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Diversity: New Questions, New Learning

Academee's unique 'Diversity Learning Out of the Box' board game is an innovative learning tool used by over 1,000 organisations across the globe. Now a new set of questions for facilitators is bringing the game bang up to date.

This colourful, fun and engaging game enables participants to develop a clear understanding of all aspects of diversity and inclusion, and to relate this to their own organisations.

Question: Who was the youngest ever Prime Minister of England?

To give you a clue, he was 24 when he won the post and is remembered for his tough policies against corruption, fiscal reform, shifting power toward the House of Commons and the union with Ireland.

This is just one of the brand new questions that Academee is using in our board game, 'Diversity Learning Out of the Box', as a way of generating discussion about various diversity issues, including age.

How old do people feel you should be to become Prime Minister? Is 24 considered to be young or old these days?

His record includes 'tough policies.' Just how old do you have to be before you can be taken seriously and regarded as 'tough' as opposed to 'an upstart'? Are there value judgements made by people around the need to have a certain amount of experience before you can make tough reforms?

Academee people are very tough on our own work and we continually appraise it with reform in mind. We recognise that questions like the one above have the potential to go out of date. At some point, someone younger than 24 may become Prime Minister. We also recognise that a question based around politics may not appeal to everyone. We need to constantly ensure that our facts are updated, and that any cultural references within 'Diversity Learning Out of the Box' are relevant and meaningful to our participants.

We therefore regularly update our facilitator guide, and we believe that our newest version is our best yet.

So what has changed?

• Facts relating to legislation have been updated to reflect changes in the regulations, updated case law and examples of good practice.
• We have included two brand new sections: one on specific transgender issues and another on issues relating to 'Respect for All'. Transgender has been given its own section to reflect its growing importance as an individual strand of diversity as promoted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Historically it has been considered by organisations either under sexual orientation or gender, neither of which is appropriate.
• 'Respect for All' has been created to cover issues around treatment of individuals that fall outside the usual legislation-driven strands of diversity, such as bullying, body image, work-life balance cultural behaviours. Our aim is to enable people to recognise the value of an individualistic and humanistic approach to diversity. Creating a successful, effective and harmonious work environment is far more than just keeping on the right side of the law.
• We have included more questions than ever in each section, almost doubling the total content.
• The inclusion of new sections and a greater number of questions means that the guide comes with a brand new set of 'Opportunity' and 'Challenge' cards.
• Brand new questions have been included in every section. Some favourite questions have been retained at the request of our clients but the answers have been expanded to reflect current thinking and also to suggest different ways of using the material.
• We have greatly expanded the answers to each question, focussing on how best to use the answers to promote valuable discussion within groups. We have added a wealth of supplementary questions under most of the main questions so that facilitators can turn one simple question into a much longer learning session if they choose. We have included common issues that can be raised in response to a question and suggestions on how to deal with them constructively.
• There is a brand new section of hints and tips on how to play the game effectively in different situations depending upon time available, nature of the learning group and the aims of your learning session.
• Based upon our years of experience of playing the game, we have also included a new section on how to deal with group dynamics. Our intention is to empower facilitators with confidence in how to deal with challenging situations and maintain a positive fun atmosphere.

So what hasn't changed?

The strategy behind the 'Diversity Learning Out of the Box' has never changed. We know that people learn best when they are having fun. This facilitator guide is fresh and new but still challenging, quirky, interesting and enjoyable.

And the answer to the initial question...

William Pitt the Younger - elected in 1783. In the 18th Century, life expectancy was far shorter so 24 was considered to be 'middle-aged'. What do you consider to be 'middle-aged' now? With people now regularly working into their 70's what do you personally feel is the age when people should be 'taking it easy'? Why might people want to keep working?

So, version 4 of questions for facilitators is now available. Whilst we will be taking a break from writing, we certainly won't be 'taking it easy'. We are obsessed with quality and will continue to scrutinise what we do. There is no retirement age for continuous improvement so we will keep on working. Version 5 is a future inevitability!

For more information, please email marketing@academee.com or call the Academee marketing team on +44 (0) 1625 540540.