Page 365 - The Social Animal

Prejudice 347

and more attentive when a cooperative atmosphere is introduced
than when a competitive atmosphere prevails. Similarly, research by
Patricia Keenan and Peter Carnevale has shown that cooperation
within groups can also foster cooperation between groups. That is,
96
cooperative relations that are established in one group often carry
over when that group is later called upon to interact with a different
group. In their study, groups that engaged in a cooperative task were
more cooperative in a subsequent negotiation with another group
than groups that had initially worked in a competitive fashion.
Unfortunately, cooperation and interdependence are not charac-
teristic of the process that exists in most American classrooms, even
at the elementary level. On the contrary, intense competition reigns
in most classrooms in this country. I got a chance to observe this up
close when I was asked to intervene during a major crisis in the
Austin, Texas, public schools. The year was 1971. Desegregation had
just taken place and had precipitated some ugly incidents. Because
Austin had been residentially segregated, youngsters of various eth-
nic and racial groups encountered one another for the first time.
There was a lot of suspicion and stereotyping prior to this contact.
The contact seems to have exacerbated the problem. In any case,
taunting frequently escalated into fistfights. The situation was both
ugly and dangerous, shattering our illusions that desegregation
would automatically reduce prejudice.
When the school superintendent asked for my help, my col-
leagues and I entered the system, not to smooth over the unpleasant-
ness but rather, to see if there was anything we might do to help
desegregation achieve some of the positive goals envisioned for it.
The first thing we did was to systematically observe the dynamics
taking place in various classrooms. By far, the most common process
we observed was typified by this scenario in a 6th-grade class: The
teacher stands in front of the room, asks a question, and waits for the
students to indicate that they know the answer. Most frequently, 6 to
10 youngsters strain in their seats and raise their hands—some wav-
ing them vigorously in an attempt to attract the teacher’s attention.
Several other students sit quietly with their eyes averted, as if trying
to make themselves invisible.
When the teacher calls on one of the students, there are looks of
disappointment, dismay, and unhappiness on the faces of those stu-
dents who were eagerly raising their hands but were not called on. If