Self Fulfilling Stereotypes Analysis

With many of today’s societal issues, education is the first step to a more informed and just world. Education gives people a future when they otherwise might of had none. Education provides the platform of which one can use to reach their full potential. Education provides solutions to problems once seen as unfixable. The values of providing, receiving, and supporting education are bountiful. However, education itself cannot fix every problem, at least in its current state. In his paper, Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes, author Mark Snyder addresses certain modern stereotypes and how indulging in those stereotypes affects our behavior. Snyder argues that certain stereotypes are deeply rooted in our own character, and that experience and education …show more content…
Although public education systems are becoming more widespread, the systems in place now are far to inconsistent to implement any real change in curriculum on a national scale. The United States is still working on providing a basic education to every child, and that basic education does not include curriculum on avoiding society’s injustices. Although some schools might have values and belief systems that they attempt to enforce of students, the emphasis put on those values is not strong enough to overcome stereotypes as deeply rooted as the ones that Snyder mentions in his paper. The public education system already in place is of course, public. Therefore, such controversial topics such as racial and gender injustice would be rare to find in a public education setting. Public schools must follow specific rules to avoid biases and remain open and accepting towards all students. As for private education systems, they are allowed to teach and implement the belief system of the institutions choice. However, because they are private, there would be no way to enforce or even persuade the institution into teaching a certain curriculum. Further, there is still a substantial population of people in this country that aren’t able to attend school at all, so reaching the minds of that population is an entirely separate issue. Logistically, there are not many …show more content…
Even then, if somehow society was able to overcome decades of embedded unjust mindsets, and really implement change in the way we educate our children, it would still be years before anyone saw the true elimination of stereotyping. Whole generations would have to come and go before we could call our society stereotype free. Education really is the most powerful tool a society as a whole has access to. In terms as using that tool for eliminating stereotypes, it’s powerful in big doses, but it’s not the most effective action to take if we want to see change anytime soon. Instead of trying to put all reliance on education to change the generations of tomorrow, advocates of change should work on trying to keep aware the generations of today. Currently, we are too far from the goal of eliminating all stereotypes in society to be putting value on changing education in this country as a whole. Education is extremely valuable, but only with the right situations. Changing the entirety of America’s education system is a goal to look forward to in the future, but making a difference community by community is the most important thing society should be focusing on in regards to this