Educational Psychology Chapter 4 Handout: Individual ...



Educational Psychology Chapter 4 Handout: Group Differences

From the PowerPoint Presentation

Cultural Differences

|Individualism~ |Collectivism~ |

|Gives priority to personal goals |Gives priority to support group |

|Values include feeling good |Personal goals are subordinated |

|Personal distinction |Encourages interdependence of group members |

|Fosters independence |Supports harmonious relationships |

Reasons Low SES kids may be “at risk”~

Language Vocabulary Clothes

Transportation Chores Work

Nutrition Health Neighborhood Hazards

School facilities Teacher expectations

Field trips School supplies home environment

Stress Parental expectations, ability to help with sch.

Books/Toys Preschools single parents

Gender Bias

|Disadvantage: Boys~ |Disadvantage: Girls~ |

|-less compliant, neat, orderly |-get less attention |

|-teachers female early on |-less interaction |

|-more learning problems |-less instruction, help, time, hints |

|-criticized more |-don’t believe in their future/college success |

|-stereotyped as problems |-greater drop in self esteem |

|-lower grades, repeat grades |-see fewer career options |

Sexual Harassment

|Quid Pro Quo~ |Hostile Environment~ |

|School employee threatens to base an education decision (grades) on a |Students are subjected to unwelcome sexual conduct that is so severe and |

|student’s submission to unwelcome sexual conduct. |pervasive that it limits the student’s ability |

| |to benefit from his or her education. |

The at risk student~

|Characteristics |Support |

|Poor, single-parent, male, non-Asian minority, large city or |Early Identification (head start, tutoring etc.) |

|rural area, limited English proficiency |Warm, supportive school and class atmosphere |

|History of failure |Make curriculum relevant to students’ lives and needs |

|Older than classmates |Communicate high expectations for success |

|Emotional and behavioral problems |Provide extra academic support |

|Less engaged in school culture |Empower students with responsibility for their own success |

|Peers are low achievers |Encourage and facilitate involvement with school culture |

|absenteeism, suspension, expulsion | |

|Pregnancy | |

Supplemental Information

Multicultural Awareness Quiz

1. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the majority of poor children live in:

1. urban areas

2. suburban areas

3. rural areas

2. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, between 1995 and 2001, the percentage of students reporting that they had been a victim of a violent crime in school:

1. increased from 6% to 18%

2. increased from 18% to 30%

3. decreased from 25% to 3%

4. decreased from 10% to 6%

3. What percentage of U.S. toxic waste dumps that do not comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations are found in predominantly African American or Latino communities?

1. 10%

2. 50%

3. 75%

4. 90%

4. Which of the following variables most closely predicts how high someone will score on the SAT test?

1. Race

2. Region of residence

3. Family income

4. Parents' academic achievement

5. In a national study of college students, 27.5% of women reported that they had been the victim of a rape or attempted rape since the age of 14. What percentage of these rapes or attempted rapes was reported to police?

1. 5%

2. 20%

3. 35%

4. 50%

6. The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. By 2003, the U.S. military budget was roughly equal to that of:

1. the next 5 countries combined

2. the next 10 countries combined

3. the next 15 countries combined

4. the next 20 counties combined

7. How many of every thousand senior level male managers of Fortune 1000 companies are Asian or Asian American?

1. 3

2. 47

3. 99

4. 153

8. According to a Business Week study of 3,664 business school graduates, how much more, on average, does a man with an MBA from one of the top 20 business schools in the U.S. make during the first year after graduation than a woman in the same situation?

1. About $1,500 more

2. About $3,000 more

3. About $6,500 more

4. About $10,000 more

9. The two richest people in the U.S. own more personal assets than:

1. the 10 poorest countries combined

2. the 25 poorest countries combined

3. the 40 poorest countries combined

4. the 60 poorest countries combined

10. Compared with schools in which 5% or less of the students are people of color, how likely are schools in which 50% or more of the students are people of color to be over-crowded (25% or more beyond capacity)?

1. equally as likely

2. twice as likely

3. four times as likely

4. six times as likely

11. Powder cocaine (largely used by wealthy white people) and crack cocaine (largely used by socio-economically disadvantaged Latino and African American people) contain roughly the same amount of the drug per gram. Under federal law, how much of these substances must an individual be convicted of possessing to be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years in prison?

