98 heritage for peace and reconciliation | manual for teacherContentsquestions once they were back in class. It appears that visits like this trigger a largenumber of questions in toddlers. They not only ask these questions in order to expresstheir admiration for what they’ve seen, but also because thinking about the answershelps them to better orient themselves in the world. The toddlers’ main advantage isthat they are not hindered by any pre-existing knowledge of the world. Even thoughthey usually hope that their adult mentors will provide them with the answers, this isnot, nor should it be, the case: the teachers need to teach and stimulate the childrento think for themselves.During the philosophical conversations with the toddlers, many different conceptswere explored, such as historical ships, transport, harbours, diversity and rights.Prejudices, stereotypes and discriminationBuilding block:Toddlers building asubmarine © MunicipalSchools of the City ofAntwerpWe help children to recognize prejudice in themselves and in others, and point outto them that while prejudice may lead to discrimination, discrimination might alsolead to prejudice.Prejudices are not innate, but acquired, yet no one is free of them. Some prejudices areso embedded in a certain culture that they are hard to recognize. Much research hasbeen conducted on the causes of prejudice. Sociological studies point out that prejudicesare determined by social factors, such as metropolitan issues, unemploymentrates, competitive societal role patterns, etc. Then again, historians think that certainprejudices can only be understood from a historical point of view. Slavery, for exam-
Contentseducating towards a better future99ple, might explain prejudices towards African Americans. For psychologists, prejudiceis a universal psychological process that is connected to frustration, and to the factthat the anger resulting from this frustration is projected onto an innocent scapegoat.Where there are prejudices, one often also finds stereotypes and discrimination. Today,we are able to joke about these stereotypes, and no one would dare to speak aboutdifferent cultures in that same unsophisticated way. However, society continuouslychanges, and new stereotypes are created, which are more difficult to recognize.Discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because they belong to acertain group. There are many different kinds of discrimination, depending uponwho is being excluded and why. The most common types of discrimination includepersonal discrimination (e.g. a CEO excludes someone because she is a woman) andinstitutional discrimination (e.g. the exclusion of black people by the South AfricanApartheid system, or the exclusion of Jews by the Nazis before and during the SecondWorld War). However, not every type of discrimination is wrong. Positive discrimination,for example, can be useful for creating opportunities for a certain minority orgroup that otherwise would not be included.Stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination can be annoying, but do not necessarilyneed to be harmful. They become dangerous, however, when they appear together andstrengthen each other. For example, when a certain culture systematically discriminatesagainst a certain group, this behaviour can also give rise to prejudices and stereotypes.In a culture where women or children are continuously excluded, it is more likely thatnegative prejudices and stereotypical perceptions become established in people’s minds.Living without prejudiceAt the end of the exhibition on tolerance in the Tolerance Centre in Los Angeles, visitorsfind two large doors: one marked ‘PREJUDICED’ and the other ‘WITHOUTPREJUDICE’. If you open the door marked ‘WITHOUT PREJUDICE’, you findthat it leads to a brick wall. The message is clear: everyone is prejudiced.Prejudices generalize and often contain biased ideas about a group and its members.In a way, prejudices are a form of protection – we protect ourselves against what isdifferent or strange. In principle, there is nothing wrong with that. If we are awareof the fact that we are all prejudiced, we can take the first step to recognizing thoseprejudices and make sure that they are open for discussion. In this way, we can get agrip on their negative influence.
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