Lesson video

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

This is lesson five of six of our unit of work, looking at how the UK society is so diverse and changing.

Before we get started, I just want to make sure you are in a quiet space where you can focus and you have a pen, a paper, so you can note down some of the activities for today's lesson and that you are free from distraction.

So if you've got your phone near you, just switch you off so that you're not distracted in today's lesson.

If you're ready, let's get started.

In today's lesson, our lesson title is: Is there mutual respect, understanding and tolerance for diverse groups in the UK.

In the last lesson we learned: How the UK became so diverse.

And over the course of the last few units, we've been exploring a range of ideas that link to diversity and changing UK population.

So we looked at the concept of identity and how diverse the UK is in regard to its own national identity.

We also explored how the UK population is changing in relation to age, ethnicity, religion and ability.

And in the last lesson, we looked at how the UK became so diverse and multicultural and also looked at some of the benefits and challenges of diversity in the UK.

In today's lesson, what we're going to be focusing on is understanding what we mean by mutual respect and tolerance and how that can lead to mutual understanding.

So by the end of today's lesson, you should be able to explain the importance of mutual respect and tolerance and explain how mutual understanding underpins a democratic society and how it can be to a more cohesive community.

We'll also be assessing the effects of inequality and discrimination and the role of the Equality Act in preventing discrimination in today's lesson.

Without further ado, let's get into the lesson.

What does mutual respect in a diverse society look like? While on your screen, you have a text here that just gives you an example and explanation and definition of mutual respect and tolerance.

Now, I'm going to read this out.

I just want you to note down some of the key points from this text.

So what does mutual respect in a diverse society look like? Mutual respect is the reciprocal regard for the feeling, wishes or rights of others.

Reciprocal means be done in return.

So if you give respect, you might expect that respect in return.

In contrast, tolerance is the willingness to accept behaviour and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them.

Both mutual respect and tolerance are essential to building a cohesive and inclusive society.

Mutual respect creates the equality and courtesy needed for social cohesion, and tolerance enables the ability to be inclusive by accepting and living alongside others who hold beliefs or opinions you do not agree with.

So essentially what that means is that in regards to mutual respect, it is transferable, meaning if you give respect, you might expect that respect in return, so use reciprocal, you expect it in return.

For example, playing in a football match or any sporting activity will go and shake the hands of their opponents and the referee and they will expect them to shake their hand back as a form of respect.

Similarly, in regards to tolerance, you may not agree with everybody that you know in terms of their ideas or their political beliefs, or general beliefs but you still treat them the same, you do not treat them differently just because of the ideas and the beliefs that they hold.

So mutual respect is vital in a diverse society in order to ensure that people work collaboratively and live in harmony so that it is cohesive.

And in order to bring about that cohesion, we need to show respect and tolerance to people from different backgrounds and different cultures and with different values and ideas.

In order for those individuals to feel included and not feel excluded.

I just want you to pause the video here now, and I want you in your own word explain the difference between mutual respect and tolerance.

So what does mutual respect mean and how is different to tolerance? And note down an example for each and when you finish, come back to the video and we can review your points.

Okay, and welcome back.

I'm just going to go through some feedback, something you could have written in your response to this question.

So what does mutual respect mean and how is it different to tolerance? So just to clarify, mutual respect means having regard for the feelings, wishes or rights of others.

For example, at the beginning of most team sport matches, you'll see all the players line up and shake hands with one another, to acknowledge their equal standing as competitors and to show each other respect.

Whereas tolerance is the willingness to accept behaviour and beliefs that are different from your own even though you might not agree.

For example, you may disagree with someone's political views, but you do not treat them differently because of it.

Mutual respect is a vital part of society, so is tolerance.

And so when you have a diverse society like in the UK, it's important to ensure that there is respect and tolerance of these diverse groups in order to ensure that there is cohesion, in order to ensure that people can live in harmony.

Now with that in mind, what happens if mutual respect is not shown? And what happens if tolerance is not shown? I just want to preference.

The text we're about to read contains reference to sexuality.

For some people, this will be a sensitive topic.

If that applies to you, you may want to do the rest of this lesson with a trusted adult nearby who can support you.

So lack of mutual respect and tolerance can lead to greater levels of inequality.

And we've seen this in previous lessons where we talked about the challenges to live in in a diverse society.

