Participants Learning Pack

People Forced to Flee Workshop 1 – 6

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 1Column 2

Title Setting the scene

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome To begin to think more deeply about refugees’ journeys by using evidence to suggest facts, inferences and questions.

When to run the Workshop

Before the Forum.

Begin by watching the film Refugee children share their stories (3’ 08”). It was produced by the charity World Vision UK and published on October 27 2015.

The YouTube caption for the film reads; ‘It has taken two planes, one boat and 20 days walking for Ibrahim, Outayba, Youssef, Khattab (cousins) and their families to reach the border of Serbia and Croatia. After all their effort, the future is still uncertain.’

You may already also know about the events shown in the film, either from your lessons in school or from watching the television and talking with your friends and family.

This session asks you to think critically about what you already know, what you think you might know and the questions you would still like to ask.

Facts, Inferences and Questions

As you watch the film make notes on a large sheet of paper to record what you learn from the film using the following three headings. You could either use different coloured pens and a colour key so everyone identifies some facts, inferences and questions, or different students could focus on only writing down facts, opinions or inferences. You may need to watch the film more than once.

Facts A fact is definitely true. An example of a fact is the children’s names.

Inferences An inference is a conclusion you make based on evidence, but you cannot be absolutely sure it is true without knowing more. An example is that it’s winter time in the film because the children are wearing warm clothes.

Questions A question asks for a piece of information you cannot know without having more information than the film tells you. An example is Where are the children’s’ parents?

When you have finished your discussion about the film set your notes to one side and think about the children’s journeys.

The children’s journeys The four children are very young. However one inference you may have made is that they have a very good understanding of geography! They mention several facts about the countries they have travelled through, their methods of travel and their final destination. Look at this map and trace the children’s journeys. You may need to print a larger copy.

Add any new facts, inferences and questions to your notes.

Outside the frame Most of the film is shot in close up and is closely cropped. It’s quite difficult to see the children’s surroundings clearly. Therefore describing what you think lies outside the frame of the film will be mainly inferences. Make a screenshot of the film, like this. Cut the picture out and place it in the middle of a large sheet of paper. Then draw or write what you think is going on outside the frame of the film. Add any questions you’d like to ask about these inferences.

Final questions about the film Watch the film one more time. What inferences can you make about the following questions:

What is the purpose of the film? Why did World Vision UK spend money to produce it?

Who is the film appealing to? Who is its intended audience?

What does the film want its audience to know, feel and do?

Are there other ways of telling this story? What are they?

Conclusion Review all your evidence from the activities in this workshop. Make sure you have written all the facts, inferences and questions you can think of. For every inference you should have written a question, and you should also have thought of plenty of other questions by now. Everything should be written down on one sheet of paper. Keep it safe for Workshop 2.

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 2

Title Questions and themes

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome

To group together the issues raised by Workshop 1 into a manageable number of themes and prepare a brief presentation on one theme based on further internet research.

When to run the Workshop

Before the Forum.

At the beginning of the workshop take the large single sheet of paper where you wrote your facts, inferences and questions from the last Workshop.

Copy only your questions on to sticky notes and divide the sticky notes equally between the members of your group. Next read out your questions in turn and post them on a board. Try to group similar questions into themes. For example if you have written several questions about children, then children could be one of your themes.

As you work through this task, be prepared to be flexible. As you go along it might make sense to move the questions from one theme to another, or to change the names of your themes. Try not to end up with more than 5 or 6 themes. How you do this is your choice.

Framing Research Once you have agreed and identified your themes, your next task is to research your themes in greater depth. Review your themes and allocate each participant with one theme. Before the next workshop your task is to research one of the themes you have identified and to present a 5 minute informative talk about your theme. You may use no more than 5 PowerPoint slides to illustrate your talk. Your research should focus on both the facts and figures related to your theme, and to the human stories that it involves. If there are more group members than themes you may work on a theme together.

Planning your research In May 2016 it was estimated that the internet had 4.54 billion separate pages. This is equivalent to over 68 billion sheets of paper. This number is too large to imagine!

Because the internet is so large and contains so many types of information, you have three challenges to think about before you begin your research.

How to identify relevant information online. This is the challenge of searching.

How to decide whether online information is trustworthy. This is the challenge of reliability.

How to extract useful information for your presentation. This is the challenge of selecting key evidence.

Divide into three groups. Each group should discuss one of the following questions and make brief notes.

Group Question

Group 1 How would you go about researching the question ‘How many refugees are living in different countries around the world?’ online?

