Ackee, saltfish and callaloo, a traditional Caribbean dish. Photo: Debbie Ann Powell/Shutterstock 

This case study was written by Dr Charlene Rose based on research undertaken for her PhD thesis and will be of use to those teaching the A level geography ‘Changing place; changing places’ theme. It considers how Caribbean restaurants and takeaways use their signage to advertise to the superdiverse Ladywood constituency in Birmingham, UK, and provides real-world examples for the changing places sub-themes:

• changing demographic and cultural characteristics economic change and social inequalities
• food production, circulation and consumption cultural and artistic approaches to representing place
• lived experience of place (i.e. how people see, experience and understand places) in the past and present
• place making and marketing as revealed and contrasted in the work of a range of formal and informal agencies or their materials.

The lesson aims to help students:

• understand the concept of ‘superdiversity’
• understand how and why the UK demographics have changed since the Second World War
• understand why migration may cause difficulties in entering the labour force
• think about how a diverse population may influence how food is advertised
• think about how and why food may change in a different country or area.

The resources include:

• Teacher notes and lesson plan (PDF)
• Case study notes (PDF)
• Student PowerPoint (PPT)
• Student activity sheet (PDF)
• A glossary of key terms (PDF)
• Larger versions of the tables and figures in the PowerPoint (PDFs) – Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2

Download all the resources as a zip file.

These resources and the research that underpins it were made possible by the University of Birmingham, the Centre for National Training and Research Excellence in Understanding Behaviour (CENTRE-UB), the Economic and Social Research Council, the Geographical Association (GA) and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). The author and the GA send their thanks to Kay Basterfield and Hope Nyabienda, who provided valuable teacher perspectives on the resources.