Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss Kumar and I'm really pleased that you've chosen to learn with me today.

Today's lesson is called Prejudice and Discrimination of Faith and Culture, and it's taken from our unit Communities: How do we respect people of different faiths? I highly recommend that you do this lesson with a trusted adult.

There might be some parts of the lesson that you find upsetting or worrying.

If at any point during the lesson you do feel worried or upset, please pause the video and speak to your trusted adult.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can explain the impact of prejudice and discrimination on individuals of different faith and culture.

Before we begin any learning, let's remind ourselves of some important ground rules.

Laura reminds us to listen to others.

"It is okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

And if and when we do disagree, we need to make sure we challenge the statement and not the person." Andeep reminds us to respect privacy.

"We can discuss examples.

We need to be careful not to use names or descriptions that could identify anyone and that includes ourselves." Jacob reminds us no judgment.

"We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic, but we should be able to do that without fear of being judged." And Izzy reminds us that it is okay for us to choose our own level of participation.

"Everyone has the right to choose whether or not to answer a question or join in a discussion.

We must never make anyone feel put on the spot or make anyone feel uncomfortable." Throughout today's lesson, you might notice that there are some words in bold, black font.

These are keywords.

Let's have a quick look at today's keywords and what they mean.

Prejudice.

Prejudice is when someone judges or dislikes others unfairly without knowing them.

It can be based on things like race, gender, or appearance.

And discrimination.

Discrimination is when people are treated unfairly or differently because of things like their race, gender, or beliefs.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

Let's start with part one.

What's the impact of prejudice and discrimination? Modern Britain is a multi-faith and multi-cultural society.

Iqbal reminds us there are a diverse range of faiths and cultures living alongside one another in our communities.

When we treat everyone with mutual respect and tolerance, we create opportunities to learn from each other and strengthen our communities.

If a lack of understanding about someone else's faith or culture is shown, it can lead to prejudice.

Iqbal explains, "Prejudice is when someone judges or dislikes a person without getting to know them first.

It is often based on preconceived ideas.

These are ideas that we have already formed in our mind without any evidence.

It is often based on preconceived ideas such as assumptions or stereotypes about a particular group of people." Time for our first check for understanding.

Which of the following statements about prejudice are true? A, it is based on evidence or facts, B, it can lead to improved self-esteem, C, it can have a negative impact on people, or D, it is based on preconceived ideas.

You can pause to have a think and press play when you're ready to see the answers.

The answers are C and D.

Prejudice can have a negative impact on people and it is based on preconceived ideas.

Prejudice might be shown towards people of different faiths or cultures.

For instance, "Oh, I didn't realize your family came from there.

Don't you all have to wear a headscarf?" "Do you have a boyfriend? I thought your religion was really strict about things like that." "Are you supposed to listen to chart music? I assumed your culture didn't allow things like that." These comments are based on assumptions or stereotypes, not evidence or facts.

Sometimes prejudice can be unconscious.

This means we might have biases we're not even aware of.

These can come from things we've seen in the media, heard from others, or assumptions we've picked up without even realizing.

Being aware of our own potential biases is the first step to challenging them.

For example, we might make assumptions about someone's interests, abilities, or background based on their appearance or name without realizing we're doing it.

Prejudice can have a negative impact on individuals.

It can lead to reduced self-esteem, social withdrawal or isolation, poor mental health such as anxiety, lack of opportunities, feelings of powerlessness.

If people act on prejudiced ideas, it can also result in discrimination.

Faith reminds us, "Discrimination is when individuals are treated unfairly or differently simply because of their characteristics." Discrimination can happen in many places.

It can happen at school, at work, in shops or other public places.

It can also happen online and in the community.

It is important to recognize discrimination wherever it happens.

At school, this might include leaving someone out of activities because of their background, making offensive jokes about someone's culture or treating someone differently in lessons because of their faith.

In the community, discrimination might include refusing to serve someone in a shop because of how they look, excluding families from local events or groups because of their beliefs, or vandalizing religious buildings or cultural centers.

True or false.

