Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Ikomi.

I'm a teacher from London and I'm going to be taking you through today's lesson.

Let's get started.

Today's lesson is called, How Do Identities Change? It is part of the wider unit, What are our identities and our communities? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how and why identities change over time.

The keywords we're going to hear in today's lesson are, identities, this is who people are or the qualities of a person or group that make them different from others, belonging, this is the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group, United Kingdom, this is an island country that sits north-west of mainland Europe, made up of mainland Green Britain, England, Wales, and Scotland, and the northern part of the island of Ireland, which is Northern Ireland.

Keep an eye out for these keywords as we move through today's lesson.

We're gonna start by thinking about what does it mean to belong? Feeling that you belong is an important part of being a human being.

It allows you to understand who you are, and this is all connected to your identity as an individual.

Belonging is the feeling of security and support when there's a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group.

You might feel a sense of belonging when you are with your friends or with a family member that makes you feel very secure and supported.

We can also think about this in terms of the wider feeling of belonging when it comes to identity.

Our sense of belonging can shift with our identity.

For example, while you're in school, you feel a sense of belonging to it, but as you move on to college or a new workplace, your sense of belonging adjusts to those new environments.

You won't feel that sense of belonging at school because that is not where you spend the majority of your time anymore, so we can see how that shift happens alongside your identity changing and developing.

Let's do a quick check of what we've learned so far.

True or false, you'll always belong to the same groups.

Pause the video and choose your answer.

Can you also think about why you've chosen that answer? The correct answer is false.

This is because as your identity changes through life, so will the groups that you get a sense of belonging out of.

Aisha's asking a really good question, "Where do you feel a sense of belonging?" Can you take a moment to think about what that means to you? Let's see how Jacob responds.

Jacob says, "I belong to my school and I'm a member of the athletics team.

I enjoy belonging to a large family with four brothers.

I'm also part of the youth parliament, which means that I can represent young people in politics.

I belong to lots of friendship groups because I seem to get along with so many different people." So we can see lots of different examples of that sense of security and support for Jacob, meaning, he has that sense of belonging in these different groups.

Aisha's asking another good question, "How does belonging to these things and groups help you?" Jacob's telling us, "I feel supported by my friends and my school.

I have fun in athletics and feel like it encourages me to be fit, healthy, and have a good time.

I get a sense of security from my family because my brothers protect me.

Belonging to different groups allows me to relieve stress and feel together with people rather than separate." Jacob's giving us a good insight into why it's important to have a sense of belonging and how that can come through and from our identity.

Let's do a check.

What can a sense of belonging feel like? Is it A, security, B, support, C, separation, or D, stress? Choose all of the ones that apply.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

The correct answers are A and B.

Let's do a longer task now to put what we've done so far into practise.

I'd like you to think about where do you feel a sense of belonging? Then I'd like you to write a paragraph explaining what groups you belong to and the reason that you belong to them.

June is giving us a hint.

"Think about clubs that you might be part of, family, friends, groups, and also school." Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to think about where you feel a sense of belonging and write a paragraph explaining which groups you belong to and why you belong to them.

You might have included some of the following.

"I belong to many different groups which help form my identity.

I'm a member of a school and belong to class 7C because of my age and where I live.

I'm part of the school netball team and captain of the rounders team, and I enjoy belonging to those because I'm good at sport.

I also belong to my family because I was born into it and my friendship groups that I chose because I get along with them well.

I'm part of the United Kingdom because I was born in England." Well done if you included something similar to that in your answer, it might look quite different for you.

Next we're going to think about why can identities change over time.

Identities can change over time because people grow, learn and experience new things.

As you grow up, your interest, values and friendships might shift.

Your identity reflects how you see yourself and how you see the world, and since life is full of change, your identity can change with it too.

If you think back to when you were in year two, your views on things, your sense of belonging might look very different to how it does today.

Identities can also change because of reasons such as personal growth.

As you learn and mature, your views and understanding of yourself will change.

