National Tolerance Day, a CPE lesson

16TH NOVEMBER

31/3/2009 1MARKAKI SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

In the practice of tolerance,

one’s enemy is the best

teacher

Dalai Lama


‘One’ by U2: the lyrics

Is it getting better

Or do you feel the same

Will it make it easier on you

Now you got someone to blame

You say one love, one life

When it's one need in the

night

It's one love

We get to share it

It leaves you baby

If you don't care for it

Did I disappoint you Or leave a bad taste in your mouthYou act like you never had loveAnd you want me to go withoutWell it's too late tonight To drag the past out into the lightWe're one but we're not the sameWe get to carry each other, carry each otherOne

31/3/2009 MARKAKI SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES 3

‘One’ by U2: the lyrics

Have you come here for

forgiveness

Have you come to raise

the dead

Have you come here to

play Jesus

To the lepers in your

head

Did I ask too much

More than a lot

You gave me nothing

Now it's all I got

We're one but we're not

the same

We hurt each other, then

we do it again

You say love is a temple

Love is a higher law

Love is a temple

Love is the higher law

You ask me to enter but then

you make me crawl

And I can't be holding on to

what you got

When all you got is hurt

One love, one blood, one life

You got to do what you should

One life with each other

Sisters, brothers

One life but we're not the same

We get to carry each

other, carry each other

One

One


After watching U2 and Mary J

Blige singing ‘One’ on You Tubewww.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu72EZdVou4&feature=related

Questions:

1. What is the song about?

2. How is the message of the song reinforced by

the image of these two singers?

3. How does it make you feel?

Write some notes together with your partner and then

discuss your answers with the rest of the class.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu72EZdVou4&feature=related

Bono’s interpretation of the

song:

“It is a song about coming together, but it's not the old hippie idea of "Let's all live together." It is, in fact, the opposite. It's saying, "We are one, but we're not the same." It's not saying we even want to get along, but that we have to get along together in this world if it is to survive. It's a reminder that we have no choice.” ~ Bono, 1993


Relevant VocabularyThe definitions are taken from:

www.tolerance.org/hidden_bias/tutorials/index.html

A stereotype is an exaggerated belief, image or

distorted truth about a person or group — a

generalization that allows for little or no individual

differences or social variation. Stereotypes are

based on images in mass media, or reputations

passed on by parents, peers and other members

of society. Stereotypes can be positive or negative.


http://www.tolerance.org/hidden_bias/tutorials/index.html

Relevant Vocabulary

A prejudice is an opinion, prejudgment or attitude about a group or its individual members. A prejudice can be positive, but in our usage refers to a negative attitude.

Prejudices are often accompanied by ignorance, fear or hatred. Prejudices are formed by a complex psychological process that begins with attachment to a close circle of acquaintances or an "in-group" such as a family. Prejudice is often aimed at "out-groups."

Discrimination is behavior that treats people unequally because of their group memberships. Discriminatory behavior, ranging from slights to hate crimes, often begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices.


How do we learn prejudice?

Social scientists believe children begin to acquire prejudices and stereotypes as toddlers. Many studies have shown that as early as age 3, children pick up terms of racial prejudice without really understanding their significance.

Once learned, stereotypes and prejudices resist change, even when evidence fails to support them or points to the contrary.


How do we perpetuate

bias? Bias is perpetuated by conformity with in-group attitudes and

socialization by the culture at large. The fact that white

culture is dominant in America may explain why people of

color often do not show a strong bias favoring their own

ethnic group.

Mass media routinely take advantage of stereotypes as

shorthand to paint a mood, scene or character. The

elderly, for example, are routinely portrayed as being frail

and forgetful, while younger people are often shown as

vibrant and able.

Stereotypes can also be conveyed by omission in popular

culture, as when TV shows present an all-white world.

Psychologists theorize bias conveyed by the media helps to

explain why children can adopt hidden prejudices even when

their family environments explicitly oppose them.


What can we do about

unconscious stereotypes?

Think about families and schools:

supportive/ loving environment, open-

mindedness, new ideas, beyond

‘inherent’ roles and identities

Community: integration

Feeling hidden bias: automatic, but

consciously rectified (think of these

concepts: gender, age, race, religion)


Committing to change

If people are aware of their hidden biases, they can monitor and attempt to ameliorate hidden attitudes before they are expressed through behavior. This compensation can include attention to language, body language and to the stigmatization felt by target groups.

Common sense and research evidence also suggest that a change in behavior can modify beliefs and attitudes. It would seem logical that a conscious decision to be egalitarian might lead one to widen one's circle of friends and knowledge of other groups. Such efforts may, over time, reduce the strength of unconscious biases.


Quiz time!

How would you react if you saw your father doing the washing up instead of your mother?

What would you think if you saw a 50-year-old man taking part in the same dance class as you? What if this person was a 20-year-old woman?

What would you say if a fully-qualified man from Nigeria sought to work in your business company?


Homework!

Write an email (of about 300 words) to

your classmate describing what we did

in this lesson that he/she missed.

Explain all the concepts we discussed

and provide relevant examples.

Finally, express your own opinion on

how tolerant people are nowadays and

suggest ways of improvement.


Some food for thought…


National Tolerance Day, a CPE lesson

Education

Transcript of National Tolerance Day, a CPE lesson