Ethnic diversity

5. Forgotten Soldiers

Required Resources

• Slides 38-41

Delivery

• Present Slide 38 which is a poem written by Ben Okri which was read by the Queen at the opening of the Memorial Gates in 2003. Give students time to read and digest the poem.
• Project Slide 39-40 which provides an image and some background to the Memorial Gates. Explain that memorials are one way that veterans can be honoured and remembered using Slide 41 which provides some images of other memorials that are specifically dedicated to ethnic minorities.
• What do the students think of the Memorial Gates? Had they heard of them?
• Do students think more should be done to raise awareness of ethnic minorities' contribution in the World Wars?
• Do students think a memorial is a good way of helping to raise awareness and to remember the contributions of ethnic minorities in past wars and in modern day society?
• Students should work in small groups of 3 or 4 to brainstorm ideas about how it can be ensured that ethnic minority war personnel receive the same level of remembrance and honour as soldiers of European descent?
• Ideas can be anything from events to memorials, literature to films, community programmes etc.
• Allow the students 5-10 minutes and then ask each group to vote on their top idea. Each group should then present their proposal to the class.
• To maximise this activity, this Episode could be preparation for project work that could be completed in a separate lesson. Within the scope of this lesson, the aim of this activity is for students to use their new knowledge to produce some top line ideas about how the general public can become better informed and appreciative of ethnic minorities' contribution.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

Mixed ability groups.