Teachers are tools onto which children gain knowledge. It is vital for children to grasp an understanding of certain social concepts in their road of education. Teachers are the hands that guide children gain such understandings such as gender, ethnicity, and cultural diversity. Through active involvement of children in learning, they will carry on and utilize the knowledge into their entire lives.
Many educators sweep past issues that may seem a bit intimidating to touch upon, in classroom. Of these is gender. How do you teach a child about gender and gender differences and roles? Activities may be done with students to reinforce ideas and concepts, through the building of their schemata. An example of an activity addressing gender would be creating a problem posing classroom environment. This is where there is an open discussion going on about gender. A teacher may ask question such as "What kind of jobs do men hold/women? This stirs a child's mind and touches upon their schemata. The schema that is shaped by everything they hear, and see. This gives a teacher an opportunity to correct any misunderstandings the children may have about gender roles. Typical answers to the question above could be "Men are firefighters, cops, scientists, astronauts etc-for women they may be "secretary, cook, nurse, teacher etc". With these responses in mind the teacher may then bring biographies and auto- biographies of men and women that hold careers in fields the children may not have thought. This activity may be very useful for children in the 4th and 5th grade, and might change the perceptions a child may have.
Ethnicity and cultural diversity are other topics that should be taught and reinforced in a classroom. Again classroom activities may be used to reinforce and give children understanding of these terms. An activity touching upon ethnicity and cultural diversity may be done together. An example of an activity may be to set up the classroom into different parts of the world.
