North East network reviews
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Review of: “We All came from Somewhere: Diversity, identities and citizenship” pack
Available from: http://www.post16citizenship.org/diversity/
Reviewed by: Mark Dickinson E2E Trainer NECC
Review: I would urge everyone to try the classroom based activity “A new life” which is an interactive learner centred tool that puts learners in the role of an immigrant and leads to a great discussion about immigration and builds upon the idea of cultural identity introduced in the images of Britain poster activity. I found the activity encouraged a more positive mindset about immigrants and their motives for coming to the UK. Also the resource is extremely easy to use and can feed into a discussion on immigration in terms of what is important to them and what would make them leave it all behind. I tried this activity with the north east regional network and received very encouraging feedback. It can fit into citizenship or other equality and diversity classes and is easy to use. I feel it encourages a wider view for learners and I initially tried it after taking some learners to see a film about the Rwandan massacre which was followed by a presentation from a survivor which my learners fed back to the rest of the group. This led to the activity and resultant discussion which shows how easily it can fit into existing lesson plans. Like the rest of the citizenship packs it was extremely easy to use and prepare.
Rating: 5/5
Review of: BBC production: “Shooting Dogs”
Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/releases/shootingdogs.shtml
Reviewed by: Mark Dickinson E2E Trainer, NECC
Review: The film “Shooting Dogs” was shown at The Side Cinema as part of “Holocaust Remembrance Week”. It was about the crisis in Rwanda and the massacre of many of its people and afterwards there was a short talk from a survivor who had lived close to where the film was set and had since emigrated for personal safety. It was quite a harrowing experience yet a profound learning experience also as all my learners who attended were deeply moved andhad a deeperunderstanding of issues facing immigrants and the reasons behind their need to emigrate.This work fed in well to some of the activities in LSN’s “Agree to disagree: citizenship and controversial issues” pack. There was some discussion and a quick presentation from my learners. It also fitted well with activities from LSN’s “We all came here from somewhere: diversity, identities and citizenship” pack.
Rating: 5/5
Review of:
Review of: Should we Teach Homosexuality as a Controversial Issue?
Available from: Michael Pinnock,
m.pinnock@ioe.ac.uk
020 7612 6841
Reviewed by: Michael Hand
Review: In this seminar paper, Michael Hand, of the Institute of Education University of London, explores the philosophical basis of whether homosexuality should be taught as a controversial issue.
Essentially, Hand argues that a controversial issue can only be so labeled if there are rational arguments on both sides. For example, the argument that the world is flat is not controversial as there is no rational evidence to support such a view. In other words, because people disagree quite fiercely over an issue is not in itself sufficient to make the issue controversial. Nor does it alter the argument if large groups of people believe something in particular. If that something is irrational, then the issue is not controversial.
I used the article with a group of trainee teachers. They were stimulated by it, but found it challenging, partly because they were not used to the philosophical language and ways of arguing that characterize the argument. However, I used it in conjunction with the excellent LSN guidance on ‘For the sake of argument : Discussion and debating skills in citizenship’
I summarized the article and distributed this to the trainees, pointing out that the original was available for those who were prepared to tackle it, and we used the Activity 4 : Making a case exercise from the guidance publication. The exercise worked extremely well, and stimulated considerable debate on a topic that often causes some division among students.
Rating: 3/5
Review of: Mira Katbamna: one part of the picture (Catalyst, March-April 2007)
Available from: www.catalystmagazine.org
Catalyst is published by the Commission for Racial Equality
Reviewed by: Michael Pinnock
Review: The report published by Sir Keith Ajegbo in January 2007, commissioned by the DfES and entitled Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review, generally met with widespread approval. What criticisms there were tended to be based on practical questions such as the expertise of citizenship deliverers in the areas of history that Ajegbo recommended should be studied, or how such an expansion of the citizenship programme could be fitted into the time normally made available.
However, Mira Katbamna makes a more fundamental criticism of the Ajegbo proposals, which in turn raises some interesting questions around the nature and content of citizenship programmes. Her main criticism is that Ajegbo ignores entirely what she calls 'the most important dividing lines in British society: those of social class'. She argues that issues of race, religion and culture are undoubtedly important in explaining the relative academic failure of many BME students, but the main factor is social class, with its link to poverty and lack of aspiration. Ms Katbama is very critical of politicians who talk about the need for ‘identity’ and 'respect' but who refuse to face up to the growing inequalities in British society caused by social class, with their implications for any hope of social cohesion.
I have used this resources, which is only one page in length, with teachers and with students, and have found it to be a particularly effective way of stimulating thought about the nature of citizenship. I turned several of its more provocative statements into an Opinion Finder exercise, which worked extremely well , and encouraged participants in the workshop to revisit what they meant by citizenship.
Rating: 4/5
Review of: John Kremer and Ian Schermbrucker: The Psychology of Difference (Catalyst, July – August 2006)
Available from: www.catalystmagazine.org
Catalyst is published by the Commission for Racial Equality
Reviewed by: Michael Pinnock
Review: In this article, based on one which originally appeared in The Psychologist, the authors essentially argue that debates over assimilation, multiculturalism, immigration, and national identity which have appeared on a regular basis over the past year or so are undermined by their almost total absence of psychology. They use the article to look at what contemporary psychology can tell us about the way humans respond to difference, touching upon a range of research findings made available since the Second World War.
They look at how and why we categorise people so quickly and often pejoratively, how we then select information that confirms these categorizations, and how we then expect people to behave in certain ways if they are members of a particular group. The authors point out how strong are the tendencies towards conformities within groups, and how easily group polarization, and what they call 'groupthink', can develop.
They argue further that much diversity training, by ignoring these facts, is counterproductive, and they stress that exercises ask us to learn through experiencing the discomfort of others are only effective if set in context. The authors then outline how such exercised should be set up, and how powerful an influence they then can have on how we think about diversity. In other words, they explore how, as deliverers of citizenship, we can encourage our trainees or students to respond to human difference positively.
The article is short, very well written and pitched at the lay person. I have used it with students and teachers, and the responses, after initial hesitation and uncertainty, have been uniformerly positive. The article would make an excellent stimulus for a level 3 group examining diversity and identity.
Rating: 5/5
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