The Importance Of Desegregation In Schools

Shortly after 1971 when desegregation became legal, children of all races, ethnicities, and skin colours were all finally presented the opportunity to participate in classrooms and build their education together. Following this, jigsaw classrooms were introduced in order to relieve some of the barriers that had arisen and were interfering with the goals of desegregation. In the beginning of segregation within the schools, Aronson (2011) pointed out that the children saw the teacher at the only expert, and were essentially working against one another and enjoying when someone else answered questions wrong, in order to get their turn to get it correct. Insults like “your dumb, and your stupid” (Aronson, 2011) were often thrown
Therefore, jigsaw method should be used before just simply desegregating everyone because it still creates a bias tendency to judge and be prejudice based on the outside appearance.
Within the article by Aronson (2011) desegregations goals were to reduce prejudice, raise the self-esteem of the minority, and improve classroom performances of the minority. Furthermore, through the use of jigsaw schooling they were going to accomplish this. I agree with the author’s idea of teaching the children to work together and help one another in order to better understand how each of us learns differently, and to be able guide one another where there is little self-confidence. A study conducted by Harrison, & Worthy (2001) found that through the use of jigsaw schooling they were able to place students in heterogeneous groups in order to successfully learn a Latin dance. Each member was to learn one part, and they would then teach the rest of the group their part; together they would have a complete dance. The children had to work together to learn their parts, and to then teach and learn their peers’ parts as well. Harrison & Worthy (2001) concluded that the