Equality and Diversity - Building a Culture of ... - Equality Authority

Activity two
Diversity: Visible and Invisible –
The Iceberg Metaphor
When the students have completed the Ideas
of Diversity challenge ask them to think about
about which characteristics of diversity are
visible (seen) and which are hidden (unseen).
For example, visible characteristics include
age, gender, height and skin colour, while
unseen/hidden characteristics may include
religion, language, personality, talents and
many others. Some characteristics will overlap
because, for example, some religious practice
will be visible while some religious beliefs
may be invisible. You may need to remind
the students that they should avoid making
assumptions about people without the facts.
or below the water line denoting whether they
are visible or hidden characteristics.
If some groups disagree on where a particular
characteristic should be placed, ask the rest
of the class for their thoughts on it, until
everyone is reasonably happy with their
selection. Then ask the groups to reflect on the
consequences of some characteristics being
hidden or less obvious. Ask each group to
feedback two consequences and record these
in their folders/copies for future reference.
Explain to the students you are going to pass
out a template of an iceberg. Just as only 10%
of an iceberg is visible above the water line, so
only some characteristics of human diversity
are visible, with many characteristics being
hidden. In their groups, the students should
choose from the characteristics they had
earlier identified and place them either above
sECTION 1 EXPLORING DIVERSITY 13