Bias, Interpreting, & Stereotyping Today we are discussing bias, interpreting and stereotyping of our educational resources. Here we show a comic of a boy and a girl walking, where the girl is of aboriginal decent, and the boy is confused because everything he has ever learned or seen about native people isn’t represented in how the girl appears. So for us to continue with the lesson we are going to summarize the weekly reading, although it is specific to women in Canadian history, it is a good example of the topics we will be discussing in todays presentation.

“A Nice Little Wife to Make Things Pleasant:” Portrayals of Women in Canadian History Textbooks Approved in British Columbia

Jeopardy The article was… To give everybody a summary of the article we are going to play… To put you in groups, I am going to use the popsicle stick, once I call out your name can you please quickly go sit with your group members. Rules of Jeopardy: The group with the highest amount of point wins a prize. The group that will have first choice in selecting a question is the group who has a member with the closes upcoming Birthday. From there, which ever group answers the question correctly first will get to pick the next question. Each group will have a mini whiteboard, where you will write down your answer, and the first group to hold up their whiteboard gets to answer the question.

$100 $200 $300 $400 $500 Women’s History Interwar Period   Interwar Period Writer’s and Queens Filler Feminism $100 $200 $300 $400 $500

Women’s History $100 What was Edith Deyell referring to when using the phrase “ a nice little wife to make things pleasant,” she was referring to the decision to _______ the French fur trader. Marry

Women’s History $200 It is worthwhile to take a moment to consider why women have been deprived of a usable past. It is only in the past ______ years that historians of women’s and gender history have come to the fore in Canada. Thirty

Women’s History $300 Historians have examined ways in which working class homemakers have earned an income or stretched the income of the male breadwinner. The family home was frequently the setting for paid labour. Give an example of this type of paid labour. Spinning, weaving, dressmaking, tutoring.

Women’s History $400 If only macro-economic, political, and military events are considered to be of significance historically, then there is little hope of seeing many _____ on the pages of Canadian history textbooks. Women

Women’s History $500 It was not the evil intent of male historians that left out women in history, women and their activities have been missed because we have asked questions that are ____________ to women. Inappropriate

Interwar Period $100 Married women worked predominately in their homes and were supported by their ________ in the interwar period. Husbands

Interwar Period $200 Middle-class women sometimes engaged in volunteer activities such as?? Rural school board members, church or charitable work

Interwar Period $300 James W. Loewen has used the metaphor of the _______, which usefully describes representations of women during this period. Remora

Interwar Period $400 Pioneer women are presented as _______ and __________ or as onlookers to the crucial tasks in which the males are engaged. Weak and dependent

Interwar Period $500 Which Alberta educator and curriculum developer, acknowledges females, and who’s texts were approved for use in the elementary and junior high schools in BC and other provinces over a period spanning four decades? Donalda Dickie

Writers and Queens $100 What period of time in Canada was one of very gradual change in terms of women’s social roles? The 1950s to 1970s

Writers and Queens $200 By 1970, women comprised of ____ percent of the paid labour force? 32.7 percent

Writers and Queens $300 A study conducted in BC in the 1970s revealed that, in the case of childless couples, a wife’s entry into the paid labour force meant that her husband relieved her of domestic duties for an average of six ______ a week. Minutes

Writers and Queens $400 Women and girls continue to receive shrift in the textbooks. Those adult women who merit inclusion are usually _______ or _______. Writers or royalty

Writers and Queens $500 Donalda Dickie uses what phrase, which is a concept quite unique to this era? Forefathers and foremothers

Filler Feminism $100 Filler Feminism started in what decade? 1980s

Filler Feminism $200 The human rights commission, established in 1975, included an evolving view of women and their roles in Canadian society. This coincided with the second wave of feminism, known as the _____ __________ movement. Women’s liberation

Filler Feminism $300 In this era, women demanded social and economic reform’s. Give one example of the social or economic reform’s women demanded? Equal-pay legislation, paid maternity leave, the removal of occupational barriers in the workplace.

Filler Feminism $400 In BC, the textbook assessment involved four separate analysis: for instructional design, readability, social considerations, and curriculum match. Which analysis examined areas such as language usage, gender role portrayals, age portrayals, etc. Social considerations

Filler Feminism $500 In BC there is marked disparity in this period between the elementary textbooks and secondary. The secondary textbooks are strangely devoid of women and of discussion of ______-_______ issues. For instance, in the textbook, Thinking About Our Heritage, there is only 3 references to women and 81 references to men. Gender-related

Riddle Me This "A man wanted to get home but he can’t, he's afraid because a man in a mask is waiting for him there"   What's going on here, who is the man in the mask and why is the man afraid? Here is a riddle that can get you starting to think about how we interpret things sometimes. “ A man wanted to get home but he can’t, he is afraid because a man in a mask is waiting for him there. How do you interpret this riddle? In terms of interpretation, when you read this riddle, what so you think this riddle means. This riddle is talking about baseball, the man, who is the batter, is trying to get to home plate, but he is afraid because the man in the mask, who is the catcher, is there and he may tag him out and then they will not get the point. When you first read this article you may interpret something totally different. Something like a break and enter, or a murder – someone waiting for you.

