the other’s point of view is completely fundamental. Following this effort of gathering knowledge and sympathising with the dissimilar, a more accurate valuation might be done. Furthermore, in case we would find it necessary, once we have known the reality of the external perspective, we may make more efficient interventions.

According to the previous, my reflection question would be presented as follows:  What would be the best measures to evacuate population that are not based on a disjoint model of agency from risks areas? From my point of view, answering this question should be done after a deep analysis of the situation and the reasons why these people do not follow a disjoint agency model. For instance, due to the higher value in interdependence, and the lack of a big income, and, in half of the cases, a car, I would consider a good measure the promotion of cheap train tickets for larges groups of middle class workers.

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in a broader argumentation of my ideas, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be

References

       Implicit-association test. (2014, March 30). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Implicit-association_test&oldid=595461075

      

       Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Prejudice. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice

     

       Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B., & Eloul, L. (2009). Why did they “choose” to stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina observers and survivors. Psychological Science, 20(7), 878–886.

FORCING CHANGE

Past week, speaking about inclusive environments and how we can modify the stereotype threat in a social group to avoid the underperformance of that group, I share a controversial wondering with my classmates in order to get some feedback and provoke some intellectual debate about the issue. My proposal was whether government intervention favouring minorities would be beneficial or not. My arguments were based on the idea that creating a balance in the number of females and males in the gender-biased degrees will eliminate the stereotype on the long term. I suppose that facilitating the inclusion of minorities in the stereotyped area these minorities will not be stereotyped anymore after some generations, and consequently, there will not be any stereotype relating with gender-bias degrees. So to speak, economical helps from the government for women that want to study maths or other engineer degrees (male’s-biased degrees), or economical help to men studying childhood teaching. Once the stereotype has been erased and there is no stereotype anymore, the economical help will not be necessary.

Reading the text about the fraternities in the U.S. Campus (Sidanius, Van Laar, Levin, & Sinclair, 2004), I detected some similarities between the gender-biased degrees and these associations of students. I was questioning myself whether the intervention of the governmental institution, in this case the university, would be beneficial or not to promote the equality in the campus and whether this intervention would finish with the stereotype. Forcing fraternities to have a minimal percentage of students from minorities within their fraternities will promote the contact between majority and minority. This contact would suppose the end of segregation and stop the perpetuation of stereotypes (cite required). I guess that these ideas might sound drastic in heavy liberal–capitalist minds. Is quite probable that these governmental intervention proposals will not success because their, pretty obvious, link with communism. But, when knowledge has been proved and a scientific and rigorous support exists, from my point of view, some measures should be applied in order to promote the equality and avoid segregation.

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in a broader argumentation of my ideas, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be

References

      Sidanius, J., Van Laar, C., Levin, S., & Sinclair, S. (2004). Ethnic Enclaves and the Dynamics of Social Identity on the College Campus: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 96–110. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.96

SPANISH PEOPLE SPEAKING IN ENGLISH

It is interesting to observe the huge power of stereotype threat. As we can see in the chapters (Steele, 2010), the stereotype is not discriminative. It may affect any person at any different situation in which a certain stereotype is activated.

So, what pop up in my mind are the validity and the fairness of the educative system. Are the exams and tasks being made in a correct and impartial way? The author says that, in chapter nine, he will offer some possibilities to reduce the impact of the stereotype threat on the performance of stereotyped students, so I suppose I should read the chapter before critique. But, in any case, I will question my wonder since it affects me directly.

Supposing that Spanish student are stereotyped with the negative image about their poor linguistics skills in English language, is it possible that this belief affects negatively the performance of the Spaniards during their exams or presentation in an English-speaking educative environment? If this actually happens, how could it be avoided?

My two next questions are focused on the validity of some tasks in the educative environment. One is seen from a general point of view and the other from an individual student perception. Firstly, the question relating to the educative system should be pose using broader terms. What is the validity of the tasks which may be affecting the performance of some stereotyped groups depending on how they are presented? Secondly, a similar question, viewed from an individual perspective, is based in the supposition that there are students who have the belief that they are not good at specific subjects or they lack specific skills, we can wonder whether an individualized stereotype can provoke a prolonged low performance in a student who beliefs he is not good at specific subjects. To finish with, and, relating to the two previous questions, a theoretical question would be delivered like this: Are the stereotypes just social images sustained by social groups or a self-negative perception created by an individual stereotype can be developed as well?