It will look different today than it will in 20 years time.

Gaining more independence.

As you grow older, you make more of your own choices and that can influence the identities that you choose or the sense of belonging that you have at different points.

You might learn about new ideas.

As we move through life and we gain exposure to different beliefs, knowledge and experiences, this can shift your perspective, which might also shift your identity.

Let's do another quick check.

I'd like you to match up the definitions with the meanings that we just looked at.

Pause your video and choose the correct answers now.

Let's check our answers.

Personal growth goes with B.

As you learn and mature, your views and understanding of yourself will change.

Gaining independence goes with C.

As you grow older, you make more of your own choices.

And learning new ideas goes with A, exposure to different beliefs, knowledge and experiences can shift your perspective.

Well done if you've got those right.

Andeep's asking, "Why else can identities change?" Identities can change for lots of other reasons, for example, because you choose them to do so, your personal choice is really important.

You might develop new interests or hobbies, which then can develop new identities or swap out for old ones.

Often life events can have an impact on our identity.

For example, moving or changing schools will change your identity in accordance to where you end up being.

New experiences.

There might be other new people that you meet or places you go that can influence your identity.

Let's think about an example of this.

Andeep has joined his local football team.

This has changed his identity as he now views himself as a footballer, which previously he hadn't.

Izzy has moved from year six to year seven.

Her identity has changed because she now views herself as a mature secondary school student.

She will also have met lots of new people and have experienced a different school setting.

Let's do a check.

True or false, swapping hobbies can change your identity.

Pause your video and choose your answer.

Can you also have a think about why you chose that answer? The correct answer is true.

This is because choosing a different hobby can impact your life and therefore change your identity.

For example, if you start playing snooker, you might consider yourself having a new identity as a snooker player that you didn't have before.

Let's do a longer task now to put what we've done in this section into practise.

I'd like you to create a timeline and add some different identities that you have had in the past, some that you have now, and some that you might have in the future.

Maybe you can think back to a particular age or year group and think forward to some of the goals that you have for the future.

Pause your video and choose your answers now.

I asked you to create a timeline with different identities that you have had in the past, that you have now and that you might have in the future.

You might have included some of the following in your response.

In the past, you might have said you had brown hair, you were English, you were a baby.

In present, you might have said that you are a pupil in year seven, you may now be a cat lover, you may also be an active citizen because you've got an involved in your community.

In the future, you might think of yourself as a guitar player if you practise hard to learn that skill.

You might live in Portugal, and you might also be a marathon runner.

Well done if you included some things like that in your answer.

Next, I'd like you to think about why your identity might change throughout your life.

Via paragraph, explaining your response.

Jacob has giving you some interesting points that you could include in your answer below.

For example, there are lots of reasons such as personal growth, gaining independence, learning new ideas, personal choice, life events, and new experiences.

See if you can get some of those into your answer.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to write a paragraph explaining how your identity changes throughout your life.

You might have said, "Identities change over time due to personal growth, new experiences, and different interests.

As you learn and mature, your understanding of yourself expands.

Life events like moving house, meeting new people or changing schools can shape who you are.

The influence of family, friends and culture also plays a role in changing your identity.

As you gain independence, you make more choices that reflect your identity, and learning new ideas can shift your perspective over time." Well done if you included some of that in your answer.

Next, I'd like you to think about which identities in your life might stay the same.

Write a paragraph to explain your response.

Again, Sofia's giving us a hint.

She's asking you to think about things that you inherit and cannot change.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to think about which identities in your life might stay the same.

You might have said, "The biological traits you inherit from your parents stay the same throughout your life, which means that part of your identity is fixed.

For example, your eye colour, facial features and bone structure tend to stay the same as you get older.

Although you might become a dual national, your main nationality will stay the same because it's dependent on where you are born, which is part of nature." Next, we're going to think about how has the United Kingdom's identity changed.

The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent countries, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and does not include Ireland.

