Intergroup Relations and

Cooperative Learning

Melanie Tannenbaum, Ph.D. Soc 463/663 Spring 2015

Mandated Desegregation• Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

• U.S. Supreme Court mandates desegregation in the school system

• Assumption that “separate but equal” is harmful to minorities

• Self-Esteem

• Black Doll - White Doll Experiment

• Level of academic achievement

• Court-ordered school integration

• Bussing

Desegregation: Solution or Challenge?

• Assessing the consequences of a far-reaching, optimistically conceived policy

• Does school integration promote…

• Achievement?

• Intergroup relations?

• Self-esteem?

Long Story Short• Mostly positive results

• Integration can have positive and negative effects on achievement, but mostly positive

• Generally mixed results

• Self-esteem of black students in white schools takes a dip, but tends to bounce back over time

• Integration can lead to less favorable intergroup attitudes

• Split results (Walter Stephan)

• Reduction of Black prejudice against Whites

• Increase of White prejudice against Blacks

Desegregation: Achievement Effects

• Mostly positive effects for Black students

• Access to schools with better resources

• Classroom composition, peer effects

• Teacher expectancies & behavior

• BUT…it can backfire

• Differential teacher expectancies

• Differential tracking

• Fewer minority teachers & administrators

• Generally no effects for White students’ achievement

• BUT positive effects with cooperative learning

DQ: DesegregationHow can we prevent resegregation within desegregated

schools? As well as reduce the common educational practices that foster resegregation?

Many schools today are still largely segregated, due to the fact that students are zoned to public schools closest to where they live. How can the school district desegregate students when so

much is already determined by zoning?

Could true integration support the idea that good grades and college education is not only for people who accept “white

culture” but for anyone and everyone?

What factors determine intergroup relation outcomes?

• Desegregation mandates macro changes • Changes in composition of student body

• BUT… • Outcome of macro changes determined at micro level

• Nature of intergroup interactions • Increased outgroup exposure can lead to…

• Need to define own group as positively distinct from other group • Social identity theory

• Increased competition and hostility

Contact Theory• Gordon Allport (1954): “The nature of prejudice”

• Intergroup contact is critical in improving intergroup relations, but not just any kind of contact will suffice

• Nature of intergroup contact has to fulfill certain criteria if it is to result in positive changes • Equal status • Norms that are supportive of intergroup interaction

• Support of leadership • Meaningful interactions • Task interdependence rather than competition

DQ: Intergroup Interaction

How do you get students of different backgrounds to interact with each other during their free time, without

forcing them to? Creating a school system that promotes inter-group interactions seems like a lost cause.

Are there good ways to get different groups to work together? If there are, would it even be beneficial to force

groups together?

Cooperative Learning• Contact Theory

• Various techniques aimed at improving…

• Intergroup relations (primarily)

• Achievement & Self-Esteem

• Examples

• Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD; Slavin)

• Jigsaw Classroom (Aronson)

• Features

• Reliance on mixed teams

• Sometimes use competition between mixed teams (e.g., STAD)

• Interdependence of members of different groups in accomplishing academic task

Cooperative Learning

• Typically improves intergroup relations • Friendships • Other-regard

• Can improve achievement • Helping peers benefits the recipient and the giver of help • Problem solving skills

• Can promote self-esteem • Greater peer-acceptance

DQ: Cooperative LearningIs cooperative learning and group rewarding very common in classrooms today

or is that something of the past that gets overlooked now?

One of the things I would like to discuss further is the social cohesion perspective. Slavin implies that joint knowledge is good for students, but when

does it cross the line? It is true two heads are better than one, but also individuals need a mind of their own. They cannot always depend on others’

thoughts or ideas.

If we were to try and shift our curriculum from an individual learning based curriculum to a cooperative learning based one, how do you think our schools

would benefit from this? Would a shift like this help to improve our testing scores or only help to improve scores in the areas where group learning is most

effective?

DQ: Improving Groupwork Is simple group work the answer or should there be an entire shift in the classroom dynamic to teach this important message? Switching seating,

pairing up different children every time, teaching the message outside or a project or work, even having the class work together as one unit as they

did in the Japanese classrooms?

How can we ensure that teachers are trained on how to best assign group projects to result in the best outcomes for intergroup relations?

How can schools create competition necessary for self-improvement without causing group separation, rivalry, and hatred?

• Interracial relationships, differential birth rates, immigration

• By the 2040s, Whites will no longer be the majority

A Glimpse of the Future

Cultural Variation Within Schools

• Composition of student body

• Different languages

• Different learning styles

• Different interaction styles

• Different goals

• Composition of faculty

• Composition of administrators

Your Turn

• What does “diversity” mean at UNR?

• How does UNR respond to cultural diversity?

• What does UNR do to support (or hinder) diversity?

• Is UNR’s approach working for you?

Multiculturalism: What is it?

• Two definitions

• #1: Members of multiple cultures sharing same “space”

• #2: Idea, philosophical approach

• Inclusiveness of perspectives

• Appreciation of differences

• Celebration of differences

• (Assumption that there are differences)

Multiculturalism: In Education

• Why is multiculturalism supposed to be a good thing?

• How is it practiced?

• Special courses/requirements

• UNR

• Informally

• Focus

• Overcoming “-isms”

• Racism, White Privilege, Ethnocentrism, Sexism, Classism…

Multiculturalism: Challenges

• Student resistance

• Majority students: Not wanting to be “reformed”

• Minority students: Not wanting to be “showcased”

• Compartmentalization

• Only inducing PC-ism?

• Does it foster division among groups?

Multiculturalism: Is it successful overall?

• For whom?

• Does it help traditionally disenfranchised minorities?

• Does it help cultural minorities?

• Does it help majority students?

Consequences of Diversity

• Better college experience (for Whites)

• Preparation for diverse working world

• General Principle: Exposure to other perspectives & dissenting voices makes people on both sides think harder & better

• Societies need dissent!

Cultural Diversity & Learning

• Ogbu (1992)

• Group cultural status = Primary factor in group performance

• Caste-like vs. Immigrant minorities

• Social status within culture is critical

• Koreans in Korea/China/U.S. vs. Koreans in Japan (“Burakumin”)

• Caribbean immigrants to the U.S. vs. African Americans

Historically Black Colleges & Universities

• Examples: Howard University, Florida A&M University, Fisk University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Xavier University (Top supplier of Black medical students)

• Generally higher achievement at HBCUs (when SAT held constant)

• “Separate, but equal” (?)

• Is separatism the solution?

DQ: Moderating Factors of Cooperative Learning

I found myself asking at multiple points in the article; does this work better among elementary school students, middle

school students, high school students or in workplace situations? In relation to proximal zones and peer tutoring, which I found useful in high school and college, how could we keep young kids on task? How should we be rethinking

the use of tutors for students struggling at a young age?