Pink, pink, pink! Everything for girls in this catalog is pink," exclaimed Kate, one of my fourth graders, as she walked into the classroom one morning, angrily waving the latest "Pottery Barn Kids" catalog in the air.
"I HATE the color pink. This catalog is reinforcing too many stereotypes, Ms. Cooley, and we need to do something about it!"
I knew she was right. And I was glad to see that our classroom work on stereotypes resulted in my students taking action: As we finished up the school year, my students initiated a letter-writing campaign to Pottery Barn, one of the country's most popular home furnishings catalogs.
Newton Public Schools is actively working to create an anti-bias/anti-racist school environment. In fact, beginning in fourth grade, we teach all students about the cycle of oppression that creates and reinforces stereotypes. I wove discussion of the cycle of oppression throughout my curriculum to help my students understand how stereotypes are created and reinforced, and more important, how we can unlearn them.
I began the year's anti-bias work in my multiracial classroom by looking at gender stereotypes. As a dialogue trigger, I read aloud the picture book William's Doll, by Charlotte Zolotow. This is a wonderful story about a little boy who is teased and misunderstood by his friends and family because he wants a doll. When I finished the book, I asked the students the following discussion questions: "Why was William teased? What did William's father expect him to be good at because he was a boy?" I explained that the fact that William was expected to like sports and play with trains were examples of stereotypes, oversimplified pictures or opinions of a person or group that are not true.