2.4 New in the class
(Pdf, 414 kb)
This section of the game is set in a classroom on the character’s first day at school. He/she does not speak the language and does not understand what is expected of him/her. The idea is to get students thinking about what it is like to arrive as a new pupil in a class without knowing the language, and what can be done to make a refugee pupil feel welcome.
What memories and experiences do refugees carry with them and how does this affect them in their daily lives? Ask pupils to read interviews with refugees on the web facts. Then split them up into smaller groups and ask them to imagine themselves in the place of a newly arrived refugee. Ask the groups to list what they would need in the new country:
This list may be used as a starting point for discussing the special needs of refugees.
Goal: To make students think about the needs of refugees as they are trying to integrate in a new country and how the experiences they carry with them may affect their life.
Ask pupils to read the web fact interviews with refugee youths who talk about how it was to start a new school without knowing the language, coming from a different culture from many of the local students etc. Then split the class into groups and ask them to discuss how it would feel to arrive in a school as a refugee.
Place notes numbered 1-6 in a row on the floor. Numbers 1 and 6 represent extreme opinions – number 6 means you totally agree with the statement and number 1 means you totally disagree with the statement. Provide students with the following statements:
When arriving as new in a school the most important thing is…
For each statement participants must stand next to the number they think most closely represents their opinion. Allow participants to justify their reasoning, either individually or by discussing in groups. Then ask them to present to the group. Students may change their minds after hearing other arguments. Again, allow students to explain their change of heart.
Goal: To make students reflect upon what it would be like to arrive as a new student in a new country in the middle of term.
Talk about music, taste in clothes, opinions, experiences, religion etc. and how it affects people.
Ask the pupils to decide together as a whole class on a number of categories from the discussion (clothes, religion, music, etc.). Split the black board into those categories and ask students to write/place 3-5 notes on aspects of that category that they would find hardest when arriving as a new student in the middle of term. Then ask the pupils to rank the items identified in order of difficulty. Discuss what could be done to make it easier for a new arrival.
Goal: To make students reflect on how things and behaviour we take for granted may seem to different cultures and how this may affect how easy or hard it may be to integrate into a new class.