Group 2 You have found a website about refugees in the UK. How would you decide whether it is reliable?

Group 3 You have found a reliable and useful website. It is 10,000 words long and has maps, photos and graphs. How would you go about extracting information to include in a 5 minute presentation?

When you have completed your discussion, take it in turns to explain your ideas and tips to the rest of the group. Add any other suggestions you can think of. Think about what has worked well for you when you’ve done research projects in the past.

Aim to finish the activity with a list of useful tips to help you with each of the three challenges of online research. If you have your phone, take a photo of the list so you can refer to it when you’re doing your research.

Critical questions

One of the greatest challenges facing people using the internet is judging whether a website is trustworthy, truthful and reliable. There is so much information online it can often be difficult to tell at first sight whether what you are looking at is reliable.

However there are some questions you can ask about any website you use, to test its reliability. These are the 5Ws and 1H. Try to use these questions as you do your online research.

Who? Who said it? Is it someone you can trust? What? What did they say? Is it facts or opinions? Do they use emotive language? Where? Where did they say it? Who runs the website and what are their aims? When? When did they say it? Are they reacting to another event? Is it out of date? Why? Why did they say it? Are they trying to influence other people? How? How did they say it? Do they use emotional, biased or dramatic language?

There are more tips in the SFYouth Youth Toolkit – see ‘Finding Information’ and ‘Critical Thinking’.

Preparation for Workshop 3

Before the next workshop your task is to research one of the themes your group identified. Your task is to present a 5 minute informative talk about your theme. You may use no more than 5 PowerPoint slides to illustrate your talk.

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 3

Title Sharing and questioning your research

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome To further deepen knowledge of the issue by questioning your thematic presentations and adding additional relevant information.

When to run the Workshop

Before the Forum.

Take it in turns to present a 5 minute informative talk to your group about your selected theme. You may use no more than 5 PowerPoint slides to illustrate your talk. Then allow 5 minutes for the rest of the group to ask you questions. Take a note of any questions you are unable to answer. These questions can be researched later.

Local-global question time

From: Get Global! A shills-based approach to active global citizenship. P91

As you listen to each presentation take notes using the Local-global question time format (see above). You may work in pairs if you wish. Don’t worry if you don’t have lots of information for some of the questions. The main aim is for you to think about each question carefully and write down what you can. If you need some time to write up your answers after each presentation, then allow sufficient time to do so. You could film and share a video of your presentations on the FYS Forums website. One of you could film each presentation on a phone while the others make their presentations.

Preparation for Workshop 4: Time to review We hope you have researched and taught each other about the refugee crisis, and that this complex issue is beginning to make sense. Shortly you’ll be thinking about how you can make a difference through action. These activities will help you to recap some of the key points. If you already feel confident, you may skim over them quickly or miss them out altogether. However if you feel you still need to build your knowledge then spend a little more time researching and discussing the following evidence.

Your theme

Take one piece of evidence each. Write down three new things you have learned, three surprises and three inferences you learn from your piece of evidence. Statistics were compiled in 2015.

Evidence 1. Migration Facts and Figures Migration refers to the movement of people from one country to another. This may be for any reason, either voluntary or forced. Print a copy of the infographic here. There are additional facts and figures here. Source: International Organisation for Migration

Evidence 2. Internal Displacement Worldwide ‘Internal Displacement’ refers to people who have been forced to flee their homes but who have not crossed an international border. The figures show the numbers of people internally displaced by violence and conflict in 2015. Print a copy of the map here. Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

Evidence 3. Lists of countries by refugee population According to international law a ‘refugee’ is a person who has fled their country for fear of persecution and is unable to return home. A refugee has crossed an international border to seek refuge. See the list of countries by refugee population here. Source: UNHCR, compiled by Wikipedia

Evidence 3. The Refugee Project The Refugee Project website shows the main movements of refugees around the world between 1975 and the present day. It provides background histories of the main refugee crises of the last 40 years. Visit the website here. Source: The Refugee Project

Evidence 4. Asylum applications in European Union (EU) states

A rising number of people forced to flee their homes have recently been arriving in Europe. This is not new, but numbers have increased rapidly through 2014, 2015 and into 2016. Print a copy of the map here. Source: Eurostat, compiled by Wikipedia The BBC presents similar data in separate charts here.

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 4

Title Sharing your opinions

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome To apply personal values and opinions to an informed discussion of the refugee crisis and begin to suggest what a good future would look like.

When to run the Workshop

Before the Forum.

