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CE 004 499 Bias in Textbooks Regarding the Aged, Labour DOCUMENT RESUME ED 110 705 CE 004 499 AUTHOR Babin, Patrick TITLE Bias in Textbooks Regarding the Aged, Labour Unions, and Political Minorities. INSTITUTION Ottawa Univ. (Ontario). Faculty of Education. SPONS AGENCY Ontario Dept. of Education, Toronto. PUB DATE 30 Jan 75 NOTE 194. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$9.51 Plus Postage DESCRIPTORS Foreign Countries; *Labor Unions; Literature Reviews; *Minority Groups; *Older Adults; *Textbook Bias IDENTIFIERS Canada ABSTRACT The report opens with detailed summaries of historical background information for each of the groups involved and with a review of the literature on bias in textbooks in Canada, the United States, and other countries. Over a time span of six months, 211 readers evaluated 1,719 textbooks. Readers located 104 biases in 78 textbooks. The 23 biases against the aged occurred mainly in English primary texts. Bias by omission accounted for most of the 65 findings concerning labor unions; however, strong negativestatements about unions constituted most of the other biases. The 16 biases against political minorities were mostly ones of omission. The investigltors believed that biases against labor unions could havea strong negative effect on student attitudes. Biases regarding the aged and political minorities, on the other hand, were not considered pronounced enough to negatively affect student attitudes. The investigators recommended objective balanced treatment of minority groups in textbooks, and the formulation of guidelines for textbook evaluation. Seven appendixes include the evaluation instrument; related biases against the French, Indians, other ethnic minorities, and women; suggestions for improving the evaluation instrument; and lists of texts containing bias. (JR) *********************************************************************** * Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * *materials not available from other sources. ERIC makesevery effort* *to obtain the best copy available. nevertheless, items of marginal * *reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * *of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * *via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * *responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions* *supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ..)riginal. * *********************************************************************** OLf BIAS IN TEXTBOOKS L=1 REGARDING THE AGED,LABOUR UNIONS, w AND POLITICALMINORITIES Final Report to The Ontario Ministryof Education Principal Investigator: Patrick Babin, Ph.D. Faculty of Education,Graduate Section University of Ottawa Research Officer: (r` Robert Knoop, M.A. Faculty of Education,Graduate Section University of Ottawa 0 0 January 30, 1975 This research project was funded under contractby the ministry of Education,Ontario TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter page PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1 ABSTRACT (English and French) 5 I. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION 12 1. The Aged 13 2. The Labour Movement 21 3. Political Minorities 34 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON BIAS IN TEXTBOOKS 48 1. Canada 48 2. United States 55 3. International Studies 62 III. DESIGN OF THE STUDY 64 1. Evaluation Instrument 64 2. Textbooks and Readers 67 3. Method of Evaluation 72 IV. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 74 1. Bias against The Aged 76 2. Bias against Labour Unions 91 3. Bias against Political Minorities 112 4. Analysis of Findings 121 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 133 AFFECT OF BIAS ON STUDENT ATTITUDES 136 RECOMMENDATIONS 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY 140 APPENDIX 1. Evaluation Instrument 144 2. Evaluation Contracts for Readers 150 3. Related Bias 170 4. Suggestions for Improving the Evaluation 175 Instrument and the Selection of Readers 5. Evaluation Criteria Checklists 177 6. List of Texts Containing Bias 182 7. List of Texts Not Evaluated 187 4 LIST OF TABLES Table page I Structure of Labour Unions in Canada 31 II Textbooks Listed and Evaluated 69 III Source, Number of Readers and Number of Text- books Evaluated 70 IV Reader Characteristics 71 VBiased Textbooks by Circular 122 VI Biased Textbooks by Minority Groups 123 VII Number of Biases by Criteria 124 VIII Biased Textbooks by Frequency of Biases 126 IX Biased Textbooks by Date of Publication 127 X Biased Textbooks by Division and Subject Area for Bias Regarding All Three Minority Groups 129 XI Biased Textbooks by Division and Subject Area for Bias Regarding the Aged 130 XII Biased Textbooks by Division and Subject Area for Bias Regarding Labour Unions 131 XIII Biased Textbooks by Division and Subject Area for Bias Regarding Political Minorities 132 PREFACE The study on Bias