Great Britain is the island which contains England, Scotland, and Wales, and we can see it is marked there in yellow, red, and blue.

The United Kingdom is Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which we can see added on there in green.

The identity of the United Kingdom has changed over time, much like our individual identities do.

We can see in 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was made up of Scotland, England, and Wales, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was then formed in 1801, and that was made up of Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922 at the point that Ireland left the UK.

So we can see how this has developed and changed over a period of time.

True or false, Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom.

Pause the video and choose your answer now.

Can you also think about why you've chosen that answer? The correct answer is true.

This is because Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, but Ireland is a separate country.

Ireland gained independence from the United Kingdom on December the sixth of 1921 and officially left in 1922.

So we think of these as separate nations, even though they share a land border like lots of countries within Europe.

Each nation England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland has its own unique traditions which contributes to their own national identities.

This means that the United Kingdom, the UK, has its own identity as a whole, but also has multiple identities within it.

People who live in England might celebrate St.

George's Day because St.

George is their patron saint.

People who live in Wales might celebrate St.

David's Day, people who live in Scotland might celebrate Burns Night because the famous Scottish poet called Robert Burns.

So we see, although all of these countries are part of the United Kingdom, they have their own unique celebrations and identities that form really important parts of that.

People who live in Northern Ireland might celebrate St.

Patrick's Day because St.

Patrick is their patron's Saint.

Things are constantly shifting across these nations.

For example, Scotland voted on independence in 2014.

If it had been successful, they would no longer have been part of the identity of the UK.

Migration is one way in which the UK has continually evolved as seen through its past.

Many people from England have moved to other countries, and many people from other countries have come to live in the UK.

This movement across borders has developed the identity of the United Kingdom to be more multicultural.

Some important events that have happened to change the United Kingdom can be seen on the timeline below.

In the fifth century, Romans left and Anglo-Saxons took over.

in the Middle Ages, skills trades people from Germany and Belgium settled.

In the 16th century, people from the UK went to colonise, live, and trade in parts of Africa, India, and the Caribbean.

In the 17th century, Britain begins trade with China and many Chinese sailors arrived.

After World War II, the UK Government asked people from the Commonwealth and colonies, which were countries around the world to come to the UK and work.

Let's do a quick check of what we've done so far.

After which war did the UK Government ask people from the Commonwealth, which is a group of countries, to come and work in the UK? Was it, A, World War I, B, the Russia-Ukraine war, C, World War II, or D, the Vietnam War? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is C.

Another important change came on the 30th of January, 2020.

The United Kingdom left the European Union.

This was called Brexit.

This event changed the identity of the United Kingdom and everyone who identifies with it.

Passports, which are one of the main forms of identification in the United Kingdom, were burgundy and had European Union written on them.

Following Brexit, passports are now blue and have British passport written on them.

That's one indicator of this change in identity.

Let's do a check.

What colour are the most recent British passports? Pause your video and choose the correct answer.

The correct answer is blue.

Let's do a check to put this into practise.

I'd like you to fill in the gaps in the passage below about how identities have changed in the United Kingdom.

You can see the box at the bottom has words to fill in the gaps.

Pause your video and choose your answers now.

Let's check our answers.

"The United Kingdom's identity has changed throughout the years and it has multiple identities because it contains four different nations.

After World War II, lots of migration happened because members of the Commonwealth were invited to come to the United Kingdom to work.

In 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union, which was called Brexit.

This resulted in lots of changes including our passports changing colour to blue.

It transformed the way some individuals viewed their own identity." Today we have been learning about how do identities change.

We've learned that identity as part of a group gives us a sense of belonging, safety, and security.

Identities can change over time, but there are also parts of our identities that are fixed by nature.

There are lots of different reasons that identities change.

Some of these are because of personal choices we make, but others are as a result of external factors such as the influence other people's views have on us.

It can be a whole country's identity that might change, which will change our own identities too.

For example, the UK leaving the EU might have changed the way that individuals view their own identity.

That's the end of today's lesson.

Thank you for joining me.