Teaching Tolerance

IMPLICIT TEST RESPONSE

The test that I took was the Implicit Test in Religion

Before beginning the test, I was asked about my race, religion and the area in which I was born and where I lived.

One of the things that I noticed about the test was that it was testing my responses to my own religion and to another religion. Then I was asked to categorize certain words that were either related to Christianity, Judaism, good and bad. I was to categorize them using the I and E keys on the keyboard. I felt a bit uncomfortable with the test because it had me categorize both the Christianity and bad terms together and the Judaism and good terms together. Later it had me categorize the Christianity and the good terms together and the Judaism and bad terms together. It was altogether an interesting test and I realized how uncomfortable I felt when I was asked to categorize my religion with words that were bad, making it seem as if they were related. This has made me realize the ways in which my fellow peers and my future students might feel if their religion or part of their identity was categorized as bad. This is something that I have always been aware of but I can easily offend others if I do not watch how I speak and how I act around them.

ARTICLE #2: Response "Classroom Culture: How Stereotypes Undermine Test Scores"

Direct Quote: "Negative stereotypes about intelligence or aptitude among people of color is particularly dangerous in our society, because the stereotypes are widely known and intelligence is so universally valued. Unfortunately, our research also has shown mere awareness of such stereotypes is enough to manifest the threat in students; one does not have to believe they are true."

The article mainly discusses how stereotypes affect test scores in the classroom. An excellent example that is used in the text is, "Consider a Latino student called upon in class to answer a complex question. While the student may or may not know the answer, when you add on the stereotype that "Latino intellect" is inferior, the student may perform less well than she otherwise would." This mainly relates to us as educators because we are the most influential person in our classrooms, meaning that we have the power to establish the mood of the class and that directly affects our students. If our students feel that they are inferior or considered to be inferior, by their peers or by us as teachers, they will not perform as well as they could. Students are only as capable and intelligent as they think they are, and what they think of themselves is a reflection of what we as teachers think of them. Students need to be constantly reminded of how capable they are and how much we believe in them. They need to be reminded that it does not matter where they come from, they can be better every day, and they may not all be in the same academic level, but as long as they are constanly improving. Individual progress is what we aim for as educators and that depends on each child individually.