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Meetings That Matter - A Whole School Approach
  • Meetings that Matter: A Whole School Approach
  • Faria Educational Group
  • About the Author
  • Welcome
  • Unit Overview
  • Unit 1: Introduction to the Psychology of Meeting Spaces
    • Introduction to the Psychology of Meeting Spaces
    • What is NOT a Therapeutic Relationship in the Context of Schools?
    • Key Stakeholders in this Model of Support?
    • Case Study and Concluding Activity
  • Unit 2: Key Tools for Collaboration
    • The Space
    • Good Meeting Spaces have...
    • The Agenda
    • Recording Tools
    • Unit Reflections
  • Unit 3: Equality and Inclusion
    • The Case for Equality and Inclusion
    • Considerations for Equality and Inclusion
    • Activity 9: The Smiths
    • Moral Judgements and Bias
    • Creating More Inclusive Meetings
    • Preparation
    • Questioning to aid Goal Setting and Problem-Solving
    • Technology
    • Unit Reflections
  • Unit 4: Create and Customise
    • Whole School Planning
    • Staff Contributions
    • Post Meeting Planning
    • Whole School Planning: Final Questions to Consider
    • Unit Reflections
  • Conclusion: Meetings Do Matter
  • Activities
  • FAQs
  • Further Research and Reading
  • Looking for More Support in this Area?
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  1. Unit 3: Equality and Inclusion

Moral Judgements and Bias

PreviousActivity 9: The SmithsNextCreating More Inclusive Meetings

Last updated 2 years ago

Macdonald and Mellor-Clark state that: “Human nature confers a vulnerability to biases, blind spots, and self-enhancing illusions, which frequently distort our capacity to make rational sense of ourselves and our environment” (19).

It would be amazing to believe that we approach our students and families without judgement or bias, but research shows that this is not the case. School professionals must process an immense amount of information which could have an impact on the students they support. We hold information on previous schools, family dynamics, attainment history and much more. Bias is part of us as humans, but we can choose to check that bias and reflect on what cannot be seen.

There are Real Consequences for Ignoring Bias

In a study in England and Germany, teachers were asked to grade students in maths work but had knowledge of the education status of their parents. Teachers underrated students whose parents had lower levels of education and overrated those whose parents had higher levels of education. This had implications for attainment later on, when overrated pupils would typically perform better than their underrated peers. Judgements like these contribute to the increase in gaps of attainment and equality (20).

(20) Olczyk, M., Kwon, S.J., Lorenz, G. et al. Teacher judgements, student social background, and student progress in primary school: a cross-country perspective. Z Erziehungswiss (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-022-01119-7

(19) Macdonald J, Mellor-Clark J: Correcting psychotherapists’ blindsidedness: formal feedback as a means of overcoming the natural limitations of therapists. Clin Psychol Psychother 2015; 22:249–257 , , r

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