References

     Steele, C. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: and other clues to how stereotypes affect us. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

JIGSAW CLASSROOMS

I consider myself as a hard believer in the value of education. As the authors of the article show, (Phalet, Baysu, & Van Acker, 2013) schools are a powerful mechanism to socialize individuals and introduce them within the society dynamics. They stressed the role of the perceptions of the experiences within the school and how these affect to the development of prejudices and identity threats in the short and the long run. The atmosphere of the school is a crucial factor for the children of immigrant minorities. The authors show the difference between “identity safe” and “identity threatening”, and the effect of this difference in the future of these kids and the crystallization of the society.

So if we support the power of education to maintain society as it is. We can support that society can be used as a way of change (cite required) Reading about the topics of discrimination, identities and schools what pops up in my mind are the Jigsaw Classroom designed by the social psychologist Elliot Aronson in 1971 (Aronson & et al, 1978) The jigsaw classroom are an application of the interdependence ideas in the primary school environment. Aronson, facing the problem of interculturalism in American Schools, proposed the creation of work teams where each student had to look for an indispensable part of the information to make a task about one specific topic. (“Jigsaw (teaching technique),” 2014) All the information was as relevant as necessary for the success of the team. Afterwards the students exposed their outcome to the class. The processes as well as the content were evaluated. That way the students have opportunities to approach and interact with each other and had positive perceptions about the experience. The possibilities of negative perceptions of the experiences were reduced due to the interdependence among the students. Students were focus on how well the performance of a team member was without regarding about where were they from or how they looked like. Aronson showed that the application of this teaching technique has positive results on the students reflected on better performance, a vibe of inclusion and respect in the classrooms, and multiculturalism acceptance from all the students.

So, my discussion question would be like:

Hoy the implantation of Jigsaw classrooms would affect the prejudices/stereotypes threats/stereotype perception of cultural minority of immigrants in Europe? Does the Jigsaw classroom affect majority? Are jigsaw classroom applicable in Europe?

If I had to positioned, I would say that I think this approach to the problem of multiculturalism is really beneficent for the children of immigrant minorities in the European schools. Offering the possibility to have positive experiences in an inclusive and interdependent atmosphere, and approaching to each other children, who have not developed strong prejudices already are, form my point of view, the two key points that could hinder the growth of stereotypes in future generations.

Greetings

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in a broader argumentation of my ideas, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be

References

      Aronson, E., & et al. (1978). The jigsaw classroom. Oxford,  England: Sage.

      Jigsaw (teaching technique). (2014, March 13). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from

      http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jigsaw_(teaching_technique)&oldid=599399765

      Phalet, K., Baysu, G., & Van Acker, K. (2013). Ethnicity and migration in Europe.

NAMING

Some days ago, I had the strange idea bout the possibility of using the names of people and places in its mother language abroad the world. Consequently, Spain would be España in any language (not a substantial change, at least in English); but Thailand would be ประเทศไทย /pratheidthai/ in any language (perhaps a little bit more substantial, at least in English).  It is funny to imagine my surprise when I realize I had to read a text about multiculturalism and minority rights. Any case, I spent some social moments of the previous week trying to carry out my idea. I asked to people from different nationalities how the name of his or her country was pronounced in its mother tongue, and also, showing respect, how his or her own name was pronounced in his or her mother tongue.

Due to culture and language are intrinsically linked (cite required), I find obvious that people whose language and culture is being valued, will feel their own identity being valued. I based this assumption in the Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) which collects the language as an element of the identity perception.

So that, my discussion question are like follow: Do the using of names of people and places in their original mother tongues have any effect in how people perceive minorities? Does this practice help multiculturalism?

I have developed a series of argument to base my posture, which is positive for both questions. My first argument is based on the intrinsic approach this practice provokes towards a wide range of cultures. Trough this small act, people is showing a huge respect for the conservation of the others’ culture and language. The merely fact of approach, linked with its inherent respect for the other, avoids some of the negative perceptions people have about multiculturalism as it shown in Verkuyten (2006). The insecurity and threatening feeling majority have towards minorities is lessened when the former group contacts directly with the latter. I consider substantial this insignificant approach towards the foreign culture, to hinder the evolution of some biases and fears that can be originated by segregation of cultures. Besides, showing this respect is a feasible proof of the effort from the population to include the practices and the culture of minorities in a, day by day, more globalized world. This inclusion must not be confounded with the process of assimilation; due to the identity of the minority is preserved and protected against extinction.

