The Impact of Cooperative Learning Experiences on Cross‐Ethnic Relations and Attitudes

Abstract

A field experiment examined the effects of cooperative interethnic contact on ethnic relations and attitudes in the setting of newly desegregated junior and senior high schools. Cooperative interethnic contact was induced in the experimental classrooms by means of a teaching method which emphasized the use of small interdependent student work groups composed of white, black, and Mexican‐American students. Results indicated that the interethnic group method received a favorable endorsement from the teachers, produced substantially more cross‐ethnic helping behavior, promoted greater relative respect and liking for Mexican‐American classmates among white students, and elicited more frequent friendship choices for Mexican‐Americans by whites.