Imagine that you are teaching at a school that serves students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The students tend to congregate in groups along ethnic lines, to the point where they are quite "clique-ish" and exclusive, and hostilities are building up among the groups. Using guidelines presented in the textbook, describe three strategies that you and your fellow teachers might use to foster

Question

positive interaction and friendships across the groups. Describe each strategy in a separate paragraph, and be specific about what you might do.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The response should include three strategies, with each one being described in a separate paragraph. Following are examples of strategies that the response might include:
- Set up situations in which students can form cross-group friendships (e.g., assign cooperative learning activities, periodically change seat assignments)
- Minimize or eliminate barriers to social interaction (e.g., teach the native languages of other students)
- Help change the reputations of formerly antisocial students.
- Encourage and facilitate participation in extracurricular activities.
- Encourage a general attitude of respect for others.
Also give credit for other strategies that are clearly justified by concepts or research presented in the textbook. For instance, strategies described in the discussions of social cognition and peer mediation may be relevant here.