Stereotyping Students-The Single Story

For many city kids, the single story becomes the defining story. Based on stereotypes created by society, city kids are given a single story of a lack of food, shelter, family, and education. They are thugs, gang members…they will never succeed in life. We see and hear it every day. But are these stereotypes true and how exactly are they affecting our students?

In 1995, Steele and Aronson researched what they termed the stereotype threat through four experiments. In the first experiment, African American and White students were given an exam. One group was told that the results of this exam would indicate their intellectual abilities (the stereotype threat condition). The control group, or non stereotype threat conditioned group, were told that the exam was just a problem solving exercise. The African Americans in the stereotype threat condition group performed less well than the White students, but in the non-threatened group, the results where about the same. Experiment two was under the same conditions but focused on the fact that African Americans in the stereotype threatened group answered less questions and answered more questions incorrectly than their White counterparts. In experiment three, African American and White students performed a task either under the stereotype threat condition or not. The results were as follows,
African-American participants performed more poorly. In addition, they showed heightened awareness of their racial identity (by completing word fragments related to their ethnicity), more doubts about their ability (by completing word fragments related to low ability), a greater likelihood to invoke a priori excuses for poor performance (i.e., self-handicapping), a tendency to avoid racial-stereotypic preferences, and a lower likelihood of reporting their race compared with students in the low-threat condition.
Finally, in experiment four, Students were given exams and half of them were asked what racial/ethnic group they belong to right before they took the exam. African Americans who were asked about their racial identity had poor performance compared to those who were not asked about their racial identity. The results of these experiments provided evidence that when stereotypes suggesting poor performance are salient, they can disrupt student performance, increase self doubt, and cause students to disidentify with their ethnic groups.  

In schools today, students are faced with a wider variety of stereotypes than ones solely based on race, but the evidence provided by the research above and research that followed shows that, whatever the stereotype may be, there are negative consequences for students. In other words, the more students hear stereotypes about themselves, the more they are going to believe it. In fact, recent reports show that American schools today are still discriminate against children when it comes to race and disability. So, as educators, what can we do to eliminate the stereotype threat from our classrooms?

For starters, it is important to provide students with texts that move against the grain of the "single story". As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie states in her TED talk above, "stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity" (Adichie, 17:40-17:55). Here are just a few sample texts that I have personally read or viewed that provide a sense of hope and power against the stereotypes surrounding our society:

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a story about two high school students who work together to fight their single stories. Alex belongs to a gang and is stifled by the single story that defines him as a criminal that will never succeed in life, if he even lives past 18 anyways. Brittany goes to the same high school and is considered the perfect girl. Little does anybody know, she is struggling with life at home and just wants to be normal. When they are placed together as Chemistry partners, Brittany and Alex form a bond and, together, they fight against the stereotypes that are defining their lives.

Kendra by Coe Booth is another story that defines the stereotypes society places upon young teenage girls. Because Kendra's mother had her when she was fourteen, Kendra is expected to follow the same path. Her grandmother tries to keep Kendra out of trouble, but as Kendra graduates high school and begins dating, it is up to Kendra to break the single story of her life and choose the right path to follow.

 Can't Get There from Here by Todd Strasser is a story about a group of homeless teenagers and their struggles to survive on the street. The main character of the story, Maybe, fights against the stereotypes that are keeping her on the streets and helps keep her friends alive.

Freedom Writers is a collection of essays written by actual students of Erin Gruwell. These essays tell the stories of city kids, their struggles, their dreams, and how they fight to reach those dreams. All of the writers graduated from high school and went on to college despite the stereotypes that could have held them back.

Push by Sapphire and the movie that was based off of the book, Precious, tell the story of a young high school girl who goes to an alternative school to try to graduate. She is the mother of one child and is pregnant with her second. She faces some horrible living conditions, but with the help of her teacher and friends, she fights against her single story to create a better life for herself and her children.






These are just a few examples of fiction and non fiction stories that you can share with students to encourage them to fight against stereotypes. Along with these texts, it is extremely important that teachers educate their children about stereotypes and the threat they have on every student in the building.

Not only do the students need to be educated on the threat of stereotyping, but educators themselves need to strive to learn and understand exactly how stereotyping affects their students and how they may carry these stereotypes as well. Gregory Michie asked teachers of color what advice they would give to white teachers. Among this advice, the most important is to "be honest about gaps of knowledge and commit to learning more" (Michie, 44). In order for teachers, especially white teachers, to successfully educate their students, they must make a conscious effort to learn about each students' culture and beliefs. In a sense, teachers must be willing to become students of their students. Educators need to be willing to admit that they are ignorant about many of their students' experiences and they must also be willing to ask students to help them understand. Being honest about the gaps of knowledge or experience you have and being willing to openly learn from your students is the only way to ensure that, as an educator, you are not placing your students into the single story defined by society and the stereotypes you may carry.  

Overall, stereotyping any child and placing them into a single story can be devastating. The more a child hears that he or she will not succeed because of their race, sexual orientation, economic standing, or life choices, the more that child is going to believe this. Yet, with the help of adults, especially educators who are open and understanding, each child can break down the stereotypes created about their culture and lives. Nobody fits into a single story and it is time for society as a whole to educate each other in the truth behind each individual life. It is time to throw away the stereotypes we carry around today about our students and give the children the tools and hope that is needed for them to create their own stories, stories of success instead of violence and failure. When stereotypes and single stories are challenged, a chance for a better life is presented to any kid who wishes to reach out and grab it. 



For more information on the stereotype threat and to read more on the study mentioned above, click here!
Here is an awesome blog that addresses issues of race, class, gender, and LCBTQIA.

And what about that Michie book I quoted? Well here is the information you need to find it, I recommend any future educator to read it!

Michie, Gregory. We Don’t Need Another Hero. New York: Teachers College Press, 2012. Print.