Discrimination is an unfair idea about someone while prejudice is when someone acts on the discrimination by treating people unfairly.

You can pause to have a think about this question and then just press play when you're ready to move on.

The answer is false.

Have a think about why.

It is prejudice, which is the idea and discrimination, which is the action.

Well done if you got that correct.

Discrimination could be direct or indirect.

Faith explains, "An example of direct discrimination might be if an individual is not offered a promotion at work simply because of their faith or religious beliefs.

This is treating someone unfairly, purely based on their characteristics.

An example of indirect discrimination might be if an organization enforces a uniform policy which is not sensitive towards cultural dress.

Although this is not intentionally treating someone unfairly, that means it's not being done on purpose, some people are at a disadvantage as a result of the rule." Discrimination can impact individuals negatively.

Like prejudice, it can lead to reduced self-esteem, withdrawal, poor mental health, lack of opportunities, and powerlessness.

Faith says, "Discrimination can also lead to social inequalities.

This is when access to resources such as education, jobs, or housing is unequally distributed.

As a result, some communities may have fewer life chances or poorer outcomes." True or false.

Both prejudice and discrimination can lead to social inequalities such as unequal access to education, jobs, or housing.

Pause to have a think, press play when you're ready to move on.

The answer is true.

That brings us to the first task of today's lesson, task A.

Write one paragraph which answers the following questions.

Question one, what is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Question two, what are the impacts of prejudice and discrimination? And question three, how might the life chances or outcomes of communities be impacted by discrimination? You can pause to carry out this task and when you're ready to see some possible answers, just press play.

Let's have a look at some possible answers together.

Your paragraph might include the following: The difference between prejudice and is that one is an idea, the other is an action.

Prejudice is when someone judges or dislikes a person without getting to know them first, and it's often based on preconceived ideas.

When people act on prejudice by treating people unfairly simply because of their characteristics, this is a form of discrimination.

The impacts of both prejudice and discrimination can include reduced self-esteem, withdrawal, mental health conditions, lack of opportunities, and powerlessness.

The life chances and outcomes of communities can also be affected by discrimination as it can lead to social inequalities.

This is when access to resources is unequally distributed, meaning some communities may have fewer opportunities or poorer outcomes.

Well done if your answers were along these lines.

That brings us to the second part of today's lesson.

How does the law protect against discrimination? In the UK, The Equality Act of 2010 protects people from discrimination against any of the nine protected characteristics.

Aarya says, "The nine protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, and this includes ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, this is the biological sex that a person is born with, and sexual orientation.

The Equality Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone in specific situations.

This includes education, schools and colleges cannot treat pupils unfairly because of protected characteristics.

In the workplace, employers cannot discriminate when hiring or promoting or in the way that they treat employees.

Public services, shops, restaurants, healthcare providers and other services must treat everyone fairly, and housing, landlords cannot refuse to rent to someone because of protected characteristics.

Time for another check for understanding.

Which of the nine protected characteristics are missing? We've got age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex and sexual orientation.

You can pause to have a quick think and then just press play when you're ready to move on.

The missing answers were race, which includes ethnicity, and religion or belief.

Faith, in other words, a person's religion or belief is a protected characteristic.

Let's have a look at some scenarios together.

"I wear a hijab due to my religious beliefs.

Recently, a few of the other pupils at school teased me about it.

This was upsetting and made me anxious about going back to school." This person is being treated unfairly.

This is discrimination.

"I got an interview for a job, but it was on the day of an important religious festival that I celebrate.

The company refused to change the date of the interview so I missed out." This person is being treated unfairly and this is discrimination.

Time for another check for understanding.

Which of these examples shows discrimination against a person's religion or belief? Scenario one, a restaurant manager tells a customer they cannot sit at a table near the window because they are using a wheelchair.

Scenario two, a community center refuses to hire out their hall to a local religious group for their prayer meetings even though the hall is available and other groups can book it.

You can pause to have a quick think and then just press play when you're ready to move on.

The answer is scenario two.

Have a think about why.

Scenario two shows discrimination based on religion or belief while scenario one shows discrimination based on disability.