7 Forms of Bias in Instructional Materials Invisibility: What You Don’t See Makes a Lasting Impression Stereotyping: Shortcuts to Bigotry Imbalance and Selectivity: A Tale Half Told Unreality: Rose Colored Glasses Fragmentation and Isolation: The Parts Are Less than the Whole Linguistic Bias: Words Count Cosmetic Bias: "Shiny" covers http://www.sadker.org/curricularbias.html Back in the 1970s and the 1980s, publishers and professional associations issued guidelines for non-racist and non-sexist books. As a result, texts of the last twenty years are much improved. Unfortunately, they are far from bias-free. The following seven forms of bias can be found not only in K-12 textbooks, but also in college texts, in the media – in fact, they are all around us. Feel free to explore these definitions with your students, as well as try the strategies suggested.

Activity… Read the article given to your group With your group discuss whose voices are represented in the article and whose are silenced?  How does this lead to bias? Try to find 2 forms of bias (if there are any) Be prepared to share with the class Group Discussion Question: Why is it important to carefully evaluate and critically think about the learning resources used in the classroom? See your handout to look up the 7 forms of bias and the extra information that goes along with it. For evidence: you can describe the sentences, language, features. Who’s viewpoint is it? We will give you 5 -7 min as a group to discuss Together as a group please share your thoughts…

Problems that may arise… Misinformed or misinterpretation of information Confusion and frustration Eat away classroom time Provides limited exposure to different views of the world An appropriate education should provide individuals with different ways of viewing the world, communicating about it, and successfully coping with the questions and issues of daily living

Discussion Questions What are some factors that you as a teacher would consider when choosing and evaluating learning resources to use in the classroom? In your groups, please come up with some factors that you would consider when choosing and evaluating learning resources to use in the classroom.

BC Ministry of Education Selection Criteria for Evaluating Learning Resources Curriculum Fit Content Instructional Design Technical Considerations Social Considerations Curriculum fit - Evaluators examine the resource to determine if it supports the philosophy, rationale and goals of the BC curriculum, and to determine the degree to which it supports the PLOs of the specific curriculum. Questions to consider: Does the resource support the philosophy, pedagogy, rationale and goals of this BC curriculum? Content – Evaluators examine the content of the resource to determine its accuracy and relevancy, to determine if it contains the Canadian perspective necessary to support the prescribed learning outcomes for the curriculum, and to determine its cognitive and linguistic appropriateness for the intended audience. Questions to consider: Is it accurate, relevant and does it deal with real world experiences? Is the scope and depth of content appropriate for the cognitive and linguistic levels of the intended audience, and consistent with the intent of the Prescribed Learning Outcomes? Instructional design - Evaluators examine the resource to determine the effectiveness of its organization, teaching strategies, and assessment provisions in supporting the goals and objectives of the specific curriculum. Questions to consider: Are instructional goals, purpose and learner objectives clearly stated? Are the concepts clearly introduced, developed, and summarized? Are assessment opportunities provided consistent with the Prescribed Learning Outcomes and Achievement Indicators? Are technical terms consistently explained/ introduced? Is the resource suitable for a wide range of learning and teaching styles? Is the resource well organized, sequenced and structured? Technical considerations - Evaluators examine various technical aspects of the design of the resource to determine if it enhances student accessibility and understanding. Questions to consider: Does the visual presentation and layout support student learning? Are the illustrations clear, effective and appropriately placed to support the text? Is the visual design interesting and engaging? Is the presentation logical, consistent and well-organized? Are the font and type face appropriate for the intended audience? If there are various components to the resource, are these components organized in a clear, logical, user-friendly manner? Social Considerations - Evaluators examine the resource for 13 social considerations to identify potentially controversial or offensive elements that may exist in the content or presentation, and to highlight where resources might support pro- social attitudes and promote diversity and human rights.

“A key feature of effective teaching is the selection of instructional materials that meet the needs of students and fit the constraints of the teaching and learning environment.” ~ The National Academies Press Just finish the presentation off we wanted to leave you with this quote and short video.

The Danger of a Single Story