Cultural Diversity Positive Concept 1

Lesson Title Why is cultural diversity a positive thing?

Lesson Plan Number 2 Age Range/ Year Group 15-18 years

Resources Learning Outcomes

1. Resource sheet 1 - What does cultural By the end of this lesson students will be
diversity mean? able to;
2. Resource sheet 2 - Why is cultural • Explain why cultural diversity is a
diversity a positive thing? positive thing.
3. Resource Sheet 3 - Imagine a world if • Imagine a world if we were all the
we were all the same. same.

LESSON INTRODUCTION
This lesson encourages students to see cultural diversity as a positive thing. It also asks
the students to question what the world would be like if we were all the same.

STARTER (15 mins)

• Ask volunteers to give definitions of ‘culture’ from last lesson.
• Ask volunteers to give definitions of ‘diversity’.
• Ask volunteers to give definitions of ‘cultural diversity’.
• Give each student a copy of ‘resource one’. Choose some students to read out the
information from the top half of the sheet.
• Encourage volunteers to give examples of ways in which people’s cultures can differ
- with reference to the words given on the sheet (e.g. “The languages that I speak
at home are totally different to what a teenager in Australia might speak.” or “When I
visited Egypt I noticed that the spices in the food were different to the ones that we eat
at home.”).
• Students get into pairs. They fill in numbers 2-5 at the bottom of the sheet (the
example should help).
• Pairs are encouraged to read out their answers to the rest of the class (e.g. “We think
that different cultures have very different attitudes to alcohol.” or “We talked about
the fact that religion is much more important in people’s lives in some cultures than
in others” or “Different cultures have holidays and special events at different times of
year.”).
• The class are asked to comment on whose ideas were the most interesting.

MAIN ACTIVITY (15 mins)

Activity 1 (5 mins):
• Students are given ‘resource two’.
• In groups of three or four, they discuss the images at the top of the sheet:
- What is interesting about the images?
- Is there a ‘right answer’ to which image is which?
- Why do different cultures see things in different ways?
• Students are invited to share their answers with the class.
 Defining Culture 2

Activity 2 (10 mins):

• Students are told that sometimes cultural diversity is seen as a negative thing, but that
it is actually a very positive thing.
• In their groups, students read through the twenty reasons why cultural diversity is a
positive thing.
• Students write the title ‘Why is cultural diversity a positive thing?’ on a piece of paper.
• They then choose three statements from the sheet. They copy out these three
statements onto the piece of paper (leaving lots of space underneath each one).
• Underneath each statement, pupils write down some examples of what the statement
means to them. For example:
2. People might be more open-minded.
People who get used to cultural diversity might be less likely to judge other
people’s behaviour (e.g. a Christian might understand why a Muslim uses a
prayer mat).
People who get used to cultural diversity might understand that a woman who
shows her hair in a certain country is behaving ‘normally’ within her culture.
10. People might realise that they are heavily influenced by their own
cultures.
People who get used to cultural diversity might realise that they could be a
different religion if they were born in another country.
People who get used to cultural diversity might realise that the TV programmes in
their country have a big influence on them.
15. Governments might be more tolerant.
Politicians who get used to cultural diversity might change some of the laws in
their countries (e.g. about shop opening hours).
Politicians who get used to cultural diversity might change their attitude to
people’s rights within marriage.
• Students are encouraged to read out some of their answers.

SUMMARY (10 mins)

• Students are given ‘resource three’.
• The teacher reads out the sentence in the speech bubble and the instructions for task
A.
• In pairs, students discuss the ten questions. They might choose to write their answers
on the sheet. Examples of answers to task A might be:

1. My family only eats Halal meat, so non-Halal meat would no longer exist.
This would change the way in which animals are killed all over the world!
2. My family often visits the Mosque. We are interested in modern architecture
and find old buildings uninteresting. If everyone in the world was like us, churches,
synagogues and temples would be empty or used for something else. Also, famous
landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Coliseum would not be visited. There would
be loads of new shopping centres and 21st century skyscrapers built all over the
world.
3. My family likes American-style clothes and the women in my family dress very
liberally. If everyone in the world dressed like us then people would wear a lot of
sports clothing and women would not wear headscarves.
 Defining Culture 3

