Cultural Diversity Enquiry Plan
Cultural Diversity Enquiry Project Year 9
1. Choose one cultural group mentioned in the "Where Did They Come From" work sheet as those are cultural groups found on the Wellington City Council website.
2. Analyse the Council's objectives: Think about this and use the information wisely! Remember that we are concentrating on Wellington and how the city has been affected by the migrants and how the city affects the migrants
The Council wants to create an environment where people are able to maintain the balance between retaining and expressing the individual culture that defines who they are and being part of the wider community they live in. It is the balance between these two factors that enables people to retain their sense of self and their overall health and wellbeing.
Inter-Cultural Relationships Framework
Adopted by Wellington City Council on 5 September 2001
Council's motivation for improving its relationship with Pacific and other ethnic communities is multi-faceted but includes the desire for:
1. Greater social cohesion through valuing and celebrating cultural diversity
2. The economic and social benefits of tapping into the human resource represented by the ethnic communities in Wellington
3. Equity of access to Council for all residents in Wellington. The inter-cultural relationships framework is intended to provide a framework for action and policy guidance for developing and formalising relationships with Pacific and other ethnic communities.
1. Migrants and established ethnic communities add strength and diversity to
Wellington, making it a more positive and vibrant place to live
2. A co-ordinated approach is needed to support healthy and sustainable relationships between Council and Pacific and other ethnic communities
3. Council is committed to enabling citizen input and involvement in decision-making and acknowledges that different communities of interest may need different mechanisms to allow full participation in Council's decision making
4. Positive inter-cultural relationships should be integrated into every area of Council.
The results of your brainstorming!
3. Design an enquiry to investigate how your cultural group relates to the above objectives. You may investigate the following aspects:
§ Where they came from.
§ Did they migrate or were they refugees?
§ Why did they leave – positive and negative factors – then create a push and pull chart.
§ How do they sustain their cultures – language, schooling, working, housing, economics, religion, clothing, health, jewellery, body art, customs, manners, religious holidays, festivals, song, dance, community clubs, native language books/movies, entertainment, interior decorations, sports clubs, special schools or lessons, arranged marriages or marriages within the culture, art.
§ Difficulties and ease of fitting in – from small things to larger (doctors, banking, drivers licenses, housing, IRD numbers, Effpost, are their qualifications relevant to New Zealand)
§ How do they celebrate their culture – festivities, religion
§ How do the 2nd generation fit in? Language, oral traditions of relating the past, do they share the same values, how do they see themselves as kiwis, do they understand their parent's histories? Do they share their culture's morals and values? How is it hard for them? Is their own culture too restrictive and New Zealand too free? How do they avoid accents – do they speak their native language at home?
§ How have their values changed over time? What has been lost from their culture following their move to Wellington?
§ What does this group contribute to Wellington? Diversity – what does that mean? Enriches Wellington – what does that mean, where do we experience it, what advantages does it bring, do I enjoy other cultures, when do I experience them?
§ Why come to Wellington rather than other centres – is it Absolutely Positively Culturally Diverse?
§ Are there support groups for this culture in Wellington? How do they solve the problem of loneliness and being alienated in a foreign country? See below for problems
§ What did they leave behind – their normal way of life - jobs, money, identity, culture, climate, food, religion, acceptance, friends, family, normality
§ How does the Wellington City Council support different ethic groups? What are its measures of success? – see Strategic Plan.Do they give financial support to ethic groups to provide space (halls etc), subsidise and promote festivals etc?
§ Are there government strategies in place to help immigrants/refugees? The Immigration Service website may be of help.
4. Prepare a group seminar to inform the class about your group – use as many visual aids as are relevant.
5. Create a poster to advertise your group's event using knowledge gained from Media Literacy. Versions of these will be sent to the staff to invite them to the event. Try to use as many foreign words as are relevant. Make it visually reminiscent of the culture which you are presenting!
6. Prepare a shared morning tea/lunch to show off your culture. You must decide as a group how this is to be accomplished and work with the class a whole to put on an excellent function! How do we work within a group, a class and other classes?
§ To understand the meaning of cultural diversity
§ To understand the WCC's objectives for cultural diversity
§ To understand the push and pull effects on migrants
§ To enquire into one culture in order to understand how that culture maintains the balance between sustaining their culture and assimilating into Wellington.
§ To present an informative and interesting seminar.
§ To create an advertisement and invitation to the celebration.
§ To work with your group, class and the two other classes to put on a fantastic celebration of cultures in Wellington!
Assessement
Advertisement/invitation
Quality of your culture's stall! Remember that the proof of the pudding is in the eating!!!