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Anti-Bias Education

Many people have argued convincingly that CRE does and should overlap with anti-bias education because prejudice is an underlying cause for conflict and we need to realize the impact of prejudice on the school and community (Lantieri & Patti, 1996; Oskamp, 2000). Most anti-bias education efforts fall into one of the following four categories: cross-cultural awareness, prejudice reduction and appreciation for diversity, hate crime prevention, and examining the systemic roots of oppression to dismantle them.

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Sample Catalog Resources

Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.

Resource Title Description Links
Flash judgements Pdf document with exercise related to forming judgements based on appearance.
Practicing peace: A peace education module for youth and young adults in Solomon Islands: 4th draft 99-page pdf document developed "to help people resolve interpersonal and inter-group conflict through productive and peaceful strategies, and to teach young people how they can participate in public life. The module is intended for use with youth and young adults in community and school settings in Solomon Islands." Skill areas include: Understanding rights and responsibilities; Understanding cultural diversity; Restorative justice and reconciliation; Gender relationship skills; Ability to live with change; Leadership qualities Conflict prevention; Traditional definitions of peace; Understand[ing] interdependence between individuals and society and Respect[ing] different cultures."
Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who are Changing Our World The Speak Truth To Power curriculum (296 page PDF) introduces general human rights issues through the stories of some remarkable people working in the field, and urges students to become personally involved in the protection of human rights. The curriculum is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy that lead to a dramatic production by Ariel Dorfman (the play script is included in the curriculum). It is illustrated with a series of photographic portraits of human rights defenders by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Eddie Adams. Various editions of Speak Truth to Power have been produced, with this one drawing input from the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union. Also available are Cambodian, Italian, and South African editions, and an edition developed in New York State.The focus of the learning activities varies based on the age-group of students you are working with. In pre-kindergarten through grade 3, human rights learning focuses on respect for self, parents, teachers and others. In grades 4–6 the focus moves to social responsibility, citizenship, and distinguishing wants and needs from rights. For grades 7 and 8, the focus shifts to introducing and enhancing specific human rights. At the high school level, grades 9–12, the focus expands to include human rights as universal standards, integration of human rights into personal awareness, and behavior.
Celebrating African American/Black leaders in history: Their religions and their legacy 16-page PDF lesson plan in which students, (grades 6-12) are "introduced to several Black and African American leaders and learn about the influence of their religious beliefs on their activism and contributions to society. Students will learn biographical, historical and religious information associated with these leaders, peer-teach their findings, and gain a greater understanding of the overall historical context of their work through creating a class timeline."
Peaceful Conflict Resolution Guide for Primary and Secondary Schools (Croatia) This training guide for schools consists of three primary modules: 1. damiri/ice - Conflict and Communication 2. spajalice - Peer Mediation 3. kazimiri/ice - Peer Education The guide is the result of the work on the project Peaceful Problem Solving in Schools and Trauma Alleviation, Youth for Youth - Peer Mediation, initiated and supported by UNICEF Office for Croatia in co-operation with Croatian Ministry of Education and Sports. The Project was carried out by NGO "Mali korak" - Centre for Culture of Peace and Non-violence Zagreb. In the school year of 1999/2000 it was implemented in 52 primary schools, most of which were schools of special social care in previous war affected areas. The purpose of this program model was to change attitudes, behaviors and experiences related to conflict and violence: improve coping with problem and conflict situations, develop awareness of prejudice, of one’s own rights as well as the rights of others both in those who participate in the program (students) and those who deliver it (teachers).
Teacher insights from an intercultural peace curricula development project 25-page PDF article from the Interamerican Journal of Education for Democracy, vol. 2, no. 2. September 2009. Abstract: "Data garnered from an eight month critical ethnographic action research project tells a story of prejudice and discrimination in a white, Euro-American dominant context at Junction High School in the U.S. Midwest. However, counter-normative efforts aimed at transforming the situation for newcomer students were conducted by both the researcher and a group of teachers who developed and implemented intercultural peace curricula. White, Euro-American constructions of “others” and teacher reflections on their engagement in the process are presented in this article. The article aims to provide a case study and to encourage deeper dialogue on intercultural peace education in schools for achieving an authentic democracy."
Fitting in: Lesson and activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum passages to immigration 6-page pdf lesson plan which explores the ideas of home, belonging and fitting in, for grades 1-6. Activities include, "The Sharing Circle," "I am, we are poems" and "Unity and diversity circles."
Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, and Tolerance Education Teacher Toolkit This 233-page guide, provided as a pdf, was developed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). As the main provider of basic education to Palestine refugees, serving approximately half a million students, UNRWA has also been delivering human rights, conflict resolution and tolerance (HRCRT) education in its schools for over a decade. The HRCRT Toolkit was developed to serve as a practical tool to further strengthen the teaching and learning of human rights in UNRWA schools. It is designed to be a user friendly tool which will support the effective implementation of the HRCRT Policy, launched in May 2012. The Policy articulates UNRWA’s approach to human rights education in order to harmonize, update and strengthen it. The HRCRT Toolkit is a comprehensive and accessible resource for UNRWA’s 19,000 teachers and school management staff. It will equip them to teach human rights in a way that engages and inspires their students and to integrate human rights education into their classroom routines and curriculum subjects. Through the practical activities in the Toolkit (40 in all), teachers will be able to create a rights-based, and empowering environment for their students. The Policy and the Toolkit both seek to empower Palestine refugees, encouraging them to know and exercise their rights, uphold the rights of others, be proud of their Palestinian identity, and contribute to their society in a positive way.
