Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Amott, and I'm going to be your citizenship teacher for the scheme of work that is called Our People Treaty in the UK.

Today's lesson is the first lesson out of six, and today's lesson is going to be all about the Equality Act 2010.

All you need for today's lesson is a pen, paper, and somewhere quiet to work away from any distractions.

So I'm just going to give you a few moments just to sort all that out for me and then we can begin.

Right, so hopefully you've got all your equipment so you're ready to start today's lesson.

So what we're going to look at today, we're going to look at three main things today in today's lesson.

So we're going to look at, what is equality, what does equality look like, and what is the Equality Act 2010? Very first thing we're going to look at then today is what do you think equality means? You might want to pause for a second have a little bit of think about it yourself.

I'm going to explain that to you on the next slide.

So equality is all about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and their talents.

It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of the way they were born, where they come from, what they believe, or whether or not they have a disability.

And that definition comes from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

If you wanted to do a little bit of extra reading around it, it's worth going to look at their website and have a look about the kind of things that they say.

So, that leads us straight away into our first task.

So, in your own words, I want you to write a paragraph and I want, in that paragraph I want you to try and answer those questions.

So, what could equality look like? What barriers, so what do people face to be treated equally? So barriers, what kind of things can stop people being treated equally? And what I would like you to do is try and use these key terms in your response, so try and use the word opportunity, outcomes, diversity, and fairly, okay? Excellent, I hope you had a really good go at that task.

It's quite a tricky task.

So this is the way I would have answered that question.

Okay, so what could equality look like? Okay, so equality is where everyone is treated equally and fairly, regardless of their background, beliefs, gender, or their sexual orientation.

Equality is also about ensuring everyone has the same chances and opportunity to achieve the same outcomes.

So what barriers can people face to being treated equally? So there are different kinds of barriers to equality for different people.

These might be because of their lack of opportunity, or because a person's diverse needs or circumstances have not been considered or accommodated.

For example their financial means or a disability, if they have one.

Barriers might mean a person or group is not treated fairly.

And we're going to look at these kinds of issues in a lot more detail in the next lesson in this unit.

So what does equality look like? Okay, so the second thing that we're going to look at today.

And what, I really, really like using this picture, so I use this in my lessons all the time when I'm teaching.

And see you've got lots of lots of different animals there.

So if you look carefully at that picture, all those animals have lots and lots of different abilities.

Okay, you've got dogs, you've got a monkey, you've got a penguin, you've got an elephant, okay.

So if you look at the questions there, so what animals have the characteristics to climb the tree? So the man, the gentleman in the picture is saying, right, we're going to do a test, to make it fair, everybody's going to do the same test, all going to climb that tree, okay.

Look at the animals, realistically, any one of them has probably got the ability to climb a tree.

Okay, some of them have different strengths, some of them won't have a clue.

So for example, the monkey will probably fly straight up the tree.

Penguin can't really do anything, can't climb, can't fly.

And the dog might be a bit like my dog and when he's chasing a squirrel and the squirrel goes up the tree, just looks confused and doesn't understand how trees work.

Okay, and then, if you look at the other point, what can be done to help people, to help everybody climb the tree? Again, that's really tricky, okay.

What could be done? You could build ramps, could you build waterways? Or could you possibly look at doing a test that's fair to every animal there.

And that leads us onto this picture, okay.

And what does diversity and equality mean? So, and I think what I really, really like about that picture, if you look right in the middle where it says "Real equality isn't possible, "if we don't celebrate our differences." And I think that's really, really important, okay.

So what diversity means is just understanding that each individual is unique and everybody recognises their individual differences.

Equality means there are no barriers that might exclude some somebody from participation, because of their diverse characteristics that make up who they are, their belief, their ability, or their background.

So what it's kind of trying to say, that picture is, well actually, everybody has got a weakness.

To make sure that everybody's treated equally we must make sure that we know everybody's differences.

When we look at the differences about equality and diversity, this diagram is really, really useful.

So first of all, we'll look at equality.

