Eliot Aronson's Theory Of Diversity In The Classroom

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Register to read the introduction… Many of these responses are in direct correlation with the implemented policies and procedures within the educational environment. With each race, there are many stereotypical behaviors which are associated with a person of color, or a different background than that of the educator. These behaviors can be identified by how an individual walks, talks, or even interacts with his fellow students. The question that plagues this writer is simply “can this be achieved?” Eliot Aronson, a prominent social psychologist, thought that it was more important to prevent ethnic hostility than to control it. He stressed that the reward structure of the classrooms needed to be changed from a setting of unequal competition to cooperation among equals, without making any curriculum changes. To accomplish this, he recommended that each student, in a small, ethnically mixed group, be assigned to a specific aspects of the learning environment, thus allowing individual strengths be fortified (Aronson, 1986). In researching Aronson’s theory on diversity, this can be readily made available within the classrooms today, even within the institution where this writer is an educator. …show more content…
Nieto and Bode (2008) charge the educator with the responsibility of “becoming a multicultural teacher”, which means “first becoming a multicultural person” (Nieto & Bode, 2008, pp. 424-425). Mentors or preceptors must continue to educate themselves in the forever changing social and cultural environment, confront any biased or racist opinions, as well as obtaining and assuming the ability to see reality from a variety of

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