The Understanding Differences 6-week programme is to help you develop skills to be more understanding of people whom may have different lifestyles, cultures and values to you. On our understanding differences course, we help pupils to understand their own identity and look at how they may be different to other people. Building empathy and positive behaviours toward others is the key goal of this programme.

The understanding differences programme draws on research about the development of emotional and social intelligence, which indicates that a well-balanced and emotionally mature individual will be capable of greater academic achievement since they are not psychologically involved with inner tensions and emotional turmoil. To achieve emotional maturity this programme teaches:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Active listening
• Empathy
• Emotional intelligence
• Acceptance of other people
• Relationship building

Who can attend:

The Understanding Differences Programme is for pupils with difficulties in accepting other people’s differences, including difficulties in communicating positively about other pupils.

This can include: Bullying/ peer-on-peer abuse

• Negative comments about other people based on their identity or personal characteristics
• Use of racist, homophobic, sexist or other derogatory or discriminatory language.

Session 1: What is my identity?

• Ice Breaker
• What characteristics make a person who they are?
• What is my identity?

Session 2: Differences

• How are people different to me?
• How would I feel if someone treated me unkind because of a characteristic I can’t change?

Session 3: Discrimination

• What is discrimination?
• Understanding there are different forms of discrimination, such as: sexism, homophobia, racism.
• Learning how discrimination makes the victim feel.

Session 4: Valuing Diversity

• Why is diversity important in society?
• Why is it important to value people with different characteristics, values, lifestyles and cultures to me?

Session 5: Dealing with Difficult Conversations and Situations

• Learning how to express conflict or have a difficult conversation, without making negative remarks about another person.

Session 6: Making a Personal Pledge

• Making a personalised pledge – how will you ensure you value differences in other people and behave respectfully towards them?