Teaching ideas

More Lesson Ideas

Who is a Refugee

Stage 3 Creative Arts

  • Students could work in pairs and groups to develop their ideas and then collaborate to make artworks using sections of Roads to Refuge as stimuli. They could then share their artworks and reflect on the works of others.
  • Students could research artworks composed or produced by refugees in any artform and use them as stimuli for their own artworks. They could experiment with the use of symbols and devise their own.
  • The Refugee Art Project could be a stimulus for looking at Alwy Fadhela’s coffee paintings. Students make their own artwork experimenting with coffee painting. Perhaps other foodstuffs could be used.
  • Students could make artworks to communicate with children in detention. (Compare Operation Art where students make artworks for children in hospital.)

Stage 4 HSIE

  • The SBS documentary Go Back to Where You Came From (series II) screened in 2012. In Part 2, one of the groups visited an Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Mogadishu. Show students this part of the series and consider some of the issues that face people who live there.
    • Where do displaced children go to school?
    • Are people able to travel?
    • What type of living arrangements do people have?
    • Are there any long-term solutions that might be possible for internally displaced persons?

Stage 5 Geography

Stage 6 Legal Studies

  • Palestine case study- Refugees or Stateless persons?
    The Palestinian issue of statelessness is complex and thus makes an interesting case study. A United Nations agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNRWA) was established in 1948 to provide assistance to Palestinian people. They are therefore not included in the mandate of the UNHCR.
    • Are Palestinians refugees or stateless persons?
    • Why is Palestine treated differently to other states within the international legal system?

Refugee Journeys

Stage 3 Creative Arts

  • Students could work in pairs and groups to develop their ideas and then collaborate to make artworks using sections of Roads to Refuge as stimuli. They could then share their artworks and reflect on the works of others.
  • Students could research artworks composed or produced by refugees in any artform and use them as stimuli for their own artworks. They could experiment with the use of symbols and devise their own. For examples, see:
    • The Haunted Lotus, artwork by Khadim Ali considers familial ties, the Hazara people and culture, and the emergence of a lawless society in Afghanistan.
    • Cuc Lam’s Suitcase, National Treasures (2004, 4min 55) A short clip about a small red vinyl suitcase, a symbol of a new beginning in a new country.
    • Lucky Miles, (2007) A film about three different blokes stranded in the Australian desert.

Stages 4/5 English/ Mathematics/ HSIE/ Languages

  • The UNHCR and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) both have statistics available online. For example:
    • World asylum applications can be used to report on patterns of movement by asylum seekers.
    • UNHCR statistics search tool can be used to investigate or compare how many refugees have arrived (to date) in different countries.
  • UNICEF Australia has a series of photo stories online. They have questions for students to think about. Students can compare their own lives to those of the children in Syria. For example:
  • Read the story of a ‘people smuggler’, Hamid (Iran) at the BBC Road to Refuge website.
  • Explore the difference between people smuggling and human trafficking.
  • Analyse different media and web resources on the topic of refugee journeys for differences in styles of language, depth of story or potential bias.
  • Students create their own newspaper article or blog about a refugee journey. Use the experiences of refugees to report on life in a camp or an urban area environment where people are seeking asylum.
    • Compare the stories of different men and women, girls and boys in the DVD Roads to Refuge » Refugee journeys.
    • Ask students to investigate news directly from a camp. For example, news from the Kakuma camp is available at http://kanere.org/ or refer to the links at Roads to Refuge » Stateless persons.
  • For more activities on the stages of a refugee journey, refer to Get Connected Lesson plans, Issue 8, p 12 (lesson 6 - Phong Nguyen case study).

Stage 6 Community and Family Studies

  • Explore the issue for Palestinians (stateless persons); the rebuilding of Palestinian refugee camp in North Lebanon https://vimeo.com/13291218

Stage 6 Legal Studies

  • Explore the issues for people from Myanmar seeking asylum in Thailand (not a signatory to the Refugee Convention) - see Human Rights Watch reports.

Refugee settlement

Refugees in Australia

  • Students design a project aimed at raising awareness about refugees settling into life in Australia, such as:
    • Create a text (promotion/ film/ picture book) using refugee stories of settlement.
    • Submit a Project Proposal to local council for a community event.
    • Establish a refugee support group and/ or website (for example Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group)?
  • Create a visual performance (dance/ drama/ music/ documentary) that incorporates the cultural values of students from refugee backgrounds.
    • Refer to Gillian Howell’s blog, Music work that discusses issues about risk taking for refugee students when developing their creativity.
    • Resident Voices » Villawood is an example of an ongoing film project.

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