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Worksheet: Notes on different biases
You or the pupils may wish to add to the points listed in these
notes.
Three questions which apply to all the biases in the 'Bias Alert!'
form
1. Are issues tackled honestly?
2. What are the hidden messages?
3. Is there a diverse and balanced presentation of society?
Race
How are black people portrayed - as individuals speaking for
themselves or groups, as having a variety of attributes, both personal
characteristics and lifestyle, or in a tokenistic way? From whose
viewpoint is the resource written? Are generalisations made? Are
black people left out? Are the illustrations convincing? Are pejorative
or racist terms used? ('black' is used politically here.) (Adapted
from Epstein and Sealey, 1990).
Disability
How are disabled people portrayed? As professional people going
about their everyday lives, and able to make a significant contribution
to society, or as needing help?
Gender issues
Who is doing what? Are women shown only in 'traditional' roles
of wife or mother? Are they shown as being passive rather than as
'doers'; as without responsible jobs or power, with men being the
ones in charge? Are generalisations made about men, for example,
are they all depicted as unemotional, or liking lager and football?
Are both sexes represented in books among the examples of influential
figures in history, writers, scientists, and opinion-formers?
Relationships
How are family relationships and family groups portrayed? Is
a diverse range of families shown, including lone-parent families
or same-sex relationships?
CPD activity: Presenting positive images
through critical thinking
From the CPD activities online resource
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