In this lesson, students will explore the way clothing can influence our perceptions of one another.
"Who you are is more important than what you wear."
— Kenneth Cole, designer
Objective:
Students will find they impose stereotypes based solely on how someone dresses.
Materials:
Step One: Split your class in half, with half facing one side of the room and the other half facing the opposite side. Give the first half the Santa cap image and the second half the turban image.
Step Two: Ask the following questions out loud and have students write answers on their handout.
Step Three: After students have quickly jotted down answers, have students to share their responses and record them on opposite sides of the board.
To help you do this, and to help differentiate the two groups' responses, have a volunteer from each side of the room come up to record answers on the board. One side will be all Santa hat responses and the other side will be all turban responses.
Be prepared for students to be confused at the bizarrely differing responses to the image they believe all students are sharing.
Step Four: Hand out the page showing both Santa and the man in the turban. Ask the following lead questions and allow for discussion:
Step Five: What are other groups of people we judge based solely on what they might be wearing?
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/tt_santa_turban_activity_2010.pdf