Elementary School Basal Readers and Work Mode Bias

Abstract

“Students are in constant contact with textbooks and, through these materials, are perhaps influenced by implicit values that eulogize professional and paraprofessional work activities and derogate technical-vocational work activities.” This statement expresses the concern of the authors about the treatment of technical and vocational workers in textbooks used by elementary school children. The study not only gives evidence of bias in the books, but suggests an objective means of analyzing textbooks to determine whether or not bias exists.