Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: What is bias and what are assumptions?

20 minutes

Find Out: The dangers of making assumptions and biases

25 minutes

Take Action: Breaking down bias and assumptions

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intention

Students will:

analyse and reflect on the assumptions we make about others, and how these assumptions can shape our actions and how people feel.

Success criteria

Students can:

identify and explain common assumptions and generalisations people make about others
analyse their own assumptions and reflect on how these assumptions might affect others
create positive, inclusive alternatives to limiting labels and commit to actions that challenge unfair assumptions and promote respect in their community.

Tune In: What is bias and what are assumptions?

Step 1

Explain to students that they need to understand some key vocabulary for this lesson:

assumptions
generalisations
bias.

Write these 3 words on the board, leaving a space between each one. Don’t explain the words yet; just provide students with 3 sticky notes each and prompt them with the question: What comes to mind when you see these words?

Allow students some thinking time, and then ask them to write down one thought about each word per sticky note. Once they have done this, invite them to stick their notes on the board next to the words.

Discuss students’ thoughts and identify any common themes or threads between students’ responses. Address any misconceptions that may arise.

Draw on students’ responses to segue into the definition of these words:

An assumption is when something is accepted as true without checking the facts, asking questions or having proof. For example, people may make assumptions about disabilities. It may be assumed that someone who uses a wheelchair cannot participate in sports.
A generalisation is when something is said to be true for all people or things. Just because it is true for a few, it is not always correct because not everyone or everything is the same. For example, some generalisations about teenagers are that they are lazy and glued to their phones or that boys like sports more than girls.
Bias is when one person, group or idea is preferred or favoured more than others, often without a fair reason. It can occur when personal opinions influence judgment, which can lead to unfair treatment. For example, a teacher might be biased toward students who always put their hand up, thinking they’re the smartest or always have the ‘answer’. Because of this, the teacher calls on them more often, even though quieter students might have the answers, too. This shows bias towards a certain behaviour (putting hands up), which affects how others are treated (not called on to share their answers).

As a class or divided into smaller groups, discuss the following questions:

What are some assumptions people have made about you?
Do you know of or have you heard assumptions people have made about other people/groups?
What do you think unconscious bias might be? (Unconscious bias is a type of bias that the person is not aware of.)
Where do we learn the generalisations, assumptions and biases that we have?
Why are generalisations, assumptions and bias harmful?

Learning extension: To consolidate understanding, organise students into small groups and invite them to think of an example for one of the words (assumption, generalisation, bias). Ask each group to share their example, and the rest of the class to guess whether it illustrates making an assumption, a generalisation or demonstrating bias.

Find Out: The dangers of making assumptions and biases

Preparation

Print A4 copies of the Making Assumptions Images (there are 14 in total), so every student has 1 image. Before beginning this part of the lesson, ensure that there is psychological and cultural safety in the class and make necessary adjustments appropriate to your students (see the Teacher Content Information section for further guidance).

Step 1

Explain that students will now complete a ‘Step In, Step Out, Step Back’ thinking routine to apply their understanding of assumption, generalisation and bias, and the impact of adopting these behaviours and attitudes.

For the ‘Step In’ part of this activity, ask students to listen and answer the following broad questions based on the picture of the person they have been given. Encourage students to take notes, as they may need to refer to them in a later activity in the lesson. Read aloud the following questions:

What do you think their name is?
What age do you think they are?
Where do you think they live?
What job might they have?
What might their income level be?
What might their marital status be?
What do you think they might believe?
What hobbies might they have?

Step 2

For the ‘Step Out’ part of this activity, ask students to stand in two lines opposite each other. Make sure they have their copy of the picture they used for the ‘Step In’ activity. Students should turn and face the person opposite them.

Read out each of the questions below, one at a time. After asking each question, allow students approximately 2 minutes to discuss the answers with the partner opposite them. Before you ask the next question, have one line of students step to their right or left to ensure they converse with a different classmate for each question. Follow this routine until you have completed all of the questions below:

Why do you think you guessed that? What clues did you use?
Have you ever made a guess about someone just by looking at them? What happened? Was it right?
What might happen if we assume things about people without getting to know them?
Do you think assumptions can help or hurt people? Why?
What do you need in order to understand this person better?

