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The Jigsaw ClassroomThe Jigsaw Classroom

Positive Personal Contact

With Others from Different

Cultural BackgroundPerspective Taking

Critical Thinking and Emotional Intelligence

Reducing Bias

Increasing Tolerance

The School and Community as A Team

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The Jigsaw ClassroomThe Jigsaw Classroom

Elliot Aronson, University of Texas, Austin.

Having students from different cultural

background coorperate by doing differentparts of a project to reach common goal.

(1986)

Creating a super ordinate goal or common

task for students.

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Positive Personal Contact

With Others from Different Cultural Background

Relations improve when students

talk to each other about theirpersonal problems.

Sharing personal informations

can help break down in-group /

out-group and we/they barriers.

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Perspective Taking

Exercises and activities can help students

see other students

perspectives can improve interethnicrelations.

Studying people from different parts of the

world also encourages students tounderstand different perspectives

( Mazurek, Winzer, and Majorek 2000)

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Critical Thinking and Emotional Intelligence

Students who learn to think deeply and criticallyabout interethnic relations are likely to decrease

their prejudice and stereotyping others. Students

who think in narrow ways are often prejudiced. Think about issues rather than respond

automatically, and delay judgment until more

complete information is available, they become

less prejudiced.

Emotional intelligent mean having emotional

self-awareness, managing your emotions, reading

emotions, and handling relationships.

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Reducing Bias

Louise Derman-Sparks and the Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force (1989)

created a number of tools to help young children reduce, handle, or

even eliminate their biases.

Some antibias strategies recommended :

Display images of children from a variety of ethnic and cultural groups .

Select book for students that also reflect this diversity.

Choose play materials and activities that encourage ethnic and cultural

understanding. Use dramatic play to illustrate no stereotypic roles and

families from diverse backgrounds.

Talk with students about stereotyping and discriminating againstothers. Make it a firm rule that no child is allowed to be teased or

excluded because of their ethnicity or race.

Engage parents in discussions of how children develop prejudice, and

inform parents about your efforts to reduce ethnic bias in your

classroom.

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Increasing Tolerance

Using Teaching and Tolerance Project ;

providing resources and materials to

improve intercultural understanding andrelationships among student who are from

different cultural background.

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The School and Community as A Team

Yale psychiatrist James Comer (1988, 2004, 2006)

stresses that community team approach is the best

way to educate children.

Three important aspects :

A governance and management team that develops

a comprehensive school plan, assessment strategy,

and staff development program.

A mental health or school support team.

A parents program.