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.