Inclusive Examples and Characters
Orienting commitment
Examples teach twice: once about the subject, and once about who belongs in it. A word problem about a farm, a case study about a family, a scenario about a small business all carry a picture of who does this work and who is on the receiving end of it. This skill makes that picture true, dignified, and wide enough that every learner can find an entry point, without turning any person into a stand-in for a group.
Describe people by role, place, and circumstance
Build a character from what the example actually needs:
- Role: what they do in the scenario (an orchard manager, a first-year student, a county extension agent, a caregiver returning to school).
- Place: where this happens, specifically (a 20-acre almond orchard near Chico, an apartment in Roseville, a feed store in Auburn).
- Circumstance: the constraint or decision that makes the example real (deciding between two cover crops with a tight budget, studying after a night shift, sharing one laptop with two kids).
Names are optional. When a name helps, choose it after the role is set, draw from the real diversity of the learners' region, and never let the name do the work of explaining who the person is.
The pairing rule
Never pair a name, ethnicity, nationality, accent, or descriptor with an occupation, income level, legal status, family structure, or situation in a way that matches a stereotype, positive or negative. The test: if the pairing would make a member of that group wince, or would feel like a "type," change one side of it.
This includes casting patterns across a document. If every manager has one kind of name and every laborer another, the document is stereotyping even if no single sentence does.
No shorthand cultures
Do not use foods, businesses, holidays, clothing, music, or language snippets as a stand-in for a group ("a family taquería," "her abuela's tamales," "the corner bodega"). If a cultural practice belongs in the example because the content needs it (a crop, a foodway, a land practice), name it accurately, in context, with the same specificity you would give any technical detail, and attribute knowledge to people as experts of their own lives.
Asset framing
- People in examples have knowledge, resources, and agency. Describe what they know and can do before what they lack.
- Learners from underrepresented groups appear as decision-makers, experts, and professionals, not only as recipients of help.
- Avoid deficit framing of communities (food deserts, "at-risk," "underprivileged"); describe the specific condition and its cause instead.
- When a scenario involves hardship, treat it as a circumstance with structural causes, not a character trait.
Range across a document
Across a set of examples, vary age (a 17-year-old dual-enrolled student and a learner in their sixties can share a page), family structure, geography (rural, suburban, urban), work schedule, and access to technology. Vary without labeling: the range should be visible in the details, not announced.
When the content is about identity
Some courses teach about race, culture, land, labor, or history directly. Here, be specific and accurate: use the names communities use for themselves, cite sources, and keep tribal nation names and Indigenous place-names spelled as the nations use them. The rules above still apply to invented characters inside that content.
Review mode
When asked to review existing material, list each instance with the sentence, why it reads as stereotyped or shorthand, and a rewrite that keeps the pedagogical point. Do not flatten everyone into sameness; the goal is specificity and dignity, not erasure.
Output conventions
- Keep examples concrete and local to the learners when a place is known.
- Note in a short designer aside which choices were deliberate, so the instructor can trace them.
- No em dashes. Use commas, periods, colons, or parentheses.
What not to do
- Do not "add diversity" by swapping names only. Change the role, place, and circumstance.
- Do not use a person as the example of their group.
- Do not use dialect or accent in written examples.
- Do not describe anyone by immigration status, disability, religion, or sexuality unless the content requires it and the description is accurate and respectful.
- Do not use em dashes anywhere.
Self-check before delivering
- Is every person described by role, place, and circumstance?
- Do any pairings of name or descriptor with occupation or situation match a stereotype, in any sentence or across the document?
- Is any food, business, or practice standing in for a culture?
- Do people have knowledge and agency, and does the range show without labels?
- Are em dashes absent?
