Celebrating Harmony Day: Embracing Cultural Diversity in Australia

This article discusses Harmony Day in Australia, a celebration of cultural diversity. It explores the significance of inclusiveness and multiculturalism in the country, highlighting the benefits it brings. The article also suggests activities to embrace diversity in the classroom.

Running head: SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Description of issue- Harmony Day is celebrated on 21st March and the day celebrates
the cultural diversity of Australia. The harmony week is all about the inclusiveness and it imparts
a sense of belonging into each and every one. It is celebrated in schools so as to make Australia a
great place to live and it signifies the cultural respect for everyone that calls Australia as home.
The main aim is to engage the school children, teachers and parents so that they can participate
in their community and along with it give respect to the religious diversity, cultural diversity and
at the same time foster a sense of belonging into everyone (Moore, 2014).
It might be an issue because there are certain important facts and figures that provides
details of diversity in Australia. Nearly half of the Australians are born outside of Australia or at
least one of their parents was born outside Australia. There are over 300 ancestries and since the
year 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia. About 85 percent of the
Australians have agreed that celebrating multiculturalism have proved to be good for Australia
(Walton et al., 2018). The most common language spoken in Australia is English and the other
major languages spoken in Australia are Punjabi, Spanish, Hindi, Filipino/Tagalog, Greek,
Italian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Arabic and Mandarin. More than 70 different indigenous
languages are spoken in Australia. Australia is a vibrant and a multicultural country, and the
cultural diversity of Australia is one of the greatest strengths and it is present in the heart of the
Australians and this makes Australia a great place to live. Therefore, integrated and multicultural
Australia forms an integral part of the national identity. The people that migrate to Australia
bring with themselves their own traditions and own cultures and as well as they take in new
cultures. Therefore, it can be said these new traditions have enriched Australia (Burridge,
Buchanan & Chodkiewicz, 2014).

2SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
March 21st is celebrated as the Australia’s Harmony Day and it celebrates the cultural
diversity of Australia. Moreover, harmony day is a government program of Australia is based on
the message that everyone belongs and it reinforces the fact that vitality of inclusiveness of
Australia. Since the year 1999, thousands of the harmony day events have already been
celebrated in the local government agencies, state government agencies, federal and business,
churches, community groups, schools and centres (Aldridge, Ala’i & Fraser, 2016).
Harmony week provides an opportunity for all the Western Australians so that they can
celebrate a vibrant multicultural state. The harmony week runs from 15t to 21st every March and
every year it encourages each and every person to appreciate, explore and experiences the wealth
of ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural diversity. The harmony week provides an opportunity
and provides an opportunity for the people that are from a linguistic and culturally diverse
community. There are economic advantages and the diverse communities have a strong link with
the rest of the world so that the competiveness can be increased (Sheehan & Taylor, 2016).
Potential allies- The teaching from religious books can increase the knowledge of the
students with regards to brotherhood and respecting others even if they belong from a different
community or religion. It is important to mention that the school scripture teachers will be
supporting the students to know what is harmony week celebration and how will they be
indulging actively into the celebration (Cook & Hudson, 2013). The celebration of the harmony
week is to promote the multiculturalism within the school children and also celebrate the
diversity of the different type of the people and other students belonging from different
communities, religion. It is often seen that the scripture teachers have the knowledge and skills
required for a subject. Thus, a guest speaker will provide an extra benefit of increasing and

3SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
broadening the minds of the students with regards to the ethnic, and cultural diversity (Cook,
2013).
Beyond classroom activities (activity 1)- Sing a song to elderly residents at a local
nursing home in Sydney. Teacher will work along with students to practice and choreograph a
song that is written about celebrations. Student will practice the song after each lesson and
present it in week 10 to the staff and Elderly Residents at a local nursing home in Sydney. The
song choice is the following: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvX_5ym_ajI ). It is
important to note that songs are a systematic method that has the capability to demonstrate a
culture, and also increase the communication skills. It is important to note that a culturally
responsive activity like songs or music increases inclusiveness and at the same time it ensures
that all the students are in all the aspects of the school (Colvin, 2017). Moreover, engaging
students in activities like sings helps in acknowledging the unique that exists between the
students. Further, from the perspective of the teacher activities like songs recognition and
understanding of each of the student’s background and socio-cultural life. Altogether, it provides
a way of incorporating the information within the curriculum and the end result is the promotion
of the curriculum (Southcott, 2016). It is important to mention that the schools bear the
responsibility of teaching the students the ways of synthesizing the cultural differences that exist
within the knowledge base. Furthermore, the inclusiveness facilitates the professional and
personal success of the student in the diverse world. A culturally responsive activity like songs of
celebration helps in the development of a sense of identity for the students that belong from a
different racial and ethnic background. This will facilitate the culturally diverse students to
proudly identify their specific cultural group. Teachers at the same time help the students to have
success by establishing a culturally responsive classroom. The songs of celebration pertaining to

4SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
the harmony week is all about infusing a sense of solidarity and inclusiveness (Donaldson,
2013).
(Activity 2)- An innovative strategy that can be used to embrace and enhance diversity in
classroom is through the cooperative learning. Groups will perform role play at whole school
assembly. Cooperative learning helps the helps and assists the students to build a diversified
classroom because the groups are put together by the language proficiency, gender, race and also
by academic performance. For the purpose of a group activity, the students will be divided into
small groups. It must be ensured that each of the group will have students from the equal
ethnicity, race and gender. Role playing will be an innovative activity that will be helps the
students to learn about another culture by being into the shoes of another person (Ferreri &
O’Connor, 2013). This allows the students to trade places with another student, even it can be a
character from a book and this will help the students to learn their culture. Role playing helps the
students in contemplating about their feelings and beliefs of the different culture, and at the same
time learn the opinions and thoughts of others. To make the role playing activity much more
productive, the students must prepare properly for their role. It is important to note that that the
classrooms that are multicultural must have an intercultural approach. Thus, it is important to
note that activity/strategy will be helping the students to learn the proper cultural behaviour. The
classroom atmosphere will turn more cordial for the students which will help in expanding their
knowledge and the learning one another (Sung & Hwang, 2013).
Brief summary- There is a total of 6 lesson and each of the lesson will take a quite a bit
of time to address. While it is important to note that the lesson 1 will require 60 to 70 minutes;
lesson 2 will be taking 60 to 70 minutes; lesson 3 (Harmony week) will be require almost 4
hours; lesson 4 will be taking 60 to 70 minutes; lesson 5 will be requiring about 2 hours and

5SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
lesson 6 will be completed within the timeframe of 4 weeks. Moreover, it is important to note
that the some of the lesson plan will also include performances.
Lesson 1: lesson 1 will be an introductory class and in this lesson the students will be
asked to see two videos on celebrations and based upon the two videos, questions will be asked;
Lesson 2 will be a demonstration class of what was taught in the class previously and it will also
include a discussion and reflection from the end of the students; Lesson 3 will be a Harmony
week and in this lesson a brief introduction will be provided to the students. This lesson will also
include a group activity from the end of the students. This lesson also includes a group activity
like the singing a celebration song. The group activity selected is a role playing cooperative
learning activity and it will be based on the multiculturalism. At the end of the lesson a guest
visitor will also be invited to provide knowledge to the students. Lesson 4 will be a recalling of
what has been already been done previously. Lesson 5 will be class global celebrations and the
final lesson (6) will be a research task based on the imaginative task.
The safety risks that needs to be considered will be risks emanating from the walking
surfaces, electrical hazards, material storage areas, furnishings, cabinets, bookcases and shelves,
emergency exits and fire prevention.
Assessment strategy- The strategy of assessing the student’s learning is through the
background probe of knowledge. Questioning and worksheets will be prepared by the teacher so
that the previous knowledge can be assessed and this can be compared with the knowledge of the
student after the completion of a course or a lesson (Wiliam & Leahy, 2015); focussed listing is
the attention of the student on a single concept, term or name with regards to a particular session
or lesson and the student will be directed to list the different types of ideas pertaining to a focus
topic. It will be used to determine the important topics in relation to a specific topic. Checking

6SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
the misconception- techniques will be used to gather information that are based on prior learning
and that might block the further learning (Tanner, 2013). The students will be assessed further on
the worksheets completed, student participation in the school activities, class participation
through the process of questioning and also teacher observations (Turner, 2013).
Rubric:
Topic High score Medium score Low score
Introduction Properly structured
with photos
Only texts and no
photos
Unclear information
Name of the country
and the celebration
Properly and
sufficiently provided
Improper
representation of
information
Failed to meet the
requirements
Poster presentation Properly structured
and well represented
Improperly structured No structure followed
and information are
placed randomly.
Lacking flow.
Conclusion of the
celebration
Properly structured
with photos
Only texts and no
photos
Unclear information
References Proper format Improper format No references
The criteria are pitched properly because the gradation of marks are distributed evenly
between three different grades. High, medium and low are the three grades that will be used to
assess the quality of the assessment provided by the student. The poster presentation will be
graded highly only when a student provides a name and description of the place and the
celebration as well. The information is provided in a logical way and have maintained a flow that
makes the presentation of information a lucid experience. The content of the poster is done in an
innovative way which imparts a creative approach. The creativity of the student is highlighted in
the way student have used the clothing that are worn, facts, food recipes, drawings and photos.
Furthermore, a student will also high grade if they provide a map with the names of the places
marked properly.

7SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

8SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Reference
Aldridge, J. M., Ala’i, K. G., & Fraser, B. J. (2016). Relationships between school climate and
adolescent students’ self-reports of ethnic and moral identity. Learning Environments
Research, 19(1), 1-15.
Burridge, N., Buchanan, J., & Chodkiewicz, A. (2014). Human rights and history education: An
Australian study. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 2.
Colvin, N. (2017). ‘Really really different different’: rurality, regional schools and refugees.
Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(2), 225-239.
Cook, T. J. (2013). Recruitment, preparation, and retention of Catholic high school religion
teachers. Journal of Catholic Education, 4(4), 1.
Cook, T. J., & Hudson, W. J. (2013). Toward the professionalization of Catholic high school
religion teachers: An assessment of religion teaching as a profession. Journal of Catholic
Education, 9(4), 14.
Donaldson, R. C. (2013). Broadcasting diversity: Alan Lomax and multiculturalism. The Journal
of Popular Culture, 46(1), 59-78.
Ferreri, S. P., & O’Connor, S. K. (2013). Redesign of a large lecture course into a small-group
learning course. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 77(1), 13.
Moore, J. (2014). They throw spears: Reconciliation through music. International Education
Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 12(1).

9SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Sheehan, M., & Taylor, T. (2016). Australia and New Zealand: ANZAC and Gallipoli in the
twentyfi rst century. Teaching History and the Changing Nation State: Transnational
and international perspectives. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 237-54.
Southcott, J. (2016). Nationalism and school music in Australia. In Patriotism and nationalism
in music education (pp. 43-58). Routledge.
Sung, H. Y., & Hwang, G. J. (2013). A collaborative game-based learning approach to
improving students' learning performance in science courses. Computers & Education,
63, 43-51.
Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure matters: twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student
engagement and cultivate classroom equity. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 322-
331.
Turner, C. E. (2013). Classroom assessment. In The Routledge handbook of language testing (pp.
79-92). Routledge.
Walton, J., Priest, N., Kowal, E., White, F., Fox, B., & Paradies, Y. (2018). Whiteness and
national identity: teacher discourses in Australian primary schools. Race Ethnicity and
Education, 21(1), 132-147.
Wiliam, D., & Leahy, S. (2015). Embedding formative assessment: Practical techniques for K-
12 classrooms. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences International.