To reduce bias, fear, anxiety, and discrimination, teachers should do what to interactions between groups?

• A. To reduce bias, fear, anxiety, and discrimination, teachers should identify, model, and teach interaction skills across groups.
• B. Teachers separate students by group to avoid conflict.
• C. Teachers enforce group-based segregation to maintain order.
• D. Teachers discourage cross-group collaboration.

Answer: (A)

Creating safe, positive opportunities for students from different groups to interact and, at the same time, teaching them how to interact well across differences is the most effective approach. The idea is to identify biases or misunderstandings, model respectful behavior, and explicitly teach the skills needed for cross-group collaboration. This means the teacher guides students to listen actively, ask clarifying questions, share ideas openly, disagree respectfully, and work toward common goals. Structured activities that mix groups—like cooperative, goal-focused tasks or restorative conversations—provide equal status and shared purpose, helping students experience positive intergroup contact and see peers from other groups as allies rather than threats. When teachers set clear norms for inclusive language, equitable participation, and constructive conflict resolution, learners practice these behaviors and gradually reduce fear and prejudice. By contrast, simply separating students or discouraging cross-group collaboration removes opportunities to learn from one another and can reinforce stereotypes and anxiety.