Secondly, this practice may provoke an enrichment of the speaker’s culture and language. Most of the times, the difficulties and limits to learn foreign languages are based in the lack of abilities to articulate determinate phonetic sounds. Thus, a small effort may provoke an amazing expanding in the communicative possibilities of the speakers. Another advantage is that, due to this approach, people could choose the language they want to learn basing their choice in criteria like the sonority of the language or its pronunciation.

From the point of view of cultural enrichment, as we had pointed at the beginning of the reflection, the language and the culture are intrinsically linked. This connection allows us to reaffirm our posture about the approach to a foreign language, which will provoke an approach to the culture. This approach to an external culture may cause the reduction of racist attitudes, observing the idea that most of the racist attitudes and stereotypes are based on wrong beliefs and ignorance. (Cite required).

World would evolve to a more tolerant and fair place just supporting the idea of approach different cultures. Tiny gestures as it is the pronunciation of names of people and places in the mother tongue could make a huge step in the way towards egalitarianism.

Greetings

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in a broader argumentation of my ideas, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be

References

     Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33 – 47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

       Verkuyten, M. (2006). Multicultural recognition and ethnic minority rights: A social identity perspective. European Review of Social Psychology, 17(1), 148–184. doi:10.1080/10463280600937418

STEREOTYPE THREAT

First of all, I would like to congratulate to the authors of the book (Whistling Vivaldi (Steele, 2010)) this well written and exhaustive analysis of the issues related to stereotypes. These characteristics of the text have made really difficult the task of finding a sustained critic or weak points along the text. It was surprising that most of my wonderings were solved as I was advancing in the reading of the text.

Related with the questions, I would like to connect the ideas about underperformance with the role of the women in the atmosphere of art and intellectuals, in particular in the writer’s environment. Along the history, women have had a minor role as a writers and their access to the knowledge and the written culture has not been feasible until the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century (cite required). Because of this reason, the possibility of the creation of a stereotype, related with the intellectual capabilities of women, is considerable.  A possible stereotype generated by the previous situation is the idea that women are less interested intellectually and less skilled in writing process than men. We can observe this stereotype nowadays if we observe the number of female writers awarded with one determined prize compare to the numbers of males writers awarded with the same prize (cite required). Also, we can observe gender differences if we look at the total number of writers in one determined country (cite required).

So now, my questions would be as it follows: Does a stereotype exists related to women writing skills? Is this stereotype, if it exists, causing a stereotype threat process which provoke underperformance in women’s writings? These questions have a special interest, due to the general affirmation about the better language and communication skills of women compared to men (cite required). Even knowing that writing is a matter quite difficult to analyze and value, due to its subjectivity and the role of the judge, some objective and non-biased measures can be arranged in order to examine these questions  (cite required)

There are other questions easy to encounter when we focus on gender issues. Like for example, whether is it a relationship between the less public interventions of women during lectures in big groups, knowledge scientifically proved (cite required), with this, or others, stereotype threat. And also, whether is the choice of a specific degree and career influenced by this kind of stereotype. Encountering a positive answer about the latter question is quite probable if we refer to the knowledge explained in the text Whistling Vivaldi (Steele, 2010) and the gender differences in the numbers of student we can observe in the different degrees at universities (cite required). We can consider the importance of these issues if we stop to think about the self-reinforcing characteristic of stereotypes, which can cause a perpetuation and immobilization of the culture and the social system.

I also would like to add some personal critics and comments, but due to spatial and temporal constraints this will not be possible to do in this small essay. A brief enumeration of this critics and comments would be as it follows: methodological issues; other possible interpretation of the results of the experiments; some possible explanation of the underperformance process and how to prove them, from a physiological, motivational, and cognitive point of view; the possibility of different origins of the threat stereotype (individual or cultural origin); some reflection about international and global culture and perception; and lastly, an ethic remark about the importance of this information, focusing on the possibility to stereotype almost any human characteristic (e.g. the colour of the eyes (Elliot experiment, 1968)), and whether, actually and nowadays, is this knowledge about the relationship between underperformance and stereotypes being applied in, for example, academic contexts, guaranteeing the equality of opportunities among people. Despite all the negative statements above, I, personally, consider that human beings, as specie, are evolving on the right way to a more equal and fair society.

Greetings

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in any topic I suggested in the enumeration, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be and we will discuss more deeply and calmly any of the previous points.

References

     Steele, C. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: and other clues to how stereotypes affect us. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

  Jane Elliott. (2014, February 20). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Elliott&oldid=596352977