Migration - teachers

The introduction has the objective of introducing the project and motivating students.

Students will learn about the project, the main objectives and the goals they have to achieve (creating a short documentary about their perspective on certain historical issues).

• Presentation videoclip →

• Assessment grid (annex 1)

• Organise the communication with the partner school (Skype, video, email, etc.) 

• Analyse and if necessary, adapt the assessment criteria to give to students. 

Introduction of the project:

a) Students will watch a video clip that presents the objective of the project —  creating a short 10-15 minute documentary and exchanging it with other European schools. This video is the same for all topics. 

If necessary, give more explanation to the students, addressing the objective of the lesson, the steps, timing, characteristics of the video clip students have to create, etc.

b) Set up a brief communication with the partner students, if possible via Skype: 

i. Students from each class should introduce themselves: Hello, this is our class. We are looking forward to this project, we are very excited. I am Michael, I’m 16 years old, Delphine: Hello..." 

ii. If a Skype meeting is not possible, prepare a short presentation video to send them or write an email with the presentation and add a picture of the class. 
- This activity does not have to take longer than 15-20 minutes but has a significant effect on student motivation and the success of the project. 
- If the students’ English level is poor, you can communicate via email, so they have time to prepare the communication and translate the answers. 

c) Explain the assessment criteria to the students.

The introduction has the objective of introducing the project and motivating students.

• Students will start reflecting on the topic “migration”, watching a prepared video based on the recent overseas migration to Europe. 

• Students will start thinking about the research question: how should we deal with migration?

• Migration starter clip →

• It is crucial that students understand the concept of migration as they will research and create a documentary based on it. In this lesson, they will start this process of “comprehension” that will continue in step 2. 

• Fact sheet: Migration (annex 1)

1. Introducing the topic.
   Start asking a question to the students: Who are migrants?

2. Introducing and analysing different types of migration and kinds of migrants.
   
   Discuss their knowledge of the topic in class.
           • What is migration?
           • Why is it important?
           • What different kind of migration can we think of?
           • In which ways do they differ?
           • What do they all have in common?
   
   Use the fact sheets about migration when you notice that students do not fully grasp the concepts.

3. Motivational activity:

   1. Watch the starter clip and comment on it as a whole class. If necessary, briefly explain the historical background of the clip (Recent migration from Africa to Europe) and focus on the topic of the question.  

   2. Some possible questions you could ask your students include:

      1. Comprehension

         1. What is shown in the clip? 

         2. Who are the people in the clip? 

         3. What are the protagonists’ opinions on dealing with the past?

      2. Discussion

         1. Why do people move? Why do others stay?

         2. Should everybody be able to go and move to wherever they want?

         3. Are there any public discussions about migration?

4. Introduction of the research question: how do you think we should deal with migration?

*At the end of the project students will come back to the enquiry question and write down reflections on it for the second time, comparing their responses to see if they have modified/developed ideas on the topic. It would be a good idea to take a picture of the ideas written on the blackboard.

Migration ​is the movement of persons away from their place of usual residence, either across an international border or within a State.

Migrant​ is a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.”

(Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM) )

●     Internal vs. external migration: moving within or to a different state, country, or continent  

●     Emigration vs. immigration: leaving from or moving to a region, state, or continent    

●     Return migration: moving back to the region, state, or continent a person left

●     Seasonal migration: moving temporarily to another place (usually in response to working- or climate conditions)

●     Refugees are people who fled their country because of conflict, natural disaster or to seek refuge from political, religious, or other forms of persecution.

●     Internally displaced people (IDPs) are like refugees but seek safety within the borders of their own country. 

●     Economic migration: leaving home for work or an improvement of working conditions.

●     Family reunification: someone moving to a different country to join a family member already living there. 

During this lesson students will learn about historical examples and understand different types of migration. They will then look at recent changes in legislation and analyse how this has affected migrants’ lives.

• Students will have group discussions about migration as all time, worldwide phenomenon, using the timeline with different types of European migration throughout history. 

