Racism. No Way - Anti-racism education for Australian schools

Experience of Migrants – Racism and how to respond

Lesson overview

Learning Area:Humanities and social sciences
Age Group:Secondary Middle (15-16)

Outcomes

HT5-2

Recognise and consider multiple perspectives and ambiguities, and use strategies to negotiate and resolve contentious issues.

Introduction

Students will be able to identify that racism is one hardship that has and is still facing people who migrate to Australia. These activities will cover more than one lesson.

Worksheets to download

Activities

Distribute the examples of racism as experienced by migrants. Students discuss these as a group and list other examples from their own experiences/knowledge. Report back to class.

  1. