Lesson 2: Life examples of tolerance
Recommended size of the group: 6 to 20 people
Aim of the Lesson: The main purpose of this lesson is to transmit to trainees’ social positive attitude(s).
Objectives/ Learning Outcomes:
Help the participants to understand that tolerance is the willingness to accept the existence of opinions and behaviours that they dislike or disagree with.
Promote values, human rights as an instrument to grow as people and to serve society, manifesting feelings of love and mutual respect and involving others.
To awaken simple emotions regarding the acceptance of others.
Recourses needed:
- Handouts
- Projector
- Computer
- Colourful markers
- Pens
- Paper
- Flipchart paper
- Spacious training room with enough space to have people working in groups
Teaching methods:
- Presentations by trainer and trainees
- Discussion
- Group work
Introduction
Tolerance today is synonymous with multiculturalism. It means to accept other races, religions, and ideas without prejudice or judgement. Tolerance also means respecting others for their differences whether they are race differences, religious or socioeconomic differences. Given the different range of beliefs and ideals that people can have, tolerance becomes necessary in order to coexist in the same context, and even to be up to generate mutual enrichment.
Tolerance is the willingness to accept the existence of opinions and behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with. Being tolerant means that we understand that people will have different views of the world, whether based on political perspective, beliefs or experiences, and realising that this is both OK and necessary for a free society.
The basis of the tolerance of thought or ideas is to understand the possibility that other people have beliefs different from their own, and accept the harmonious coexistence with these people, even though their thinking is different, and even contrary to what a person professes. In a country there are people who may have different ideas related to the best way to run a government. Among all citizens it is possible to get people who have completely opposite positions, as well as others whose inclination of thought is more conciliatory. If you want to generate progress for a country, you need to be tolerant of your fellow citizens.
Racial tolerance is linked to the relationships that may exist between people of different races or ethnicities. It is about interacting harmoniously with people who have different racial backgrounds. These origins involve both the physical characteristics of a person and the forms of behaviour and codes through which these people develop. One scenario in which racial tolerance needs to be applied is when it comes to the integration of foreign students into an educational institution in a specific country. Foreign students must adapt to a new culture and, at times, must also adapt to a different language and climate.
In the field of religion, tolerance is linked to the respect and acceptance of different religious creeds. Since religion is an essential part of many people's lives, being tolerant in this regard is important because it means recognising and respecting the other. The greatest example of religious intolerance is framed in the Second World War, when the Nazi party led in Europe the persecution and extermination of different people, especially Jews. Currently, Germany is a country that reflects a high level of religious tolerance. An example of this is the "House of One" project. This proposal concerns the construction in Berlin of a building in which Jewish, Muslim and Christian ceremonies are carried out.
Social tolerance refers to acceptance among people belonging to different social classes. Historically there have been many cases of social intolerance, which is reflected in the feeling of superiority that some people have over others that they consider lesser because they have less economic resources. Social intolerance generates resentments, prejudices and fears that lead to an important division between people, which makes it impossible to live in harmony, based on respect and recognition of the other. Universities are spaces in which people have the possibility of interrelating, gaining a social conscience and meeting different types of people. This leads to an understanding of how the world is in terms of variety of thought. It is possible that in the same university people from different social strata live, who are forced to interact, discuss ideas, concepts and work as a team.
This type of tolerance has to do with respect between people of different sexes, and in the search for a constructive coexistence with equal opportunities. This classification also includes the acceptance of sexual diversity, because everyone has the power to decide on their sexual inclinations and how he perceives his own identity. In the workplace there is usually sexual intolerance reflected in the allocation of lower wages to women in relation to men, even if they perform the same work and have the same abilities. However, tolerance is increasing as there are countries that have changed their labour policies, recognising labour equality between men and women. An example of this is Norway, which pays the same to all workers, regardless of gender.
Tasks
Exercise type about examples life tolerance
Description: Participants will rephrase the phrase of Martin Luther King.
Procedure: Begin by distributing the phrase by Martin Luther King and read aloud. Tolerance of those who may be different from you or have a different point of view is a character trait of very high value. As stated by Dr. Martin Luther King “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” Divide the class into 4 groups.
After ask learners:
How do you think the author feels about the tolerance?
Each group will think about the question put forward. Get together in the class and ask each group to present its analysis. Each group is asked to return the results, promoting the debate around the following question: What does tolerance mean?
Each group presents their work to the rest.
Evaluation
What does the word “tolerance” mean to you?
From your experience, give some examples of tolerance.
Each group should have an opinion about the work produced by the other groups, so that a consensual final result is reached, and the message of the lesson is more easily understood by the trainees.
As this is a lesson in raising awareness of tolerance issues, the trainer should assess whether the trainees, after the lesson, have actually been able to assimilate the message they are intended to convey.
The best way to evaluate this lesson is the ability of the trainees to be able to reproduce the message through various means – via computer, oral or other (writing, drawing).
What is truly important is that trainees are aware of the importance of the theme in the social context in which they are inserted.
General tips for the trainer
The trainer should take into account the cultural context of the group and possible physical difficulties in order to carry out the Ice Break exercise, possibly replaced by another one of the exercises (of the other lessons) if the trainer judges more appropriate in the context of the group.
In case there is no possibility to use the computer for the presentation of the lessons, we can use the posters (made by the trainees with the help of the trainer), with the message of the lesson.
The lesson duration is about 90 minutes.