Education and Race Relations; 17; Techniques In Human Relations Education. [Part 2 of 2]

No. No no. No no. No. No. No no no no. No. Now. We return again to a consideration of special techniques and materials that can be used in teaching human relations. Dr jean Grimes of the University of Maryland will expand on the ideas expressed. And talk about some of the questions raised in our last session. Dr. Gibson what. Were the underlying major points today that this last discussion. Well as you remember the discussion and response to Dr. Graham's first presentation that dealt with the use of pictures and other devices to serve as sort of hot stove in the classroom to trigger off discussion. We talked about the kinds of responses that students might get and the uses to which these responses when I do put there was a good deal of interest and some confusion to

understand that one of the issues was whether intergroup relations and human relations were or were not the same thing. That did seem to be an underlying thing and it was an implicit. We just yes that's around this thing that we're probably should look at exploring Yes. Can you really distinguish between human relations education and intergroup education. Yes and No. One of the basic assumptions I started out west in our first session. Number three if I remember correctly in fact I looked up. The syllabus myself and it is number three is that human relations education whatever you want to call it. Is useful. But the articulate transfer has to be made to our current problem of better intergroup relations and specifically. Indeed better understanding and acceptance by

persons of all ethnic religious and racial groups. I realize that the Invesco definition of race is always presented with apostrophes because race is not an accurate anthropological term is a folk term we'd have to deal with however. So with your indulgence I shall use race but I do want to understood that I use it in terms of ethnic differences and cultural differences since it seems rather clearly established that there are no distinct races of mankind as such. Only interesting variations on the basic human theme. Let's see then how racial differences can be a part of children's experiences. We can perhaps help them articulate in their stand that I should read a short story which I wrote which is open ended. In other words the end is left for the teacher. To working with the students in her class to see what they think is an appropriate answer. It is a story designed for second grade children. We have some pictures to go along

with the story. The pictures are an artist's interpretation of the story they're not yet in the book. I have a new jump rope said Carol. Look at me. Jump. Alice said. Oh Carol your jump rope is so nice May I jump with it. No said Carol this is my jump rope. I will jump with it. Oh Carol said Alice that is not nice. I do not have a jump rope. I want to jump too. Bobby said. Carol will you play ball with me. Alice said. If you play ball may I jump rope Carol. You cannot play ball jump rope too. No no said Carol. Oh Carol said Alice you are not nice at all. Miss Clark. Said I was. Carol has a new jumper. I asked her to let me have it but she will not let

me. Now Carol and Bobby are playing catch. I do not think Carol is nice. That is a problem OOA said Miss Clark. What can we do. Boys and girls we have a problem said Miss Clark. Carol has a new jumper. Alice does not have a jump rope. Here I was playing ball with Bobby. She could not play ball and jump rope too. But Carol would not let Alice play with a jump rope. Well I think Carol is right said Tommy. It's her jump rope. I do not think Carol is right said Danny. But what can she do. Well if you were a teacher of second grade what would you do. Well just read the story to your children and then where do you go from there. I'm going to I must defer to my colleague Dr. Gibson I think he's much more of an authority would jump ropes he's had more experience with them.

Well some of us a little more athletically inclined Dr. Versailles but I must say that it might provide an opportunity Dr. Graham for some role playing within the framework of the class itself that here is a story that might be used to for students and to assign students to various roles Carol and Alice and Bobby and Tommy and that sort of act this out and maybe the teacher could suggest some alternatives that might might be used. Other students might be brought in. And I think that it is again one of these hot stoves that can serve as a springboard in the classroom for the kinds of relations that kids have among us might reverse the roles too I think might be a little affective if we reverse the roles. I think we have a nigger youngster and a white youngster with and without that what difference will it make. They were different. The races of the children lived well as I saw the story I didn't think about the differences races at all it seems to me these are highly diverse you know Dr. Dobson Well he's a well I obviously

perceive that they were different races but the kind of arguments they had are natural arguments among kids and the didn't seem to me that race entered at all. Could it couldn't could it. It is interesting how you can get a grown man to tell the pro. Or at least try. Open ended stories such as this. The one I just read in which we were just discussing as a way in which teachers use to help children. Learn and think and understand are readily available. In your syllabus there are several sources of such stories. You can write your own. Your students can write them. They can be constructed from the day to day experiences in the playground in the neighborhood and the place. The ways in which children in the stories tell us. So much what they feel why they feel as they do. One of the areas of a new group understanding they may need help with. You see all of these techniques