• Students will analyse the legislation on migration to be aware of the causes and consequences that these laws and agreements have to the migrants that try to come to Europe and why they cross the Mediterranean in small boats.

In these lessons we provide you with a lot of materials. You are free to make choices in the historical assignments; use some texts instead of all or divide the assignments between the students.

• Timeline with information about European migration. This timeline gives information about different types of migration from and to Europe in different historical periods. In the activities, we will ask students to focus on the 20th century as example. 

• Factsheet with the information of the legislation changes about migration (annex 1) during the last decades. This document has multiple treaties and pieces of legislation. Depending on the age and maturity of your students, you can give them a shorter version of this document choosing some of the treaties or laws. This is a suggestion of the treaties you can choose: 

1. Introduction:
   Remind the students of the video clip they have watched in the previous step and ask students to name more historical examples of migration to, from or in Europe. This will help to see how much knowledge they have. 

2. Analysis of different migration types. Group discussion:
   Tell students to find different examples of historical migration in the digital timeline since the beginning of 20th century (model: experts).
   You can ask them to try to find an example or two for each type of migration (political, economic, religious...) and try to understand the reasons for it.

Example: The Huguenots in the 17th century were emigrants. They were refugees fleeing religious discrimination in France. They fled to countries like the Netherlands, England, Palatinate or Prussia.

3. Analysis of legislation on migration:
   How has Europe dealt with migration recently?
   
   a. Tell students that Europe has changed its migration policies several times in recent years. Every time new laws, agreements and rules were implemented, this had consequences for migrants. 
   
   b. Give them some examples of legislation and treaties on migration or give them the fact sheet about legislation to analyse it.
   
   i. New challenges for migrants
   ii. How do they cope with these new challenges?
   iii. How do European countries react?
   
   c. Another option could be to ask students to decide what the impact of each decision has been. This could be done putting the treaties on a line from most negative to most positive, for example.

To download the fact sheet Legislation click here

During this lesson, students will learn more about migration analysing the actions of some protagonists of the issue, to be aware of the different motives and ideas of the people involved in it.

• Students will analyse different perspectives of the people involved in migration, using the characters of the clip as model, in order to understand that there is no consensus on this issue.

• Students will experience that gathering more facts and analysing them is basic to the development of a well-considered personal view.

• Students will brainstorm on possible answers to the research question.

• Character cards with some protagonists of the video clip. The characters on the cards are: governments, captain Pia Klemp, civilians welcoming refugees, captain Schmidt, those who stay at home (Ghana), coast guards, NGO’s, Abdul Aziz (migrant), civilians opposing the arrival of refugees, and migrants in camps. The latter don't appear in the video clip literally, but they are addressed when Libya’s camps are discussed. All characters have different perspectives on migration and act in different ways. (annex 1)

• There are ten different characters, so divide the class in ten groups and make copies of one character card to each group.

• In order to better understand the different opinions on the topic, students will analyse the character cards to decide what perspective each of them has. Students will realise that motives and ideas of people involved often are based on feelings, hopes, fears and unclear assumptions.

1. Introducing and analysing different characters in the Migration starter clip.

   1. Give a copy of a single character card to each group. Before they start to analyse it, in the classroom discussion, try to remember who the characters are or watch some parts of the video clip to help point out who they are.
      
                i. Migrants
                ii. Rescuers
                iii. European governments
                iv. Coast guard
                 v. European citizens helping migrants
                vi. European citizens opposing migration

   2. Tell students to analyse the information that appears in the cards and identify the perspective of those involved in migration, and how their character has dealt with migration (in favour, stopping, etc.)
       
   3. After they have pictured the perspective, place students in mixed groups and let them discuss the different perspectives.
       
   4. Another option would be to give all the character cards to each group and ask students to rank them from most positive perspective to least positive perspective about migrants. Then, they can try to figure why each character has that perspective, how these characters deal with migration and what their solutions are.

2. Reflecting on the research question.
   To finish, ask students to reflect on why people act differently on migration. What happened to make some people think differently from others? Why do they deal with the issue in different ways? What reasons could they have for doing so?

3. Homework.
   Ask students to look for a newspaper clip or news item in the media on current migration and bring it to school for the next lesson. This will help them to focus on the topic they will choose for the documentary.

During this part, students will choose the topic of the documentary they will create, taking ideas from the video clip, characters and news about migration, as well as focusing on a policymaker.

• Students will organise themselves in groups of 4-6 .

• Students will choose a topic for their research focusing on a policymaker: in addition to a main character to tell their story, students will be encouraged to take a stance and address a policymaker in their video, so that they can share their own views on the issue of migration with this policymaker.

• Groups of 4-6 students

• Information about migration that students have to bring to class (newspaper articles, …)

1. Introduction.

   1. Tell students they will create the documentary in groups of 4-6. Make the groups or tell them to organise themselves into groups.

2. Choosing the topic.

   1. Before they start choosing the topic, remind them that the issue of migration is very complex. 

   2. Students can take ideas from the character cards and the news about migration they took to school as homework.

   3. Ask students which part of the problem they would like to investigate and propose solutions to, and give them the following list, as example:    

      1. Legislation

      2. Transportation

      3. Procedures

      4. How to improve the living conditions of people considering migration

      5. Consequences of migration for Europe (+ and -)

      6. Consequences of migration for home countries (+ and -)

      7. Brain drain, loss of young people

      8. Image of migration in home countries (‘European dream’)

      9. Image of migration in Europe (fear for loss of jobs, housing, culture)

                    b. Addressing the policymaker:

• In the research tutorial that students will watch in the next step, students will learn how to find a main character. 
   
• For the documentary on migration we suggest not only to tell the story of a main character but also to take a stance and address a policymaker. At the end of the short documentary, students will share their views/questions and possible solutions with this policymaker. In this way students play an active role in the documentary.

Some examples to help students

• There is a shelter in your town. There is not enough to do for kids there, no sports facilities, etc. Students interview some families or one family to try to get an overview on the issue and the problems. They think of possible solutions to the problem, and ask the family for solutions as well. They choose the mayor of their town as the policymaker and address him or her. If they have enough time, they might even make an appointment with the mayor to show him/her the filmed material asking for their comment on the matter.

• Your grandfather is a Hungarian who fled to Germany in 1956 during the Russian invasion. How does he look at his country and fellow countrymen who have closed their borders and were quite hostile to migrants? The students will address the prime minister of Hungary. Of course they cannot meet him, but they can surely raise some questions.

• Your math teacher is from Syria. She integrated very quickly, learned to speak the language of your country and has already been working  for several years. But she earns the money for the whole family because her husband, who graduated as a neurologist, does not have a job. Students interview him to try to find out why it is so difficult for qualified migrants to find jobs. They address the minister of social affairs to do something about this.
   

Be sure that each group has chosen the topic and the policymaker for the documentary so that they can start the research in the next step.

During this step students will create a historical documentary in groups, after researching the topic in their own environment.

• To learn how to create a documentary 

• To make a documentary of 10 minutes in groups of 4 to 6 students after being assigned different roles

• Groups of 4-6 students

• Tutorials for documentary

• Steps for each function (annex 2). The steps follow the information given in the tutorials and as they are connected to certain roles, the information is also linked in the role cards.  

  • Researching  

  • Interviewing 

  • Filming 

  • Editing 

• Assessment grid for the documentary (annex 3). 

• Statement of consent (annex 4)

• Specifications for filming on mobile phones (annex 5)

• Make copies of the roles and their functions. All the students will be researchers so make copies for each of them. The other functions will be assigned to one/two students in each group depending on the number of students. 

• Give the assessment grid to the students before starting the creation of the documentary in case you want to use it as a frame for assessing the students.

• As the teacher, watch all the tutorials in advance so that you know what the students are going to be doing and understand how the various functions fit together. The tutorial upload and refind is specific for teachers to upload to the European server.

