Identity

1. Activity: pie-chart

This chart is about identity. You have to reflect which things are important in your life and which make them who you are.

The areas which influence your identity can be:

·         Local (family, friends, study/work..)

·         National (nation/country, public media)

·         Transnational (cosmopolitan, professional)

This activity is a good one because you have to think about yourself and due to it you learn more about you as a person.

After drawing your pie you speak about it in a group. The children see that every child has got his own interests and values that are important to him.

2. Activity: small steps

The children line up in a row. The teacher asks some questions like for example “Do you have one sister?” and if you agree you take a small step forwards.

This activity shows very well that everybody is very different because no one is on the same place.

It’s a good activity to show the diversity in a class.

 

3. Activity: picture story

The children get a picture story. The first task is to get into the “right” order, to think what the story is about. Therefore the children have to listen to each other and maybe they have to compromise.

Every child has got its own picture and its own sentence.

The children present the picture story by using their mother tongue or a second language.

I liked this activity very much because it was amazing to hear these different languages and even if you don’t understand the language you know what the story is about because of the face expression and the tone of voice. 

4. Activity: film “new boy”

This film is about a boy who just moved from Africa to Ireland. He is being bullied by some other children and they start to fight. When they get scolded by the teacher they start to stick together and to get friends.

This film shows the different school systems and the children’s views.
I think it’s a good idea to stop the film in the middle and to let the children think about how the story could end.

After watching the film the children should talk and discuss about the film in groups. The message is that you should not condemn somebody’s actions if you don’t know his background story.

Online resources:
 

I like this video very much; I was amazed at how this little girl can communicate. I think the sign language is very important for some children. It supports them to learn new words and remember them. I think it would be interesting to use the sign language in schools more often.
In Kindergarden it’s a good opportunity to communicate for children which don’t speak yet. 

http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9214/minority.htm

I think there is some good advice for teachers who work with children with a different mother tongue. Of course it’s difficult but we have to deal with it and support the children at the best.

http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/perspective.htm

“The goal of multicultural education is not only to teach children about other groups or countries. It is also to help children become accustomed to the idea that there are many lifestyles, languages, cultures, and points of view.”

I used this book in a primary class and the children liked it a lot. After reading the book every child had the opportunity to draw his own Elmar and in the end we had many different Elmars.

Elmar is not like the other elephants. He is not gray, he is checkered colorful. His head is full of tricks and by his cheerfulness, he is loved by all. One day, he wallows in gray berries to finally look like any other elephant. And his cover actually works. No elephant noted that Elmar has classified secret - until it is too boring. With a loud "BUH!" and a fit of laughter Elmar brings life to the elephant herd. Even the rain cloud has to laugh about it and washes Elmer elephant gray with a cast away.
Elmar recognizes: So different from how he is, he's exactly right. This day is from now on ELMAR-day. Elmar disguises himself as a normal elephant and gray elephants attract colorful costumes.

I really appreciate this song, but it’s in German. But I think you know what the song is about if you take a look on the video.

3. Reflection

'Globalization at the cultural level has brought about the fragmentation and multiplication of identities and this may require, paradoxically, a return to the familiar.' (Cohen et al.)

I think it’s really important for children to have their own roots which give them certainty. There are so many different cultures with a lot of different rituals and languages.

I think we should be interested about these cultures to get to know them better. Children should know about different identities and should accept the identities from other persons, but therefore we have to be a model.

'World citizenship is to be embraced, not feared. New forms of post-national understanding, responsibility, the state, justice, art, science and public understanding can emerge. This in turn can lead to more advanced forms of democracy, liberty and mutuality.' (Beck)

I think we have to learn more about other cultures to understand their actions and rituals. Maybe at the moment it is getting improved but I think it’s a long way to go.

Even if a lot of actions happen global today, not only local.

Maybe there a too many prejudices against other people. It’s the human way to condemn someone because of the appearance, we can’t stop it but we can begin to question about this human.