those we're looking at now and those we considered last time are both instructive and diagnostic. They're helpful in guiding children toward insights that are significant for them. And they tell a teacher who has ears to hear and eyes to see what it is the children need more help in experiencing. That is. What pops goes we need to. Get more of. Let us move on however. To something which gets at a rather deeper layer of understanding. We talk about reading. How good are we at reading human emotions. Let's see this bit of fail. Which may be familiar to some of you but without the sound. What do you think is going on here. What does the teacher say. Why is her comment such as to produce the children's behavior. Director

gives her what do you think was going on there when you say that might have. I'll defer to Dr. Berger with authority on the misbehavior against that. Let's say that there was a bit of business with the boy behind him and he's been annoying the teacher all day this is been a long day a large class. And the teacher demands a good bit of emotional blackmail perhaps. Well I think that might be the case or probably was an exchange between the two boys I was interested in the fact that in the scuffle the class seem to support the dark haired boy

band. Maybe they were opposed to the other fellow might have been a nice middle class group on the side of the teacher would you say. Well yes yes quite true the teacher looked rather mean and nasty though I must say my to provoke the situation but there are a lot of things that could have taken place here I suppose. Name calling and so on you heard their comments. What are yours. What do you think was going on. Let's see what was happening. One was learning to think and not just. There were others who contribute to being sure. It was Miss Vernon never really interested in. Frustrated and resenting her grab life and taking it out in the community. That disrupting the class. Young man if you do anything you'll drop the business. Do you understand that do you.

Yes. Yes. Yes. You're an athlete. Again it was different. Now do you think. Because this is gross. Real bad Miss cueing and perhaps leading into some fantasies that youngsters have about people have long names and difficult names. Well I think you're right and actually this is a situation you know where the teacher could have turned this around she did refer to his Polish behavior but there are so many things that if he had been a more dynamic and meaningful teacher she could talk about it.

Instead of bringing out something else that is totally meaningless and as you are quite right to slam the prejudice that she had that was a result of her own total inadequacies and disenchantment with her profession. This happens I suppose quite a bit among teachers. Well. War with one ethnic group in another. Well it certainly in a many big city school or in any cities any school I suppose you have all kinds of minority groups and I suppose that some teachers use the slang terms in the classrooms maybe consciously or unconsciously teachers to do this I suppose. Even though I'm not thinking about if they do things in their behavior that gives kids the image of the teacher favoring or being opposed to some group I remember seeing it in a classroom a set of bookends on a teacher's desk and it had a the bookends were a Mexican pianist and they were leaning over their sombreros were way fallen over their face and they were a great big bookends right there prominent on the teacher's desk one could gather that this is the teacher she is an

authoritative person and therefore one might gather that the teacher you know sort of thinks this is the way that all Mexicans or so the old stereotype and another word are shiftless. Actually just as well as our words are what speaks to children. In a high wall. Episode of episode taken from the film the high wall. When we heard the words we saw what the teacher. Was doing. With her stereotype. Of one ethnic group. And. Dr. Gibson's example which is a very good one. The teacher without saying anything was providing a sense of her stereotype of another ethnic group. So you see our words. Tell tell one thing as well as our actions. Now let us look at another way in which teachers. Can light some fires in the available stone. Here's a portion of another film. Children was hacked. Which was filmed in the Detroit schools. And which shows a roleplaying episode.

Can succeed in a poor one. Now we get a lot of things to do today a lot of things we do at our last meeting we discuss the political and economic causes of the Civil War. Today I want to spend some time on discussing slavery with you. Now I know slavery occurred many many years ago and you people were living and it is very hard for Americans today to understand how slavery felt or why it existed. Now I'm going to ask you people to be actresses and actors and see if we can go back a hundred years from today and recreate a flavor you see. Now I would like to have you show me how it felt. To be a slave how it felt to buy slaves and feed us. See if we can show the class what a slave auction looked like. What were the emotions of the people involved in this situation. Now do we have a lot of great actresses and actors in here. Right here if you'd like to be in the thing. Ok good now I'm going to pick some people for

this and I want you to come out the room OK. OK you step up there right. Anyone else want to volunteer for Slate for just a few minutes. Let me think. OK Vin you make a good slave anyone else no. OK you make a good play. Now I would like to be on to a master of a slave you know I like to be a man. Oh you come up with this bill. The reason the majority of us go OK you come on you know. You start selling the slave need to be to buy it and you find you don't know me man. Don't make me. You know look you know you know me. You know I'm a guy. Chicken good chicken good now. You can't really seem to enjoy the work.