Begin by looking over the evidence you have researched and share the three new things you have learned, three surprises and three inferences in the evidence you reviewed since the last workshop. Allow some time to do this.

An opinion continuum: Where do you stand?

An Opinion Continuum encourages you to think about where you stand on an issue. It helps you to explore complex and controversial issues and diverse viewpoints. This activity will help you to begin to explore your opinions and values about the topic of the Forum; People Forced to Flee.

Set up the classroom so there’s space for a continuous line (real or imagined) from one end of the room to the other. Explain that one end of the line represents total agreement with a question and the other end of the line represents total disagreement.

See: Oxfam GB (2015) – Global Citizenship in the Classroom. A Guide for Schools. P16. Adapted for FYS Forums ‘Active Learning Methods for FYS Forums’.

Read out the statements below one by one. Everyone’s opinion about each will fall somewhere on the line between total agreement and total disagreement. There are no right or wrong answers.

When you read out each statement the students decide where to stand on the line depending on their degree of agreement with the statement. Each young person has the opportunity to explain why they have selected their particular positions. After listening to everyone, individuals may change their position on the line in light of the arguments they have heard. Students should also have the opportunity to question others about why they have selected a particular place to stand. You could then finally discuss what led individual students to change their minds.

Statements

You may devise your own statements depending on the issues raised by the workshops. However we suggest these statements are a good place to start. There are links to the UN Conventions below to support discussions.

1. Every human being has the right to live in peace and security. 2. The UN Convention on Human Rights provides good protection for people living through

conflicts and crises. 3. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) provides good protection

for children living through conflicts and crises. 4. I believe countries’ governments respect the rights of refugees. 5. The refugee crisis is one of the most serious challenges facing the global community today. 6. The UK is doing enough to support people forced to flee from conflict and disaster. 7. I think we as a country should do more to support people forced to flee from conflict and

disaster. 8. I feel that students like me can make a difference to support people forced to flee from conflict

and disaster.

A simplified version of the UN Convention on Human Rights can be found here. A simplified version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can be found here.

This activity is open ended and consists of as many statements as you feel appropriate. By the time you finish you should have explored each other’s values in greater depth.

Plenary and reflection: Ideal Futures

Conclude by reviewing the workshop. We progressed from researching and sharing knowledge towards discussing our opinions and values.

Ideal Futures is a mind mapping tool that encourages students to express their ideas – both positive and negative – about the future. It encourages them to compare the future they would like to see provided citizens take action, with the future that may probably happen if citizens remain silent. It is best carried out as a personal reflection activity with individual responses shared and discussed following the activity.

See: Oxfam GB (2015) – Global Citizenship in the Classroom. A Guide for Schools. P18. Adapted for FYS Forums ‘Active Learning Methods for FYS Forums’.

Draw a time line, going back as far in time as you feel necessary. The line forks at the present. On the lower time line, write or illustrate the things that will probably happen if events continue on their current course and citizens remain silent. On the upper time line write or illustrate the things you would prefer to happen if the opinions of you and your friends were listened to.

The future I’d like to see if my opinions were listened to

The future that will happen if events continue as they are and my voice has no influence.

Does your preferable future provide ideas for taking action or things you’d like to change?

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 5

Title Action ideas

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome To devise appropriate, relevant and practical action(s) which will help to build a preferable future.

When to run the Workshop

Before the Forum.

Before you begin this activity you should have:

Understood why people are forced to flee their homes; the main issues, facts and figures.

Thought about your own values and opinions about the issue; and have a clear idea of what your ‘preferable future’ is.

This workshop will focus on helping you to plan actions. You will lead one of these actions in your school following the FYS Forum in your area. You are required to bring a 1-side summary of your proposed actions and the thinking behind them to the Forum.

What do we want? You need a large sheet of paper. Nominate one member of the group to take notes. Copy the following flow diagram onto your sheet of paper.

From: Get Global! A skills-based approach to active global citizenship. P41

You should be able to fill in the ‘Situation now’ and ‘What we want it to be like’ boxes based on your discussions during the previous workshops. Try to be as specific as possible when you fill in the boxes. Think about the situation in Europe, your country, region or town. What we are going to do is a challenging question. Frequently the individual citizen feels powerless in the face of vast global challenges. However history is full of stories of individual citizens who became leaders of movements for change; for example Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Dr Martin Luther King. This list is long.

There are three main types of action which are often linked together in action plans.

