WEBVTT

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[music plays]

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Listen as the words appear on your screen.

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What thoughts or images come immediately to mind?

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Jot down a few notes about your first impressions.

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Continue watching for further reflection.

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English language learner.

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Cheerleader.

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Student living in poverty.

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Student with a disability.

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Honor roll student.

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School bully.

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Prom queen and king.

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Now that you have written down some first thoughts, let's dig a
little deeper into those impressions.

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We like to think that when we look at the world, we see it
objectively. We tend to think that reality is exactly what we see,

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that it exists in the order and detail in which we see it, but how
neutral are we when we look at the world around us?

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A moment ago, you listened to a list of words, and it's likely that
some impressions or images came into your mind. Language is an

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abstraction that we attempt to convert into something simpler to
understand: a concrete thought or picture that we can make sense of.

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What pictures leapt to mind when you heard those words? Were there
several? Was there just one?

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When you heard "English language learner," did you see this?

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Or this?

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What about "cheerleader"? Is this what came to mind?

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Or was it something like this?

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What about "student living in poverty"? Did you see this?

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Or perhaps this image is what occurred to you?

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We don't always like to acknowledge it, but our perceptions can
sometimes be influenced by stereotypes. A cognitive and social

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mechanism, a stereotype is what we call the human mind's tendency to
simplify people or groups into a narrow range of characteristics,

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habits, or reactions. But these types of perceptions are often
inaccurate, leading us to oversimplify or to unfairly categorize others.

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People are more complex than that.  People are more diverse.

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So when you heard the words "student with a disability," did you see
this?

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Or this?

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What about…

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"honor roll student"?

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"School bully"?

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Or "prom queen and king"?

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Did these images come to mind?

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All people stereotype, because stereotyping is a natural function of
how the human mind perceives the world. But our minds also have the

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ability to understand that function—to realize that it is
happening—and through reflection, reconsideration, and careful

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self-examination we are able to mitigate the worst effects of this
tendency that we all share.