Week 5 Blog: The Danger of Stereotypes

         Kumaravadivelu's article on cultural stereotypes is extremely useful to me because it highlights the mistakes that I do not want to commit as an educator.  I think the stereotyping of all diverse groups and cultures that appear similar as “Asian” is a perfect example of an unfair generalization made by schools.  For example, I have seen the term “Asian” as an identifying category on state exams and other demographic surveys.  The three major stereotypes identified on page 710 of Kumaravadivelu’s article are that “Asians”: are obedient to authority, lack critical thinking skills, and do not participate in classroom interaction.  To make these assumptions about any single race or cultural group is inaccurate, but to make these generalizations about dozens of unique cultural groups (that simply appear similar) is ridiculous.  Individual differences are completely ignored according to such logic.  However, unfortunately, many older educators were never trained to teach culturally or to think diversely.  So these stereotypes may not seem incorrect at all in their eyes. 

            Stereotypes can create unwanted self-fulfilling prophecies.  For example, treating all “Asian” students a certain way based on previous perceptions or assumptions could result in similar behavior for all Asian students.  This point is summarized by Kumaravadivelu’s point that, “If Asian students do indeed adopt the passive classroom attitudes that are often claimed, this is more likely to be a consequence of the educational contexts that have been or are now provided for them, than of any inherent dispositions of the students themselves” (712).  This quote demonstrates that the attitudes and performances of teachers are what determine the behavior of students or groups of students more than anything else.  My favorite point addressed in this article is at the bottom of page 715 about how all people are victims and victimizers of stereotypes.  For example, a black student who is the victim of verbal harassment from other white students could then go on to stereotype all white students as being mean and racist.  Stereotypes and perceptions of cultural groups really do affect everyone.