1. Introduction 

   1. Tell students they will create the documentary in groups of 4-6 and that  they will have different roles whilst creating it. There are four roles:

      1. Researcher: done by the whole group. Research is a key part of making a documentary. Make sure your teams have 2 researchers to keep working on this research, finding background information and the right materials during the process.

      2. Interviewer: in charge of preparing the questions and doing the interview.

      3. Cameraman/woman: will record the interview and images needed.

      4. Editor: will edit the film with the help of his/her colleagues.

2. Organising roles and watching tutorials 

   1. Divide the roles among the groups or let the students choose a role and give them their role cards. For groups of 6, some functions can be duplicated.

   2. Give each student his/her role card. Ask them to carefully read their role cards and watch the tutorials. As the research will be done by all the students, you can watch this tutorial as a class. The other tutorials can be watched individually as homework. 

3. Researching 

   1. Students will do the main part of the research on the topic in class. Before starting, remind them that they started finding a local example in Step 2 Part 2 in the conclusion of the lesson and their homework. Be sure all the groups have a topic/subtopic to start the research. 

   2. It may be difficult for students to identify an appropriate person to interview in their own environment. Tell the students that this person does not have to be someone who has direct experience, but can also be someone who is an expert, or whose family experienced the topic students are researching. This increases the range of topics that can be addressed. 

   3. Explain students that the videos have to be in English, because otherwise, your partner school will not be able to watch your videos in the last exchange lesson. 

If the interview partner is not able (or willing) to do the interview in English, they can do the interview in any other language but then they would have to add English subtitles to their video for the interview parts. The tutorial upload explains how to add subtitles after editing

4. 4. The last step of the research is to plan the creation of the movie. Let students do it themselves based on the information provided in their role/steps documents, but check the planning as they will do the following activities out of school. 

5. Out of school activities 

   1. Students will do the interviewing/filming and editing out of school. 

   2. During the filming phase, organise an opportunity for the students to have contact with you for questions and support (mail contact, a walk-in consultation hour, etc.).

   3. Remind students that, as it appears in the interview/filming tutorial, they have to ask for the written permission of the people they interview. In the case your students interview a person under 18, they have to ask for written permission from their parent via the Quitclaim or statement of constent (annex 4).

6. Uploading

   1. As a teacher, watch the tutorial Upload and refind The tutorial will lead you through the uploading process step by step.

   2. Make sure the uploading is done at least one day before the meeting with your partner class. 

   3. Allocate 10 minutes of uploading time for 1 video, depending on the speed of your internet. For a whole class with low speed internet this could take up an hour and a half.

Try to create a stable environment by using a tripod or a chair to lean on.

If possible, use an additional microphone. If you do not have one, avoid filming too far away from your sound object or person.

You could also use an extra phone to record the sound but then you have to synchronise both phones using a clap:

• Start the audio on one phone and the camera on the other. Now synchronise by clapping your hands slowly. Make sure you record and film the hands and sound.

• Do not stop your phone after this point. If you stop, you will have to sync again.

• When editing, you can synchronise the clap with the image of the clap and then the sound and image will run at the same speed.

And last but not least, watch the filming tutorial before you start shooting.

Good luck !

This step is the most interesting and important part of the project, as students will watch others’ videos and exchange their opinions about the topic. 

Students will compare and discuss their conclusions about the topic and enquiry question within the school and with the partner school after watching the documentaries they have all produced.

• The videos of your class correctly uploaded to the web

• The links to the videos made by the students of the partner school

• Assessment grid for co-assessing the videos (annex 1) if you haven't given them to students before.

• Agree on exchange and discussion with the teacher from the partner school (  platform, timing, etc). This could be done in a asynchronous (Skype, hangout, etc.) or a-synchronous way like by email or in a Q&A-forum as it is not always possible to arrange for two classes in two different schools to synchronise schedules.

• To prepare for this session, students could send questions to the other school to discuss during the screening of each other’s documentaries. This would also help to structure the exchanges. If the students list their possible questions first, the teacher can select the ones that are most interesting. 

