Social identity and inclusion by

A long BBC article, considering whether national boundaries need to be rethought to help cope with the pressures of mass-migration.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 11:27:06 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Why does Gaha Vince refer to political borders as ‘inventions’? How is the climate crisis putting pressure on the world’s current borders? What are the arguments for viewing the world as a ‘global commonwealth of humanity’ - and is this a viable mindshift for people to make? How and why does Vince suggest we rethink our ‘national pride’? Overall, ask students if they agree with the following statement: In order to create a more harmonious and fully functioning world, we need to “clear from our mind the idea of people being fixed to a location they were born in, as if it affects your value as a person or your rights as an individual.”

Key terms Borders, Cleanly defined, Invention, Livability limits, Meaningless, Controlling vs. managing, Reinvent, Power, Divisive tribalism

A Guardian article, looking at how an increasing number of Brazilians are now eager to label themselves ‘indigenous’.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:31:33 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Why has there been a tendency in Brazil for many indigenous people to deny their identities? How does the political climate of a country affect the way people view indigenous societies, either from the outside, or from within? How has a change in the way we see identity encouraged more people to embrace their indigenous roots? To wrap up: How important is it within society that people feel able to embrace - rather than suppress - the cultural and ethnic backgrounds that they come from?

KEY TERMS Justify, Indigenous identity, Appreciation, Erased

A Guardian article, looking at 35 traditions, skills, and activities that have been added to Unesco’s cultural heritage list.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:33:37 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Use the article to get students thinking about culture and identity. How much can we learn about a culture from a tradition such as the 35 now added to the cultural heritage list? Do they agree with UNESCO that “Traditions define us”? What traditions define them?

Key terms Culture, Traditions

A Big Think article, looking at the Inglehart-Welzel World Cultural map, which arranges nations according to their traditions and religious outlooks.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:33:53 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What insights do students feel it offers us? Do they like the way the data is generated and plotted on the map (which is actually a ‘scatterplot diagram’)? What are their opinions on the criticisms offered in the final paragraph that it is “simplistic, and culturally essentialist”?

Key terms Values, Cultural proximity

A Guardian article, looking at how a Colombian restaurant specializing in indigenous food helps us to appreciate traditional knowledge.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:34:18 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What type of food does Mauricio Velasco specialize in? What does he mean when he says, “I want people not to just fall in love through the stomach, but to understand.” How can the work he does help to promote and protect indigenous communities and their traditions? To wrap up: “Food is as much the means to convey knowledge and heritage as it is the way to satisfy an appetite.” Do you agree? How can this way of thinking be used to safeguard indigenous societies around the world?

KEY TERMS Understand, Different cultures, Traditions, Awareness, Explaining

An FT story, which looks at how RyanAir used a test written in Afrikaans to test whether passengers were really South African.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:34:40 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What have South African passengers been asked to do when travelling on RyanAir flights, and why? Why has this ‘unconsciously triggered’ reactions from many passengers? What does it reveal about the importance of being culturally aware, and having an understanding of history? Overall, what does the article indicate about the role language plays in determining our identities, and the consequences of cultural insensitivity?

Key terms Enforced use, Exclusionary, Unconscious triggering

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A Conversation article, which looks at the link between an identity crisis and the use of language for Latino immigrant communities.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:34:49 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Why are heritage languages lost, and why is the reason more complex than simply a “lack of motivation or children rejecting their roots”? In what way is language a ‘gatekeeper’ of identity, and what are the implications of this for those who struggle to speak their heritage language? Why is it a mistake to compare the way children of immigrants speak to those brought up in a monolingual environment, and what are the consequences of doing so? To wrap up: How does it help us to understand people’s identities by appreciating that “language always evolves, and culture is always changing”?

KEY TERMS Power and politics of language, Heritage speakers, Multilingual society, Culture, Discrimination, Diaspora

A Conversation article, which asserts that your ‘mental dictionary’ is what makes you unique.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:34:55 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE How does the way we customize our mental dictionaries make us unique?

