Students examine the definition of refugees and research current events that highlight refugee issues.
Brainstorm words you associate with 'refugees'.
Compare your lists in a small group and write a definition of the word ‘refugee’.
Contrast your definition of refugee with the UN Refugee Convention definition in the Introduction to the Refugees global issue.
Examine the definitions of asylum seekers, internally displaced people and other ‘people of concern’ to the United Nations, using information in the Introduction to the Refugees global issue.
Collect television, newspaper or radio news items which mention refugees and asylum seekers.
Discuss in small groups:
- Is the word refugee always accurately applied? Why or why not?
- How is the protection of refugees presented?
- How are the rights of refugees being protected?
Survey ten people from varying backgrounds about their attitudes to the care offered to refugees in Australia, and the care offered to Australians who have been forced to leave their homes because of natural disasters.
Present your findings and suggest reasons for differences of opinion.
I found the above lesson outline about refugees on a teaching forum. It's a very good step-by-step session that introduces refugees in a non-confronting way that eases into the unit smoothly. It encompasses syllabus outcomes aligned to NSW Stage 4 English (see outcomes below) and these activities can be used with students of varying abilities by altering the level of scaffolding provided. Although the class has to function as a collective, I can still cater the lessons to involve all students by tweaking and making reasonable adjustments, and even more so for this class because of the huge range in abilities and learning styles. I find that there are many ways to scaffold this session such that it is accessible to all types of learners such as EAL/D, kinaesthetic, visual and auditory learners, ADHD and some of the activities in this session can be extended to challenge the Gifted and Talented students.As stated in the activity above, brainstorming followed by comparing in small groups allows for student collaboration which the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) recommends in the K-10 syllabus. This would also give EAL/D students the opportunity to open up and speak to their peers in an informal and small-group setting, promoting their oral skills. The nature of this informal group activity also gives opportunity for peer teaching which is good for the G&T students, which also helps to reinforce their own learning but also for weaker students who might feel more comfortable interacting with a peer. The subsequent activities are pretty hands-on in nature which would cater to ADHD students and kinaesthetic learners. The discussion questions are succinct and phrased in a way that is easy to understand and the activities are set and laid out very clearly.
It embeds 21st century learning skills in student-centered hands-on projects designed to understand who refugees are and how countries and media portrays them. It enhances student's critical thinking skills by getting them to discern how refugees are portrayed in various media forms through the collecting of items and media that mentions refugees. Most importantly though is that as a Christian, this session is an "opportunity to bear witness to the love and inclusion our faith teaches when we come across as closed-minded, hard-hearted, and meanspirited concerning [world] issues" (Holtrop, 1996, p. 13) such as this.
NSW Syllabus Outcomes:
EN4-2A effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies
EN4-6C identifies and explains connections between and among texts
EN4-9E uses, reflects on and assesses their individual and collaborative skills for learning
References:
Holtrop, S. (1996). Teaching Christianly in Public and Christian schools: A Responsibility Model. Azuza: Azuza Pacific University.