Debate Immigration
People's stories In order to write Jumping on my Shadow, Peter Rumney interviewed his family members, friends who came to the UK as refugees or asylum seekers, colleagues whose families came from different countries across the world, refugee children in the Netherlands, children in London schools from many different countries some of whom were refugees. This helped him write the stories of Grandma, Mr Miah and Josip. To understand and write the story of Anna, he listened to people who were unhappy about refugees coming to this country. All these characters stories are fictitious, but they are based on true stories from the past and the present (See also Research your Family History).
People's stories In the play, Grandma, Mr Miah and Josip each have to convince a panel of Officials that they should be allowed into the City of Bread, or allowed to stay once they have arrived. Josip is at risk of deportation by the Emperor. At the end of the play the Officials do not believe his life is in danger if he is sent back to his country. They send the Emperor’s Guard to arrest him. (page 67) The Officials let Grandma into the City of Bread many years ago, but not her sister, because they forgot to bring her passport. Grandma’s sister was sent back to her country, and was never heard of again. (page 51) Mr Miah is given permission to come into the Emperor’s land, but the Officials do not want him to bring his family with him. He is allowed in, but only under certain conditions.(page 54 ff) Anna is angry that Josip is allowed into her country because she believes that he will take over her Grandmother's affection, and get better treatment generally.(page 59 ff)
People's stories In the following activities you can debate stories from the play; the true stories in this Resource (Gloria from London and Meherit from Nottingham, both of which are in the Resource Bank. Meherit’s story is also explored in Geography); or you can use other examples from the news, e.g. President Trump’s policies on the immigration of Muslims and Mexicans into the United States.
Debate the Immigration Issue Split the class into two groups. One group will be people who welcome asylum seekers into the UK (group A), the other group will be anti-asylum seekers (group B). Give the groups time to formulate arguments to defend their ‘viewpoint’. Nominate a leader for each side. The leader chooses the children to speak each time. There needs to be a different child speaking so as many children as possible have a chance to talk. Choose one child to be the ‘judge’. Each leader gives an overall general introduction to their side’s point of view. Each has a minute to talk.
Debate the Immigration Issue (cont) The leader from group A chooses the next child to speak from their group. They have to present an argument. They have a minute to talk giving evidence to support their point of view. Group B then are given one minute to prepare what they will say next. They have one minute to rebut group A’s argument and then present a new argument. Group A are next given a minute to prepare their defence. They have one minute to rebut Group B’s argument and then present their new argument. The debate continues between the groups with a minute to prepare and a minute to speak. Once all arguments are exhausted, the judge decides on the winning group. This is the team who presented their arguments most convincingly and coherently.
Debate the Immigration Issue (cont) Debate the issues of asylum. This could be asylum in the UK or you could include recent decisions by the Trump government to issue a travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries. For further info See also, ‘Ten myths about asylum’: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/21/ten-myths-migration-europe For further info See National and Local Immigration PowerPoints in our History section for facts and statistics on immigration. See the Immigration Quiz on National Facts and Statistics PowerPoint. in our History section
Gloria’s Story Read Gloria’s Story Part 1 – “Arriving” and “Why can’t I go home?” (It is in the Resource Bank)
Debating Gloria’s Story What do you think? Now you have heard about Gloria's real life story, is there anything you would change about Josip's first day at school?
Debating Gloria’s Story (cont.). What would you do? Altogether, or in smaller groups of 4 or 5, think and talk about these questions: What would you do if you were Gloria? Who would you talk to about what was going on? Would you tell your teacher? dinner lady? any other grown-up? Would you try to find a lawyer? How? Would you tell your MP? How? Are there other people from your country that you know? Could they help? Is there anything your friends at school can do? Map out some ideas about what you would do. Come back together as the whole class and share your ideas. What does Gloria need?
Gloria’s Story Read Gloria’s Story Part 2 – “What did I do to try to stay here?” (It is in the Resource Bank)
Debating Gloria’s Story (cont.). What do you think? In small groups talk about these questions: What is Gloria like? Why did she come here? What happened to her? What does she need now? What are the most important things you’ve noticed?
From Debate into Discussion Writing … Having held a debate in class, use the arguments presented to write a discussion text on the issue of asylum. The following planning format is a useful guide to organise the children’s ideas into writing and use the appropriate conjunctions and discussion text vocabulary. Introduction: Explain the issue Arguments for: Arguments against: Evidence: Useful conjunctions: in addition furthermore moreover also additionally A different viewpoint: on the other hand Alternatively However It could be argued that, Against that it could be said Words for introducing opinions: believe think that suggest claim state Conclusion: State your opinion on the issue.