Well done if you got the answer correct.

Although culture is not a protected characteristic, it is closely linked to characteristics that are.

Charlie explains, "The protected characteristic of race includes ethnicity, and this is something that influence culture.

Likewise, a person's faith or religious beliefs can also shape the cultural behaviors and customs of an individual." Let's have a look at a few more scenarios together.

"My brother and I were asked to leave a shop last week because we were speaking in our home language, Mandarin.

The shop assistant didn't like that she couldn't understand what we were saying, however, and this made me feel that my culture wasn't valued." This person is being treated unfairly and this is discrimination.

"I took last night's leftovers for lunch at school today, but some pupils were teasing me that my food smelt and looked weird.

I enjoy traditional Jamaican foods and it's a part of my Jamaican culture, but it's made me nervous about what I can and can't eat at school now." Once again, this person is being treated unfairly, and this is another example of discrimination.

It is important to remember that discrimination based on faith or culture can affect anyone regardless of which religion they follow, which country their family comes from, or what cultural practices they observe.

Aarya says, "No faith or culture is immune from experiencing prejudice or discrimination." True or false.

Only certain faiths and cultures experience discrimination.

Pause to have a think and just press play when you're ready to move on.

The answer is false, but can you remember why? All faiths and cultures can face prejudice and discrimination.

Unfortunately, anyone can be targeted.

Charlie reminds us, "Anyone who experiences prejudice or discrimination should seek the advice and support of a trusted adult.

The trusted adult can help decide the best way to address the situation, which might include reporting it to someone in authority or the organization responsible.

If the situation cannot be resolved, further legal action might need to be taken through an employment tribunal or court.

Discrimination against protective characteristics is unlawful and it can result in financial penalties and damage to reputation." By treating everyone with mutual respect and tolerance, we can help to reduce discrimination in society.

Mutual respect and tolerance can help us to gain a better understanding of other people's identity and it can help us to challenge our preconceived ideas.

Time for our last check for understanding.

We can help to reduce discrimination in society through A, mutual disrespect and intolerance, B, mutual respect and tolerance, or C, prejudice and assumptions.

You can pause to have a think and then press play when you're ready to move on.

The answer is B.

We can help to reduce discrimination in society through mutual respect and tolerance.

That brings us to the second and final task for today's lesson, task B.

Read the scenario and then answer the questions that follow.

Bronte says, "I'm 16 and started recently working at a local coffee shop.

I told the manager that I can't work Sunday mornings as I go to church.

Even so, he keeps putting me on a Sunday morning shift and has said that I'll be fired if I can't make it." The questions are number one, is this an example of discrimination? Number two, is there any protection for Bronte by law? And number three, what could Bronte do? You can pause to carry out this task and when you're ready to see the answers, just press play.

How did you get on? Let's take a look at some possible answers together.

Your answers to the questions might include the following: Number one, is this an example of discrimination? Yes, this is an example of discrimination.

Bronte is being treated unfairly because of their faith or religious beliefs.

Question two, is there any protection for Bronte by law? According to the Equality Act 2010, religion or belief is one of the protected characteristics.

That means that it is against the law for anyone to discriminate against this, so Bronte is protected.

Question three, what could Bronte do? Bronte should seek the advice or support of a trusted adult.

The situation could be resolved by speaking to the person or organization responsible or further legal action might need to be taken.

Well done if your answers were along those lines.

That brings us to the end of our lesson.

Before we finish, let's take a quick look at today's lesson summary.

Prejudice is when someone judges or dislikes a person without getting to know them first.

Acting on prejudice can result in discrimination.

This is when individuals are treated unfairly or differently simply because of their characteristics.

Prejudice and discrimination can have a negative impact.

For instance, reduced self-esteem or poor mental health.

Race, which includes ethnicity, and religion or belief are protected by the Equality Act 2010, and anyone that experiences discrimination should seek advice or support from a trusted adult.

Well done on all your hard work.

If you need any further support following on from today's lesson, you can look at the following website, Childline, a website and phone line, which is able to offer confidential advice and support.