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TOLERANCE UNIT
ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
OVERVIEW
In an effort to increase multicultural awareness and promote an understanding of our diverse world, this mini-unit would hope to challenge the students to evaluate their perceived world and, in the process, create a new sense of reality. The ultimate goal is to eliminate potentially harmful perceptions and nurture a more tolerant viewpoint of people who are different from them. Tolerance is an essential component democracy but is often forsaken in the name of American Individualism. Tolerance on the part of each and every citizen means an attitude devoid of arrogance in relations between generations, the sexes, individuals and communities. With this unit, a summary of choice theory and the five basic needs will be taught and it will be demonstrated how they are applicable to all humans, regardless of differences in meeting those needs. Also, the unit will bring together two communities of different students and cultivate awareness.
DETAILS
Day 1 : Stereotypes
Ask students to close their eyes for a moment and imagine a lawyer, then a police officer, then a doctor, then a criminal. Ask them to raise their hands (or think about) if they saw one of the following: a female lawyer, an Asian American police officer, a Latino doctor or a white criminal. Explain that stereotypes operate so subtly that sometimes we do not even notice them. Offer a definition of stereotypes: A generalized assumption about a whole group of people based on inadequate or oversimplified facts.
Then, list the following types of people on the board and ask students to assign each a race or nationality based on stereotypes. Have them fill in details about how each type of person dresses, how they talk, where they live and what they value most in life.
- Chemistry professor
- Rap musician
- Gang member
- Bank president
- Hair stylist
- Religious fundamentalist
- Goth musician
- Militia member
Now ask the students to imagine the rap musician matching the description of the bank president, or the hair stylist fitting the description of the religious fundamentalist. Discuss why it seems easy to think in terms of stereotypes. Consider the harm done by stereotypes when they are applied to entire groups of people.
Day 2 : Introduce Choice Theory and Five Basic Needs
A. Explain why and how all organisms behave.
B. Explain that all of our behaviors are purposeful in satisfying our needs.
C. In groups of 3-4, have students discuss possible definitions for the basic needs.
- Belonging
- Power
- Freedom
- Fun
- Survival
D. Discuss as a class each group's definition and develop a definition for each need.
E. Review the list of people the class stereotyped the day before and discuss which needs each person is possibly living out.
F. Have each student evaluate and write a summary of how each need is satisfied in the student's own personal life. Be conscious of how you can identify these areas in your behavior.
Day 3
A. Have students copy the following from the board and discuss its meaning.
The Five Basic Needs are:
- innate - we are all born with them
- universal - worldwide
- general - individuals will make them specific
- overlapping - more than one can be fulfilled at one time
- conflicting - filling one need may impinge on another
B. Group sharing: Separate students into groups of 3-4 and have them share their personal summaries from Day 2 with the group. Encourage each group to compare similarities and differences in the way each student behaves to satisfy the five needs.
C. Process and synthesize information: Have each group report to class what they have learned from the process sharing their similarities and differences in behavior based on their needs. In the process, students will have self-evaluated and come to an understanding of how universal these needs are. Their peers will not seem that different and they may develop the capacity to respect others based on this awareness. This is exactly what tolerance is.
D. Explain to the class that for the remainder of the semester, each student will exchange letters with a student from another school (urban or rural depending on the one's school) that may be socioeconomically, racially and culturally different. The objective will be to create awareness through the exchange of ideas and thoughts with one another. The first assignment will require the students to create a written picture of who they are, incorporating four of the five needs in the letter.
Example:
- What do they do for fun (fun)?
- What groups, clubs, teams or church do they belong to (belongings)?
- What kind of job do they want (power)?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY
Exchange pictures but do not tell the students which picture belongs to their pen pal. They have to guess based on the information they have exchanged with each other. Their initial guess may change as they exchange future letters. Students and the teacher may want to examine why they have chosen a particular picture and what stereotypes may have affected their choice.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The participating school would ideally go through the same process of breaking down stereotypes and understanding the five basic needs. Letter topics would be agreed upon by each teacher and would be exchanged biweekly. The project could potentially tear down stereotypes and create an awareness of the different communities. Choice Theory could greatly enhance this process by creating an understanding of our basic needs and how universal those needs are. It may raise the question, "knowing my needs as a person, how can I act them out in a more tolerant way?"
CULMINATING ACTIVITY
Towards the end of the semester many possibilities exist. The participating schools could have a student exchange on a campus for a day and vice versa. The pen pals would finally have the opportunity to meet and then escort each other throughout the day. The social science classes could have a discussion on the stereotypes of each school and of the students. They could evaluate how the project changed their perceptions.
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