They really love him and you want to. Look at nothing but bone. And that. You get a deal with me. Oh yeah. Real work because she won't do much work because she's going to get that one from my $300. Well it makes history. Who wants to be a slave. This is another way in which we do make our subject matter real to children. What we saw in this little. Piece from

children with out is role playing or social drama. Dramatic play. Spontaneous acting out of a situation. This is one of the teachers most valuable tools and one quite easily used but also one requiring great sensitivity. Prior experience and training. I'd like to show you one way of doing role playing with having to use real players. Real players can do one in. They do not always stay in role. They hammered out. As I always tend to do or they just become lumps. So most of the time role play if appropriate planned and used as we saw in the film is a very effective device and one of the best I know. For providing the kind of empathetic experiences of all kinds that we would like our children to experience. Let's try one that doesn't need people. Here are some empty chairs.

I will use these and I will fill them as best I can with some people. This chair. Is Susie. A. This is her first day. She's waiting for the bus. She's going to a new school. She's never been to the school. How do you feel when you're new. Suzy essay. Is negro. I wonder. I wonder what it'll be like. How do you. How do you think she feels. The bus comes.

The. Next stop. Susie B. Is white. And. He says hey there's a seat next to me. Susie. So. Was she. Shall I move. How do you

think they feel. Well. So we get to school. And. Me. A Yeah. School the first day I had the first day has its moments she goes up the down staircases and and doesn't know where the cafeterias and a few other little minor things but otherwise school seems pretty good. She notices that there's a girls club. Like one in her own school and she comes home. And she tells her mother and father about it. There's Debbie and there's mommy. It wasn't so bad. I. I think it's it might it might work pretty well. And you know they have a club a girls club just like we have the other school and they said they wanted everyone. Well they wanted a lot of

members. But they won me. Do you think I should. Think I should. Try to join. Debbie. Ask your mother. What will she say. How will he feel. If he. Comes home. Hey you know what. There we got a lot of new kids in our school and we got some of them are our nigger kids you know like we guy knew we were going to but that you know of. Well anyway. I saw one girl she was on our bus. And she looked at the sign for our club. You know a girls club and I'm the social chairman and we've been raising lots of money for oh you know UNICEF and all that sort of thing.

But slumber parties and dances and socials. And. If she joins daddy. Mama. Can we have can we keep on doing these things. I. Ask your mother. What would she say. Well police say we feel. Dr. Gibson Dr. Sears did you join me in my chair. Yes I think it would be very easy to write dialogue for those empty chairs. I think young students or teachers would respond but I think they could

very very easily it was a social drama. You have an empty chair is there. You want to sort of sit in those chairs and answer those questions. There are the kinds of questions. I'm just edging to answer because I have feelings about these kinds of things the children opposer the parents would respond to. Yes I think would be going to school in the chair. That's right and but it's the empty chair that I think is exciting I think you're really putting the child there you're giving him opportunities to play different roles and that's a splendid takeoff device. How many incidents do you have in your repertoire. Let's go on. Time will be running out. But there are other incidents. Many And they are used in any number of incidents I take. Oh yes yes indeed. And the teacher could put could add. In their own imaginative what. They don't want to get back. You want to sit in the chairs this is probably the point. We want to make these are involving experiences aren't they.

They certainly are but what. What's the relationship with the subject matter. Let's look at that. We will come back to that question. Let's get to that let's get to the subject matter because this is what we teach. And many of us are teachers of many kinds of subjects and we tend to say I want to have leads to my subject. I see the problems but so what. I teach mathematics or typing or physical education or science. Or unit intergroup education can be a part of all we teach. If we can imagine how and where. As well as why in mathematics figure the percent of the world's people who are nonwhite. A very good problem in percentages. I do think they're still teaching percentages in spite of the new mess. The lesson here. How do you prepare a budget on a welfare check. Is this a mathematics problem. Oh my comics problem in suburbia

perhaps even. I think you would be interested in the article and Harpers of March of 1965. And which one woman tried to live on welfare food. Herself. It's in your syllabus something with a quandary. Our favorite field however is social studies into group education belongs here. As content. Obviously the not so obviously often to those who teach the subject. I'm sorry to have to say. That into a group concerned are conspicuous by their absence. Not only in social studies content but in our own textbooks. Let's see what we can do. We're going to make up for some of these lacks. I'm going to read it. As an example of historical example. In this American history. From a narrative produced many years ago by WPA some of

you in the audience will know what that means. Anyone who doesn't. Ask your nearest neighbor with hair as gray as mine. This excerpt is from a volume. Lay My Burden Down which is the verbatim record of interviews with the last of the slaves on the screen you will see the pictures in the volume of those who were interviewed. I will read only a small segment just to give you a sense of the drama and the feeling in content which lies in this kind of historical material which is the content we teach. This one is called. She never got to keep her babies. My mother told me that M.O. and a woman who was the mother of several children and when their babies would get about a year or two of age you'd sell them and it would break her heart. She never got to keep them. When a first baby was born it was about two months old she just started all

