Societies and Lifestyles – Page 2

Are Scottish People “unhealthy”?

Are Scottish people unhealthy? It is a fair question. In a country famed for snacks like shortbread, tablet and deep fried mars bars (disgusting, I know) and drinks like Irn Bru it would be understandable to assume that Scottish people are unhealthy. Studies show 97.5 per cent of Scots are likely to be either cigarette … Continue reading Are Scottish People “unhealthy”? →

Week 4 Society and Lifestyles

Disability and Inclusion Today we got the opportunity to look further into inclusion and disability. An interesting part of the lecture was when we learned about the universal design, this started off as an architecture term, where the design of buildings would be structured around everyones ability to use them. These designs could include ramps … Continue reading Week 4 Society and Lifestyles →

Disability and Inclusion

Today we got the opportunity to look further into inclusion and disability. An interesting part of the lecture was when we learned about the universal design, this started off as an architecture term, where the design of buildings would be structured around everyones ability to use them. These designs could include ramps instead of stairs because everyone is able to use a ramp whereas not everyone is able to use the stairs. This design allows everyone to use the structure without feeling left out, therefore promoting the feeling of inclusion.

Last week I mentioned that I was looking at Allport’s Scale, and this week I got to apply this scale to real life situations of discrimination of disability. I found this really interesting and valuable as I could apply the scale to real life situations to allow me to understand the steps of the scale in more detail and form that information into a table.

Allport's Scale

This lecture was really interesting today, and I found the seminar particularly useful because we had to read situations and identify whether discrimination was taking place – all of the situations were to do with children in a school environment and how the teacher felt with it. With the situations we worked together, in groups, to find out whether the teacher was discriminating against them because of their disability and then we found ways to accommodate the children to make them feel included in the situation. This was very useful as as a future teacher all children need to feel included in every situation, following the Scottish curriculum’s GIRFEC policy (getting it right for every child). As a teacher, every child, no matter whether they have a disability or not, should have the same opportunity as every other child in the class.

Society and Lifestyle – Inclusion and Diversity

The last two society and lifestyle inputs have focused on Inclusion and Diversity. Two weeks ago, in the Society and Lifestyle module we addressed the question what does ‘Inclusion and Diversity’. In the lecture, we explored the definitions of the words ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity’ and the impact this has within communities. I found this very interesting however I … Continue reading Society and Lifestyle – Inclusion and Diversity →

Inclusion and Equality – Focus on Disability

Overall from todays lecture and tutorials I have learned how important it is to make sure that people with disabilities, physical or not, are getting equal opportunities. This session highlighted how far disabled people have come in their fight to be treated the same as everyone else. In ancient times disabled people were often killed …

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Week 3 Society and Lifestyles

Inclusion and Equality I found today’s lecture on inclusion and equality really interesting, as I was learning about the differences between them. It was fascinating to see that they had two different meanings as equality is about the fairness of things and inclusion is making sure that everyone is involved. I got the … Continue reading Week 3 Society and Lifestyles →

Inclusion and Equality

I found today’s lecture on inclusion and equality really interesting, as I was learning about the differences between them. It was fascinating to see that they had two different meanings as equality is about the fairness of things and inclusion is making sure that everyone is involved.

I got the opportunity to look deeper into Peggy McIntosh – a woman who studied and wrote a paper regarding “white privilege”. Peggy McIntosh studied privilege, especially “White Privilege and Male Privilege”. She described her understanding of ‘White Privilege” in her book “White privilege and male privilege: a personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies”. Also “unacknowledged male privilege” – where white men receive unearned advantages because they are white males. She listed resources that she has in her ‘invisible backpack’ which gave her an advantage over other people who do not have them. I then looked further into her privileges she lists that she was entitled to as white woman. This was interesting to look at as I could look at some of these privileges and could relate to them myself.

I also found it interesting to learn about Allport’s scale of prejudice and discrimination as I could look at the scale and relate it to situations which happened in history and in today’s society. We were also looking at the PCS analysis (personal/psychological level, cultural level, structural level) which gives us a deeper understanding into how people operate at different levels in society. This PCS analysis is an area of today I think I can develop as I don’t fully grasp the concept yet. However, with further reading, I believe that I will develop this concept and hopefully use it in the exam as it seems interesting.

Equality and inclusion are key principles which I will need to adhere to as a future primary teacher. I will need to make sure that my classroom is one which supports all the needs of learners no matter of their sex, race or disability. Equality and inclusion are the foundations for the Scottish governments principle of GIRFEC – “getting it right for every child”. Every child deserves the same opportunities and access to support no matter what. Every child should feel included in a classroom and as a future teacher I will aspire to make every child feel important in my classroom and adapt my learning styles to what the children require at their own pace and level. This will mean that it is fair for every child in my class and hopefully allow all of them to feel included.

