That reminds me of the 20 Mile Race exercise. I also am attaching the Skin Color Tax, one of my favorites.
>>> "Jessica L. Collett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 05/30/06 10:26 AM >>> I use that article, Robert. It works well in both my social psychology and inequality courses when we're discussing social construction. The "Take one step forward if..." exercise is always a favorite in my classes (which, having taught in South Carolina and Southern Arizona are usually quite diverse both racially, culturally and economically). After having the students stratify themselves by stepping forward, or not, I have them look around, take note of their position, and then run toward a goal (a tree, street, fence, etc.). We then talk about the factors in reaching that goal. Of course there's position, where they started, and it's clear that some start closer to the goal than others, but there's also luck (on the day of the exercise a few summers ago our star running back wore flip flops and ended up dead last) and effort (some students push really hard toward that line, others less hard) that will mix up who reaches the goal and when. Inevitably it's the students at the top and bottom of the stratification ladder that get the most out of it. Those at the top have the revelation that they had some help along the way (to combat the "being on third, thinking I hit a triple" affliction) and those at the bottom realizes that they've already reached a significant goal and that despite being at the bottom of this stratification ladder, they surpassed that position to get to college. In the same classes I've used the McIntosh stuff and there's always a great dialogue about "the little things" that make a big difference in the lives of the students. ~Jessica --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
skin color tax.wps
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