Similarities and differences
Every person is different from every other: appearance, language, family, culture, religion or beliefs, abilities, interests, age and more. This variety is called diversity.
But people are also alike. Everyone needs food, safety, friends, to be treated fairly and to feel they belong. When we meet someone new, noticing both the sameness and the difference helps us avoid two mistakes: thinking everyone must be like us, or thinking a person is only one label ("a girl from X"). Each of us has many sides, and we belong to many groups at once.
Stereotypes are fixed ideas about a whole group. They are almost always wrong for the individual person in front of you.
Respect for other views
People have different beliefs and values: religious, political or personal. Respect does not mean agreeing. It means treating the person with dignity, listening to understand, and answering without insults.
- Listen to the whole point.
- Ask: "Why do you think so?"
- Say your own view calmly, with reasons.
- Accept that you can disagree and stay friends.
Limit: we may criticise an idea, but we do not attack, threaten or bully a person. And views that deny people's basic rights, or call for harm, do not deserve the same respect as the person who holds them. Equal human rights are the common ground that protects everyone's freedom of belief.
Sexuality and sexual diversity
Sexuality is one part of who people are. In this lesson we stay with the simple, factual ideas.
- Sexual orientation is about whom a person feels romantic or physical attraction to: people of another gender (heterosexual), the same gender (gay or lesbian), more than one gender (bisexual) or none (asexual).
- Gender identity is how a person knows themselves: girl, boy, both, neither. For most people it matches the sex they were born with; for transgender people it does not.
These are natural variations found in people in all societies and in many animal species. Major health bodies such as the World Health Organization do not treat being gay, lesbian or bisexual as an illness, and orientation is not a choice or caused by parents or friends. This is not the same as behaviour or ideas that harm others.
Views in families and religions differ, and laws are different in different countries. But everyone, whatever their orientation or identity, has the right to safety and to be free from bullying, violence and discrimination. Using insults as jokes hurts real people, so respectful language is part of respect.
Inclusion: making room
Inclusion means actively making space so that everyone can take part: inviting the new student, making buildings and activities usable for people with disabilities, translating notices, listening to quiet voices, and stepping in when someone is excluded or teased. Diversity is a fact (who is there). Inclusion is what we do about it (everyone is welcome and can take part).
Try it
In the 3D: in the last step add 8 new people. Does anybody have to leave the circle? Note what the circle does.
At home or school: ask a classmate one question about their favourite festival or food, and listen to the whole answer. Then tell them one thing you both like.
Key formulas and definitions
- Diversity = the many differences among people
- Inclusion = making room so everyone can take part
- Respect = dignity for the person, even if you disagree with the idea
- Disagree with ideas, never hurt people
- Sexual orientation = whom you are attracted to; gender identity = how you know yourself
Worked examples
1. A new student speaks little of the class language and sits alone. What inclusive steps can you take?
Greet her, invite her to your group, speak slowly and use pictures, ask about her home language and share yours. Tell the teacher if she is teased.
2. Two friends disagree about a religious practice. How can they keep respect?
Each listens fully, asks "why do you think so?", states their view calmly and agrees to differ. Neither insults the other or the other's group.
3. A classmate jokes using an insult for gay people. What is a respectful response?
Say calmly that the word hurts people, and that you do not find it funny. Support anyone who was hurt, and tell a teacher if it continues.
4. A poster says "all people from region X are lazy". What is wrong with it?
It is a stereotype: one fixed idea for millions of different people. It is unfair and untrue for individuals.
Common mistakes
- Thinking respect means agreeing. You can disagree and still treat the person with dignity.
- Using a stereotype as if it were a fact about an individual.
- Believing sexual orientation is a choice, an illness or caused by friends. It is a natural variation.
- Thinking diversity alone is enough. Inclusion needs action: making room and welcoming.