BTEC NATIONAL LEVEL 3 UNIT 3 CITIZENSHIP, DIVERSITY AND THE PUBLIC SERVICES

they’re willing to do the same in a limited way in return. In a “limited” way because it is the rare tolerant person who will stand by and not give an intolerant one a lecture on tolerance, or at least mumble something to passers-by after the offender has departed. This passive-aggressive stance of tolerance stems from an unwillingness to take a stand. I believe there are certain memes that deserve spreading throughout society. One of them is consciousness, and I take every chance to impose that belief on others through my writing and speaking. Another is opportunity, is technological progress, which results in a better life for us all if not deterred by irrational fears. Sometimes people know what they stand against, but not what they stand for. This is a position of weakness because standing against a thing requires the continued existence of that thing. It also eliminates the possibility of finding a happy partnership with someone who stands for that which you are against. No, the power is in taking strong stands for, in alignment with my purpose. Imagine a world full of people standing for different things, all able to find ways to work together to make all their visions come true. It works so much better than a world full of people standing against the cherished beliefs of one another. Multiculturalism: the term multicultural society is a contentious one these days. What was once a term which was supposed to show how progressive and cosmopolitan a country was is now riddled with all kinds of other meanings – with some quarters suggesting that the term should be scrapped altogether. The basis of the argument against it is that by describing a society as such, we are highlighting differences between different people instead of celebrating the experiences that everyone brings to a society. The Commission for Racial Equality added fuel to this fire a few years ago when Trevor Phillips suggested the term be outlawed altogether. But since then, a healthy – and not so healthy in some quarters – has raged on about the appropriateness of the term, with camps for and against it rising up. The rights and responsibilities of individuals in society as citizens: rights give all citizens in a country guarantees about their treatment by other people, particularly the powerful people that run the country. The important thing about rights is that they apply to everyone and can’t be taken away, however horrible someone is, and regardless of what they’ve done wrong. Here are some examples; the right to freedom of speech, the right to a free and fair trial in a court of law, the right not be enslaved or tortured, the right to protest or assemble peacefully with others. Some rights are more important than others, for example, the right to life because very few people want their life to be ended by someone else. You can see one of the first problems with rights here, though, as many countries, such as the USA, still have the death penalty where someone does have the (legal not necessarily moral) right to take your life. Equal opportunities and positive action: this EqualOpportunities  (also called the Equality) has been written in accordance with current best practice and has been drafted in line with the Equality Act 2010. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers may utilize positive action in recruitment and promotion. ‘Positive action’ means the steps that an employer can take to encourage people from groups with different needs or with a past record of disadvantage or low participation, to apply for jobs. Employers are permitted, not required, to take positive action. One of the conditions of the positive action provisions is that employers must not routinely treat people with a protected characteristic more favourably: it must be used only in tie-break situations. The Equality Act 2010 also makes it unlawful for a company to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of race, sex, pregnancy and maternity, marriage or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, disability, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation. It is also possible for employees to claim for discrimination on a combination of two of these grounds. Similarly if your employees discriminate against a colleague or customer your company could be held vicariously liable for their acts, and be responsible for paying the compensation or damages to the victim of the discrimination. Social inclusion and representation without changing standards in favour of race or gender or disability. Corporate social responsibility: corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare. The term generally applies to company efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups.  Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as "corporate citizenship" and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change. Companies have a lot of power in the community and in the national economy. They control a lot of assets, and may have billions in cash at their disposal for socially conscious investments and programs. Some companies may engage in "greenwashing", or feigning interest in corporate responsibility, but many large corporations are devoting real time and money to environmental sustainability programs, alternative energy/cleantech, and various social welfare initiatives to benefit employees, customers, and the community at large. P3 Being a citizen and being a good citizen are far from the same thing. Being a good citizen and exhibiting signs of good citizenship is far removed from the legal distinction of being a citizen of one country or another. In fact, people who are technically not citizens of a country may exhibit all the signs of good citizenship not found in many of those who hold the country's passport. Communities are vital to culture's and country's proper functioning. A much-lamented facet of modern society is the lessening of community ties - how communities where once everyone knew everyone else are now becoming places where no one knows their neighbours and people go about their business without passing the time of day without each other. But in communities where good citizenship is evident, local ties flourish and people come together - both in bad times and in good. People who help out elderly neighbours, people who help to organise the local school's summer fete - these are people who exhibit signs of good citizenship. The youngsters who wash cars in the neighbourhood and sign Christmas carols at old people's homes at Christmas are too people who exhibit good citizenship. Often called the third sector, volunteering is becoming increasingly important and is worth millions of pounds to the UK's economy. M1 People who volunteer exhibit many many signs of good citizenship. There are many different ways of volunteering - and everyone makes an impact. From the people who work an afternoon a week at a local charity shop to people who raise thousands of pounds for charity on epic challenges, volunteers are widely regarded and of huge importance. Volunteers are good citizens for the simple reason that they give back to the community without taking anything away. Many people say that they enjoy the work they do - but it can still often be tough going. Think of people who man the phone lines at organisations such as the Samaritans - it can be thankless and heartrending work at times, but these people add an invaluable service to our community. Of course, not all jobs which are for the greater good of the community can be carried out through volunteering. Many people who are employed in public service can also be described as good citizens for their hard and selfless work for the greater good of others. Doctors who perform delicate and virtually miraculous operations on a daily basis are good citizens, as are the nurses who tend their patients. But more than this - the people who truly have thankless jobs. The people who clean our schools and hospitals and those who cook food for elderly people -without whom, they would not see anyone else and would not eat properly. Of course, good citizenship cannot just be about the jobs we do - paid or unpaid. Good citizenship is more than this. Good citizenship should be evident in everything we do and say. We should all strive to be good citizens in our words and actions - smiling at people in the street and thanking the shopkeeper as he or she hands us our change are both small examples of how we can be better citizens. Above all, good citizenship is about putting the needs of the community and the needs of others above one self’s own preferences.  D1 The question of what does it mean to be a citizen has no simple answer. On a purely definition based description, what it means to be a citizen is that a person is a legally recognised inhabitant of the country they live in – in the UK, this means they pay taxes and are entitles to the help of the benefits and NHS systems. However, in practice, answering the question what does it mean to be a citizen is far from easy. As new rules and tests for people wanting British citizenship show, being a citizen is about far more than a legal status. It is about understanding and accepting – and being a part of the culture, rather than an observer from the outside. Cultures are complex thing to get a handle on. Depending on how different one person’s home culture is to another’s, there may be huge gaps in understanding of each other’s cultures. To truly be a citizen of a country, the person must fully understand its culture. This does not necessarily mean that person must blindly agree with the ways of doing things – but an understanding of how and why things happen is vital. In fact, the greater their understanding of a culture, the more people – citizens – may want to question it. But in many ways, this is human nature at work. And, if a deeper understanding of the culture leads to a deeper dissatisfaction of the way things are done, then so be it. A right to protest and the act of protesting are all signs that a person is a citizen in the truest sense of the word – because they understand the culture and, although they disagree with things, they are involved enough to want to make a change, hopefully, for what they believe to be the greater good. Bibliography: Diversity and integration: http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/news/diversity-and-integration-building-britain-that-works-together http://www.ippr.org/research-project/44/7063/integration-and-diversity-in-the-uk Tolerance: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4125193.stm http://www.answers.com/topic/corporate-social-responsibility#ixzz2UoKreyKG