And equality means everybody has the same chances to do what they can.

Some people might have to have a little bit of extra help to have the same chances, okay? So equality is a right for many different reasons.

So it's your right, so people enjoy life more if they're treated equally.

The country is richer because every person can do whatever they want, whatever, sorry, let's start again.

The country is richer because each and every person can do what they are best at.

And it's easier for people to live side by side and get along with each other, if everybody's treated equally, okay.

And again, if you think about what we talked about over the last slide, it's important for equality to recognise that diversity.

And diversity, is a mix of different kinds of people.

For example, it could be men, women, young, and old people, people from different races, disabled, and non disabled people.

So what I need to do is go into the next task.

, So thinking about diversity, what characteristics might we need to consider when we're thinking about equality? And what I want you to do here is make a list.

So characteristics, we just talked about some.

So it could be age, it could be a disability, okay? So try and think about all the characteristics that make us different to one another.

Brilliant, I hope you've had a really, really good go at that task.

And I'm going to go through some of the answers with you now.

So, these are called protected characteristics.

So these protected characteristics are protected within the Equality Act.

And they are such things as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, and civil partnerships, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or your beliefs, and your sex, and your sexual orientation, okay? And these protected characteristics all are from the government.

So they're all things that people need to be aware of, when we're thinking about how we're going to treat people, how we're making sure that people are treated equally.

And the key term here is protected characteristics.

So, this is going to lead into a task.

So it might be that you want to, you might want to make a note of what's going to be on the next few slides, or that you maybe go back once I explain the task to you.

So, everyday life there are many situations in which people can unfairly exclude or create barriers for particular groups or individuals.

This is called, and this results in inequality.

So, what I want you to do, and again, you can back and you can do this now or you can do it when I explain the task to you.

Think about the following situation.

What needs to be considered before a person can participate fully in each activity? What needs to be considered before they use public transport, before they go to the cinema, before they go to a football match? And then while you're thinking about, think about these scenarios.

So Azid is from Bangladesh and they're a wheelchair user.

He is a keen Sheffield Wednesday supporter and wants to attend a football match with his friends.

In the past other supporters have made abusive comments about him being in the way.

Okay, so what characteristics there are affecting Azid when he's going to the football match? Okay, the next one is Deepa.

So, is expecting her first baby in five months time.

She's also partially deaf.

She wants to go to the cinema with her boyfriend.

Okay, so again, what are the protective characteristics in that scenario? And Martha is a pensioner and recently had a hip replacement.

She wants to use a bus to visit her sister who is in hospital, okay.

So, you might, again, might want to take a note of those scenarios, or you might want to go back in a second.

But what I would like you to do is first of all identify which protected characteristic is relevant to each scenario.

There might be more than one.

And what could be done to address or remove the barrier to participation? So again, think about those situations.

They're going to be using public transport, going to the cinema, going to a football match.

So I want you to write a bullet point or a short response, whichever one you want to, and you should spend about six minutes doing that.

Okay, and as I've just said, you might want to just flick back on the video, just so you can reread those scenario.

Excellent, okay, I hope you've had a really good go at that and these are some of the answers.

So Azid is from Bangladesh and they're a wheelchair user.

Okay, so they are, you've got Azid's ethnicity or their race, and obviously, being a wheelchair user they have disability so there are two protected characteristics there.

Okay, Deepa is pregnant.

So pregnancy is a protected characteristic when we remember if you look back to that list, and she is also partially deaf, okay, so she also has a form of disability.

Okay, Martha is a pensioner.

Okay so you've got any protected characteristics.

And because she had a hip replacement, arguably, that would be seen as disability.

Okay, so they are the characteristics.

So when you're thinking about what can be done to help them, so when you're looking at sport, are there, so these are the answers I got when I tried to do this task.

Are there lifts and accessible routes to the stadium? Does the stadium have dedicated wheelchair user spaces for Azid and his companion? Does the club have a clear policy on discrimination and racism so Azid feels protected? And that's quite critical.

