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

Introduction
This resource is intended to support young people
in critically exploring the concepts of equality
and diversity and in acting to build a culture
of equality within their own environment and
within society. Looking specifically at equality
and diversity within the school, community and
society, the resource provides an opportunity
for students to increase their knowledge and
understanding of equality, develop the skills
to critically analyse inequality, and become
empowered to actively promote equality within
their school and/or community.
Using a variety of active learning methodologies,
the resource enables students to:
Understand and appreciate the levels of
diversity within their environment and society
Understand the nature of perceptions and
stereotypes and critically analyse their effects
on people’s lives and life chances
Explore the concept of equality and its
four dimensions – equal opportunities
and outcomes, respect and recognition,
participation in decision making, and
equality of relationships
Identify and analyse equality issues within
their school and society and identify how
equality could be promoted
Learn about equality and anti-discrimination
legislation in their jurisdiction, the groups it
protects and how to make a complaint
Take action to promote equality in their
school and/or community
Outline of the Resource
The resource is divided into four sections, each
with a number of lessons. The resource uses
active learning methodologies throughout to
bring the concepts and experiences of equality /
inequality to life for the students.
Section 1 Diversity
Lessons 1-4 enable students to examine the
nature of diversity, appreciate how it enriches
our lives and carry out a diversity audit of
their community.
Section 2 Perceptions and Stereotypes
Lessons 5-9 challenge students to look at how
their perceptions influence how they see people
and behaviour, to recognise the stereotypes
we all hold of certain groups of people, and to
reflect on the negative effect that stereotyping
has on people’s lives, and ultimately on their
lack of equality in society.
Section 3 Exploring Equality
Lessons 10-21 take students from a simple
understanding of equality to a deeper analysis
of the concept through exploring the four
dimensions of equality - equal opportunities
and outcomes, respect and recognition,
participation in decision making, and equality
of relationships. They then examine these
dimensions in relation to the stories of
inequality experienced by five groups of
people – young migrants, young people with
disabilities, young LGBT people, migrant
workers, and mushroom workers.
Section 4 Equality and the Law
Lessons 22-27 enable students to learn about
the legislation in both Ireland and Northern
Ireland and to explore the extent to which
it protects people from discrimination and
promotes equality. They identify which groups
of people are most likely to be discriminated
against, which groups are protected by the
law, and how the law operates in practice.
The students can then analyse a number
of case studies of complaints taken in
both jurisdictions, make decisions on their
outcomes, and compare them with the actual
decisions taken.
Section 5 Creating a Culture
of Equality
Finally, Lessons 26-27 encourage students to
reflect on what they have learned throughout
the module, to create their own vision of
what equality should look like in their school,
community and society, and develop a list of
the changes required to realise their vision.
Introduction 5