The secondary curriculum review

Cultural understanding and diversity

The importance of cultural understanding and diversity

Case study: Cultural diversity in the curriculum: key stage 3 English

The United Kingdom (UK) consists of a diverse range of ethnicities, cultures, languages and religions that is constantly evolving. Learners need opportunities to explore their own range of identities: personal, group, regional, national and global. This includes who they are in relation to their local community and how to locate themselves within wider UK society. Ultimately learners need to develop their critical capacity to reflect on their own values, traditions and beliefs and those of others.

Education that promotes cultural understanding and diversity is crucial for the future wellbeing of our society. Schools have a duty - not least for community cohesion - to ensure learners in every school, regardless of location and experience, gain a broad understanding of the country they are growing up in. They need to learn to see UK society from a variety of viewpoints and develop an understanding of how society became the way it is.

Schools have a responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum and effective learning opportunities for all learners regardless of their culture or background. Every learner, whatever their race, gender or social, cultural and linguistic background, should have opportunities to experience success in learning at the highest possible standard.

Developing a curriculum that enables all young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens must include promoting cultural understanding and diversity.

Developing a curriculum that supports cultural understanding and diversity

Learners should have opportunities across the curriculum to:

• explore the origins of diversity in the UK and how different cultures have formed the United Kingdom
• explore different racial, ethnic, cultural and religious groups in the UK and the wider world and the similarities and differences within and between those groups
• develop an understanding of how diverse people, places, economies and environments in the global community are interconnected
• develop an understanding about the consequences of racial and religious intolerance and discrimination and the skills to challenge discrimination, including racism
• develop a critical capacity that allows them to reflect on their own cultural traditions and those of others
• investigate how mathematical and scientific ideas reflect diverse cultures and traditions
• explore and appreciate the art, artefacts, literature and music of different cultures
• explore the role of technology in sharing ideas and information and enabling people to work together in new ways to create knowledge.

Teaching about cultural diversity and identities may provoke extremely strong sentiments in some learners. There are a number of specific ways in which teachers can encourage learners to value diversity and challenge racism.

1. By using appropriate resources:

• Ensure images and artefacts used show diversity within as well as between cultures.
• Ensure representations of minority cultures are not reduced to tokenistic artefacts and customs.
• Ensure the choice of examples and activities provide balance. Ask questions such as 'Am I using examples and activities that represent only one dominant culture, eg White English?' and 'Can I draw on a more diverse range of examples and activities?'

2. By presenting a broad and balanced view of culture and identity:

• Give learners an accurate view of beliefs, practices and lifestyles of minority ethnic communities and cultures.
• Emphasise that any specific culture is diverse, dynamic and changing.
• Avoid presenting minority groups as a problem or exclusively as victims.
• Compare and contrast minority ethnic communities living in the UK with their counterparts in different countries to illustrate differences within a cultural group.
• Investigate with learners how minority and majority cultures influence each other.
• Recognise that many cultures contain some values that are shared. All cultures contain some values, attitudes or opinions that are problematic for others within the same culture and for those from other backgrounds.

3. By challenging assumptions:

• Challenge commonly held assumptions and stereotypes (for example that migration is a recent occurrence in the UK).
• Explore and highlight the influence of cultures and traditions from around the world on the UK.
• Investigate and challenge how the media portrays different countries (for example at times of natural disaster, war and conflict).

4. By creating an open climate:

• Use ground rules and distancing techniques when discussing sensitive and controversial issues such as racism, to ensure learners can contribute their ideas, listen to and respond to what others say and reflect on what they have learnt.
• Avoid making any individual or group feel uncomfortable about who they are or the background they have, by managing discussion points.
• Encourage learners to take pride in their identity and culture including their nationality, faith and family traditions.
• Encourage learners to use their experiences of art, literature, music, film and artefacts from different cultures to explore their own values, ideas and identity.

Questions for senior managers and curriculum planners

What do we want to achieve?

• What are the needs of our learners in relation to cultural understanding and diversity?
• How will we involve learners in planning?

How will we organise learning?

• What opportunities can we offer across the whole curriculum to address cultural understanding and diversity more explicitly?
• Which subjects might have a role in this? What explicit opportunities do the revised programmes of study offer to promote teaching about cultural understanding and diversity?
• Who will coordinate this work with staff?
• How can we help learners see the links between their work in different parts of the curriculum?

How well are we achieving our aim?

• How will we measure success? (progress in learning, quality of teaching).
• What else might we do to promote cultural understanding and diversity more effectively in our curriculum?

Cultural understanding and diversity in subjects

The curriculum provides many opportunities to develop learners' understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity and identity.

In English, learners develop understanding of the continuity and contrasts between different cultures and traditions. They develop an appreciation of the variety of linguistic heritages that contribute to the richness of spoken and written language.

For example, year 7 learners read stories set in different cultural contexts. They use the stories to explore identity, group membership and acceptance and contrast this with their own experiences of life in their school and wider community.

In citizenship, learners explore the origins, diversity and changing nature of UK society and develop an understanding of what it means to be a citizen in the UK today. They learn about the diverse beliefs, cultures, identities and traditions within the UK. They develop an understanding of the shared values and interconnections between people and communities within the UK and between the UK, the rest of Europe and the wider world.

For example, a year 8 class investigated migration into their community over the last 30 years. The work created a link between learning in citizenship and a community history project they had done in year 7. They found out what kinds or groups of people were migrating to the area and from where they came. They identified the reasons for migration (political, social and economic) and how these have changed over time. They used photographs of the area to identify how cultural influences could be seen in the shops and amenities in the area and how the use of buildings had changed over time. They shared their findings as podcasts through the school's digital radio station to challenge perceptions that migration to the area was a problem.

In history, learners explore the history of their community, Britain, Europe and the world. They develop understanding of the diverse experiences and the range of ideas, beliefs and attitudes of people in the past and how these have shaped the world.

In design and technology learners analyse products to investigate the cultural influences on design and how these affected design decisions in the development of products. They consider materials and technologies from different cultures and how these are used to meet local needs around the world.

For example, in year 9 learners investigated how a particular product was made in different countries. They found out about the different materials used, why these materials were used and how they led to differences in the design, development and use of the product.

In Modern Foreign Languages, learners develop intercultural understanding as they study another language. They learn about different cultures and ways of seeing the world and explore cultural differences, linguistic diversity and the contribution of different cultures to society.

For example, in year 8 learners studying Spanish used their school linking project with a school in Pakistan to explore identity. Learners contrasted what they were learning about Spanish identity and culture with their understanding and experiences of life and culture in the UK. Some of the pupils with families that originated from Pakistan used their home language during discussions with pupils in Pakistan to help explore their ideas.

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