So the types of inequalities that you could see are within the protective characteristics like age, race, gender, sexual orientation and religion and I've noted down here, some few examples.

For example, age.

Some inequalities that we might see are things like ageism, for example, refusal to provide medical treatment to those aged 75 or over is a form of ageism, is a form of discriminating someone because of their age.

Racism is another example of some inequalities that might exist within society.

So suspecting individuals of a crime because of their race, which is called racial profiling is also an example of some of the inequalities that could exist within society if mutual respect and tolerance is not adhered to.

Gender.

So the gender pay gap is an example when men are paid or promoted more than women.

And in society if that exists, that's also another example of an inequality that can take place if mutual respect for different genders and tolerance with different genders is not adhered to.

Sexual orientation is another example of a protected characteristics where inequalities can transpire such as homophobia.

For example, refusal to sell or bake a wedding cake for a gay or lesbian wedding is a form of homophobia and at times, this can create tensions within communities and those that identify with those characteristics.

Religion is also an example of where inequalities can transpire if there is religious discrimination.

For example in the workplace, not accommodating religious practise is a form of religious discrimination.

I've given you a few examples of where discrimination and inequalities can transpire, especially if there is a lack of mutual respect and tolerance.

How can we ensure that mutual respect is upheld in the UK and these protected characteristics are protected.

There are three core ways.

It can be done through laws, support for citizens or even through the courts.

For example, as I've mentioned in previous lessons, the Equality Act 2010 was established in order to tackle any inequalities that exist within society, inequalities that effect minority groups in particular.

So the Equality Act prevents discrimination and harassment and unfair treatment of individuals within the nine characteristics.

The second point here is support for citizens.

Where there are inequalities that transpire and forms of prejudice and discrimination, citizens can report this to the police and the police monitor and record forms of hate crimes that exists within society and how minorities are affected.

There's also free legal advice to citizens that want to seek support in tackling some of these issues if they come across them.

And the third is through the courts.

Victims of discrimination can pursue complaints through the civil courts and take their case in order to get a remedy.

It's not to say that in society, inequality does not exist just because we have laws.

Inequality does exist, but a way to prevent that is to show that we have mutual respect and tolerance for minority groups.

Now that can transpire in different ways and we have laws to ensure that minority groups are protected and where those laws don't fully protect them, there is support given to them so that they can have those laws enforced.

Now that we understand how mutual respect is upheld and what mutual respect and tolerance looks like, I now I want you to check your understanding and point to the screen answering this question: How is mutual respect upheld as a central value in society? Is it A, through laws like the Equality Act of 2010? B, through not promoting diversity and multiculturalism or C, through limiting access to legal services? Just point to the screen and then I will reveal the answer.

The correct answer is A.

Well done if you've gotten that correct.

So now that we had a look at mutual respect and tolerance and how that is upheld, in order to ensure that that is fully upheld, we need to develop mutual understanding.

Mutual understanding is fundamental to a democratic society.

So there are three essential concepts that underpin a democratic society when it comes to building mutual understanding.

Those principles consist of diversity, integration, and community cohesion and how we can promote mutual understanding.

So how we can promote forms of diversity and integration and community cohesion are through these following ways.

So feel free to note these down.

We can promote mutual understanding either through schools by teaching subjects just like citizenship and RE.

We can promote it through assemblies by exploring different beliefs, cultures, values and ideas.

We can celebrate different cultural groups, bringing different ethnicities and different religious and religious groups together to build mutual understanding through celebrations.

Ceremonies like the Notting Hill carnival is a good example of where this has taken place.

But there have been also other festivals.

Eid in the Square is good example, is a festival that takes place every year in Trafalgar Square.

And it's through integration.

So in schools, we have very diverse schools where people from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities and abilities all integrate together, and we learn from each other through that integration.

Similarly, there are many ways to promote mutual understanding.

Such like I said through corporate activities and events in wider society is a good example.

So like the Notting Hill carnival as I mentioned earlier.

Community project that aims to incorporate the wider community are also good examples.

And also having English language classes, people are able to communicate clearly will help build a more integrated and cohesive society.

Those are the ways that we can build mutual understanding.

And now I just want you to check that you understood that and answer this question by again pointing to the screen.

How can schools encourage and promote mutual understanding? Is it A, by prioritising and focusing on core subjects.

B, promoting and teaching subjects such as RE and citizenship.

