Section 3 : Perceptions
Activity 3.2: Do stereotypes matter?
Why are some stereotypes interpreted negatively and others positively?
Read this extract about how culture can affect our perceptions.
[We] questioned whether what really concerned us was stereotypes or prejudice. Stereotypes, as oversimplified, standardised images, are formed as a result of a whole variety of direct and indirect, or mediated, experiences. However our main concern … was what causes stereotypes to be interpreted positively or negatively and a key factor identified was culture. For example, if this cultural lens is added to our understanding that prejudice is based on insufficient knowledge or inaccurate stereotypes, it can be seen that simply providing children with access to more/accurate information may not necessarily lead to the breaking down of negative attitudes.
Fran Martin, ‘North South Linking as a Controversial Issue’ 16, Further reading.
Additional activities
With colleagues, select a country (or countries) that you are interested in partnering with. Quickly note down everything you associate with the country you have selected and its peoples.
Discuss:
How balanced our perceptions are – are any of these likely to lead to feelings of superiority or inferiority?
What learners’ perceptions are likely to be
If work needs to be done on challenging perception before embarking on a partnership.
Do some activities with learners to explore their perceptions of people and places.
Go to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (England). This activity asks learners to think about how they would represent their own area and what they would like to know about the area of their partner school.
Go to Oxfam Education (Lesson 3: Where is this place?). This activity helps develop learners’ abilities to critically assess written materials.
Go to Exploring Africa: Teachers where you will find an activity (Five Quick Words) which aims to identify learners’ ideas about Africa. Adapt this for another part of the world if appropriate and use with your students.
Go to Oxfam Education for advice about using photographs in the classroom.
Use these websites to find out more about perceptions.
Go to the ERIC Digests website to read an article about the affect of stereotypes on the child’s sense of their own uniqueness and culture.
Go to the Exploring Africa: Teachers website to read about how Africa is represented and misrepresented and what images students consequently hold.
Go to the Frank W. Baker website to read a short article about media literacy.
What have you discovered about perceptions?