Living Together in Harmony

Active learning works for this topic because students must experience harmony firsthand to value it, not just discuss it abstractly. When they simulate real interactions in HDB estates or community centres, abstract concepts like trust and shared space become tangible and memorable.

• Secondary 2
• CCE
• 4 activities
• 30 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Explain the importance of inter-racial and inter-religious harmony for Singapore's social stability.
2. Analyze how shared public spaces, such as HDB estates and community centres, facilitate interaction among diverse residents.
3. Propose specific actions individuals can take to build stronger relationships with neighbours from different backgrounds.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of government policies, like ethnic integration policies in housing, in promoting social cohesion.

⏱ 35 min·Small Groups

Role-Play: HDB Neighbour Scenarios

Assign roles like Malay auntie, Chinese uncle, Indian teen facing shared issues such as noise or litter. Groups improvise solutions emphasizing respect, then debrief on harmony strategies. Rotate roles for broader perspectives.

Prepare & details

Explain why it is important for people of different races and religions to live together.

Facilitation Tip: For Role-Play: HDB Neighbour Scenarios, assign roles with clear cultural or generational details to ensure students confront realistic differences in approach to conflict.

⏱ 40 min·Pairs

Community Centre Mapping

Provide maps of local centres; students mark events, classes, and spaces that mix groups. Discuss in pairs how these promote interaction, then share findings class-wide. Extend by suggesting new inclusive activities.

Prepare & details

Analyze how shared spaces like HDB flats and community centres promote interaction.

Facilitation Tip: For Community Centre Mapping, use a large floor map where students physically place key facilities to visualize how shared spaces encourage mixing.

⏱ 30 min·Small Groups

Bond-Building Pledge Workshop

Brainstorm ways to connect with diverse neighbours, like joint gardening or food swaps. Groups draft class pledges, vote on top ideas, and role-play implementation. Display pledges in class for ongoing reference.

Prepare & details

Discuss ways we can build stronger bonds with neighbours from diverse backgrounds.

Facilitation Tip: For Bond-Building Pledge Workshop, provide sentence starters like 'I promise to...' to guide students toward concrete, actionable commitments.

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

Diversity Walkabout Survey

In pairs, survey school peers on family backgrounds and neighbour interactions via quick questionnaires. Collate data to chart diversity patterns, then analyze in whole class how shared spaces could enhance bonds.

Prepare & details

Explain why it is important for people of different races and religions to live together.

Facilitation Tip: For Diversity Walkabout Survey, pair students from different backgrounds to compare observations, forcing them to articulate differences in perspective.

Teaching This Topic

Experienced teachers approach this topic by grounding discussions in students' lived environments, using Singapore’s HDB policies as a scaffold to explain why designed mixing works. Avoid assuming students understand how routine interactions build trust; instead, model how to observe and name these moments. Research shows students grasp multiculturalism better when they connect it to their own community spaces rather than abstract policies.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students recognizing how small, daily interactions build trust across differences, rather than assuming harmony happens automatically. They should articulate specific actions they can take to strengthen community bonds in their own neighbourhoods.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Role-Play: HDB Neighbour Scenarios, watch for students assuming conflict is inevitable when cultural differences arise.

What to Teach Instead

Use the role-play debrief to highlight how students resolved conflicts through active listening and compromise, then have them compare their solutions to real HDB mediation policies.

Common Misconception

During Community Centre Mapping, watch for students treating shared spaces as neutral or generic.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt students to describe specific interactions they’ve observed in each space (e.g., a void deck during Hari Raya or a hawker centre during Deepavali), connecting physical spaces to cultural practices.

Common Misconception

During Diversity Walkabout Survey, watch for students focusing only on visible differences like food or dress.

What to Teach Instead

Ask students to record interactions (e.g., conversations, shared activities) and reflect on how these small moments build familiarity over time.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Role-Play: HDB Neighbour Scenarios, facilitate a class discussion where students share one action they personally took during the role-play to build trust, and how they would apply it in real life.

Quick Check

During Diversity Walkabout Survey, collect students’ observation notes and highlight one entry that shows how a shared space reduced or avoided potential conflict.

Exit Ticket

After Bond-Building Pledge Workshop, have students write down one pledge they made and explain how it connects to a shared space in their neighbourhood.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask early finishers to design a new shared space for their neighbourhood that intentionally blends elements from multiple cultures (e.g., a void deck with prayer, play, and market zones).
• Scaffolding: Provide sentence frames like 'When I see my neighbour from [culture], I can...' to help struggling students articulate actions during the pledge workshop.
• Deeper exploration: Have students interview a community leader about how local policies support harmony, then compare their findings to national approaches.

Key Vocabulary

Social Cohesion	The degree to which members of a society feel connected and share a common identity, working together for the common good.
Multiculturalism	A policy or system that promotes the coexistence and mutual respect of people from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds within a society.
Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP)	A policy implemented in Singapore's public housing estates to ensure a diverse mix of ethnic groups within each block and neighbourhood.
Community Bonding	Activities and initiatives aimed at strengthening relationships and a sense of belonging among people living in the same community.