Shared Solutions - A Guide to Preventing and Resolving Conflicts (in Special Ed) The Ontario Ministry of Education encourages the use of approaches and strategies that lead to higher achievement for all students in Ontario's publicly funded education system. This Shared Solutions resource guide is intended to help parents, educators, and students with special education needs work together to prevent conflicts, resolve them quickly, and allow students to develop their full potential and succeed in school. The approaches outlined build on techniques and strategies for conflict prevention and resolution that are already in place in many school boards.
Learning to Live Together: An intercultural and interfaith programme for ethics education Learning to Live Together is an interfaith and intercultural programme for Ethics Education that contributes to nurturing ethical values in children and young people. The programme was developed by the Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children in close collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF and tested through the Global Network of Religions for Children to contribute to the realization of the Right of the Child to full and healthy physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development, and to education as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in article 26.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in the World Declaration on Education for all and in the Millennium Development Goals. Learning to Live Together is a programme for educators (teachers, youth leaders, social workers) to nurture ethical values and spirituality in children and youth that will help them strengthen their identity and critical thinking, ability to make well grounded decisions, respect and work with people of other cultures and religions, and foster their individual and collective responsibilities in a global community. Learning to Live Together is built in two modules, “Understanding Self and Others” and “Transforming the World together”. It is based on four ethical values: respect, empathy, responsibility and reconciliation. The learning process focuses on methodologies based on experience, cooperation, problem solving, discussions and introspection. Additional materials and versions in other languages are available at http://www.ethicseducationforchildren.org
Learning to live together: Building skills, values and attitudes for the 21st Century 167-page pdf study which, "represents an attempt to interpret the aim of ‘learning to live together’ as a synthesis of many related goals, such as education for peace, human rights, citizenship and health-preserving behaviours. It focuses specifically on the skills, values, attitudes and concepts needed for learning to live together, rather than on ‘knowledge’ objectives. The aim of the study is to discover ‘what works’ in terms of helping students learn to become politely assertive rather than violent, to understand conflict and its prevention, to become mediators, to respect human rights, to become active and responsible members of their communities—as local, national and global citizens, to have balanced relationships with others and neither to coerce others nor be coerced, especially into risky health behaviours ... The recommendation emerging from the study for national policy-makers and curriculum specialists is that a core national team of educators committed to the goals of peace-building, human rights, active citizenship and preventive health should be created, in order to put together and pilot test materials and methodologies related to these goals."
Tolerance: the threshold of peace: A teaching/learning guide for education for peace, human rights 42-page PDF document which was "prepared to serve as an introductory resource material, to provide some understanding of what is involved in and required of education for tolerance. It provides a statement of the problems of intolerance, a rationale for teaching toward the goal of tolerance, and concepts and descriptions for identifying both the problems and the goals ... Each chapter of the guide comprises material that can be used for study and discussion on issues of tolerance and peace. Organizations, groups and formal classes of secondary level and above can explore together the issues raised and problems identified..."
Real-World Scenarios for Campus Leaders from Divided Community Project Created as part of the Divided Community Project’s Virtual Toolkit, these short hypothetical fact patterns propose several divisive incidents on college and university campuses to be used in training and discussion. The examples discuss a range of important issues. For example, how should university administrators respond to student protests against racial injustice? What role, if any, should campus police play when there is student unrest? What policies should schools consider to ensure student safety/well-being and to protect free speech on campus? These are only some of the questions that are worth discussing. The Divided Community Project encourages campus leaders to carefully think through each example, talk through the steps that one would take, consider relevant questions, and develop actionable plans.
Kids Working It Out Resource Appendix A listing of books, publications and websites provided in the appendix to Tricia S. Jones and Randy O. Compton (Eds.) 2003 book Kids Working It Out: Stories and Strategies for Making Peace in Our Schools.
Teaching about peace through children's literature 16-page PDF article in which author, Stan Steiner discusses teaching about peace and conflict resolution using children's literature. He believes that the instructor should: have more books than readers, have a wide variety of books in terms of level of difficulty, length and points of view and make sure that readers consume a number of books. Steiner mentions small group discussions vs large group discussions, providing readers with open ended questions prior to reading assignments and being open to differing points of view. The article concludes with a 10-page bibliography.
Standards for Peace Education 11-page pdf provides a list of recommended standards for students, teachers and teacher educators with respect to peace education. They were developed under the leadership of Dr. Candice C. Carter from the University of North Florida during her global and domestic work with peace educators and peace education researchers. These dynamic standards have been used for students in all levels of education as well as for program design. Suggestions for, and outcomes of, their use in particular cultures and contexts are welcomed.
Managing interethnic relations manual 104-page manual whose purpose is to fill the informational and methodological gap in addressing interethnic relations, it also intends to combat the passive attitudes held by many regarding the improvement of interethnic relations in Georgia, the book is meant for all specialists working on the issue of interethnic relations or those intending to focus on it, includes bibliography.
Empowering students for just societies: a handbook for primary school teachers
Maligned wolf Pdf document that uses the telling of "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Maligned Wolf" to help children (grades K-8) see both sides of every story.
All equal in diversity: International campaign mobilizing schools against racism, discrimination... 13-page PDF booklet which, "is part of the "All Equal in Diversity” International Campaign Kit comprising a poster and stickers promoting the campaign, an Application Form, a Report Form and Evaluation Questionnaire ... Some 100 schools in Africa, the Americas/Caribbean and Europe participate in the TST [Transatlantic Slave Trade] Education project. Their opinions and commitment have formed the basis of the “All Equal in Diversity” International Campaign. By deepening their understanding of the past, these schools work towards a better understanding of the present so as to build a brighter future based on mutual respect and unity in diversity, thus contributing substantially to the quality of education in the twenty-first century."