Download now: Exercise: Understand a prejudice and make it go away

Eradicate prejudice at work, school and places where people meet

'Sellers are quick to respond and lie so loudly.'

'Warehouse people are troublesome and inflexible.'

'Asian children are good at math.'

'The Finns go with a knife.'

We are surrounded by prejudices, attitudes and assumptions about groups of people. The prejudice presupposes something untrue or unsubstantiated. Over time, the prejudices become widespread and remain unchallenged. The prejudices can be both negative and positive.

One way to eradicate prejudices is to talk about them. It sounds very simple, but it doesn't have to be. Here you can order the dialogue cards which initiate a dialogue exercise, which every manager, teacher or lecturer can use when there is a need to shed light on prejudice.

Method 1

Print out the pdf with 4 cards on each A4 page. Distribute 3 cards to each participant and ask them to sit in pairs and together find answers to as many questions as possible. Allow 10 minutes for questioning time. After 10 minutes, the 'leader' collects the most useful answers and notes them on a flipchart. The question 'What do we do now?' must result in at least 10 action points.

Method 2

Hand out 1 card to each participant. The method is called 'Brief Encounters'. Each participant now meets 1 other. These 2 choose the one question to ask each other and listen to the answers. When both have received answers to their questions, they exchange cards and find a new participant and repeat the process. After approx. 10 minutes ask: 'What did you discover about the 6 short meetings you managed to have?' Make notes on a flipcharts. Reframe notes for practical action.