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Utica: The Town that Loves Refugees
Created by: Gaye Facer / adapted from Michael Bollom
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A minority ethnic Karen refugee girl from Myanmar studies at a private school in Utica.
©Vincent Winter
Lesson Plan
Grade Level: Middle/High
(Grades 6-12)
Refugee themes can help children understand fundamental issues in Social Studies, History, Geography, Economics, Model UN, or Education for Citizenship. They can bring a poignant and imaginative approach to teaching English Language and Literature, English as a Second Language, Journalism or Art.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lesson plans help educators introduce refugee issues into the curriculum of these different subjects. Plans are also designed to help students:
- Understand some of the complex processes that lead to violence and conflict, which in turn cause refugees to flee their homes and countries of origin
- Cultivate attitudes that lead to constructive, active and non-violent resolution of conflict
- Develop the personal and social skills necessary to respect basic human rights
- Develop the skills to become active global citizens, such as, active listening, questioning, research, interest in international issues, debating, speaking and writing respectfully, celebrating cultural diversity
Curriculum Connections:
Social Studies, Humanities, History, Geography, Human Rights and Refugees, Model UN, Journalism, English Language and Literature, Global Citizens, CAS (Community-Action-Service component of IB programs)
Purpose:
To encourage students to question/process/appreciate the value of refugees as new citizens; to expand understanding of historical conflicts and why refugees have fled their home countries; to enhance tolerance, acceptance, celebration of cultural diversity as a force for positive change in their adopted communities –- showing how refugees can contribute to making their new countries a better place for all to live.
Objective:
Students will actively engage in current affairs research in a quest to create "questions for answers" in a quiz-style game format, working in small teams. Statistics and geographical information are sorted by level of perceived difficulty and placed in what for many students will be new contexts (regional conflicts/geographical migration/governments). The accompanying UNHCR film, Utica: The Town that Loves Refugees, provides a positive outcomes model which poses essential cultural studies questions for consideration: Where did the refugees come from? Why? So What? How does it affect me?
Overview/Background:
Refugees have a fundamental right to asylum -- to seek refuge from persecution -- enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14. This is a basic principle of international law.
What sets refugees apart from other humanitarian aid recipients is their need for international protection. The 1951 Refugee Convention spells out who is a refugee and the kind of protection refugees should receive. Refugees cannot look to their own government to protect their rights. Sometimes they are fleeing in terror from abuses perpetrated by their own government, or from persecution that their government is powerless to prevent.
UNHCR’s most important responsibility is to ensure respect for the basic human rights of refugees. Most fundamentally, refugees should not be forced back to a place where they may be persecuted. This is the principle known as non-refoulement (from the French refouler, to force back).
UNHCR is also responsible for finding lasting solutions for refugees. Voluntary repatriation, or return to their original homes, is what most refugees hope for. But this is not always possible, and in those cases UNHCR helps people rebuild their lives elsewhere – either in countries where they first sought asylum or in a third country willing to accept them for resettlement.
As refugees settle into their new country, they often face many challenges adapting to their new environment. When they receive support in making the transition, they can help make their new community a better place to live. Utica, New York, is a great example of a town that has been dramatically improved by its new refugee population, while also providing sanctuary to thousands of refugees.
Resources/Materials:
UNHCR DVD – Utica: The Town the Loves Refugees
Overhead projector
Internet access for research
World maps
File cards for writing quiz-style game question/answers (optional)
Activities / Procedures:
Introduction/discussion hook: Ask how many students in the class have grandparents or great grandparents who emigrated from another country? Were any of them refugees? Define: what’s the difference between a refugee and an immigrant. What about your own parents? What do you think it was like at first, coming to a new country? Did they fit in right away? What were some of the benefits? And challenges/problems? Were they struggling financially? Did the whole family speak English when they got here? Did everyone have to go to school? Did the adults get to work at the same jobs they had left behind? Did they face prejudice or racism? How did they deal with that? Depending on the class diversity, this discussion can be as dramatic as the educator is prepared to allow time for.
Show Utica: The Town That Loves Refugees (DVD 9 minutes):
Divide the class into groups of 2-4 to play "Refugee Quiz." The UNHCR category (keyed to the Utica DVD) is already done (see below). Using the white board or overhead projector, play it as a model if students are unfamiliar with the popular quiz show.
Assignment Part I:
Research, preferably in class
Use the internet (some suggested links: unhcr.org, cnn.com, nytimes.com, nationalgeographic.com) to research and create questions for new refugee categories, with five answers/questions (10 for easiest, 20, 30, 40 and 50 points). Suggested categories (key to your curriculum): Vietnam, Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Sudan, former Soviet Union, Myanmar, Colombia, USA. Make UNHCR its own category. Guide students in keywords for research (refugees/persecution/asylum), and keeping questions at appropriate levels of difficulty. Suggest room for guessing – e.g. for "How many refugees were resettled in 2005 to the USA, Canada, Australia and Great Britain?" (answer 100,000)—suggest 0-1000, 1000-10,000, etc., as options.
Assignment Part II:
Active teaming, ideal for block class timing; or assign for homework and play next class
Teachers may want to vet some question/answers in advance. Optionally, classes accustomed to working with overhead projectors can prepare questions on acetate in a column of five. This can also work on a wide white board. (Questions are read out). Name your teams. Agree on basic rules such as seconds allowed to answer; and who goes next if the answer is incorrect.
Play the game, with teacher or students acting as quizmaster/scorekeeper for middle school, depending on the behavioral capacity of the class. High school students can lead effectively as quizmaster for their category; or assign two students to lead throughout the game, with teacher as guiding judge for controversies.
Circulating in order, teams choose questions according to their level of difficulty with 20 seconds, for example, to collaborate and respond.
Allow for some spirited competition. Every student is an expert in their area. Everyone learns something new. Educated guesses are encouraged. Teacher input is most effective in guiding content research.
Assignment Part III:
Independent
Write a diary entry from the point of view of a refugee teenager from any of the regions/conflicts discussed. Guiding questions: What made you flee your home? Why did you face persecution? Where did you seek asylum? What happened to your family? Where did you end up? What is happening to you now? What do you think of your new home/school/friends?
"Refugee Quiz" Questions for UNHCR / Utica
Q: What is often the first desire of new refugees?
A: To go home 10 points
Q: What common language do most refugees in Utica and elsewhere in the USA want to learn to speak?
A: English 20 points
Q: What does UNHCR stand for?
A: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 20 points
Q: Name one type of persecution that forces a refugee to flee his or her country?
A: Race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group 20 points
Q: What are two problems faced by refugees settling in Utica?
A: cold weather temperatures, affordable housing prices 30 points
Q: What kinds of work do the refugees in Utica do?
A: Barber/coffee shop owner/factory worker 30 points
Q: Name three countries new refugees to the USA have come from.
A: Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Somalia, Bosnia 40 points
Q: Name two services provided by the Refugee Resources Center.
A: English teaching, employment, accommodation, schools, helping community deal with new arrivals 40 points
Q: How many refugees were resettled globally in 2005?
A: 100,000 40 points
Q: Name four character traits that can help you survive if you are a refugee and have lost your home, and sometimes your family.
A: e.g. Strength, resilience, positive spirit/faith, flexibility (willing to adapt to new changes 50 points
Q: Which country resettled more refugees than all the other countries in the world combined?
A: USA 50 points
Q: UNHCR cares for how many displaced people around the world?
A: Over 20 million 50 points
Additional Resources:
UNHCR’s Teachers’ Corner website
UNHCR Facts and Figures
Refugees Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 138, 2005.
"The Town that Loves Refugees." (PDF)
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