ERIC ED181154: Cultural Fairness in Materials Development pdf

ERIC ED181154: Cultural Fairness in Materials Development

More Book Details

Description of the Book:

The most recent evidence available indicates that prejudice against minorities and women is still widespread in America. Schools have not only failed to combat these prejudices, but they have often served to actively promote them. Textbooks generally ignore the position of minority Americans in contemporary life and often discuss minority history from a distorted perspective. The assimilationist ideology deemphasizes cultural differences, while the cultural pluralist ideology exaggerates them. Some combination of the two would work best for curriculum reform. Publishers and schools have responded to the problem of textbook bias by romanticizing about reality and avoiding controversial issues. Textbooks should not avoid, distort, idealize, or romaticize about controversial issues related to minorities. Research in the area of textbook bias demonstrates that: (1) racial prejudice has a negative impact on the development of minority children; (2) certain reader traits can either enhance or minimize the effects of reading on attitude change; and (3) nonacademic aspects of reading content, including sex-typing and minority representation, influence a wide range of factors related to children’s achievement in school.

Methodological and conceptual shortcomings plague much of this research; there is a clear need for additional research in this area. (Author/RLV

• Creator/s: ERIC
• Date: 4/27/1978
• Year: 1978
• Book Topics/Themes: ERIC Archive, Academic Achievement, Child Development, Cultural Differences, Cultural Pluralism, Ethnic Stereotypes, Females, Minority Groups, Multicultural Textbooks, Racial Bias, Racial Discrimination, Self Concept, Sex Discrimination, Sex Stereotypes, Textbook Bias

An excerpt captured from the PDF book