Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of Our Time)

Author: Claude M. Steele, PhD. What he published are the American Psychologist, the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. No award. Genre: While this is a book of social science, it is somewhat of an autobiography of psychologist. This book is intended for stereotype people and how people react to them (especially black and white). The purpose of the work is Steele, a social psychologist and professor at Stanford University, summarizes a year of research on stereotype threat and its effect on minority student academic performance in “Whistling Vivaldi,” named for a social experiment conducted by Brent Staples, an African-American New York Times journalist. Title: Title comes from an African-American guy named Staples noticed that people who saw him on the street at night seemed to regard him as a potential threat. But when he whistled classical music, their apprehension seemed to diminish. It is very interesting book because the story is coming from a real-life situation. Title encapsulates the topic of the book. Preface/Introduction/Table of Contents: There is an introduction which provides revealing information about the text in the introduction. Henry Louis Gates introduces the book. Guest author provides some books and Whistling Vivaldi is just one of them. This book is a part of Issues of Our Time. The book has chapters. Book Jacket/Cover/Printing: The book has book jackets are like mini-reviews. It provides a summary of the book and there is also a quote. It gives us outstanding information about the book. When you read book jacket, it catches your attention to the book. There is a picture of the author. It contributes the work. Summary and Evaluation: The title of the book comes from the author’s experience. Steele describes of Brent Staples, who was a graduate student in Chicago. He is an African-American, observed white people and couples reacting to him with fear when they walked past him in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Staples noticed that when he whistled the tunes of musician Vivaldi, white people seemed like to relax and some of them even smiled at him. He was a stereotype of a potentially violence- African-American person. Staples overcame this threat for himself and the people who passed him with fear. The book talks about the identity threat that occurs when faced with a negative stereotype. The author gives us some remedies to reduce stereotype threat. There are some researches he has done on the students from different backgrounds. There are some strategies to apply them to the classroom. There will be positive environment. The most fascinating parts were on how identity threat could be reduced or eliminated. He made outstanding points obviously, but I can't help but feel that it was repetitive and that its facts were supported with evidence. I think that he spent too much time spending on exploring what identity threat was, while he was not exploring why personal identities or stereotypes are formed. On the other hand, sometimes he refers to people as things, but as a human being. This book separates everyone in a certain stereotype. The author writes in broad terms like "black" "white" "man" "woman" that he doesn't mention the fact that we are all just people after all. Also, there was a huge bias towards certain groups of people in this book. Steele and his colleagues think of stereotype threat, because of “the pressure of group stereotypes”; a pressure that comes into play when people’s “performance confirm a bad view of their group and of themselves, as members of that group” (p. 59). When we experience stereotype threat, we try to protect ourselves because of our instinct. Our brains are trying to disobey the stereotype and protect our image. Our performance might hurt. I certainly suggest this book to my colleagues because the book has experiments and researches about identity. This book is very interesting because it comes from a real-life story.

Whistling Vivaldi And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us, the eagerly anticipated book by scholar Claude Steele is a must read for any educator, but it has implications that reach far beyond that domain. Like chicken soup for the soul of the critically thinking change maker, Whistling Vivaldi offers valuable new insights that will help to complicate our thinking and the frames we use to structure the discourse about the challenges of living in a diverse society. As we as a nation struggle to reap the promise of true democracy this seminal text by Dr. Steele can help us move beyond the well trodden paths of discussion that lead us to nowhere. In order to craft viable solutions to many of the vexing problems in education we need to transcend the orthodoxy of the left and the right in order reframe the conversation such that we can see the issues in a more complex framework than where they typically reside. While there are many generative frames presented in this book that are worthy of much conversation and reflection, the basic premise that "who" we are does matter is a simple but critical conceptual reframing of the classroom. Rather than stay tied to maladaptive coping strategies like "color blind" approaches to teaching, which assume that we all have the same experiences and that aspects of our identity such as "race" or gender among others are neutral categories, he suggests that we can take these into account and that by doing so we can create a more effective teaching environment for all students. This body of work also suggests that our national obsession with school reform tied to "standardized assessments" may indeed be misguided. While not and argument against assessment, this text suggest that these standardized measures may be only partial measures and may indeed serve as an impediment to many students moving forward in their educational trajectories. Perhaps, rather than funneling more resources into kill and drill test prep, taking time away from more meaningful instruction, or blaming children, the communities they come from or the teachers themselves for schools' failure, we might be better served by taking a step back and reconceptualizing what isn't working and asking new questions as to the "why." For those of us working in the trenches to improve the education of all children, I thank you for this valuable contribution; it's truly a breath of fresh air and a well needed reframing.