KEY TERMS Mental dictionary, Shared knowledge vs. individual experiences, Tip-of-the-tongue experiences, Unique

A Guardian article, looking at how a Jamaican linguist was brought in to advise on the new biopic of Bob Marley, to avoid creating “another Cool Runnings”.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:35:01 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE How have Jamaicans’ attitudes to Patois changed over time, and what does the article say are the reasons for this? How is Jamaican Patois becoming politicized, and what does this indicate about the relationship between language and power? What role does Dr Joseph Farquharson say language plays in defining a society’s identity? To wrap up: “When we neglect our native language, we lose our flavour and become like everyone else.” Do you agree? What are the implications of this?

KEY TERMS Globalise, Accent, Authentic, Shifting attitudes, Politicised, Colonial past, Unworthy

This BBC article ask a very simple question, that has a complex answer: why are same-sex relationships supported within some countries, and opposed in others?

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:35:26 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Use it to explore the impact of ethical thinking on the ‘real world’, and explore how different societies have evolved different perspectives in relation to this moral question. What are the three factors that the article identifies as determining a society’s outlook towards same-sex marriage? How do they shape the production of our ethical knowledge? Should we think in terms of ‘progress’ in terms of ethical understanding?

A Big Think article, looking at how positive labels can end up having a negative effect on our perceptions about the world.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:35:32 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Use this to explore questions such as: is it possible to produce meaningful data about this - and if so, how? Second, do students themselves have any personal insights into this, in terms of the way they have been impacted by labelling? Should we try to avoid labelling as much as possible in order to understand the world objectively?

Key terms Positive labelling, Perceptions

A Guardian article, looking at how a Spanish ice-cream maker bases their products on flavours that deliberately evoke childhood memories.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:36:54 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What’s on the menu in Mamá Heladera, in Barcelona, and what relationship does it have with memory? What kind of flavour requests does the owner, Irene Iborra, receive from customers? What flavours would students ask for, and why? Overall, how important is the role of smell and taste in determining our identity and sense of self?

Key terms Provoke memories, Neurogastronomy Key terms Provoke memories, Neurogastronomy

A Wired article, looking at how neuroscience seeks to establish a link between a cause (loneliness) and an effect (damage to our mental health).

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:37:12 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE How did researchers try to study loneliness in the 1950s - and what are the ethical implications related to their methods? How has the Covid-19 pandemic, and associated lockdown, given us the opportunity to study loneliness? How have they managed to connect it with mental health issues? Overall, do ‘natural experiments’ provide us with better knowledge than ‘laboratory manufactured’ insights?

Key terms Laboratory vs. natural experiments, Evidence

This Big Think article deconstructs how maps are used to show the migration of people, and how their language and designs are often loaded with meaning.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:37:30 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Get students to study the red and blue maps, and see how their understanding of immigration alters. They could produce their own maps with the same data, experimenting with colour, icons, and other graphic representations. Overall, how possible is it to present data objectively? Do biases always interfere?

Key terms Objective data, Preconceptions

A Conversation article*, exploring the difficulties of reconciling the moral obligations of a religious faith with the laws of the society in which it exists.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:38:29 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What examples does it offer of tensions between immigration policies and religious groups’ commitments to humanitarian care? What arguments do some religious leaders accused of breaking immigration laws present to defend their actions? What does this story indicate about the different priorities for governments and religious traditions? Overall, which perspective should take precedent when we form our moral outlooks on the world: the religion, or the state, to which we belong? How can they be reconciled when they clash?

KEY TERMS Religious freedoms, Violated, Motivations, Cultural, Globalizing world

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A BBC article, focusing on a Buckingham Palace reception where a black British woman was repeatedly asked ‘where are you from’?

