Factors Influencing Learning

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

SOCIOLOGY 1
Task 1: Meanings of equality and diversity in the UK context
Equality and diversity are the two vital components in the modern world that guarantee
harmony and peace. However, the concept of equality and diversity are hardly seen practiced
today owing to the growing differences between people. While equality refers to equal treatment
to all the people and equal rights, diversity refers to the distinctions from what is considered
standard or expected. To describe more thoroughly, diversity refers to the valuing of these
distinctions amongst people and the ways through which these distinctions could contribute to a
more creative, richer and productive environment (Oswick and Noon 2014). Diversity thus,
means respecting and valuing the differences to appreciate and acknowledge the potential of
each individual and promote an inclusive culture (Kimura 2014). Taken together, the term
equality and diversity means the definition and championing of equality and diversity along with
human rights in the United Kingdom.
The term encourages equality for every individual in terms of opportunity to achieve her
or his true potential, devoid of any discrimination and prejudice. The UK legislation demands all
the public authorities to support and encourage equality in all the works they do. They are also
asked to make sure that other organizations fulfill their legal responsibilities to promote equality
while applying it to their own organizations. The Equality Act 2010 is one such legislation in the
UK that comprises various legal requirements promoting equality in nine protected feature areas.
These protected features or characteristics are collectively known as the “general duties to
promote equality” (Slater et al. 2015). The nine protected characteristics include age, disability,
gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or
belief, sex and sexual orientation. The legislation makes it a crime to treat anyone unfairly based
on the things that make that person different. It is the legal obligation of the public authorities in

2SOCIOLOGY
the UK to protect the people from discrimination by promoting equality. Discrimination could be
against an individual’s gender, sexual orientation, belief, race, religion, age or disability.
Equality means making sure, the individuals or groups are treated equally, not given less favour
based on their specific protected characteristics. The promotion of equality means the complete
removal of discrimination of any kind in the areas as mentioned above. The issues that come
under equality and diversity include victimization, bullying and harassment.
It is important to promote equality and diversity because it ensures that a nation, an
institution or an organization has an inclusive environment where there is no prejudice (Smith
2014). When this happens, it produces positive results for all the people involved. Promoting
equality and diversity also helps the organization or institution to function smoothly. Equality
and diversity ensure that all individuals are provided equal treatment and are given respect and
dignity they deserve. Furthermore, equality and diversity promotion stops discrimination against
people in the workplace, at schools or in any public place. Discrimination could be both active
and passive. While active discrimination means discriminating directly with the individual by
treating her or him unfairly, passive discrimination means setting up the environment in such a
way that it benefits one group and disadvantages other group.
Several ways are there to promote equality and diversity. Apart from the various
legislations that aim to protect and promote equality and diversity, the universities in the UK also
have devised certain ways to promote it. The first way is to provide equal treatment to the staff
and students and secondly, forming an inclusive culture for the staff and student. Thirdly,
making sure the students have equal access to the opportunities so that they are enabled to
participate wholly in the learning process. Fourth, allowing all the students and the staff to
develop their complete potential; fifth is equipping students and staff with the skills required to

3SOCIOLOGY
challenge discrimination and inequality in their work or study environment. Furthermore,
another way to promote equality and diversity is to make sure that no learning materials are
included in the curriculum that discriminates against any group or individual. One of the vital
ways to promote equality and diversity is to ensure that the policies, processes and procedures do
not discriminate against any student or staff based on their specific protected areas. These
common ways to promote equality and diversity in the UK are followed by various institutions
such as universities. However, it is important to understand that there needs to be concrete ways
that promote equality and diversity. It is not enough to include the components of equality and
diversity into the system because without effective implementation and monitoring, the effort
might become futile. Further, it could stated that although the different ways suggested are ideal
for promoting equality and diversity especially in the learning environment, these must be given
added prominence. The concerned authorities must make sure that these suggestions to promote
equality and diversity are scrutinized everyday to ensure that all the students and staff are
enjoying a privileged environment.
Task 2: Factors influencing learning
Many factors influence learning that include, personal, the social and cultural factors.
Apart from that, the cognitive, physical and sensory factors also influence learning. Prior to
explaining the influence of these factors on learning, it is important to understand the common
factors that influence learning. Motivation, ability, will power, readiness, achievement and
inspirational level, attention, health of the learner, and maturation are some of the factors that
influence learning. Motivation is considered one of the most important factors that influence
learning. Motivation comes under the personal factors that influence learning. One factor comes
from within the individual. Motivation generates in the learner, the will to learn. Motivation is