¶ … diversity of the society in the educational settings is extremely important since it helps in opening up the minds of the students and encourages them to engage actively in their learning processes. According to the research, prejudice and bias is combatted in the educational environments when empathy development, critical thinking and the development of positive self-esteem among students is encouraged (Vandenbroeck, 2007).
In this paper, we shall begin with the brief explanation of the aspects that we shall be looking with respect to the anti-bias approach towards the curriculum of social studies for the students of Grade III. Towards the end of the paper a checklist will also be provided for the school to figure out where they stand and what needs to be changed about their curriculum.
Criteria for Adopting an Anti-Bias Approach
In order to raise the issues of bias and diversity successfully in the classroom, the following criteria should be kept in mind by the teachers while they are developing the curriculum as well as when they are teaching in the classroom.
Self-Exploration
The content included in the book should be able to examine the cultural assumptions and biases that are personal. Personal perceptions should be explored by the teachers and they should understand the situations through the development of the awareness of what is known as the persona cultural "filters."
Comprehensive Integration
The content of the social studies curriculum and the teaching practices of the concerned teachers should reflect the integration of perspectives and information that is culturally diverse. The teachers should move beyond the restrictions of a cultural history month through the incorporation of various perspectives into all dimensions of the curriculum.
Time and Maturation
The teachers need to allow some time lapse for the development of the process. Less complex topics with respect to diversity should be introduced first in the books as well as by the teachers. This is going to help establish trust among the students. Discussions should begin with the development of ground rules that invite students for taking part in honest discussion with due respect. The teachers should be able to recognize that the history of confrontation between people of different groups do have a potential to affect the classroom environment and learning.
Accepting Environment
The environment of the classrooms should be such that they allow for mistakes. Since many people have unintentionally gotten involved in stereotypical and prejudicial thinking, teachers should be aware that some acts of certain students can hurt others. The teachers should be fully aware of the fact that such intolerant thinking can surface at any time. The entire responsibility comes to the teachers in this situation, as they have to act like a model, which is non-defensive to what some students might have to say about other cultural groups. The assumption of good will develop a positive environment in the classroom.
Intervention
Teachers should be prepared to give appropriate responses in the wake of acts of bias. Students closely observe how teachers intervene in certain situations regarding hate-based or discriminatory behavior. If the teachers remain silent, it will give an impression to the students that it is not a big deal to call out names to others. Students should be warned about not calling names to the students and their families.
Life-long Learning
Teachers should keep an eye on anti-bias education problems and have a discussion with the students. Articles from magazines and newspapers should be posted in the classroom and some significant ones should be made a part of the curriculum. The teachers need to allow the students to be aware of the fact that they are learners and therefore are a part of the entire learning process.
Discovery Learning
Teachers should avoid preaching the students about the rights and wrongs of life. Rather, they should provide the students with opportunities through the curriculum and their teaching practices to solve problems, resolve conflicts and work in culturally diverse teams so they can think critically (Lin, Lake & Rice, 2008).
Life Experiences
Students should be encouraged to share their life experiences in the class. Literature should be used to as to develop empathy among the students. However, the discussion of the sufferings should be minimized as it cannot be fruitful.
Resources Review
The materials being used in the classroom included the books and bulletin boards should be constantly reviewed so as to make sure that every cultural group has a fair representation. Videos and supplemental books should not contain any societal prejudice. If such examples are stated in the books, they should be pointed out and the students should be asked to think critically over it (New & Cochran, 2007).
Examine the Classroom Environment
Teachers have to make sure that the students are not developing any prejudicial and stereotypical thinking. Students should be encouraged to interact with their fellows from all cultural groups.
Well-Designed Curriculum Materials
In this part of the paper, we shall bring into limelight three of the most well-designed curriculum materials that can help the teachers adopt an anti-bias approach. These materials are being provided by the organization known as Teaching for Change. This organization is working day in and day out for the development of anti-bias education.
The goals of anti-bias education are achieved by this organization through the publication of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. The organization has also published two DVDs; each one is a 26 minute long documentary film pertaining to how teachers can play their role in literacy and equity. Anti-Bias Curriculum, and Equity in Early Childhood Literacy are two curriculum materials that can be used (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
The third well-designed materials are the free downloadable PDF articles in English as well as in Spanish so that students can read these and develop non-stereotypical thinking towards issues of diversity. These articles can also be very helpful for the teachers, as they can discuss some of the diversity problems with the students in such a way that students can learn to solve them critically.
Curriculum Materials that can be improvised
The first curriculum material that can be improvised is the bulletin board inside the classroom. The teachers should not paste clippings of the newspaper that are about problems of diversity, but should also elaborate on the positive events that have depicted intercultural association.
The most important curriculum material that needs to be improved is the course books. This does not imply that the books that are being studied by the students in the class contain content that is totally not worth teaching, but every now and then there are some discriminatory paragraphs found in the course books. The curriculum coordinators as well as the teachers have to be especially vigilant in this regard.
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