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:42:58 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What happened at a Buckingham Palace reception to Ngozi Fulani, the CEO of a charity that supports victims of domestic abuse? How did this lead to her feeling “like we were trespassers, we didn’t belong”? Why do you think some media sources disagreed that this was discriminatory - some media sources are reporting this as an example of uncontrolled ‘wokeness’ (for example, this short piece in The Spectator). What determines the way media sources view an event? Get students to link this story to Taiye Selasie’s seminal ‘Don’t ask where I’m from…’ TED talk? Overall, do students agree with Taiye Selasie that: “Our experience is where we're from”?

Key terms Ethnic minority, Cultural, Heritage, Belonging

An Art Newspaper article, reporting on how some museums are updating artist Kazimir Malevich's nationality from Russian to Ukrainian.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:43:08 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Which artists are being ‘reclassified’ in museums in The Netherlands and the US? What is the justification for doing this? Why do students think this is being done right now? Overall what does this story indicate about the importance of art in supporting ideological and political struggles taking place in the world?

Key terms Reclassified, Catalogue

A Time article, looking at the debate over whether to rename India ‘Bharat’, and the political motivations behind this change.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:43:19 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Why is there talk of a name-change to India? What is the historical background to changing the country’s name? From the information here, do you think this is an example of a country distancing itself from its colonial past and finding a more ‘appropriate’ name, or a “nationalist push” that indicates “pettiness & intolerance”? To wrap up: What is conveyed by a country’s name, and what relationship do they have with the management of power?

KEY TERMS Controversy, Nationalist push, Colonial past, Appropriate, Intolerance, Authentic

A Big Think video, examining three different ‘models’ of the self.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:44:57 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE How important is it for knowers to understand their ‘selves’?

Key terms Identity, Essence, Culture, Authentic, Selflessness, Process

A Big Think article, analyzing how our sense of self is defined by mirrors and video calls, and why this undermines our self-awareness.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:45:05 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE Focus on the ideas half-way down the article (“Mirror, mirror on the wall…”) To what extent does our sense of self depend on mirrors? How should we look at ourselves, according to psychologist Tara Well, and why? Why are we often unhappy with images of ourselves, when other people think they are flattering? Overall, what are the implications of seeing ourselves in an inverted way in terms of the way we develop our self-awareness?

Key terms Sense of self, Superstition, Introspection, “True” representation, Misinterpret

A TED talk featuring Anil Ananthaswamy, in which he explores where our sense of self comes from.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:45:16 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE What question has Ananthaswamy set out to answer? Then ask students to find out what the following examples of ‘altered selves’ indicate about the way we understand our selves: Alzheimers, Xenomelia, Schizophrenia, Out-of-body-experiences. What are Ananthaswamy’s thoughts on the self’s reality outside our brains and bodies, and how does this relate to ‘our stories’? Overall, ask students how viewing ‘altered states’ as being ‘different ways of being’ rather than ‘deficits’ helps us to understand the nature of the self more completely.

Key terms Altered selves, Narrative self, Perspective of the self, Sense of agency, Undeniable truths, Stories

An EU Reporter article, examining the effects of social media on our identity.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-03-28 13:51:04 UTC

A Guardian article, looking at how rap music has changed the way young people throughout the UK use language.

theory_of_knowledge — 2024-05-02 13:39:01 UTC

UNPACKING THE SOURCE To start: What effect does popular culture have on the way we speak? Can you think of any examples of language forms, or turns of phrases, that you have borrowed from music, literature, film, or other art forms? From the source: What are the different cultural origins of Multicultural London English (MLE)? How and why is this being exported via music - and what role is social media playing in this process? What sums up the appeal of MLE, and why is it aligned more to young men than women? To wrap up: “It’s like a tide. You’ve got a big wave coming in, and that dies down, but the tide is still moving in that direction.” (Rob Drummond, socio-linguist). How does this describe the way language evolves over time? Hint - use the word ‘standardised’ in your response.

KEY TERMS Multicultural London English, Vernaculars, Cultural orientation, Edginess and rebelliousness, Covert prestige, Standardised

theory_of_knowledge — 2026-06-08 10:18:45 UTC

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