Key Stage 2 Resources Stereotypes

Who would you like to be your teacher? 3 Who would you like to be your teacher? 2 1 KS2: Stereotyping in the Media: Starter exercise Ask pupils to decide (in their heads) which one of these six people in the pictures they would most like to have as their teacher A teacher A doctor 3) The Criminal- Gerrah Selby: After joining Shac (Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty) she became active in violent protests against companies in the UK and Europe, where she and others targeted families and their homes associated with the testing on animals for medical research. 4) The Headteacher 5) The Mechanic 6) Patrik-Ian Polk – Actor (N.B. Also openly gay should you wish to explore this further) 6 4 5

Spot the doctor, the mechanic, the teacher, the head teacher, the actor and the criminal. 3 2 1 KS2: Stereotyping in the Media: Starter exercise Ask pupils to decide (in their heads) which one of these six people in the pictures they would most like to have as their teacher A teacher A doctor 3) The Criminal- Gerrah Selby: After joining Shac (Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty) she became active in violent protests against companies in the UK and Europe, where she and others targeted families and their homes associated with the testing on animals for medical research. 4) The Headteacher 5) The Mechanic 6) Patrik-Ian Polk – Gay and black actor 6 4 5

What is a stereotype? Men should earn more money than women Women should do all of the housework Boys are tougher than girls Teachers are mean What do these characters and images tell us? How do you feel about these stereotypes and the way in which they are used? Do you think these stereotypes are true?

Use of Stereotypes Stereotypes are a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. This can be done through the simplified representation of character, appearances and beliefs. Ask students what the ‘key’ words are.

What Stereotypes can you see in these pictures? What do these characters and images tell us? How do you feel about these stereotypes and the way in which they are used? Do you think these stereotypes are true?

Challenging Stereotypes 2 3 What do these characters and images tell us? How do you feel about these pictures, do they challenge stereotypes? Do you think these pictures present ‘truth’? 4 5

The Dangers of Stereotyping They encourage audiences to think large groups of people are all the same, and often have the same negative characteristics. Our self-identity comes from the images and messages we see around us Groups may feel unfairly represented. What would happen if people were only to think in terms of stereotypes? They cause people to exaggerate differences among groups. They lead people to focus selectively on information that agrees with the stereotype and ignore information that disagrees with it.