Action Examples

Political Political action seeks to influence the people who make and implement laws and decisions. The targets of political action range from Presidents and Prime Ministers through to the Mayor and local councilors, to your school principal and teachers. Business leaders are also decision makers with a lot of influence.

Media The media influences both the general public and decision makers such as politicians and business leaders. Media organisations range from global TV networks through to local and regional newspapers, to your school newsletter or website.

Public Engagement

In a democracy, decision makers require the support of the general public to make and implement laws and ultimately stay in power. The attitudes of the general public also influence how an issue develops. For example, if the general public welcome refugees as their neighbours, then a political policy to settle refugees in the town is much more likely to be successful.

You don’t need to decide your final actions now. Discuss and write down the different ideas you have. However aim to make your plans SMART.

Making your idea SMART The purpose of action is to help bring about the greatest amount of change possible with a realistic level of effort on your part. To help to keep your plans manageable discuss how you will make your action SMART.

S SPECIFIC – your action can be clearly defined

M MEASURABLE – any change you influence can be observed or measured

A ACHIEVABLE – it is possible for you to do

R REALISTIC – it can happen given constraints such as time and money

T TIME-BOUND – it is possible in the time you have available, eg: 4 weeks

If your plans are not SMART then be prepared to change them. It is better to plan something small and SMART that will succeed than something large that may fail.

Which action(s)? You should now have some ideas about the types of action you wish to propose and have thought about whether they are do-able and SMART. Next think more closely about which two actions you would like to propose on behalf of your school community. Design and fill in a Which action? chart to help you organize your ideas and decide the two best actions. When you have written all your ideas on the chart, highlight your best two actions. This doesn’t have to be written up in detail.

Action Idea

How long will it take

to plan?

How easy is it for us to

do?

How much impact will the action

have?

Who can help us?

Who might make it

difficult for us?

Your questions?

From: Get Global! A skills-based approach to active global citizenship. P100

Your FYS Forum proposal Your final step is to draft a 1 side document to bring to the FYS Forum. It will summarise your learning so far and your best action ideas. You’ll be discussing this document with students from other schools at the Forum and making a second draft of your action plan. Agree the main points and then delegate one person to write up the document and share it with the group before you each bring a copy to the FYS Forum.

Name of your school: 1. Describe the main issue or theme your actions will be about (the situation now) Action 1 Action 2 2. Describe the change you would like to see (what we want it to be like) Action 1 Action 2 3. Describe your best action(s) to help achieve this (what we are going to do) Action 1

Action 2

People Forced to Flee

Workshop Number 6

Title Action planning

Age Range 11 – 16

Time 50 – 60 minutes

Outcome To plan and implement the action agreed at the FYS Forum.

When to run the Workshop

After the Forum.

We hope you enjoyed the FYS Forum and have returned to school with plenty of ideas and questions. Your final step is to plan and carry out the action in your school. Every student in your school should have the opportunity to take part in the action, although whether they do so or not is their choice.

We want you to carry out and tell us about your action by the end of January 2017. We’ll be holding webinars so you can discuss how your actions went, with other schools in your area and across Europe.

Your action plan

You may have changed your plans at the FYS Forum. So begin this workshop by agreeing the outline of your action plan on this template. This will provide an overview of your plan and summarise what you plan to do.

From: Get Global! A skills-based approach to active global citizenship. P104

Keeping organised

The most challenging part of organizing an action is managing all the small tasks that fit together to make up your action. An action is a little like a jigsaw puzzle. A lot of small pieces fit together to make up the whole picture, and you have to know what each piece is about and where it fits in.

Keeping organized chart

Date What needs to

be done Who’s

responsible Who else is

involved What’s the

deadline What happens

next

From SFYouth Youth Toolkit – Planning Actions

This chart should be a live document, preferably on a shared platform like Google Docs so everyone can contribute to it and keep up to date. You should return to it on a regular basis while you carry out your action. The challenge you face is for everyone who has a responsibility or is involved, to complete their tasks by the deadlines you’ve agreed. You may meet unexpected challenges which slow down your progress, but be honest about these and reschedule your activities accordingly. You should use regular meetings to check in on progress and aim to complete most of the tasks that need to be done in between meetings.

Some action planning tips Here are some of the more frequent actions young campaigners organise: 1. A creative petition 2. Lobbying a decision maker, for example your MP 3. Running an event 4. Making a video 5. Organising a media stunt There are practical tips for lots of different types of action available in English on the Oxfam GB website here. There is also a checklist available on the FYS-Forums website to help you review that you’ve got everything finished here.