I know, from when I go and watch my football team play there's a really clear policy that's really obvious what we have to do.

So we get a message on the scoreboard saying text this number, or report it to your neighbours, do it.

Does Azid, at Sheffield Wednesday, 'cause he supports Sheffield Wednesday, does his team have the same kind of thing? Okay, so leisure, okay, so when somebody's going to the cinema.

Does the cinema provide enhanced sound options for people with hearing impairments? Now you might notice that, that sometimes it's symbols, and people can get special devices.

Is this film subtitled? Okay but possibly more importantly, is this clearly communicated so Deepa knows when to attend the cinema, okay? Some cinemas have special viewings for people with disabilities, or they might have special equipment.

So, has this been communicated clearly? And then when we're thinking about Martha on the public transport, does the bus stop allowed disabled people to get on the bus easily? And can a companion travel with Martha to assist her? Are the priority seats are at the front being used? So you might remember, you might know that when you get the bus at the front, and are the seats clearly labelled.

And again, I know where I live, the seats are really clearly labelled for priority seating for elderly people or people who need them.

Is this the case where Martha lives? Right, so that leads us on to the last third of the lesson.

What is the Equality Act 2010? Okay, so the Equality Act makes it law that every private, public and voluntary organisation must not discriminate against employees and people who use their services because of a particular characteristic.

The app brings together all previous equality laws making them simpler, more effective, and easier to understand.

And the key bit's there in bold, it brought together all the laws that existed about equality before and made them simpler, more effective, and easier to understand.

So the laws that did exist before, there were quite a lot of laws, and here are some of them now.

Okay, so there were many, nine main bits of law that were brought together.

And all these laws aim to protect people from discrimination because of certain characteristic.

So there was Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Act, the Disability Discrimination Act, the Employment Equality, Religion or Belief Regulations, the Employment Equality, Sexual Orientation Regulations, the Employment Equality Age Regulations, the Equality Act of 2006 and the Equality Act about Sexual Orientation.

So, what the Equality Act did is brought all of these laws together so they're all in one place, which made it much simpler.

So, who is protected by the Equality Act, okay? And the Equality Act makes sure that people with particular characteristics are protected from discrimination.

These are protected characteristics.

And discrimination is treating somebody unfairly because of these characteristics, okay.

And the protected characteristics are what we looked at earlier in the lesson, and you can see them all there on that diagram.

So that brings us in to the last task of today's lesson.

And what I want you to do is write a short paragraph that explains the Equality Act 2010.

That should include information about its history, why it was introduced, and who the Act applies to.

Okay, and there's a short paragraph that you should probably spend around about eight, or something like that.

Excellent, I hope you've had a go on it, it was quite a tricky task 'cause we introduced the Equality Act and then asked you to do a task to recap what it is straightaway.

So hopefully you've had a good go of doing that.

Okay, so this is the answer that I got.

Okay, so the Equality Act was introduced in 2010.

The law is designed to ensure that nobody is discriminated against because of who they are, their background, their ability, belief, and any of the protected characteristics.

Before the Equality Act 2010 was introduced, there were many different laws that addressed different forms of discrimination.

However, this was complicated and difficult to follow.

The Equality Act was designed to make it easier for people to take action about discrimination.

The Act applies to everyone and anybody can use it if they feel they've been a victim of discrimination.

And that's quite important, you look at the protected characteristics.

Most of those, all of those characteristics apply to somebody, okay? So just a recap of what we've covered today.

We've looked at what equality means, and we've looked at what equality looks like, and we've looked at what the Equality Act 2010 says, including the protected characteristics.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson.

Thank you very much for all your hard work and I hope you've learned a lot about the Equality Act.

If you would like to, please ask your parent or carer to share a photo of your work on Twitter, tagging in @OakNational and with the #LearnwithOak.

Okay, as you, before you finish the lesson, and before you close down today's lesson, please make sure you complete the exit quiz just so you can test yourself to see how much you've learned during today's lesson all about the Equality Act.

Thank you very much again for all your hard work today and I will see you next time.