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NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Equality and Diversity
Unit 1: Exploring Equality and Diversity
Assessment
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Name:
1. What is meant by diversity?
Diversity is recognising that individuals and groups of people have many differences. It is important to ensure that different types of people contribute to society.
2. Describe the community you live in. Highlight some of the variations you may observe in terms of: • Interests
• Beliefs
• Ages
• Lifestyles
• Personal, social and cultural identities.
I live in an extremely diverse society, and come in to contact with different people on a daily basis. For example, I work in a hospital, and there are a variety of people who work in all sorts of different roles. Many are from different ethnic backgrounds and are from countries such as Poland, India and the Philippines. Also, the age range of people that work in the hospital is extremely diverse as we have school leavers and work experience students, to elderly volunteers. The hospital, and the local community has worked to integrate the diverse groups of people by building housing for them and their families, built religious buildings so that they continue with their religious commitments.
I also do some part time work at the local college, and tutor high school aged students on a one to one basis. I find as a community, especially in education, we are extremely good at accepting the differences in people and accommodating these. The College has worked very hard to create an environment that caters to the needs of everyone. As well as the school leavers that attend college, there is a plethora of adult classes, both paid and free of charge. There is a restaurant and a hair salon, which is used to train students, but also is open to the general public at a lesser cost than your average high street restaurant and hair salon. These are important as people from the community are enables to have contact with a staple organisation within our local community, and engage in the things that they enjoy socially. There is also a fitness centre and gym on site, which caters for everyone regardless of gender, age and ability.
The local Council also organise a number of different events and festivals to celebrate different beliefs and interests. A few examples of this are Senior Citizen’s Lunches, Meditation Classes, Dementia Cafes, Brownies and Guides Groups.
In my group of friends, some are now are married with children and there are a number of groups in the local community, which are run by the council or by volunteers that allow parents to meet other parents and socialise with people in the same situation as them.
3. Explain how the variations in question 2 contribute to the diversity of the community.
A community, such as the one I live in, is made up of people who are different for a number of different reasons. People are raised differently, come from different socio-economic and racial backgrounds, have had different life experiences, and believe in different things. These are the things that make a community so diverse.
4. Give some examples to explain how diversity:
• Enhances your life
• Enhances the local community
• Enhances this country.
Diversity helps to improve your quality of life, as in diverse community we can learn how to live with so many different people. Listening to the life experiences and beliefs of others helps individuals to gain a new understanding and perspective on things. I find that listening to others and sharing the qualities that make us different as individuals, we discover more of the things that we have in common and this helps us to live together side by side as a community. I have personally discovered that by recognising diversity, especially in the workplace, we can live more flexibly and ensure that everybody’s need are understood and met appropriately.
5. Describe what it means to respect people’s differences and why it is important to respect differences.
People are different for so many different reasons, and whether these are physical, psychological, social or emotional differences we should learn to respect people for those differences and treat them as fairly as we would like to be treated. If we asked people to change or conform to what is believed to the ‘norm’ then the society would no longer be diverse, and there would be no variety to the way we live as a society. My gender, race, religious beliefs, moral fiber and ethics, experiences and aspirations are all important to me and I believe that to truly understand me, you have to respect all the parts of who I am. This is what I believe is respecting diversity. No one should assume that any one aspect of me should be generalised or changed in order to be accepted.
6. For a person you know, describe the individual factors that make him / her who they are.
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