• Pupils move onto task B. How would the world differ from the world in task A if
everyone had the same culture as people in another country? (The teacher should
ensure that students avoid giving prejudiced answers and that they are aware that no
two families are exactly the same within any culture). Examples of answers might be:

4. If every family was like a typically British family, jobs would be affected. For
example, people would work about 40 hours a week between Monday morning
and Friday evening. There would be about five weeks of holiday every year, with
time off work at Christmas. People would be entitled to equal treatment at work
regardless of their age or gender.
5. British families are often interested in British sports so there would probably be
lots of tennis and cricket played in schools and shown on the television. Certain
sports from our country might not exist.
6. In Britain, children go to school at the age of four and stay in school until they
are sixteen or older. If all schools were like British schools, the important lessons
would be English, Maths and Science. Pupils would start learning French, Spanish
or German at roughly eleven years old. Girls and boys would attend the same
schools and would wear a uniform. Teachers would not really tell children about
their religious or political beliefs.

• Some students might wish to share their ideas with the class. Which world would they
prefer and why? Would they prefer either of these worlds to the real world (complete
with its cultural diversity)? Why?

EXTENSION/FOLLOW UP IDEAS
Imagine that you are moving to another country for a year.

List five things about your culture that you will want to keep the same when you move to
that country (examples might be your religion, your clothing or your bank).

Now list five things about your culture that you wouldn’t mind changing when you move
to that country (examples might be the films that you watch, your house type or your
language).

Be ready to share these lists next lesson.

CHECK THE WEB

1. http://beta.civilservice.gov.uk/Assets/hmlandregistryculturaldiversity_tcm6-5027.pdf
to access government information about cultural diversity in Britain.
2. www.cisv.org to see what one international organisation is doing to celebrate
cultural diversity.
3. www.connectingcultures.co.uk to find out more about the ‘Connecting Cultures’
project.

NATIONAL CURRICULUM LINKS

KS4: 1.1.c, 2.1.a, 2.1.d. 2.2.b, 3l, 3n, 4a, 4b, 4c & 4h.
 What does cultural diversity mean?

CULTURAL DIVERSITY means the differences between people’s cultures.

These differences include:

LANGUAGE
RELIGION
FOOD
SPECIAL DATES
MIGRATION
EDUCATION
FAMILY

CAN YOU THINK OF OTHER WAYS IN WHICH ONE CULTURE CAN BE DIFFERENT
TO ANOTHER CULTURE?
RESOURCE SHEET 1

1. e.g. Some cultures have a Royal family.

2.

3.

4.

5.
 Why is cultural diversity a positive thing

TRENDY? TRADITIONAL? TRADITIONAL? TRENDY?

1. People might 2. People might be 3. People might 4. People might

question the more open-minded. understand that copy positive
traditions in their there is no such aspects from other
own country. thing as ‘normal’. cultures.
RESOURCE SHEET 2

5. People might 6. People might be 7. The world might 8. People might

fight racism. motivated to travel seem like one big learn other
to other countries. family. languages.

9. People might 10. People might 11. People might 12. People might
teach each realise that they are have friends who celebrate a range
other about their heavily influenced are different to of cultural events.
religions. by their own them.
cultures.

13. People might 14. People might 15. Governments 16. People might
help each other to listen to lots of might be more learn about other
protect their rights. types of music. tolerant. countries without
visiting them.

17. People might 18. People might 19. People 20. If everyone
empathise with feel proud of their might have family was the same, the
people whose backgrounds. members from world might be
stories are in different countries. boring.
newspapers.
 Imagine a world if we
were all the same.

TASK A. Imagine that suddenly every family in the world becomes like your
family! People now wear the same clothes as you, they have the same skin colour
as you, they eat the same things as you, they have the same beliefs about God
as you, they read the same books as you and they are interested in the same
hobbies as you...
RESOURCE SHEET 3

1. Which foods would stop being produced/sold in the world?

2. Which buildings would be opened up/closed down in the world?
3. Which types of clothing would be popular/disappear in the world?
4. Which jobs would be affected in the world?
5. What would happen to the world’s sporting events?
6. What would the education system be like in the world?
7. What would everyone in the world look like?
8. What would happen to the world’s media?
9. Which issues would governments focus on in the world?
10. How would people in the world spend their leisure time?

TASK B. Choose a different country. Now imagine that suddenly every family
in the world becomes like a family from that country. Answer the ten questions
again. Are your answers the same or different? Why?