Die Unterrichtseinheit gibt den Schülerinnen und Schülern einen kurzen Überblick über die regionalen und sozialen Identitäten im Vereinigten Königreich und Nordirland.

Fragen der Identität sind in den letzten Jahren durch eine Verlagerung politischer Kompetenzen von den Houses of Parliament in London an gewählte Vertretungen in Schottland, Nordirland und Wales in den Vordergrund gerückt. Daneben spielen weitere Faktoren eine Schlüsselrolle, um Identitäten zu verstehen.

Das übergeordnete Ziel der Einheit sind interkulturelle Kompetenzen, mit denen die Lernenden die Diskussionen infolge des Brexits besser einordnen können. Des Weiteren trainieren die Schülerinnen und Schüler insbesondere ihr Leseverständnis sowie ihr Hör-/Sehverstehen.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

• Facts
• Notes on the material
• Topic 1: Regionalism
• Topic 2: Elitist education
• Topic 3: Regional identity through cultural roots

Competences and skills:

The overarching goal is the acquisition of cultural competences. To achieve this, students demonstrate their reading skills as they work with texts and their viewing and listening skills as they work with videos. They apply their analysing, presenting and writing competences as they work on the texts and videos. They frequently work with partners and, thus, use their communicative as well as their social competences. By completing various research tasks, they acquire additional media competences.

Notes on the material

• Topic 1: London is often criticised for drawing young and talented people to it like a
  magnet at the expense of the regions. This topic is a response to Boris Johnson’s concept
  of “levelling-up” the country to overcome this, which essentially involves pouring money
  into disadvantaged areas. But this means to “level-down” London instead. Students
  work on the text, analyse a complex cartoon and do research on the UK’s regionalism.
• Topic 2: Class is an inescapable feature of the UK, with a privileged minority benefitting
  from educational elitism. A journalist comments about his experience at the prestigious
  Cambridge University and how he was made to feel unwelcome due to his northern
  working-class roots. Exclusive private schools, such as Eton, offer their pupils
  opportunities that state school pupils can only dream of, including contacts which
  secure top jobs. Students work on the text after offering their views on the financial costs
  of educational elitism and thereafter complete the video’s multiple-choice worksheet.
• Topic 3: After looking at the dis-United Kingdom, social class, elitist education and a
  pronounced north-south divide, this topic is an introduction to local regional identity,
  culture and heritage. Cornish people have been officially recognised as one of the UK’s
  national minorities and students can read an extract from a parliamentary debate. Next,
  on video, they can experience Up Helly Aa, a dramatic annual festival on the Shetland
  Islands. The class should be divided into two groups, one to report on Cornwall and
  associated aspects, the other to research Up Helly Aa. This teamwork worksheet is
  primarily aimed to develop observational, research and presentational skills.