This is an interesting insight into the journey to understand what stereotype threat is. As someone very interested in anti-racist work, I sort of wish it was positioned with some other research around implicit and explicit bias, but I understand that is not the author's expertise. It is clear and simple prose - it makes the analysis and research component feel accessible to non academics.

Claude Steele's Whistling Vivaldi is an eye opening book that offers an in-depth look at the topic of stereotype threat, something that affects all of us in one way or another. Steele provides a straightforward depiction of stereotype threat, helping readers to understand a loaded topic and its impact, regardless of their previous knowledge of it. He uses personal accounts to illustrate how stereotype threat can develop, how it feels, and how it can affect individuals in various settings. Steele reminds us that divisions in our society are still present, whether they are related to race, gender, age, or any other characteristics that make us different from one another. Steele's use of personal accounts causes the reader to reflect on his/her own experience with stereotype threat and wonder how others might also be affected internally by stereotypes. Even though Steele is an expert on the subject, he does not place himself on a pedestal, and instead shares with us his own personal journey studying stereotypes. He does not alienate any specific groups or value one group's experience over another's, but instead discusses his research and its implications in a way that everyone can relate to. Steele not only offers his readers relatable, applicable research, but also goes on to discuss ways in which we can combat stereotype threat, especially in arenas like education. He leaves us feeling hopeful that change is possible. This book would be especially helpful to people working in the field of psychology, education, or any other field involving working with people! It is a reminder that even though our society has made some improvements over the past few decades, we are still impacted by stereotypes and must educate ourselves in order to continue making changes for the greater good.

I loved this book, and have already passed my copy on to others at work. It is chock-full of stories and study results that paint a very powerful story of racism and sexism in our society - including the impact of societal messages on our internal psyches. The story from the title grabbed me immediately, for example. And while it discusses many academic studies, each one is presented in a context that makes them very intimate and impactful. It does not read like an overview of studies. It reads like a narrative of one person's journey through his lifetime. I would recommend it.

Steele's work on stereotype threat is excellent! I have read and researched almost all of his work in academic journals. A few people recommended this book to me over the years, but I never thought to buy it because I was so familiar with his academic publications. However, this past summer, I decided to give a try for my self-imposed "summer reading". It was a good read and the departure from "academic writing" was nice. I didn't learn anything new, but enjoyed it nevertheless. If you are familiar with Steele's work, you won't get anything new from it. But, if you are new to Steele's work, then this is an impressive, thought-provoking read. In my opinion, his research is necessary in understanding how stereotypes impact us in ways that most people may not realize..and, how people may be conveying stereotype without even realizing it (or intending to).

Overall, I semi-liked the book. When I first begin reading it, I didn’t care for it, but as I read on, it started to get better. It’s packed with a lot of information and empirical studies, which I loved and hated. I didn’t care for the lengthy sentences, and the studies could get confusing at times. I recommend taking notes while reading it if you need this book for a graduate class like I did. I admit that if I weren’t required to read this for class, I wouldn’t have finished it because it was a bit boring at times.

I was in tears by the end, this book was mind-blowing, gave potential remedies to identity threat, and helped me to better understand all the elements at play within the human race and the races within.

A really illuminating book which suggests that stereotyping is a universal human characteristic, practised by and affecting us all. It considers particularly the negative stereotypes perceived by women, older people, and African Americans. Through the use of numerous examples of psychological experiments, it demonstrates that the anxiety caused by the perception of negative stereotypes, and the energy involved in trying to overcome them, affects performance, particularly amongst those most invested in success, when faced with a very challenging task. It suggests ways in which the perception of negative stereotypes can be mitigated by institutions and society as a whole, and demonstrates that such changes remove the deficit in performance. The writing is lively and humane but somewhat repetitive in structure.

This book opened my eyes to all the racism we see nowadays and how we can stereotype without even noticing. It also shows how even "good cliches" might not be that good at all. Great read!

My favourite conversation starter in the discussion of “the other”

Un libro muy útil y que todo el mundo debería leer. Es un buen análisis de cómo los prejuicios permean nuestras actitudes y nuestra afectividad de maneras insospechadas e inconscientes. Además es ameno, con muchos ejemplos y bien escrito.

Recommend to me by a friend, this book has become life altering. As a black man currently a PhD(c), I see myself and an explanation of so many of my own life experiences, both past and current, aptly explained. I am grateful for the new knowledge imparted to me and will pay this forward to the students in my College classes where I teach and to anyone else who will listen to me. Thank you.