Educational Spaces : Not Only Transmitted Through People

Knowledge of negative stereotypes can influence people’s performance. Stereotype threat creates extra performance pressure through apprehensiveness about conforming to negative stereotypes (Woolfolk &

Currently, this generation lies in a time of unprecedented growth and change. The last few decades have endured years of transformation thereby allowing for the evolution of the human mind. The evolution of the human mind and its thought process all lies within cultural beliefs; beliefs affect attitudes and attitudes invertedly affect behavior. These behaviors may implement a form of prejudice and discrimination upon a certain group of individuals. Perhaps the most concurred concept revolving around attitudes and behaviors rests upon gender roles. This flawed concept created by man himself has indoctrinated society to acquire a negative perception of women. Women carry a stigma that they are both unintelligent and are subordinate to their

“A classroom design can improve an individual's performance by 25%” (How Classroom Design Affects Student Learning). Six of ten design guidelines had the most significant encounter on student learning: color, choice, connection, complexity, and light. By rearranging the rows of desks into grouped structures, improves all of the following aspects of learning:Ability to engage in preferred learning methods,

Stereotype threat inclusion/omission: whether including or omitting information that could potentially indicate gender bias would affect performance.

According to Crocker and Major, members of stigmatized groups engage in three cognitive processes to negate the impact of stereotypes. One of them is attributing negative feedback to one’s group membership, which serves as a self-protective mechanism. It can be used both when the negative outcome is stemmed from prejudice and not prejudice. For instance, if a woman fails a job interview, she might attribute her failure to the possibility that the interviewer is sexist. Therefore, she can further conclude it’s not that she is unqualified, but rather the attitude of the interviewer that prohibits the opportunity. The second self-protective method is in-group comparisons. Instead of turning to out-group

By actively engaging in counter stereotyping a strong influencer is accessible to oppose the negative power inherent in stereotype threat.

First, the environment in which learning takes place should be appealing. Regardless of the size of the room--whether small or overcrowded--there are a number of ways to create an

For my observation on the indoor activity space, I was able to observe a classroom physically and view all areas in the indoor environment. I first observed if the surfaces where properly cleaned and I found that the floors all had clean surfaces not one dirty desk in sight. Next, I observed that all furniture was sturdy and safe all furniture was rounded and at the child level and size. In addition, I noticed that the classroom area was spacious and all areas had enough space separating the from each other to give children the room to explore without incident. The classroom consisted of many options for children to choose from like pretend play art, science, music, blocks, pretend play, manipulation, and a cozy area, and between those areas they all have the proper space for children to not be distracted from other areas.

When it comes to academics, women are expected to not perform as well in areas such as math, science, and other subjects that require strength, clear and quick thinking, or activities considered “hands on” jobs (Brewer 2). Society believes that the will to prove negative stereotypes wrong would motivate women to do better in certain areas and reject the stereotype, but this theory was proven wrong in a study led by social psychologist Kathryn L. Boucher (“Stereotypes lower…” 2). Her study consisted of two groups of people who were made aware of the stereotype that men are generally better at math than women (2). One group that consisted of both men and women would take a test on mathematics while the other group observed them and predicted what would happen and how the test takers would feel (2). The second group mostly predicted that the women would have increased levels of anxiety, but would be motivated to do better and defy the negative stereotype, causing them to perform better (2). The females in the test taking group ended up performing worse and reported high levels of anxiety while taking the test (2). Negative gender stereotypes of women affect their performance in academics, more specifically in math and

Cralley and Ruscher (2005) created two consecutive experiments using the same basic hypothesis and procedures with only slight modifications, to analyze the effect on “cognitive busyness” (Cralley and Ruscher, 2005) and actively monitoring language that can be considered sexist. Cralley and Ruscher (2005) predicted in both studies that individuals would use impartial language with regards to sexism, while participating in the experiment, and therefore indicate which participants had greater or minor sexist views. Male undergraduates (59 in study 1, 76 in study 2) were given tasks with different levels of difficulty concerning mental capability, and then immediately given a second task that would measure the level of gender-biased cognition.

The study examined people’s reactions upon observing misogyny, as well as their expected reactions when presented with the hypothetical scenario of observing misogyny. Participants included 205 volunteer public college students, of which 67 were women and 138 were men. Participants were predominantly white with a mean age of 20.53 years, and self-reported as being moderately politically conservative and moderately religious. Students were exposed to one of two scenarios, the difference being whether a disparaging remark was made about a woman. Further, the scenarios were presented in one of two ways: through text (in which case participants were asked to forecast their emotional response after reading the scenario) and through direct observation

The first aspect I created was the rectangular rug in the center of the classroom. This piece has multiple purposes. It could be used for instruction time like reading to the class or watching videos. This aspect supports brain based learning by being an area for movement and learning. Chapter four of “Teaching with the Brain in Mind” discusses the importance between learning and movement. This area would be used of stretching time, movement when outdoor recess is not ideal, and a space for students to sit in a different form during structured free time. A replacement activity that could occur if recess was canceled would be doing children’s yoga which would be beneficial time to relax and unwind for the students. With the brain in mind and after much research, it has been proven that processing movement and processing learning are done in the same area of the brain which explains the connection and importance of the two together (Jensen, Pg. 61). The body also releases dopamine and norepinephrine during movement which leads to enhancing long term memory when activities are done before or after learning (Jensen, Pg. 79).

Inside of the classroom there was a different objective I observed such as three calendars, three tables, a cabinet, 15 pack backs on the shelves and glitter. There were 2 flags, four plants and children sitting and lunch set. There were wood blocks, children pictures, pencil and crayons. There was hand paint, one clock and three rugs. There was three teachers and one with it an apron on.

They were supplied with information about their partner so that they could get a sense of his personal characteristics. In the identity-threat condition, their partner held sexist views. For instance, they would strongly agree with statements such as “I could not work for a female boss because women can be overly emotional and sensitive”. In the identity-safety condition, the partner was presented as nonsexist and strongly disagreed with sexist statements. The second independent variable in their 2 x 3 design was word type with three levels: 1) social-identity threatening; 2) illness threatening; and 3) nonthreatening. This variable was manipulated using a repeated measures design; thus, all participants were tested with all three-word types in a completely counterbalanced order. The social-identity threatening words were sexist in content, such as hooters and ho. The illness-threatening words (mono, Alzheimer’s, cancer) were included as a control condition to determine whether women in the identity-threat condition would pay attention to threatening words in general and not just social-identity threatening words. The nonthreatening words, also a control condition, described household objects such as curtains and broom. In on part of Kaiser et al.’s study, all three-word types were presented subliminally in different colors, and participants’ task

There are many things needed to create an environment more conducive to learning for each student, some of which include: