Lesson video

Hi, everybody and welcome to another citizenship lesson with me, Miss Elmi.

I hope you're all doing well.

This is our final lesson of the unit.

Over the last few weeks, we've been exploring how the UK is diverse and changing.

And in today's lesson, we're going to be bringing all those key things that we've learned over the last few weeks together.

So before we get started, I just want to make sure that you have everything you need in front of you.

You have a pen, a paper, and you're in a quiet space where you can focus and concentrate.

I'm going to give you a few seconds just to get yourself together, and then we're going to get straight into the lesson.

Okay, so let's get started.

Today's lesson title is can a changing and diverse society lead to unity? I want you to think about that question and over the course of the few weeks, all of the things we learned should help us answer this question.

So let's recap of what we've learned over the last few weeks.

In the first lesson, we looked at identity and through that lesson, we learned that identity is who you are and how you see yourself and how others might see you.

We also learned that you have multiple identities, meaning that your identity is not one thing, but rather it could be many things that shape and influence who you are and how you see yourself.

We also learned in that lesson, that identity is not fixed.

It changes and it changes due to experience and with time.

And it can also change through self identification.

So you may self-identify with something later on in life.

So in the first lesson, we looked at personal identity.

As we moved on to the next lesson, we looked at a national identity.

We looked at identity in more of a broader sense.

What connects an individual to a nation or a country? And here we learned about what it means to be British, essentially.

And we looked at how the UK's so diverse in terms of its different jurisdictions.

And it's diverse in regards to its culture, its heritage, its history, and language.

And one of the key things that unites the Kingdom and these four jurisdictions are the fundamental British values that are shared.

And those values consists of belief in democracy, the rule of law, mutual respect and tolerance, and the belief in individual Liberty.

Having explored that, we then looked at how the UK is changing.

And in that lesson, we learned that the UK population is changing drastically and has some significant impacts.

For instance, we looked at age, ethnicity, religion, and disability.

And we learned that we have an ageing population, which is going to have an impact both positively and negatively in the wider society.

We also looked at how the UK is so diverse in regards to ethnicity, religion, and different languages and cultures.

And we looked in that lesson, how the UK became diverse and the impact of diversity and some of the challenges to immigration, which has led to the diversity of the UK.

And there have been many benefits to living in a multicultural, diverse society, but there've also been some challenges.

And we explored, in this lesson, some of those challenges and how those challenges have been overcome and how progress is still yet needed.

In the last lesson, we learned about the importance of mutual respect and tolerance and how that was vital when living in a diverse society.

We also looked at how mutual understanding underpins a democratic society and how it can lead to a more cohesive community.

And more broadly, we explored the effects of inequality and discrimination and the role of the Equality Act 2010 in preventing discrimination.

So in today's lesson, in order to bring all of these concepts together, you should be able to explain how diversity, integration, and community cohesion can lead to unity.

And I want you to be able to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of a changing and diverse society.

So with that being said, I want you to now think about this question.

Okay, so what does it mean to live in a multicultural society? So I'm just going to read this text and I just want you to note it down and then I'll expand on it straight after.

So a multicultural society is a society with a multitude of different communities.

This will include ethnic and cultural diversity.

A multicultural society complete with ethnic and cultural diversity is not the same as multiculturalism.

It is quite normal to have a multicultural society without having multiculturalism.

Okay, I know that might be slightly confusing, but just bear with me and I want you just to note down some of those key points that I've highlighted.

Multiculturalism is the state response to the cultural diversity that exists within society, making it a political ideology.

So, just to clarify, multicultural and multiculturalism are two different things.

Multicultural refers to the cultural diversity of a society.

So where the UK is extremely diverse, it has many different cultures, many different ethnicities that live together in one community.

Now multiculturalism is what does the government or the state do in response to having diverse groups living within society.

So a good example of this is when the government or state introduce some law or policy that helps recognise a cultural group and their identity.

So for instance, in Wells, the language was a vital part of their cultural identity and so the Welsh Language Act was enacted and that was a state led response.

So that was a multiculturalist policy.

Now what does it mean to live in a multicultural society? Well, there are several things that come into living in a multicultural society.

The first thing is it's really important to recognise the identities of different cultural groups.

So remember in the first lesson, when we explored personal identity and the second lesson we looked at more national identity.

Identity forms an important part of who a person is and how they see themselves.

So recognising that particular identity or recognising a group's identity is also an important part of living in a multicultural society that is tolerant and understanding.

The second part of living in multicultural society means there needs to be mutual understanding.

So last lesson, when we looked at the importance of mutual understanding and how we can build that, it was vital to living in a high-functioning democratic society.

And that aim that comes out of building mutual understanding is developing respect and tolerance for different groups in different communities in order to lead to a more cohesive society.

So I want you to have a look at this statement.

