Name: Tianling Zhu

#MVP2 Break down the stereotypes of racial identity

Nowadays, race is recognized more as a social than as a biological construct, meaning that it is not only about physical difference, it’s also closely related to our society. As it mentioned in our book “adolescents at school”, kids become aware of racial differences at a very young age and more aware of themselves as social beings as they grow up, thus it is very important to inform them the right way to view themselves and explore more about the issue of race. However, according to Steele’s research, particularly in the school settings, even teachers and educators develop stereotypes which relate racial identity to academic ability, not to mention students themselves. Under this circumstances, students easily form a wrong way to think about the race issue.

I felt so bad when I read about some adolescents realized that in our society to be black or brown means “less than”, less smart, less capable, or less attractive. It’s hard to imagine what these young people experienced and suffered during the process of realizing the “fact”. The worst thing it that they are going to view themselves in this way ever since, which will definitely harm their mental development. What makes adolescents develop this sense of inferior is the environment teachers create, in which students are labeled according to their race. Although they’re not done on purpose, for example, the grouping practices reinforce the racial separation indeed. There are several ways educators can do such as mixing students in groups and encouraging them to take extracurricular activities, nevertheless, I think these kinds of strategies can only make a difference for a short time, since the process of becoming racial cognizant starts at a very beginning and is influenced by so many factors including families, communities and schools that maybe even for teachers or educators, it’s not an easy thing to eliminate all the unfairness in terms of race, but of course, everyone has responsibility to try their best to achieve the goal of breaking down the stereotypes of race.

Question: What are some other ways that teachers can get rid of the stereotypes and give all students equal opportunities to achieve their best?