2.2 The role of men and women in various cultural situations

Life orientation

Grade 5

Rights and responsibilities

Module 11

The role of men and women in various cultural situations

Men, women, boys and girls, grandmothers and grandfathers play different roles at all the various cultural events in our South African society. Think of a wedding, christening or funeral that you attended recently.

Activity:

To portray a cultural event by means of role-playing

[lo 2.4]

Learners are divided into groups of at least eight persons each. The teacher writes the following cultural events on a piece of paper and each group leader picks one topic (NB: Other festivals or events can be selected to match the cultural diversity of the class):

A Muslim wedding

A Christian christening

The preparations for a Hindu wedding

The Jewish Bar Mitzvah

The traditional South African wedding ceremony (Xhosa, Zulu or other ethnic groups)

The Muslim naming ceremony

The first communion in the Roman-Catholic church

The traditional South African birth ritual

The celebration of a Hindu festival (e.g. the Marriaman (Pap) festival)

Hints

A very handy source of information on cultural customs in South Africa is the book: Clued up on the Culture by B. Elion and M. Strieman (One Life Media: 2001)

Assessment

LO 2

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The learner will be able to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to constitutional rights and responsibilities, and to show an understanding of diverse cultures and religions.

We know this when the learner:

2.1 applies children’s rights and responsibilities to a range of problem situations;

2.2 discusses instances of stereotype, discrimination and bias, and presents a plan to deal with them in own local context;

2.3 discusses the significance of friends in times of tragedy and change;

2.4 discusses the contributions of women and men in a range of cultural contexts;

2.5 discusses festivals and customs from a variety of religions in South Africa.

Memorandum

The learning material in modules 8 to 13 link very closely with that of module 1-7, but now the emphasis is on human rights. Respect for cultural values and the promotion of understanding and tolerance for diversity in the community are given priority. Activities centred around racism also offer the opportunity to identify and address possible violations of this nature in the school or community.