Activity Introduction
Quick Summary: This lesson will enhance student understanding of the people seeking asylum by examining the human stories behind news headlines. Using a range of thinking tools, students consider the story of Anh Do and the challenges of seeking asylum that his story highlights. Students refine this understanding by considering their own knowledge about seeking asylum, establishing some focus areas to clarify and developing ideas for how they can investigate these with further inquiry.
Chasing Asylum exposes the real impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies through the personal accounts of people seeking asylum and whistleblowers who tried to work within the system. To watch the documentary, stream it on Kanopy and Clickview or purchase the DVD at the ATOM Education Shop.
Learning Intentions:
- Students will consider how the journey to Australia can be made difficult due to a number of factors.
- Students will begin to examine the ways in which asylum seeking is a political issue.
- Students will compare and contrast how different media texts represent issues around people seeking asylum.
21st Century Skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions:
Year 10 English
- Compare and evaluate a range of representations of individuals and groups in different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1639)
- Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754)
Syllabus outcomes: EN5-8D, EN5-2A.
General Capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Intercultural Understanding.
Cross-curriculum priority:
Relevant parts of Year 10 English achievement standards: Students evaluate how text structures can be used in innovative ways by different authors, and develop and justify their own interpretations of texts.
Topic: Social Issues
Unit of work: Stories of Chasing Asylum – access the unit overview here.
Time required: 60 minutes.
Level of teacher scaffolding: High – facilitate class discussion and assess student work.
Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet. Device capable of audio/visual presentation to present a website to the class. Printed copies of Concept Map for students or pairs.
Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.
Keywords: asylum, refugee, political influence, push factors, challenges, settlement.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
Teacher preparation