Hello, and welcome to our blog for Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude Steele! During the summer, many of us have worked to plan an incredible agenda of activities and events designed to engage faculty, students, and staff in discussions about stereotype threat (ST); how it manifests itself locally, nationally, and internationally; and what we can do to address it in our work as teachers, administrators, practitioners, and researchers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and am planning to use some of the chapters as required readings in both of my fall courses (EDIS 2010: Introduction to the Teaching Profession & EDIS 8500: Diversity in Education: A Cultural-historical Approach).
One of the things that struck me the most about ST is how it affects those who become targets of it. Steele notes that the mere mention that individuals from a particular group do not do well on a particular task may create such a high level of stress and anxiety that a person’s cognitive functioning may be impaired and underperformance will result. Another interesting point is that we ALL, no matter who we are, can be targets of ST.
What are some of your insights as you read Whistling Vivaldi? Does it bring to the temple of your familiar memories of times when you or those around you may have been targets of ST? Are there things that you did to mitigate the negative effects of ST? What are you thinking and feeling as you read the book? Let’s begin a discussion about this on our blog and see where it leads. Look forward to hearing from you!
Stan
I was most impacted by Steele’s arguments on how to combat stereotype threat in the classroom. While reading I couldn’t help but feel hopeless because I recognized the impact of environment and media as they impacted the students I worked with on Chicago’s Southside. I kept thinking, when is Steele going to provide hope for us educators? Though frustrated I kept reading and in the last few chapters Steele provided the light I was yearning to find. By providing constructive feedback and creating a culture of inclusion Steele argues teachers can help all students feel comfortable in their classrooms. Through narrative intervention – helping students create a vision of success for themselves – educators can help increase the students’ success in their academic lives and beyond. After completing the book I realized the importance of discussing the issue of stereotype threat. The covert way we treat issues of racism, sexism, SES-issues and other forms of identity oppression only serves to strengthen their impact the individuals impacted. Words have power – both negative and positive – let’s use the collective voice of discussion to beat back the strength of silence.
Thanks for facilitating this important and challenging discussion! Reading “Whistling Vivaldi” was a profound experience for me and has impacted my thinking as an educational leader in important ways. I am eager to engage in discourse with our Curry community.
An interesting finding (if I’m understanding it correctly) from Dr. Steele’s research that I’m still mulling over is that stereotype threat impacts the highest achievers, and causes them to underperform in areas in which they typically excel. This is particularly relevant in a place like UVA that is steeped in excellence and rigor, yet bears the burden of a complicated history in regards to all groups excepting privileged white males.
Stan notes that all of us “can be” targets of stereotype threat. I would argue that most of us “have been” targets of stereotype threat at some point in our lives based on arbitrary categories that others have imposed upon us. While we typically think of the most socially volatile ones like race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, they can also include ones associated with family configurations, weight, accent, the clothes one wears, etc. Each of us is unique in the constellation of stereotypes to which we have been subjected in life but this universal, shared experience is a window to understanding of its crippling effects and compassion for others who carry the most oppressive STs. The power of Steele’s work is in the many examples he provides of how ST is both a common experience but a distinct one that varies in intensity and differentially affects some students. By tapping into our own oppression, hopefully we can better recognize and appreciate its impact on others.
I would really like to see more about ST as it relates to systemic discrimination or oppression. Everyone can feel ST, but where is the power? I would also like to see a list of recommendations developed for teachers to help guide them in working with all groups.