“The line between good and evil does not pass between nations, classes or political parties, but through all human beings.” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn
As a teacher and professor of education, bias and its reduction through educational interventions has been a major research focus throughout my professional career and the focus of an international fellowship.
Judy Harris (photo provided)
Prejudice can be positive or negative, but the term has come to mean negative.
Prejudice is not just racism or sexism, it continually surfaces in the most insidious ways, every day, everywhere in the world, and it surfaces here, between and within groups. wherever. Inconveniences and small changes in daily life can trigger these negative reactions and beliefs.
What have I learned to reduce bias?
Let’s go together to a fellowship in Saudi Arabia.
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1995 – Saudi Arabia
This concludes our study in this vast country. There’s a lot to learn.
A bunch of princes were sitting across from us and about as many fellowship participants.
The dialogue continued back and forth on a variety of issues.
The moderator asked the last question. “Is there anything we can do to reduce prejudice?”
No one in our group responded.
I raised my hand.
“According to my experience and research, there are two things that can reduce bias.
First, people must have peer relationships with other groups of people. Your relationship as a colleague should be as a co-worker rather than a colleague, someone who lives down the street rather than a neighbor, or someone who loves horses as much as you do. It’s not easy to get such companions. We tend to surround ourselves with people who are similar to us.
Second, critical thinking skills must be emphasized, taught, and practiced many times throughout a person’s life. Observe, question, analyze, compare, and contrast. Distinguish between fact and opinion. Identify bias, cause and effect, propaganda, scapegoating, contradictions and errors. ”
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It’s so easy to be a bigot today.
Temptation is always present for me and for you.
Is there a chance someone will join you?
More than ever, we are overwhelmed with information and bias.
Noise is chaos in itself.
Are we contributing to it?
Screening information and perspectives and actively listening can be exhausting.
But is there a cost to not controlling what we see, say, hear, read, and write?
You can give up, or you can persevere.
We need to persevere for the sake of humanity, ourselves and the world.
Blessings.
Judy Harris is a fixture in Northern Kentucky life as a longtime elementary and college educator. A graduate of Thomas Hermore College, she began her career there in 1980 and played a key role in her teacher education, introducing her students to national and international travel experiences. She traveled abroad and studied widely. Although she is enjoying her life after her retirement, she is in daily contact with university students.