C, by promoting concepts of segregation, or D, by limiting cultural religious celebrations.

Point to the screen now and well done.

If you've gotten that right, the answer is B.

In school, teaching of religious education and citizenship is a good way of building mutual understanding alongside peer education, so having diverse schools where individuals interact, mix and integrate helps build mutual understanding.

Why do we need this? Why do we need mutual respect, tolerance and society to understand each other? The central aim of this is really to build community cohesion.

So what does community cohesion actually mean and why is it important? Community cohesion describes the ability of all communities to function and grow in harmony together, rather than in conflict.

This can include having one's identity recognised and feeling part of a shared community.

So just note down that definition and just to clarify a few points.

So community cohesion is really showing that a society can work and grow in harmony.

And the way we achieve that is by recognising individual cultures and identities and being inclusive and not exclusive.

So we make people feel part of that community.

So we encourage mutual understanding, in order so people can live in harmony with respect for diversity and for each other.

And there are examples whereby there is high levels of community cohesion, there are examples of low levels of community cohesion.

So on our screen, we just have some examples noted down and feel free to note this down on your notepad.

So some good examples of high levels of community cohesion are things like community projects where brings the community together.

For example, wildfire.

Lots of community members came together in order to provide services to those that were affected.

Another example of high levels of community cohesion include tolerance of cultural and religious beliefs.

Meaning, even though you may not agree with different religions or cultural practises, it's important to be able to be respectful to those groups despite those differences, despite those disagreements and do not treat them differently because of it.

And that gives a sense of belonging to those communities, where they feel included within wider society and within the community, as well as celebrating diversity.

Not everybody can be the same and there's a lot of benefits like we looked at last lesson of having a diverse and culturally rich community.

But there are some low levels of cohesion that can exist that we should aim to avoid.

So for example, where there might be high levels of crime for instance, in certain community areas may suggest that actually, that particular community may not be very cohesive.

Rises in racism and discrimination can be another example of low level of cohesion.

Having segregated communities or groups of individuals that are not fully integrated, but slightly separated from the wider society.

Or have no go areas where people do not feel safe enough or comfortable enough to go to certain areas because they may feel out of place.

And another example is increase in extremist views.

This is an example of a low level of cohesion where individuals may not fully adhere to fundamental British values or values that align with the wider community.

I want you just to pause the video now and I want you to answer the following question: Explain how mutual respect, tolerance, understanding can help build community cohesion.

And in your answer, I want you to write two PEAL paragraphs and a PEAL paragraph means ensuring that you have a point.

You give an example to support that point.

You analyse your example and point and then you link your argument back to the question.

I want you to explain how mutual respect, tolerance and understanding is established and upheld within that paragraph and explain how higher levels of community cohesion can be achieved.

And when you're finished, come back to the lesson and we will go through some of the answers you could have made.

Welcome back.

So let's go through some of these points.

The key task here was for you to write two PEAL paragraphs answering the question, explaining how mutual respect, tolerance and understanding can help build community cohesion.

Paragraph one and modal response could be as follows: One way mutual respect, tolerance and understanding can help build community cohesion is by ensuring adherence to mutual respect within society.

In the UK, this is established through rules such as the Equality Act, which aims to prevent discrimination, harassment and unfair treatment of people within the nine protected characteristics.

By having this in place, it means there is a greater level inclusion, which can lead to more cohesion.

Paragraph two.

Another way is by actively promoting concepts such as diversity, integration and community cohesion.

For example, events such as the Notting Hill carnival promote mutual understanding by bringing different ethnicities together, celebrating diversity.

Such events can help not only build mutual respect and understanding, but create a higher level of community cohesion.

We need just to check your response against those and make any corrections as you see fit.

If there was at any point you got stuck in the lesson, feel free to go back and go over some of that content and try again.

We have now reached the end of our lesson and I just want to quickly recap what we learned today.

So in today's lesson, we looked at the concept of mutual respect and tolerance and you should be able to now explain what they mean.

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

And we'll also explore the effects of inequality and discrimination and the role of the Equality Act in tackling some of these inequalities within society.

So those are the core concepts we've learned today, and I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

Like I said, any point you got stuck, feel free to go back over your notes and try again.

But if you feel confident, please feel free to go ahead and complete the quiz.

And I will see you next lesson, where we look at the key question of can diversity lead to unity.

Have a great day and take care.

Bye.