Vanessa Boon, Energise, PO Box 7450, Derby, DE1 0JR
t: 0791 368 0088
e: [email protected]
i: www.energise.biz
R.E.G.A.R.D.S & FURTHER EDUCATION – TRUE OR FALSE?
Race, Economic disadvantage, Gender, Age, Religion or belief, Disability, Sexual orientation
Activity Brief:
Objectives:
 To challenge stereotypes and misconceptions
 To raise awareness of REGARDS issues
 To challenge complacency (i.e. ‘discrimination doesn’t happen
anymore’, ‘things are equal these days’)
This activity can be tailored to different groups, such as staff, learners,
work-based learning providers and employers, specific subject areas, etc.
Please adapt the examples and language to suit your audience.
Brief: Give each participant two voting cards – one green, one red; make
the activity inclusive by using a red card with a different texture or a hole
punched into one corner so that everyone can identify which card is which,
without relying on vision alone. Also consider learners with reduced
mobility or manual dexterity and plan with them how they will vote. This
activity is helpful in engaging staff/learners who may not always speak up,
giving them another way to express their views.
Explain that you will be reading out some statistics and statements about
diversity issues and ask participants to show their green card if they think it
is true or their red card (textured card) if they think it is false. It is important
to create a safe learning environment, where learners know that the activity
is a thought provoking guessing game and they are not expected to know
the answers and will not be marked.
When cards are shown, summarise the result so that everyone knows (as
they may not be able to see), i.e. ‘that’s mostly reds’, ‘everyone has gone
for green – true’, ‘this one is divided’, ‘the voting looks more hesitant on this
one’, etc. You can provoke discussion by asking ‘what made some of you
go for the red card?’ or ‘what made some of you feel this one could be
true?’ etc, before revealing the answer and exploring reactions to the
answer, ‘does that surprise you?’ & ‘is that the impression we get from TV
and newspapers?’
It is helpful to have a few statistics from your own organisation that will help
to bring the issues to life and counter perceptions such as ‘that does not
happen here’ or ‘there’s no inequality in our College’ etc.
A national study found that women spend 25% more time than men
on housework and childcare
Answer: FALSE – it’s twice as much!
Source: Carers UK
1 in 10 male employees in the UK has some form of flexible working
arrangement
Answer: TRUE
Source: Carers UK
The employment rate for lone mothers in the UK is 56%
Answer: TRUE
Source: Office of National Statistics
Out of all the European Union countries, the UK has the largest pay
gap between men and women
Answer: TRUE
82.8p is the amount a woman earns for every pound that a man earns, the
equivalent to working in November and December every year for free!
The gap is larger still for part-time workers.
Source: Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
By the age of three there is a considerable gap in cognitive test
scores between children in the poorest fifth of the population
compared with those from better-off backgrounds, however, by the
age of five this gap narrows
Answer: FALSE – the gap widens by age five
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
By age eleven, the gap in education results between the richest and
poorest children is 10%
Answer: FALSE – the gap is 22% (75% v 97% attaining expected level at
Key Stage 2)
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Only 37% of mothers from the poorest households say they hope
their nine-year-old will go to university
Answer: TRUE – compared with 81% of the richest mothers
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Over 50% less children from the poorest families achieve five A*-C
grade GCSE’s
Answer: TRUE – 21%, compared with 75% of the richest fifth
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Black Caribbean pupils are twice as likely to be permanently excluded
from school as White British pupils
Answer: FALSE – three times more likely
Source: Oftsed
Boys make up 80% of those permanently excluded from school
Answer: TRUE
Source: Oftsed
Less than 50% of boys achieve five A*-C grades at GCSE
Answer: TRUE - compared with 55% of girls
Source: Oftsed, 2009
In the 14-16 age group, the pupils most at risk of disengaging from school
or education are white pupils, male pupils, and young people from more
disadvantaged backgrounds (socio-economic disadvantage)
Answer: TRUE
Source: Oftsed, 2009
In a study, almost 90% of 16-year-old Bangladeshi and Pakistani girls
in the UK said their parents did not support their choice to find paid
work
Answer: FALSE - 90% said their parents did support their choice to find
paid work
Source: The Unfairer Sex, Kate Hilpern, ‘Moving on up?’ Report
Data on 16-24yr olds not in education, employment and training
(NEET) shows that disabled people are twice as likely to be in this
group
Answer: TRUE
Source: NUS, 2010
Nearly 1000 young people call ChildLine each year to talk about
sexual orientation, homophobia or homophobic bullying
Answer: FALSE – nearly 3000
Most of them were aged between 12-15. One in eight (13 per cent) gay
pupils has been threatened with a weapon and one in six (17%) has been
subjected to death threats.
Source: Stonewall / ChildLine
In a survey of school girls about choosing a job, 83% of White British
girls felt it is important that an employer welcomes staff from a range
of ethnic backgrounds
Answer: TRUE
Working for an employer who welcomes staff from a range of ethnic
backgrounds was a hugely important factor for ethnic minority boys and
girls (around 90%) and for White British girls (83%). White boys (60%)
were the least likely to say this is important, but this is still a majority view.
Source: EHRC
Quick Stats:
One third of looked-after children obtain no GCSE’s
By age 15, only 34% of girls and 50% of boys are getting enough exercise
12% of girls and 9% of boys aged 11 to 15 are regular smokers
12% of those aged 11 to 15 are using cannabis
Nearly one in three sexually-active 15-year-olds do not use condoms
For every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there
are just over 40 pregnancies. 49% of these young women have an
abortion
The peak rate for youth offending is at the age of 17
Over 7,000 16-17yr olds in England are homeless
Source: Office of National Statistics
If you use this resource in your organisation, please give Energise a
mention as the creator, with thanks
http://www.energise.biz