RESPECT International Blog

by Barney Whitwham

Refugee Stories, part of the Refugee Communities History Project (RCHP), recently announced a new online resource designed primarily to support Key Stage 3 Citizenship learning.

This is one of a number of Learning Resources created by the RCHP, which was established to record previously untold stories of refugees who have settled in London since the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees, to highlight the enormous contributions the refugees make to the city.

Designed to develop an understanding and raise awareness of refugee issues among pupils, the content of this new Learning Resource is free to download and can be easily customised to suit the needs of specific classes.

The specific aims are to:

* challenge pupils’ personal views and feelings about refugees and asylum seekers;
* develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the reasons why refugees have been forced to leave their countries of origin;
* counteract inaccuracies and negative stereotypes in some media reporting of refugees in the United Kingdom;
* raise pupils’ awareness of the valuable contributions refugees make to their host countries – politically, economically, culturally and socially;
* develop pupils’ understanding that, above all, refugees are individuals, just like themselves.

The content is provided in the format of five individual lessons, with a range of supporting materials to suit mixed abilities. Each lesson can be easily adapted, and include suggested homework and follow-up activities.

The support materials are varied and engaging, and include information cards, quizzes, maps, video clips and PowerPoint presentations. While aimed at KS3 Citizenship, there is great scope for linking to other areas of the curriculum, particularly History, Geography and English.

The material is provided through Refugee Stories collected by the RCHP. The Project is run by the Evelyn Oldfield Unit as a partnership and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the City Parochial Foundation, through the Trust for London.

The bulk of this work took place between June 2004 and April 2007 and, in 2006, the project won the 2006 Charity Award for arts, culture and heritage.

Over 150 people took part, from 15 refugee groups. It is from this wealth of information that the Learning Resources have been developed.

With asylum and immigration remaining a divisive political issue, particularly in the run-up to a General Election, it is pleasing to see high quality teaching material available to provide a much greater understanding of the subject for a younger generation.