1. 500 grams of powder or crack cocaine

2. 50 grams of powder or 5 grams of crack cocaine

3. 500 grams of powder or 5 grams of crack cocaine

4. 5 grams of powder or crack cocaine

12. Children raised by single mothers attain, on average:

1. 4 fewer years of education than children raised by two parents

2. 2 fewer years of education than children raised by two parents

3. the same level of education as children raised by two parents

4. 2 more years of education than children raised by two parents

13. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how many millionaires are there in the U.S.?

1. roughly 3,500,000

2. roughly 1,000,000

3. roughly 500,000

4. roughly 150,000

14. According to the Public Citizens Health Research Group, what percent of U.S. jails and prisons routinely hold people with a mental illness without any criminal charges?

1. 13%

2. 27%

3. 45%

4. 99%

15. 97% of all students in public high schools regularly hear homophobic comments from peers. What percentage report hearing homophobic remarks from school staff or faculty?

1. 5%

2. 27%

3. 53%

4. 74%

16. What percentage of the world population regularly accesses the Internet?

1. 2%

2. 15%

3. 29%

4. 51%

17. In 1999 the average U.S. worker earned $26,105. This represents what percentage of the average CEO salary that year?

1. 0.21%

2. 1%

3. 6%

4. 17%

18. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 61% of public school students in the U.S. are white. What percentage of public school teachers are white?

1. 61%

2. 73%

3. 87%

4. 99%

19. According to the National Survey of America's Families, how much more likely are non-elderly Hispanic adults to be without any health insurance than non-elderly white adults?

1. twice as likely

2. three times as likely

3. four times as likely

4. five times as likely

20. What percentage of the U.S. Government budget goes to welfare and Social Security?

1. 25% to welfare and 25% to Social Security

2. less than 1% to welfare and 20% to Social Security

3. 20% to welfare and 1% to Social Security

4. less than 1% to welfare and less than 1% to Social Security

Sources

Center for the American Woman and Politics

Chideya, F. (1995). Don't believe the hype: Fighting cultural misinformation about African Americans. New York: Plume.

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network

National Council on Education Statistics

Public Citizens Health Research Group

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

American Cultural Assumptions

A= Assumption or value held by majority of Americans

C-A = Assumption or value held by majority of persons of a "contrast-American society"; that is, one which is opposed to American society (in contrast to it) in its assumptions and values

I. How do Americans see themselves?

1. What is our primary identification?

A Within ourselves as individuals.

C-A As part of a family, clan, caste, or tribe.

2. What do we value in people?

A What people can achieve through special skills.

C-A A person's background, family connections, tribal affiliations.

3. Whom do we rely on for help?

A Ourselves as independently resourceful people.

C-A Our friends, family, and others owing us obligations.

4. How do we learn about life?

A From personal experience.

C-A From the wisdom and knowledge of others.

5. What is the basis of social control in a community?

A From feelings of guilt because we are not living up to our personal standard

C-A From feelings of shame because we are not living up the standards of our community.

II. How do Americans see their relationships with others?

1. How do we relate to people of different status or authority?

A Minimize the difference; take for granted everyone's the same.

C-A Stress the difference; show respect for authority/position.

2. How do we relate to new acquaintances?

A Stress informality; make people feel at home.

C-A Stress formality; act properly in front of strangers.

3. How do we idealize work and sex roles?

A Little differentiation between male and female roles.

C-A Distinct and rigid differentiation between male and female roles.

4. How do we idealize sex roles and friendship?

A People may have close friends of both sexes.

C-A People may have close friends of same sex only.

5. How do we idealize sex roles in social relationships?

A Sex equality for males and females.

C-A Male superiority.

6. What are our loyalties to organizational life?

A Move easily from one organization to another when our personal goals are not fulfilled.

C-A Remain with our organization from sense of loyalty even when personal goals are not fulfilled.

7. What are the characteristics of friendship?

A A loose concept applied to many people and based on overlapping special interests; limited obligations to one another.

C-A A specific concept applied to a few people; total involvement based upon mutual love and respect; unlimited obligations to one another.

8. How do we deal with conflict?

A Favor eye-to-eye confrontation between the two people disagreeing.