1---2name: inclusive-examples3description: Use whenever course materials, case studies, word problems, scenarios, discussion prompts, quiz items, or sample data include people, families, businesses, or communities. Trigger before inventing any named character or example population for learner-facing content, and when reviewing existing materials for stereotyping. Ensures people are described by role, place, and circumstance; that names and ethnicity are never paired with occupations or situations in stereotyped ways; that foods, businesses, or dress are not used as shorthand for a culture; and that learners can see themselves and others with dignity. Do not use for direct quotations or documented real cases, which stay as the source has them.4---56# Inclusive Examples and Characters78## Orienting commitment910Examples teach twice: once about the subject, and once about who belongs in it. A word problem about a farm, a case study about a family, a scenario about a small business all carry a picture of who does this work and who is on the receiving end of it. This skill makes that picture true, dignified, and wide enough that every learner can find an entry point, without turning any person into a stand-in for a group.1112## Describe people by role, place, and circumstance1314Build a character from what the example actually needs:1516- **Role**: what they do in the scenario (an orchard manager, a first-year student, a county extension agent, a caregiver returning to school).17- **Place**: where this happens, specifically (a 20-acre almond orchard near Chico, an apartment in Roseville, a feed store in Auburn).18- **Circumstance**: the constraint or decision that makes the example real (deciding between two cover crops with a tight budget, studying after a night shift, sharing one laptop with two kids).1920Names are optional. When a name helps, choose it after the role is set, draw from the real diversity of the learners' region, and never let the name do the work of explaining who the person is.2122## The pairing rule2324Never pair a name, ethnicity, nationality, accent, or descriptor with an occupation, income level, legal status, family structure, or situation in a way that matches a stereotype, positive or negative. The test: if the pairing would make a member of that group wince, or would feel like a "type," change one side of it.2526This includes casting patterns across a document. If every manager has one kind of name and every laborer another, the document is stereotyping even if no single sentence does.2728## No shorthand cultures2930Do not use foods, businesses, holidays, clothing, music, or language snippets as a stand-in for a group ("a family taquería," "her abuela's tamales," "the corner bodega"). If a cultural practice belongs in the example because the content needs it (a crop, a foodway, a land practice), name it accurately, in context, with the same specificity you would give any technical detail, and attribute knowledge to people as experts of their own lives.3132## Asset framing3334- People in examples have knowledge, resources, and agency. Describe what they know and can do before what they lack.35- Learners from underrepresented groups appear as decision-makers, experts, and professionals, not only as recipients of help.36- Avoid deficit framing of communities (food deserts, "at-risk," "underprivileged"); describe the specific condition and its cause instead.37- When a scenario involves hardship, treat it as a circumstance with structural causes, not a character trait.3839## Range across a document4041Across a set of examples, vary age (a 17-year-old dual-enrolled student and a learner in their sixties can share a page), family structure, geography (rural, suburban, urban), work schedule, and access to technology. Vary without labeling: the range should be visible in the details, not announced.4243## When the content is about identity4445Some courses teach about race, culture, land, labor, or history directly. Here, be specific and accurate: use the names communities use for themselves, cite sources, and keep tribal nation names and Indigenous place-names spelled as the nations use them. The rules above still apply to invented characters inside that content.4647## Review mode4849When asked to review existing material, list each instance with the sentence, why it reads as stereotyped or shorthand, and a rewrite that keeps the pedagogical point. Do not flatten everyone into sameness; the goal is specificity and dignity, not erasure.5051## Output conventions5253- Keep examples concrete and local to the learners when a place is known.54- Note in a short designer aside which choices were deliberate, so the instructor can trace them.55- No em dashes. Use commas, periods, colons, or parentheses.5657## What not to do5859- Do not "add diversity" by swapping names only. Change the role, place, and circumstance.60- Do not use a person as the example of their group.61- Do not use dialect or accent in written examples.62- Do not describe anyone by immigration status, disability, religion, or sexuality unless the content requires it and the description is accurate and respectful.63- Do not use em dashes anywhere.6465## Self-check before delivering6667- Is every person described by role, place, and circumstance?68- Do any pairings of name or descriptor with occupation or situation match a stereotype, in any sentence or across the document?69- Is any food, business, or practice standing in for a culture?70- Do people have knowledge and agency, and does the range show without labels?71- Are em dashes absent?
macfarlanem-cloud