Breaking the Yorkshire stereotype…

We have been learning about stereotypes.  That is the phrase we use to describe it when someone is assumed to have certain characteristics just because of things like where they are born, the colour of their hair or the sport they play.

We looked for examples in books; ‘The Troll and Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson.  We found that the main characters in both books fitted into what we expect trolls and witches to look and act like but that both characters actually acted very differently to how they looked.  We asked clever questions like, “Is a troll still a troll if he doesn’t live under a bridge?”  “Are witches still magic without their wands?”  “Is it fair to expect all trolls to be mean?”

 

We found out that there are certain stereotypes for people who come from Yorkshire!!!!  Just look at the first set of images that appear if you google, “Yorkshireman”

As India pointed out, even the saying is inaccurate as she is a proud “Yorkshirewoman”!  We looked around our class and we didn’t see one child in a flat cap or wearing a tweed jacket.  So we investigated further and found all sorts of sayings or misconceptions related to being from barnsley and Yorkshire:

  • Yorkshire folk are “strong int’ arm and thick int’ ‘ed!  (We certainly disagreed with that one!!!)
  • Yorkshire people have pet whippets and ferrets or fly kestrels!  (We have plenty of pugs in the class it seems)
  • We sit around eating Yorkshire puddings and drinking Yorkshire tea (we generally agreed we like these things but our tastes are much more varied!)

We had a lot of fun learning broad Barnsley phrases and sayings because it is important to be proud of our culture and heritage…Miss Buckley jumped a mile when we asked her to “put t’ wood int’ ‘oil” as she entered the classroom!  However, we realized that all of these stereotypes didn’t accurately describe the lovely Yorkshire pupils in our class.  So, we did what everyone should do when faced with out-dated, stereotypical views…we made fun of it!

We decided to see what it would look like if we did all wear flat caps, tweed and pipes.  Or curlers in our hair like Nora Batty!  What would we look like walking a whippet and flying a kestrel while supping a pot of Yorkshire tea???  Tune in next week to see the results…

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One thought on “Breaking the Yorkshire stereotype…

  1. I am enjoying our Yorkshire topic .I am excited for baking Yorkshire parkin! Also this topic has got so much to do,I am looking forward for the next part!😃 Sam.

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