Step 3

For the ‘Step Back’ part of this activity, organise students so they form groups with others who have the same image as them.

Allow the groups approximately 5 minutes to share what they noted in the ‘Step In’ activity and what they discussed during the ‘Step Out’. After students have shared, prompt them to group their answers (or assumptions) into the following categories:

appearance
culture
gender
abilities
interests.

Once groups have categorised their responses, invite them to discuss the questions below.

Which category was most influential in forming your assumptions?
What do you think influenced your assumptions, and how can you change this?

Step 4

Bring the groups back together to share their responses as part of a class discussion. Probe and elicit reasoning from students, particularly what influences led them to make assumptions and why particular categories have more weight than others. Again, it is integral that language use is monitored, and psychological and cultural safety considerations are observed.

Take Action: Breaking down bias and assumptions

Step 1

Recap what has been covered in the lesson so far. Connect this to the following questions. Invite students to turn and talk before responding:

Why are generalisations, assumptions and bias dangerous?
What are labels?

Learning support: Unpack the meaning of ‘label’ as putting someone in a category based on how they look, act or what they like – without really knowing them. Usually, labels are adjectives or nouns. It’s often linked to assumptions because labelling is based on guessing things about people. For example, if someone wears glasses, they may be labelled as a 'nerd', which is a label based on an assumption – wearing glasses doesn’t tell you what someone is like.

Step 1

Explain to students that they are going to participate in an empathy activity, which requires them to be respectful of themselves and of each other.

Distribute 5 sticky notes to each student and ask them to write down five labels that they think other people might place on them based on a first impression. Ask students to stick them to the desk in front of them or on their clothing. Some examples might be:

quiet / shy
sporty
funny / class clown
bookworm
overachiever
athlete
techie / gamer
leader
rebel
perfectionist.

Once complete, engage the class in a respectful discussion, inviting students to respond to the following questions:

How does it feel to wear these labels? Are they always positive?
Have you ever felt misunderstood because of a label?
Why do you think people use labels? Are they fair?
Can they ever be helpful? When and how?

Step 2

Give students 2 more sticky notes each. They will use 1 for this activity and 1 for the final reflection.

Ask students to take one of the labels they didn’t like or found limiting to who they really are and rewrite it by turning it into a positive or empowering statement. For example:

‘quiet’ becomes ‘good listener’
‘bookworm’ becomes ‘loves to read’
‘overachiever’ or ‘perfectionist’ becomes ‘dedicated and passionate’.

Once students have rewritten their ‘label’, invite them to stick the original label and the new label on the front board next to each other. You may choose to keep these to demonstrate learning growth.

Reflection

Elicit a class discussion to reflect on what they understood about assumptions, generalisation and biases before starting the lesson in comparison to what they know now.

Refer to the Cool.org ‘Act framework’ and highlight that by participating in these activities and completing the next reflection task, we are choosing change, i.e. choosing to change our habits and form new ones by considering what we do. Connect this to enabling and fostering a respectful and inclusive community.

Explain that for this final part of the lesson, students will take a ‘Common action pledge’ that will commit them to taking actions to reduce unfair assumptions, promote inclusion in their communities and reduce making generalisations and their biases. Their task will be to write a pledge on their final sticky note and hand it to you at the end of the lesson. Display or write the following prompts on the board for students to view, choose and complete:

I will challenge assumptions by…
I will get to know people before…
I will speak up when I hear unfair labels by…
I will include others by…
I will ask questions to understand instead of…
I will avoid making judgments by…
I will celebrate differences by…
I will support friends who feel excluded by…
I will choose kind words when…
I will reflect on my own biases by…
I will learn more about other cultures by…
I will encourage others to…
I will listen carefully when…
I will show respect by…

Making Assumptions

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