Game On!

A competition is afoot!

In International Studies, we have begun our new topic: Multiculturalism. With this comes a competition. Each IS1 class has been split into three groups. Monday’s class decided upon these as their team names:

1)    Silly Sausages

2)    The Snapes

3)    Leviosa

As you can see, we may have a few – ahem – Harry Potter fans.

Wednesday’s class didn’t believe me when I said I’d take their first replies as their group names. We therefore have:

1)    No Idea

2)    The Ummms...

3)    Not sure

You may see a theme there.

Over the course of this topic, the teams will participate in three activities. Their work on these activities will then be judged and an overall winner for each class will be chosen.

So what is the first activity? Each team has been tasked with researching and presenting information on one cultural celebration: Diwali, Christmas, or the Chinese New Year. In this week’s lesson they researched their celebration and began to think about how they could present it to the rest of the class in an interesting, entertaining way.

The teams have been given some of next week’s lesson to complete their preparations before PRESENTATION TIME! Watch this space...

One of the beauties of this job is that I get to work with all age groups. While working with Harry Potter-obsessed teenagers is extremely awesome, I’ve also been enjoying my time with the little ones (or "littleuns" as some of us call them in England). 

In Kindergarten, we’ve been getting very crafty. We’ve made lots of things including fluffy cloud ornaments, bouncy snakes and face flags (the children's were much better than my example)!

Overall the weeks are flying by in all of their thoughtful, fun and colourful ways. 

Learning About Refugees

“Anyone can become a refugee, anyone, it’s not something which you choose, it’s something that happens to you.”

These are the words of Hassan, a man who was forced to flee his home country of Syria in search of safety. His story, which included taking a treacherous journey across the ocean in an attempt to find a new home and protection, was just one that we explored in today’s lesson.

After examining some key words and meanings, the students were tasked with shading in a world map to show:

1)    Countries with the most Internally Displaced People (IDPs)

2)    Top 5 countries of origin for refugees

3)    Top 5 countries for refugees

4)    Countries which received the most asylum applications in 2015

(I found this excellent resource at: www.choices.edu).

We then examined our feelings concerning what the map showed. Were we surprised? Why were these movements taking place?

Afterwards, we turned our attention towards Syria. I explained the nature of the civil war which began in 2011 and rages on to this day. We noted that this was in no way a simple war, but one pitted in historical discrepancies and fought between numerous groups. As the class was introduced to the involvement of other countries within this conflict, they soon realised that this truly is a global phenomenon.

In turn, we watched a video from the BBC documentary Exodus following the story of Israa (a young girl from Syria).

Afterwards, the students were tasked with thinking about the practicalities of leaving one’s home and country behind. What items would they take with them given the opportunity and why?

It was important to go deeper than items and material goods though. I found a fantastic resource from the British Red Cross website which offers four scenarios for students to explore:

1)    You really want to go back home. But everyone says it is still too dangerous. People expect you to be grateful to be where you are. However some media reports suggest you are not welcome any more.

2)   You do not know what happened to your friends and family from home. No one knows you're safe and you don't know if they are safe. You feel alone and vulnerable.

3)    You miss the food, culture and friends from home. Everything in your new country is strange and unfamiliar. You feel you are not living, just existing.

4)    You're not sure if you are safe now. You have nightmares about what happened when you had to flee. You have heard stories of attacks on refugees in the local area. You worry that your permission to stay may be taken away.

Immediately, one student exclaimed, “I just couldn’t do it! I would be too scared!” We discussed this fear and the fact that this was and is a reality for so many.

In relation to the scenarios given, the students thought about the problems faced, any possible solutions to them, and the integral role of support when confronted with life as a refugee.

Finally, the students were asked to think about a message that they would give a refugee while watching Hassan's terrifying experience at sea. The responses were heart-warming, thoughtful and honest.

Upon concluding our globalisation topic, we realised that the world can certainly be a beautiful, kind, yet dangerous, scary, and messy place to live in. Furthermore, we acknowledged that countries are now more connected than ever causing both cooperation and conflict...

USA! USA! USA!

The American election deadline is almost upon us. What better way to celebrate this than to hold our very own Kalajoen lukio presidential election? That’s exactly what we did in International Studies today...

Firstly, we examined a brief history of how the Democratic and Republican parties came to exist. Afterwards, we explored what they look like today. The students also had the opportunity to guess which policies belonged to Hillary Clinton and which belonged to Donald Trump...

It was soon election time! The students were tasked with having to create their own political party in a bid to win the 2016 Kalajoen Lukio Presidential Election.

The class was given the following instructions:

1. Your team must decide upon a party name.
2. You must choose presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
3. You must create a list of policies that you would introduce to the school if you win.
4. You must make a one-minute speech giving information on these policies and explaining why YOU should win!
5. The presidential and vice presidential candidates must give the speech.

In turn, we had the Hillaryus Party (who promised to bring laughter to the school), the Best Party (straight to the point with the name), and the YAAASSSS Party (very positive).

After providing their speeches and outlining their policies (which included later starts to the school day, more colour in the classrooms, and cake on Friday) it was time to vote for the best candidates. Unlike real American potential presidents, the teams were not allowed to vote for themselves.

And the winner was... the YAAASSSS Party!

However, I pointed out to the students that if this was a real American election their own votes wouldn’t directly name the winner. Instead, they would have to go through the Electoral College. Once the system was explained this caused some pretty heated responses.  One of the students exclaimed, “It seems so pointless!” while another simply asked, “Why?”

This question was an interesting and important one. I think that it’s very easy to get caught up in explaining the “how” of something that we often forget to question the “why”? I frowned... Why exactly was this particular system in place? With some research, we soon discovered that it was there because it provides a middle ground between Congress and the public.

To conclude, we considered why the current USA election is a global issue and how it affects us. One of the students noted that the USA is a huge world power while another grieved, “It’s going to be the end of the world!” Whichever way you look at it, this election sure has fueled some strong emotional responses.