Representation – Fife Education Equalities and Diversity Toolkit

Representation matters because there's a richness to disability you're probably not aware of... Write YA characters who have conviction, who use wheelchairs with no handles to be abused by people who want to move them, write blind girls who have guide dragons and who wield a sword like their peers. - Elsa S. Henry

The books and other resources used in school should reflect the diverse reality of Scotland today. This may require a refresh of your current provision.

When creating and choosing resources, practitioners should take care to ensure that all groups are represented. They should consider all the protected characteristics with particular attention paid to groups which are or have traditionally been under-represented.

When selecting resources for use in class this Critical Thinking Model can be used to help evaluate them. Note that while it is titled ‘Antiracist Critical Thinking’ the questions can also be used to consider representation of other protected characteristics.

Antiracist Critical Thinking Model by @GCEducationScot

There are some completed examples of this model in practice here.

"Well, when I was nine years old Star Trek came on. I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, 'Come here, mum, everybody, come, quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!' I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be." Whoopi Goldberg