C-A Find it unacceptable and embarrassing.

9. How do we regard kidding or joking at the expense of others?

A As acceptable, interesting, and fun.

C-A As unacceptable and embarrassing.

10. What are our primary ways of social interaction with friends?

A Doing things together.

C-A Being together.

11. What is the preferred pace of life?

A Fast, busy, conducive to getting things done.

C-A Slow, steady, conducive to getting the most from life.

III. How do Americans see the world?

1. What is nature like?

A Physical; knowable by scientific investigation.

C-A Spiritual and mystical.

2. How do natural forces in the world operate?

A In a rational, controllable manner.

C-A In a predetermined, spiritually controlled manner.

3. What is the role of fate in life?

A It has little influence; we are the masters of our destiny.

C-A It has great influence; there is little we can do to alter it.

4. What is the relationship between man and nature?

A Man should modify nature for his own needs.

C-A Man should accept and integrate with the natural forces around him.

5. What is our attitude toward things we desire in life?

A What is good or desired is unlimited if we work hard.

C-A What is good or desired is limited and must be shared with others.

6. How do we look at time?

A In precise minutes and hours by which we organize our days.

C-A In diffuse days, weeks, or months by which we organize our years.

7. How do we value time?

A As a limited resource not to be wasted.

C-A As an unlimited resource to be used.

8. How does life unfold?

A In a lineal fashion through history.

C-A In a cyclical fashion through recurring seasonal patterns.

9. How do we measure progress?

A In concrete, quantifiable units which indicate amount, size, percent, and the like.

C-A Against abstract social and moral principles of our society.

10. On what basis do we make decisions?

A Will it work?

C-A Is it right?

From Steven Rinesmith, Bring Home The World, pp.43f

How do we free ourselves from cultural assumptions?

Even if we try, freeing ourselves from our cultural prejudices is particularly difficult because each culture is likely to have developed rationalizations for its positions. We will hear the arguments as to why the prevailing belief is right much more frequently and in more detail than we will hear arguments for opposing positions. People may be very reluctant to express contrary opinions for fear of ridicule or persecution. It can be personally dangerous to express dissenting opinions in many cultures, and the religious concept of "blasphemy" is aimed at preventing people from expressing or perhaps even thinking ideas that are contrary to the established doctrine. Even without official persecution, our upbringing may make us feel that we are mentally unhealthy for even thinking thoughts that question strong cultural principles.

If we care about truth, we don't want to believe things just because the people around us say so. We need to ask ourselves why the people around us believe these things. We must question their rationalizations, which are often based on other cultural assumptions. We have to really ask ourselves if we would have reached the same conclusion on our own, based on evidence that is reliable. If beliefs are not shared by people in other cultures, we might question them to find the reasons they believe differently and compare the evidence for each view.

It is particularly difficult to avoid a cultural assumption if we have no idea we are making that assumption. Unfortunately there is no way we can systematically reconsider all the ideas we take for granted. Probably the best we can do is listen for disputes and before we join in with the majority that ridicules some unpopular idea, double check whether that idea has some chance of being right. I personally never find it very satisfying to join in with the vast majority on any issue. If the majority is right they don't need me. If the minority turns out to be right, they need all the help they can get.

We should always wary of the term "common sense". If somebody says "it's just common sense" they are telling us that something is a cultural assumption. The fact that they choose to use that phrase rather than presenting supporting evidence suggests they can't think of a good practical reason for the belief. While common sense may often give us the right answer it can never hurt to make sure there is valid reasoning behind it.

We might sometimes learn about our assumptions by listening to children. Not yet knowing all the cultural beliefs, they will sometimes deal with a new situation using unbiased reasoning. If we hear a dispute between a child and an adult, we should not immediately assume the adult is right. Sometimes adults will be supporting an unsound position based on their cultural beliefs. The child's argument may give us an insight into our own cultural biases.

Naturally we benefit greatly from the learning of people who have come before us, and many things widely believed by our society are true. However if we only want to believe things that are reliably true, we cannot count on the assumption that our cultural traditions and beliefs are always good ones. We must analyze each question for ourselves and come to the best conclusion possible based on the knowledge and reasoning we can apply. Often we will not be able to come to a firm conclusion, but that is far better than adopting a false one.

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