2. 1. Explain to students that they will watch the documentaries they created along with those created by their European colleagues, and then afterwards, they will have a discussion session with the partner school.

3. Sharing and commenting activities  

   1. Sharing and commenting on the videos within schools   

      1. Share the videos with the whole class. 

      2. Organise a discussion and feedback session afterwards. 

      3. Remind your students to:

         1. be respectful commenting

         2. appreciate the work done by the other students

         3. give constructive feedback

         4. compare the similarities and differences of the local/regional cases

         5. discuss the ethical dimension of different attitudes and behaviours in relation to "a difficult past".

      4. Students can fill in the assessment grid for co-assessing the videos of their colleagues, now or at the end of the project. 

4. 2. Sharing of the videos between schools and preparing for discussion  

      1. Share and watch the videos from the partner class. Give background to the regional or national history reflected in the videos. 

      2. Prepare the students for discussion with the partner class: 

         1. What are you  going to talk about?

         2. How will students organise themselves to participate?

5. 3. Discussion between schools 

      1. Understand, compare and discuss the videos with the other group via Skype, chat, etc.

      2. Questions about the videos can relate to specific details, background or aspects the students may not be familiar with or fully understand.

      3. The idea would be to analyse the different perspectives shown through the videos (outcomes: differences/similarities ) with questions like:

         1. Compare the case studies, what similarities can you find?

         2. What are the differences? Do you think these differences are specific for this town/region/country or dependent on other factors? 

         3. Does the partner class have the same viewpoint on the issue?  

         4. Did they provide information or viewpoints that were previously unknown to you?

6. Conclusion 

   1. If time allows, take a moment to draw conclusions from the discussion session in a whole class setting.

This lesson will close the project, providing opportunities for individual/group reflection and assessment focused on the topics covered throughout the lesson, the documentary-making process and the project as a whole.

Students will reflect on the development of their opinions on the topic and self-assess/co-assess their documentaries, the projects and their experience of sharing their perspectives with other European students.

• The picture you took in the first step, where students provided their initial opinions on the research question. This will be a useful tool for contextualising the development of their ideas throughout the project. 

• Examples/suggestions for individual/group reflection, including the European dimension

• Assessment grid for co-assessing the videos and assessment grid for the teacher to assess the documentary if it was not given to students previously (annex 1)  

1. Introduction

   1. Explain to students that they will reflect on and assess the whole project.

2. Reflection activity 

   1. Discuss the research question by using the students’ answers from the first lesson to incite discussion and to see if and how they changed their opinions on the question.

   2. Write group/individual reflections on the topic and the enquiry question.

      1. Reflection can focus on student feelings, reactions and drawing comparisons between the ideas they had at the beginning of the lesson and the ones they developed after having learnt about the topic. 

      2. Points of discussion could include: the video and its context, global and local examples, knowledge of other students’ opinions, etc.

      3. You can also ask students to write down whether or not they have changed their mind/developed new thoughts and why. 

         1. This can be first be done at an individual level, so that students reflect on their own development. Afterwards, reflection can be expanded to a whole class discussion. If you have a picture of their opinions from the beginning of the project, you can project it and let students make comparisons.

3. Assessment

   1.  Assessment has multiple parts:

      1. Assessing the topic and quality of the videos the students have created. 

         1. This can be done as co-assessment and/or completed by the teacher, using the assessment grid. 

      2. Assessing the complete project. 

         1. Prepare some questions to discuss individually/in small groups:

            1. How did you feel about group work? (roles, timing, responsibilities, etc.) 

            2. Do you think it is important to research and discuss controversial topics like these?

            3. Did the exchange with other students help open your mind to new ideas about the topic? 

         2. Have students write down two of the best aspects of the project and two things to improve. 

4. Conclusion 

   1. Evaluate the project: 

      1. What was it like making a film? 

      2. What was it like working with a class from another country? 

      3. For both questions: What was especially difficult? What would you/ what should we do differently if organising a similar project in the future?

* Please fill this short questionnaire with your class after you have closed the project