Questioning Your Own Biases
Reflect on their own assumptions and biases — recognising that everyone carries unconscious assumptions about others, and that actively questioning these assumptions is an ongoing practice that leads to greater fairness and empathy
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe a time they made an assumption about someone that turned out to be wrong
- Explain what unconscious bias means in simple terms
- Describe a strategy for checking their own assumptions, such as asking questions before judging
The lesson
Everyone carries assumptions about people without noticing it. These quick, automatic guesses are called unconscious biases. They come from things you have seen, heard, or experienced before, and they can shape your thinking before you even realize it.
Zara is new at school and stays quiet on her first day. Some kids decide she must be unfriendly. But when someone finally sits with her at lunch, they learn she was just nervous and did not know anyone yet. The first assumption about Zara was wrong.
Before you decide what someone is like, pause and ask yourself: what do I actually know, and what am I only guessing? Then ask a real question instead of guessing.
Questioning your own biases is not something you do once and finish. It is a habit you keep practicing, every time you meet someone new or notice a quick judgment forming in your head.
Notice the assumption, question it, then check it by asking instead of guessing.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.