in Textbooks Regarding The Aged, Labour Unions and Political Minorities was author- ized and funded by the Ministry of Education, Ontario. The purpose of this study is (1) to examine all textbooks listed in Circular 14 to determine materials that can be construed as being biased against the Aged, Trade Unions, and Political Minorities, (2) to deter- mine the strength of the materials in affecting the attitudes of students, and (3) to develop criteria and guidelines to be used in evaluating textbooks. The principal investigator was Patrick Babin, Associate Professor and Chairman of the Curriculum Section, Graduate Studies, University of Ottawa. Robert Knoop of the Graduate Section, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, was the research officer. The authors of this report thank the more than two hundred readers who so conscientiously evaluated the texts. They also wish to thank all those graduate students and assistants who provided valuable background information and who helped locate and review other studies on bias in textbooks. Special thanks is due to Mrs. Vivienne LeMesurier, our secretary, who contributed greatly to all aspects of this report. INTRODUCTION To achieve a more thorough knowledge of a culture, learners must immerse themselves in its study from many points of view--from the vantage points of anthropology, social psychology, linguistics, sociology, art, music, and literature--and must become acquainted as fully as possible with the feelings, beliefs and values of a group through involvement with members of the culture, either vicariously through fiction and nonfiction writing or better still, through personal contact and cooperative effort. It is with the printed word, more specifically the textbooks listed in Circular 14 (1974), that we are concerned in this study. Because our students have limited access to direct experiential contact, although this has improved considerably in the last decade, and because they must rely to a large extent on the printed word, we, as educators, must insist upon the production, selection, and use of the finest textbooks that our writers and artists are capable of creating. Textbooks are vitally important to learners and their learning--even in Circa 1975, with the advent of multimedia and auxiliary supportive learning materials. Their content either is relevant to the learner's life experiences, or it is not. Their content gives the 2 learner the feeling that this education is intended for him, or it does not. Textbooks affect learners and their learning in the way they view themselves and their social groups; in the way they are motivated to work and play and learn and live. If textbooks are to continue to make a substantial contribution in areas of living and working, then we must insist on making our curriculum, of which textbooks are a part, truly representative of our Canadian culture. Only rarely have teachers had the opportunity to know well any culture but their own. Under these cir- cumstances, pupils with whom these teachers work are unlikely to understand cultural characteristics in any- thing more than a superficial way, and herein lies the value of textbooks. The latter, not necessarily expected to be telephone directories of all multicultural issues, should be representative of all Canadians who have played a role in Canadian society and have contributed to the dynamics of its development. The current conflicts and historical interpretation of all groups must be con- sidered in a realistic and factual manner. We live in a society which echoes such state- ments as "schools should support rather than alienate," and "pluralism includes but does not exclude--it sustains diversity for the sake of unity." 3 What do our prescribed textbooks reflect? This question becomes important, especially ifwe operate under the assumption that the printedword, particularily in approved school textbooks, hasgreat authority for most of us. A myriad of related questionscome to mind. Are controversial issues in our textbooks handledin a ,alanced fashion? Are positive attitudes reflected by the authors of these books? Has there been a tendency in our prescribed textbooks to stereotypeand denigrate the historic and cultural backgrounds of certaingroups which constitute our cultural fabric?Are there mis- leading implications in our textbooks? Distortions? Falsehoods? How widespread is the device of omission as a means of avoiding controversy? Are there objection- able passages in these textbooks? In an attempt to at least partlyanswer some of these questions, the Ontario Ministry of Education,in supporting this research, focusedon three areas; namely, the aged, labour unionists, and political minorities, in an effort to determine whetherthese groups were adequately and accurately represented in the books listed in Circular 14 (1974). The query posed was "does bias in these approved
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