Vise II : The Objetivos Fundamentales Transversales (OFT) in

the English classroom

Assignment

I chose the following OFT for my assignment:

Los OFT del mbito Formacin tica, relativos al respeto y valoracin de modos de
ser, pensar y valorar de otras culturas, y el cuestionamiento de estereotipos,
discriminaciones y mitos que se construyen respecto de las mismas.

To apply this OFT, I decided to make an activity in which all the pupils could give their
opinions about many stereotypes.

In the class, I would write on the whiteboard the words man and woman, and I
would ask them to write some adjectives. For example, below the man category,
many of them might write the typical responses like strong, powerful, short-haired,
active, and below the woman category, adjectives like lovely, long-haired, cries
easily, sensitive. Then, I would ask the following:

-Do you agree with the lists you have created? Would you like to make any change to
them?
-Are there terms that do not belong under the categories theyre under?
-Is it fair to say that all men are ________ and all women are _________?

Secondly, I would introduce the stereotype theme by asking them if they know the
meaning of this word. Many of them will give some approximated definitions, and in
order to have a good one, I would ask them to look for it in their dictionaries.

Then, again on the whiteboard, I would write the following phrases:

-All old people are forgetful.

-Men are better at math than women are.
-Girls are not as athletic as boys.

And I would ask them if these phrases are true or not, and why. After sharing their
opinions and reactions, I would lead them to the conclusion that these statements are too
general to be true and encourage them to recognize that it is unfair to make such
sweeping statements. Then, I would help them to connect these phrases with the
stereotype term.

Thirdly, I would paste some shied of paper on the board with common stereotypes, and
I would ask them, one by one, to tell me and the class if the phrase written on the paper
is true or false and why, and if it is completely false, Id ask them to tear the paper, so
we can symbolize that the stereotype has disappeared.
And as a conclusion, and in order to finish the activity, I would ask them the following
questions:

-What did you learn today?

-Were there times during the class when they felt angry or sad? Why?