the time. But how she'd have to give it up and one day she said I just decided I'm not going to I don't master sell this baby you SAME going to do it. She got up and give it something out of a bottle. And pretty soon it was dead. Of course did nobody tell him her or he to beat her nearly to death. Second segment. Titled I just said it to the wrong person. One time some Yankee soldier stopped and started talking to me. They asked me what my name was I said lice and they say Lizer who I thought I'm an asher. My head just lies or I got no other name. He say move up yon in that big house I say Mr. John Mixon you say you were allies of Nixon. He say Do anybody ever call you nigger. And I said Yes sir. He said next time anybody call you nigger you tell him you was a negro and your name is Miss lines a mix and the more I thought of that the more liked it and I made up my mind to do just what he told me to do my job was mine the cow's back all accounts was being

milked when evening I was buying the calves no master came along he said. What you doing nigger I say real Peart like I known or I was a negro and I missed Eliza mix. O.M. sure was surprised he picks up a switch and start Stepney law but I was scared. I have never had no when things are run as fast as I can to Grandma Gracie I had behind her and she say it's a matter of you child I say Master John going to whip me. And she say what you done I said nothing. She say you know better about that time Mr. Dunn got there he said Gracie that's only your sass me. She say laws you child what does a oh you. I told them what the Yankee soldier soldier told me to say and gramma Gracie took my dress and looked it over my head and pinched my hands and science and laws and how she whipped me and I jest now allowed either. I just sent them to the wrong person. The authentic content of these reports. Can touch and

teach many adolescents quite a few which I did not really take a strong heart and stomach to slavery as a matter of fact. Was not good. When things we want to teach us democracy teach about democracy and understand what it is. How can we do that. Let's look at a picture which may help. Our students examine their feelings about the democratic processes as it affects their own decisions within their own groups. Let's read the Sun. There's one that says clubs have a right to choose their members. Who is being undemocratic. Another sign says fraternities and sororities must go. And then we see another sign that says. Exclusive clubs are undemocratic. Let's see what this boy over here

thinks. What kind of discussion might this evoke. Do you believe. Well there are a group of there's a group of students there they have different points of view expressed on their signs. This chapel looks on the scene might say well some of these students feel that there should be a little bit of an open society here and some I guess are going to think we have a close society and I think that he might say well this is democracy in action there are a lot of pros and cons expressed here. You might also think well maybe some of these close societies might be close to me because I am eager I suppose some of these thoughts could go through his mind but again it's a stepping stone to some further discussion I would believe. Yes I think you have enough. POSTA carrying students around these days to find a good many examples you might clip from the newspaper.

That's right they do have the right freely to assemble they have a right for leave to print or to publish or to express their views. I think this is a good takeoff on democracy and also has a dimension of intergroup relations in it because we know that many sororities and many clubs do ban people from a certain group exactly what you do how do we feel about it. There is another way in which our static content can serve to aid us in helping children understand differences. This could be World Geography or world history. These children are different they live they come from different lands what do we what do we think about people who are different. We think about their cultures. We understand the world they come from. A recent series of pamphlets has been published titled call them heroes which describes the average successes of average people but of minority groups ethnic religious racial. Readers are intended for the under motivated adolescent. So we can help to see that he can to. Learn how to live. In his world. The

stories in these booklets provide provide content for vocational study. Understanding the world of work. And other typical social studies content. They are specifically valuable because they have this extra dimension of the ethnic religious and racial aspects. That enter into the life decisions that these youngsters have to make. Language arts. Another area in which we would like to help our young people. Learn many things. We can also give them intergroup insights some of the stories we read were obviously out of language arts sources. We can do a finishing job with them in terms of composition and so forth. Let us look at another. Picture. This is another one which we find. That there are suggestions that help us think about.

How we were and how we would react. Do you see the picture says love Jim and we see some football players don't wait. Some are. Signs and things. College Alice or the girl rather obviously seems a little sad. Crying. She's writing a letter she's writing to her friends. She's saying Dear Alice. I must have your advice. Mom says I can't go with him to the junior prom because he's Spanish but I've got to go with him because. I would advice you say. That Alice should get her friend defer to Dr. Gibson.

