This lesson is supposed to help students recognize one of the unintended results of the Brown decision: equating colorblind policies with equity.
This lesson will cover colorblindness and how ignoring race can lead to increases in bias and decreases the ability to recognize it. Students will do two guided readings to expose them to the idea of colorblindness and its relationship to bias.
Essential questions
How should you treat someone who is different from you?
What is the difference between justice and equality?
Do laws guarantee fair treatment?
Outcomes and objectives
After the lesson students will…
Be able to define colorblindness and bias. They will also reflect on the relationship between colorblindness, equality, and justice.
Preparing to teach
The biggest preparation a teacher can do for this lesson is to make sure that the classroom environment they have fostered all year is one that can learn about and tangle with the sometimes-difficult idea of colorblindness. Teachers should communicate with their department heads and administrators that they are doing this lesson and show its relevance to curriculum.
Scaffolds and accommodations to support learners
Reading support
The readings can be done by the recommended grade levels, however some scaffolding may be beneficial if the teacher determines. The worksheet is meant to help direct student reading, but allowing for students to look up words they do not know may help with comprehension.
Differentiation
Differentiation with this assignment could be giving one set of students the TED article (the easier read) and some students the Harvard piece (the more difficult read), having them fill out their half of the worksheet, and then sharing as a class to fill in each group with what the other read.
Adjusting for middle school grades
For middle schoolers, we would recommend paraphrasing or excerpting from these articles and having students read the new, simpler versions.
Instructional activities sequence
Begin class by pointing out the essential questions. Then articulate to the class that today’s lesson will deal with topics of bias and race, reiterating that the purpose of the class is to explore ideas and that the class is a respectful and thoughtful community. Hand out the reading worksheet and review the questions on it before beginning the reading to help ground students in what they should be looking for in the readings. Then do the readings in class, potentially in reading groups or all together if that is easier. After reading, give time to respond to the worksheets, potentially partnered up so that students can begin to discuss. Once finished, put the Brown v. Board decision on the board as a grounding point and have students in pairs discuss the question from the worksheet: Does Brown advocate for colorblind policies? Finally, students will provide an illustrated reflection on the question. This needs to be some kind of artistic, hopefully multimodal, reflection that is an articulation of their understanding of colorblindness and its relation to the Brown case.
Assessment
The assessment will be the reading worksheet, helping to determine reading comprehension and understanding, as well as the illustrated reflection.
Materials needed and additional resources for enrichment