Inclusion and Equality

From this lecture the main concepts that I learned was exactly what inclusion and equality mean. Previous to this input I would have said that the two terms meant the same thing, although after today I have released that while they were closely linked they have two separate meanings. I have also widened my knowledge on …

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Week 2 Society and Lifestyles

Religion, Culture & ‘Unchurched’ Spirituality Today’s lecture was an interesting one because we were exploring the idea of spirituality, and how it was different from religion. Spirituality is outside of the church, it arose when the idea of secularization began to infiltrate many countries. When I was doing my independent study, I looked deeper … Continue reading Week 2 Society and Lifestyles →

Religion, Culture & ‘Unchurched’ Spirituality

Today’s lecture was an interesting one because we were exploring the idea of spirituality, and how it was different from religion. Spirituality is outside of the church, it arose when the idea of secularization began to infiltrate many countries. When I was doing my independent study, I looked deeper into de-Christianisation (where Christian influences are removed from something). I found it interesting to find out that it was first happened during a French Revolution. It was where the people went against the priests and ministers as they were seen to be a part of the new government, and they massacred many of them, others fled to other countries to get away. This saw the closure of many churches within France, many of which never reopened. This caused many French people to abandon their faith, many of whom never got it back, resulting in France becoming a more secular county instead of a predominantly Christian one. I also found it interesting to look at the census during the lecture, as it said that 11% of people considered their religion to be Jedi Knight.

However, I found it confusing when we went to the tutorial, I found it challenging figuring out how to incorporate a theorist into the question we had to answer. I believe once I revise this topic that it will make more sense to me and then I can start to relate the knowledge I have learned to that of a theorist.

It has been interesting learning about religion and unchurched spirituality as they have an impact on our society. Popular religions are decreasing in size whereas spiritual groups are increasing. Spirituality, in our modern society, is seen as a form of religion that exists outside the normal religious institutions. In our society, religion is happening outside of the standard ‘churches’ and instead people are turning to spirituality. This does not mean that religion is disappearing, it’s just branching out into different aspects which suit the needs of our modern people.

Religion, Culture and ‘Unchurched’ Spirituality

In brief, from the lecture and tutorial the main thing I took away from it was how religion influences culture and vice-versa. It was interesting for me to see how two scholars can have such a polar opposite opinion from each other. Max Webber believed that religion was an agent of social change, in …

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Week 1 Society and Lifestyles

Religion and Society The concepts discussed throughout the day, on first glance, seemed confusing and challenging to understand as this is a brand new topic we were looking at today and I didn’t know what to expect from it. I had previously studied RMPS at the school and it focused on viewing the specific … Continue reading Week 1 Society and Lifestyles →

Religion and Society

The concepts discussed throughout the day, on first glance, seemed confusing and challenging to understand as this is a brand new topic we were looking at today and I didn’t know what to expect from it. I had previously studied RMPS at the school and it focused on viewing the specific details of one religion, rather than looking at the topic ‘Religion’ as a whole, and then relating ideas to famous works of anthropologists.

Today I learned a lot about religion and how it can be perceived whether a person is looking at it from the inside – so it is a person’s own belief they are looking at from their own view point and from their religion’s teachings (also known as the believer’s approach) – or from the outside – a non-biased view of the religion (also known as the scholarly approach).

I began to comprehend some of the topics covered throughout the course of the day. However, I am still trying understand how to relate the theorist’s ideas to the concepts we are learning. I am sure that once I begin to work through the information, revise the notes from today and look at exam style questions that I will be able to see the connections between the information and theories and apply it to my work.

Today’s lecture and workshop has allowed me to see identify the challenges of religious diversity on society. As I got to look at this topic it allowed me to see how important it is to hold non-biased view to each of them, because, as a primary teacher, I will have to appreciate and respect every child’s religion and needs in my classroom so that they are not left out or feel discriminated against.

Therefore, to continue through this module, I will need to revise all of my notes as much as I can to allow me to look at exam type questions and work on relating what I am saying to answer a question to an anthropologists work to allow me to receive as many marks as possible in my exam.

Religion, Diversity and Society

This week’s input opened my eyes to the many differing opinions and definitions of ‘Religion’. I have always been fascinated by religion and enjoy learning about different religions and cultures worldwide. RME was not a subject I was offered and school and therefore I feel that this module will give me a deeper insight and … Continue reading Religion, Diversity and Society →