Well I don't know it's a situation I suppose a letter writing. Approach that can be used and their responses may deal with love and romance and honor responses may deal with the fact that the football player is of a different national group and maybe it might be wise you know not to go ahead and get tied up with somebody who's different from you. The advice might be along I think it one way to soften this pressure of reacting so personally that you put yourself out front. If you're reacting honestly just perhaps to ask four or five youngsters to compose a letter. So you get out of a class four or five letters and you can approach this perhaps with the four or five. Yes I would say answers are four to five letters of advice I suppose you're saying relate to this particular situation which is a personal situation that all young people can are confronted with and yet it can be used within the framework of the classroom again to deal with inner group education this is exactly the way we have used this letter I must say Dr. Graves that I thought

Dr. Gibson handled this item very well. Well I'm a specialist of these kinds of letters not written. The price of a love life. We can have a good source. When we do use this pictures we have in many classrooms we get very interesting responses from the youngsters because they do get involved again and saying well what kind of advice should Alice. Give. Can she fool her mother. I mean can she can Alice tell her friend you know pretend you are going but you really aren't too far tell don't tell her really that you're going with Jim tell you I'm with three other people or something. It is a very provocative and very interesting procedure. It can be used as composition but that isn't the point. This isn't the spelling errors it isn't the grammar. It's the understanding. That is evoked out of a an examination of what kinds of things we see

in others. Another procedure which is supremely effective. Is that in which we let people young people themselves do research. They can for instance go out and do interviews. They can take tape recorders along with them and talk with and ask questions of persons from various ethnic racial religious groups from different socioeconomic levels. Take these tapes back play them in a classroom discuss them. Very instructive. Teams of young people may go out interviewing either with tape or with. Oral. Questionnaires. They can interview each other and other persons. What we have here are many many ways. In which we can help young people learn about. Our World.

Let us return to the basic assumptions with which we start. First we said. The children's attitudes and feelings can be changed. Second. All persons are affected by the social valuations of groups who WAS GOOD who was not so good. Which the mass culture conveys. Next learning to be nice and good in one situation with one sort of person is not necessarily transferred to other kinds of persons. Transfer must be made explicit. Learning of new attitudes new feelings occurs to the entire intellectual exploration of experience and experiences are hot stove concept. It is not enough to have hot stove to identify them think about them argue about them research them and feel them yet if necessary and get burned again. Perhaps there's been some speculation that in some areas teaching machines can do a better job than teachers.

This may be so and in fact if you were to insist we can prove it but in this area I am certain as are you that nothing can take the place of the sensitive aware and concerned human acceptance and understanding is caulked as well as talk and what we do speaks as loud as our words. If not louder. But we must articulate our message. We must help children the intellectual task of understanding their experiences. And then we will help them grow. And learn. Well Dr. Graham has certainly left us with a lot of new ideas and I think you suggest Dr. Grange that the classroom today need not be a place of boredom. Well she certainly has proven that with many suggestions she's given us here and I was particularly interested in the way you propose that a lot of these instructional approaches and teaching about intergroup relations be woven in with the social studies and with the

literature and they in the whole curriculum you know this civil war roleplaying thing about slavery this the Civil War was taught in grade 5 and 8 and 11 usually. And here's a perfect opportunity to make slavery for say fifth grade or something really much more meaningful even more exciting I think is your reference to primary sources. Is it your notion that it would be the youngsters of the teachers all both who that might ferret out. The rich. Primary data. I would say both. I would say the children the older ones certainly can find primary source material and for the younger ones a teacher can bring it in them bring it in herself and this primary data may be from historical documents or maybe from people as well. Interesting for me. Action Research. Do you want to say a word about that we have so little time. Yes one thing we can do with the youngsters can actually perform some kind of

research themselves. Or the teacher can help them through researching their own attitudes the ways in which this can be done are by having the their own experiences identified diagnosed and whatever questions they ask are fed back to them and they say why why why did we feel this way why did we act this way. You are really liven up the classroom considerably aren't you. And this is what our creative teachers do now. And this is what the creative teacher wants to be able that's right you said that human relations can be caught as well as taught and I think that is something that is really quite meaningful because earlier you said that a teacher who uses her eyes and uses her ears can be perceptive and can use the classroom itself as a laboratory for learning and intergroup relations and I think that's one of the key things you brought to us and this is where we're going to have to help Fortunately on occasion again to discuss this with our panel of teachers at the annex. I was I should certainly be interested in it and they react Yes.

And I think again as you say it's not enough to have a hot stove. You would perhaps not have something cooking on it. Well you certainly give us a great deal to cook. Dr. grams and I think that there are so many leads and putting this to work. I think we will need to do a little theoretical searching to check out some of the basic assumptions that you've made. We appreciate very much all of your suggestions. Thanks. Man I am. Now. More. Than.

What. I am.