More or Less Equal? Bring your English lessons to life by exploring how inequality and poverty affect the lives of young people in different parts of the world, including the UK. Created in partnership with Oxfam GB and with the support of teacher subject associations, these teaching resources include a wide range of participatory activities to engage learners (age 11 to 16) with the wider world and help them make links between the local and the global. More or Less Equal? has separate sessions in geography, maths and English which can be used in both a subject-specific and cross-curricular way.In all subject areas, learners will explore how inequality and poverty affect the lives of children in different parts of the world, including the UK.

Use real-life stories and information to develop skills in role play and debating, in re-working one style of writing into another, and in reading critically. Appreciate a wide range of life situations and perspectives while developing skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. More or Less Equal? is based on data gathered in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam by Young Lives, an international research project exploring the effects of poverty on young people over 15 years.

More or Less Equal? can be downloaded from the Oxfam Youth and Education website. The resource includes:

Teachers’ overview: Includes an introduction, a detailed resource outline and a template for learners to record their key learning from each session. Background notes for teachers: Further information about inequality, Young Lives and the four Young Lives study countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam). Introduction: Welcome to Young Lives: Consider what development and inequality mean and meet the young people featured in 'More or Less Equal?' Introduction: Thinking about the Sustainable Development Goals: An optional activity to investigate the Sustainable Development Goals and think critically about the goal themes. English Session 1: Welcome to my life: Use text and hot seating to learn about eight young people from the four Young Lives countries: Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam. English Session 2: Inequalities in young lives: Use role play to develop empathy with young people from the four Young Lives countries and discuss ways in which their lives are unequal. English Session 3: A life in the day of...: Re-create texts about young people in some of the Young Lives communities in the form of 'A life in the day of...' English Session 4: Making difficult choices: Use a reading mystery to explore reasons why a family in India might decide to migrate from the countryside to the city. English Session 5: The gender debate: Consider the impact of gender on the lives of young people in the UK, explore the impacts of gender on the lives of young people living in poverty in Ethiopia and India and hold a debate. English Session 6: Wishes for the future: Consider long term wishes for yourself, your community and your country. Use role play to explore the wishes of young people in the Young Lives communities and compare these with your own. English Slideshow A: For use with English sessions 1 and 2. English Slideshow B: For use with English sessions 3 – 6. Reflecting and sharing: Think critically about what can be done to tackle extreme inequality in our world. Reflect on learning about poverty and inequality and work with others to plan an activity to share learning with others.