It is necessary for a communal identity to be recognised by those outside our community if one wishes that community to develop.

I'm going to read that one more time.

It is necessary for our communal identity to be recognised by those outside our community if one wishes that community to develop.

What do you think Charles Taylor means by this statement? I'm just going to give you a few seconds just to think about that.

Okay.

So what Charles Taylor means by this statement is he's placing a great importance on the idea of recognition.

So why is recognition of identity important in a multicultural society? And the main reason is our identity is partly shaped by recognition.

For instance, we may have an individual identity of how we see ourselves, but we may also have a shared identity.

We may also be part of a group that shares a similar belief value.

For example, you might be part of a religious group.

And so how the outside community views you can be a really important part.

And if they do not recognise your beliefs or your shared values, then that can cause a lot of tension and a lot of harm.

Secondly, Charles Taylor's arguing essentially recognition is a vital human need.

We all want our identities to be recognised.

I don't think either of us would want someone to think of us in a different way than we see ourselves.

And misrecognition can also lead to a lack of respect, Having your identity misrecognized or not recognised at all can be really damaging to that community cohesion.

And so essentially what Charles Taylor is saying is that recognition is vital if you want groups and communities to be able to develop.

So in order to live in a multicultural society, we must recognise the identity of different groups with a shared identity and we must also recognise individual identity.

So I just want to check your understanding on what you've understood so far.

Point to the screen with the correct answer.

Question number one, what is a multicultural society? Is it a society with a multitude of different communities? This can include ethnic and cultural diversity.

Or is it a society with only one ethnic group? Or is it a society which is divided? I'm going to give you a second, just point to the screen.

And brilliant, well done if you got that answer correct.

If you haven't just to remind you remember multicultural society is different to multiculturalism.

Multicultural society refers to the diversity, the ethnic and cultural diversity, that exists within a community.

Question number two, what is multiculturalism? Is it multiculturalism is a state led response to a multicultural society? Is it multiculturalism is individuals with the same identity? Or is it a society with a multitude of different communities? This will include ethnic and cultural diversity.

Point to the screen now.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

It was.

Now if you thought it was , just a reminder that multiculturalism and multicultural society are two different definitions and is the definition for a multicultural society.

Multiculturalism refers to how a state or government introduces laws or policies that respond to the diverse society that exists.

So what does this mean in regards to unity? What does it mean to be united? So unity is the state of being united or joined as a whole.

And many argued that diversity, having people from different backgrounds, different cultures, different beliefs, and different ideas does not always lead to unity, does not lead to people joining together or living in a cohesive society.

Whilst others would disagree.

So some would say you need diversity and respect and promotional diversity in order to encourage integration.

Integration means mixing and joining within a local community.

And in order to feel integrated and within society, there must be cohesion, okay, so people need to work and live together in harmony.

So integration versus assimilation.

In order to really understand which is better, we need to really unpick and unpack the difference.

So, like I said, integration is the process where separate people or things are brought together, but those people still maintain their own identity.

So I can live and work in a society where I'm in the minority.

So part of my identity is being Muslim and I live in the UK.

But the UK is not a predominantly Muslim country.

So for example, I can integrate in society, but I can still practise my religion.

So outwardly I wear the hijab to show my practise, for instance, or I can pray at work and live and work in society as normal still practising my religion and maintaining some level of my identity.

However, if I wanted to assimilate, or if there was a policy in which forced me to assimilate, it may ask me to remove some parts of my identity to fit into the wider culture.

And that is essentially what assimilation means.

Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a dominant group or assume the values, behaviours, and beliefs of another.

So that would mean I might not necessarily outwardly practise my religion.

I would adopt and assume the identity of the wider culture.

So I might not wear my hijab in public.

And that way I am assimilating within society.

Now in different countries, they adopt different methods.

Some countries adopt a form of integration and believe that that will lead to unity.

Whereas other countries feel, no, assimilation is a better route and that would lead to a more united and cohesive society.

So here are two examples.

So in regards to the UK, the UK adopt a policy of integration where there is recognition of people's identities, but there are laws to protect that as well.

For example, the Human Rights Act of 1998 has in place Article 9: freedom of thought, belief and religion.

And this allows the full religious expression to be observed.

So in my case, I can freely go out practising my religion in the workplace, in society, in public spaces and I am still integrating, I'm still working in society, but I am maintaining my cultural beliefs and my religious beliefs and my identity.

Whereas in France, France operate a policy of assimilation.

They believe in order to build a more cohesive society, they believe that everybody should assimilate to the dominant culture.

And this is demonstrated when France became the first European country to ban the full-face covering or the full-face veil in public spaces.

So you have two examples here.

One referring to integration as a policy to help unite and build tolerance and respect.

Whereas the other is focusing on assimilation.

Ensuring that everybody is looking and treated the same in society and in public spaces and that no one is differentiated.

