EIU Best Practices Series No. 11: Challenging Racial Prejudices, Promoting International Understanding

This monograph is one of APCEIU's EIU Best Practices Series, which aims to encourage educators, scholars, and activists to implement and share local initiatives on EIU. The Series No.11 introduces a case study of the SMA Taman Harapan High School in Indonesia, conducted to explore prevalent issues of racial prejudices and devise methods to reduce racism. Research revealed that students held a degree of racist perception against people of certain heritage. Activities were conducted thenceforth, allowing participants to have direct and extended interactions with people of different cultures. Despite the short timeframe of the activity, perception on stereotypes did not change altogether, yet progress was evident in students’ understanding of the severity of the issue. As educators also learned ways to help alleviate the problem of racism, the case is an exemplary example of increasing cultural awareness and international understanding.