Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic: worldviews and context
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand the term WEIRD to describe some worldviews and explain how worldviews vary according to context.
Key learning points
- Joseph Henrich is an anthropologist who studies psychological differences between cultures around the world.
- Henrich describes much of western culture as WEIRD: western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic.
- The WEIRD concept can be useful to compare worldviews and understand why they vary according to context.
- We can reflect on how our own worldview is influenced by the ideas of being WEIRD.
Keywords
Kinship - the system of family‑based relationships and obligations that connect people across generations and households
Perspective - an individual or cultural way of seeing and understanding things
WEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic; suggested by Joseph Henrich to describe common Western ways of thinking
Worldview - a person's way of understanding, experiencing and responding to the world
Common misconception
WEIRD worldviews are the ‘normal’ or default way of thinking.
WEIRD perspectives are actually a minority globally, even though they are very common in Western societies. Most of the world’s population lives in non-WEIRD cultures, so assuming WEIRD ways of thinking are “normal” is misleading.
Teacher tip
Emphasise that WEIRD is not “better” or “normal”, but simply one way of thinking among many, and encourage students to consider how their own context shapes their assumptions.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What is a worldview best described as?
Q2.Behaviour is often guided by underlying...
Q3.Which factor most strongly shapes a personal worldview?
Q4.What distinguishes an organised worldview?
Q5.Which example shows a worldview influencing life?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.WEIRD thinking was identified by Joseph...
Q2.Roughly what percentage of the world’s population lives in WEIRD societies?
Q3.People in WEIRD societies often trust social...
Q4.Non-WEIRD cultures tend to prioritise:
Q5.The WEIRD lens can cause people to assume Western norms are...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic: worldviews and context, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic: worldviews and context, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Worldviews: how do I see the world and does everyone see the same way? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.