Now some people think integrating can help bring unity whilst others argue, no, assimilation actually might be better because that may lead to more unity.

So can diversity achieve unity? Diversity has become a fact of life for many countries with the rise of globalisation, international migration, and a changing UK population.

We know in regards to cultural and ethnic diversity, there are growing numbers in specific areas, in particular major cities both in the UK and Europe.

Some cities have become more segregated due to an increase of dominance of one ethnic group.

And even in the UK, we can see there are parts of UK cities which is more dominated by one ethnic group than others.

Can diversity achieve unity? Some argue yes.

Some argue that multiculturalism offers the best platform to create a shared community out of diversity.

Diversity can bring about unity if a society commits to recognising individual and group identity.

Whereas some argue, no, diversity cannot achieve unity if individuals or groups view and values conflict with the majority and unity can only be achieved with cultural uniformity, meaning assimilation.

So let's break that down a little bit.

What does that actually mean? Well, essentially it's arguing in favour that multiculturalism can create a shared community so we can build mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect through integration and create a shared community.

And as we've learnt so far that diversity can bring a wealth of creativity, innovation, new ideas, and ways of working and thinking that help enrich the cultural experience of a nation.

Diversity can bring about unity if, and only if, there is true recognition of individual's identity and a group's identity because we know that lack of recognition can also lead to harm.

So if a particular community are not recognised either by law or by society, then that community may feel isolated.

And as a result that can lead to a lot of harm for that community.

But some argue that diversity cannot achieve unity simply because there can be views that conflict with the wider majority or some of the fundamental British values.

Unity can only be achieved if everybody assimilates, if everybody is the same.

Now both have its pluses and drawbacks.

What I now want you to consider is how can diversity achieve unity? So there are three ways that diversity can achieve unity.

The first is recognition.

Okay, so recognition of people's identities like we talked about.

And there are ways that they can be recognised through the legal system.

We know that laws have been established in order to protect minority rights and protect individual identity and civil liberty.

So the Equality Act of 2010 is a good example of that.

And like I mentioned, the Human Rights Act 1998 is established in order to preserve and protect individual rights and also group rights.

So group identity can be protected through laws and, therefore, if there is protection of those rights, that builds mutual respect and tolerance, which can bring about a shared community and therefore unity.

Education is a good way of bringing about that type of unity.

When we live in a diverse society, it builds that respect and tolerance because we learn from each other.

We build a mutual understanding and we learn about the wider values that are important across different areas, different jurisdictions, and the nation as a whole.

And another part is celebrations.

As we explored in the few lessons before, promoting diversity, celebrating different cultures, different values, different beliefs, is a vital way of bringing people together and creating a sense of unity.

We saw a great example with the Notting Hill Carnival, which was born out of the Notting Hill Riots of 1958, which brought about mutual understanding of the Caribbean culture, because it invited people from different ethnic background in order to celebrate the important aspects of the Caribbean culture.

So those are the three ways diversity can achieve unity.

So can a changing and diverse society lead to unity as a whole? Okay, so we've learned a little bit about how the population is changing and so can that lead to unity? So can we have a change of population and changing society and a diverse society which leads to a more united society? Have a think about that question.

Okay, so let's pause for a moment.

Okay.

And bring our knowledge of everything that we've learned so far.

So I just want to model for you how you can complete your first task.

So on the screen, as you can see, you have a mind map and in the middle of the mind map is the key question, can a changing and diverse society lead to unity? When you see this question, the first thing you need to think about is, firstly, in what ways is the UK changing? How and why is the UK so diverse? What are the challenges and benefits of a changing population? What are the benefits and challenges of a diverse society? And what is needed to lead to unity? Is it integration or is it assimilation? Okay, so all I want you to do is using your worksheet, just pause this video, mind map all the key points, gather your notes from all the lessons that we've done so far and just jot down some of the answers to those key questions.

And then when you're done, come back and we'll go through some of the key points you could have mentioned.

Okay, and welcome back.

So I'm just going to give you some feedback on what points you could have mentioned in each of these areas.

Okay so to answer this question, firstly you need to identify how and in what way is the UK changing? And I've noted down here that there are four key characteristics that we explored in terms of how the UK is changing.

We know that we have an ageing population.

Religion has changed in terms of the demographics of different religious values and beliefs and nonreligious beliefs.

Ethnicity has changed.

And disability, we've seen a rise in disabled individuals within the population.

Similarly, when you look at the next question, how and why is the UK diverse, you can use those same categories and look at the diversity in regards to age, religion, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, et cetera.

Okay and note down some examples that we've looked at and how the UK is diverse and changing.

The next aspect to look at when answering this question are some of the challenges and benefits.

So what are the challenges and benefits of having a changing population? Well, there are challenges in regards to the strain on public services that you could have mentioned, and the challenges in regards to racial and religious discrimination that may exist within society, lack of mutual respect and understanding.

