Eliminating Racism in the Classroom

From my perspective, I have seen and witnessed many different situations in which children were treating other children poorly just because of their race and cultural background. As I am transitioning into becoming a teacher, it's important to know how to eliminate race issues within my future classroom. When I was younger, I can remember some of my friends not letting children of another race sit with us at lunch just because of what they looked like. How is that fair? I always hated when they did that to people, if only they would imagine how they would feel if other students treated them in that manner. After doing some research, I found many different articles challenging teachers to turn the aspect of racism around. There was one website that really had a large impact on me. This website really helps people understand what racism is and how to help eliminate in within a school setting. One of the ideas that I really enjoyed reading about was forming small group activities. If a teacher forms small group activities as opposed to individual activities, students will be able to share their beliefs, experiences, and ideas on specific subject matter. When students learn about different races and cultural backgrounds, they are able to apply their everyday encounters with one another. It can really help a student learn where people come from and how their cultural are different depending on where they live. Students need to learn that no matter what race someone is, they can bring as much to the table as you and I. Also within this websites context, I found that teaching different learning techniques through multi sensory learning styles can help students. Making posters, working together in groups, performing in plays to show what racism is and how people react to it can really teach children that it not appropriate to be racist.

Also another important way to prevent racism in the classroom would be to eliminate teachers who are racist themselves. On youtube, I found a video of a male teacher who used a racial slur towards on of his students. The first step to eliminate racism in the classroom would be to get rid of teachers who help contribute to it in the classroom!!!