Unpacking Stereotypes:
College Brochure
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Detect, reflect upon, and reject stereotypes that are present in our everyday lives
Learning Standards
- LfJ 11. Students will recognize stereotypes and relate to people as individuals rather than as representatives of groups.
- LfJ 12. Students will recognize unfairness at the individual level (e.g. biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g. discrimination).
- LfJ 13. Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.
Learning Activities: If you have 15 minutes
Print
Greeting:
What is something that many people enjoy, but you think is overrated?
Reading:
Define a stereotype for your students prior to sharing the reading below.
“No one is born believing in harmful stereotypes. They are learned over time. The good news is they can be unlearned.” --Kevin Faulconer
Ask Students:
- What does this quotation get you thinking about?
Initiative:
Question for students: What do you notice about this advertisement for the University of North Georgia? What stereotypes are being invoked here?
Information for teacher: This advertisement was published in 2015.
Learning Activities (continued): If you have 45 minutes
Print
Initiative:
Invite students to apply Patricia Devine’s Detect, Reflect, Reject framework to this brochure.
- Detect: What is the problem here?
- Reflect: Why is this stereotype showing up here? Who is it harming?
- Reject: What can we do to challenge this problematic stereotype?
Learning Activities (continued): If you have 2 hours
Print
Initiative:
Watch the YouTube video (3 minutes long) about a UNG student who protested this ad campaign.
Ask Students:
- What do you think of the student’s decision to speak up against the advertisement?
- Do you think the student was fired from her campus jobs for speaking out against racism and sexism?
- Would you have gone back to your old jobs when the university offered them to you?
- How does this incident influence your thinking about stereotypes and challenging stereotypes?
Debrief:
- What did you like about today’s lesson?
- Did you learn anything new about yourself or anyone else?
- What could make it better?