But there are also some benefits that you could have mentioned.

For example, improved workforce that benefits the economy and society.

Better family and social networks with an ageing population.

So those are some points you could have mentioned then.

So what are the benefits and challenges to a diverse society? So we know that diversity has brought new ideas, creativity, and innovation that has enriched the cultural experience of Britain's.

We know that also it helps build mutual understanding, which leads to respect and tolerance.

So the more people we interact and integrate with, it can lead to building that respect and tolerance between different communities with different ideas, values, and beliefs.

But there are some challenges.

And as we looked at in previous lessons, we looked at that in some cases, there might be segregated communities or lack of integration that might exist within society, which could lead to lack of cohesion.

So, the final question that you needed to have considered was what is needed to lead to unity? What are the key things that can bring people to unite and bring people together.

Well some points you could have talked about was the concept of integration.

Okay, if you believe integration is a good way to lead to unity versus assimilation and how integration can create community cohesion.

You could have also mentioned how upholding mutual respect through laws, such as the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act, can help build about trust within minority groups and lead to more unity within society.

And finally, you could have mentioned recognition of identity.

When people feel their identities are being recognised or their group identity is being recognised, they may feel that they are being more included within society and therefore that could also lead to unity.

So there were some points you could have looked up.

Okay, now that we've gone through some of those points, if you've missed any, feel free to add it to your mind map.

And now I want you to answer the question, okay, can a changing and diverse society lead to unity? And in your answer, I want you to include the following.

First of all, I want you to write two PEAL paragraphs.

Okay and remember a PEAL paragraph is stating a point in answering the question, providing some evidence to support that point, analysing that evidence, say what that evidence shows or how that evidence supports your point.

And then linking that paragraph back to the question.

Okay so linking your point back to the question.

And in your response, I want you to state an argument in favour of the question saying that a changing and diverse society can lead to unity and also an argument critiquing that question so an argument opposing that statement.

So saying that it cannot lead to unity.

I also want you to provide some examples to support your points.

I also have here success criteria that can help you answer this question.

Now, if you need any further support in your worksheet and also on the screen, you can pause here.

There are sentence starters and some key words that you can use to include in your response.

Now I'm going to ask you to pause the video and complete the task.

When you're ready, come back and we'll go through the answers.

Okay and welcome back.

So well done for getting this far.

Okay, you've done so well.

I'm going to go through some of the key points you could have mentioned in answering this question.

Can diversity lead to unity? That was our question.

So I'm going to go through some of the points you could have mentioned, and then I'm going to go through a model paragraph to demonstrate what a good answer would look like.

Okay, so for the first paragraph, some points you could have mentioned are as follows.

You could have mentioned the concept of ageing population or the ethnic and religious diversity.

And analysis points for those are as follows.

Ageing population led to increased family support network.

And more ethnic and religious diversity leads to a diverse workforce leading more creativity.

So those are some points you could have mentioned.

And some of the points against that you could have mentioned.

So pressure and demand of public services.

Cultural diversity can lead to lack of integration.

Those are two points you could have made against the question.

And the analysis element you could have discussed was as follows.

Lead to resource scarcity creates division.

Inequality and conflicting values can lead to conflict not unity.

Those are some points you could have mentioned.

So I've got two model paragraphs for and against.

And I just want you to cross reference against your own answer and note down some of the points that you've made, any examples that are similar, and any key terms that you have used also.

Just highlight and circle those points.

Okay, so paragraph one.

Firstly, one way the UK has changed and has become diverse is due to the changing population.

For example, there has been an increase in ethnic and religious diversity in the UK and over 13% of the population are from black, asian, minority ethnic communities.

This has led to more significant opportunities to build mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding due to increased integration of minority groups within society.

This can lead to unity because it fosters a culture of inclusivity that encourages a more collaborative and cohesive community.

Therefore, a changing and diverse society can lead to unity.

Paragraph two.

However, some argue a changing and diverse society cannot lead to unity.

This is because higher levels of diversity do not always lead to integration, which builds mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding.

For example, while the UK is very diverse, it is uniquely diverse in towns and cities where levels of integration are sometimes low.

This is because the changing population of some cities have become more segregated due to an increase or dominance of one ethnic group.

As a result, a lack of understanding and misrepresentation of such groups can exist.

This can lead to potential discrimination of such groups, creating tensions within society.

Therefore, a changing and diverse society does not always lead to unity.

Okay, so we've come to the end of our lesson.

We've also come to the end of this unit of study.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

I know I've enjoyed planning it for you guys and well done just for persevering and getting through all of the units and doing so well.

If you feel confident, please go ahead and complete the quiz now.

If not, and you feel like there are some areas that you still need to go over, feel free just to go back and complete those tasks.

And until then, I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you and goodbye.