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Incorporating the global refugee crisis into your classroom
Outline of paper presented at the Peace as a Global Language Conference 2003
In recent decades, there have been many arguments for introducing content-based teaching to the EFL classroom and, even more recently, advocates of global issues have been promoting the inclusion of these issues in the content-based curriculum. Introducing these complex issues under the broad umbrella theme of the Global Refugee Crisis allows teacher and students to consider the nature of and interrelationships between such factors as: human rights; conflict; the role of the UN and it's related organisations; the nature and functions of various institutions, including NGO's; health; use of limited natural and monetary resources; the environment; education; womens issues; rights of the child; cultural issues and expectations; cross-cultural communication; religion; history; economics and economic history; power; and art and literature. The focus of any lesson will depend on the learners' ages, levels and interests, as well as the kind of course being taught. This lecture will provide guidelines for incorporating the Global Refugee Crisis into the classroom.
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Choosing to teach the Global Refugee Crisis as a focus theme is important for a number of reasons:
- It represents a complex real-world issue of which students are already aware through exposure to news reports, discussions, etc, although they have generally not studied about it extensively or critically.
- It allows students, in following their interests or field of study within the constraints of the theme, and to consider multiple factors which interact to contribute to the complexity of the theme.
- It focusses on global issues and the way that English, a global language, can be used to discuss and affect change in situations occuring in the world.
- It develops critical awareness of the issues selected for study.It develops critical thinking about complex issues.
- It has a great deal of scope for real communication tasks in which the aim is communicating for shared knowledge.
- It allows students to experience a variety of communication tasks, in series, from those which are guided and non-threatening to more face-threatening negotiations which include the necessity for consensus-building and conflict resolution.
- It allows for the inclusion of a great variety of primary materials as resources, including books, articles, current news items, internet sites, letters, reports, graphs, pieces of art, poems, etc.
- It allows for design of tasks for incorporation of all learning styles into each lesson.
- It allows students to express their thoughts and opinions on a variety of factual and ethical situations.
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Topics covered in paper:
Why is this important?
Background information on Refugee Issues.
Issues (in no particular order - interdependent):- status
- human rights
- conflict
- the role of the UN and it's related organisations
- the nature and functions of various institutions, including NGO's
- health
- use of limited natural and monetary resources
- education
- the environment
- womens issues
- rights of the child
- cultural issues and expectations
- cross-cultural communication
- religion
- history
- economics and economic history
- power
- art and literature
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Some example lesson ideas:
At the university level
For general English students:
A great deal of scope for definitions, locations, reasons, organisations, role of aid organisations and actors within, "What can I do?".
Could use dictogloss, jig-saw reading, case studies, problem-solving techniques.
Students could produce comic books, plays, presentations, debate...
There is a great lesson plan by Fiona Eastley in the 2002 PGL Conference Proceedings.For architecture and design students:
Jigsaw reading to identify the needs of refugee camp. Students work in pairs or groups to design a camp for a specified number of people. You can select one specific location. Topographic maps will assist in planning. Students present their projects and complete an analysis and critique of all plans, then discuss.
Students can then analyse and describe one system used in a camp, e.g. water delivery system. Can they make improvements on the design of the system? For health students:
Dictogloss to introduce. Take an example design of a camp. Jigsaw potential areas of concern with respect to health. Students work in pairs or groups to redesign camp to minimise health risks and maximise access to care. For economics students:
Simulation of informal economies of refugee camps through assignment of roles giving times to do a task/ allocations of supplies / needs of family At the high school level:
Should deal with definitions, locations, brief history of complex emergency, individuals. At the junior high school level:
Should deal with definitions, locations, very brief history of emergency, individuals. At the elementary level:
Should deal with locations, brief explanation of emergency and roles of aid workers, experiences of children. May be approached through children's narratives and artwork. CALL classes:
Many possibilities exist, e.g. webquests, simulations, Medicine san Frontiers has a great "virtual visit" to a refugee camp; UNHCR also has great resources for students to investigate. The outline for my JALT 2003 Poster Session has more ideas for the university classroom.
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References
Bohne, L. (2003). Learning to be Stupid in the Culture of Cash. Democratic Underground.com.
Brown, H.D. (1995). Teaching Global Interdependence as a Subversive Activity. Global Issues in Language Education, 20. p 12-14.
Finch, A. (2002). Peace in the Classroom. 2002 PGL Proceedings.
Hyndman, J. (2000). Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Jacobs, G. (1995). Language Use or Language Usage? Global Issues in Language Education, 18. p17.
Maynard, K. (1999). Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies. New York: Columbia University Press.
Ockenden, S. (1999). World Citizenship: Global Villager or Global Consumer? Global Issues in Language Education, 36. p8.
U.S. Committee for Refugees. (2002). World Refugee Survey 2002: An Annual Assessment of Conditions Affecting Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons. Washington, DC: USCR.
Wang, L. (ed.). (2002). Global Perspectives: A statement on global education for Australian Schools. Carlton, Australia: Curriculum Corporation.
Wientroub, E. (1998). Hot Potato: Teaching about the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process. Global Issues in Language Education, 33. p11.
Weiss, T. & Collins, C. (2000). Humanitarian Challenges and Interventions. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Wilkinson, R. (2003). Old problems, new realities. Refugees, (3), 132.
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N.B.
I will be adding links and details to this page over the coming months. Stay tuned.
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