Encourage students to engage in perspective taking. Exercises and activities that help students see others’ perspectives can improve interethnic relations. This helps students “step into the shoes” of peers who are culturally different and feel what it is like to be treated in fair or unfair ways (Cushner, McClelland, and Safford, 1996)
Help students think critically and be emotionally intelligent when cultural issues are involved. Students who think in narrow ways are prejudiced. Students who learn to think critically and deeply about interethnic relations are likely to decrease their prejudice. Becoming more emotionally intelligent includes understanding the causes of one’s feelings, managing anger, listening to what others are saying, and being motivated to share and cooperate.
Reduce bias. Teachers can reduce bias by displaying images of children from diverse ethnic and cultural groups, selecting play materials and classroom activities that encourage cultural understanding, helping students resist stereotyping, and working with parents (Derman-Sparks, 1989).
View the school and community as a team to help support teaching efforts. James Comer (1988; Comer & others, 1996) believes that a community, team approach is the best way to educate children. Three important aspects of the Comer Project for Change are (1) governance and a management team that develops a comprehensive school plan, assessment strategy, and staff development plan; (2) a mental health or school support team; and (3) a parent’s program. Comer believes that the entire school community should have a cooperative rather than an adversarial attitude. The Comer program is currently operating in more than 600 schools in 26 states.
Be a competent cultural mediator. Teachers can play a powerful roles as a cultural mediator by being sensitive to racist content in materials and classroom interactions, learning more about different ethnic groups, and being sensitive to children’s ethnic attitudes (Banks, 1997; Cushner, 1999).
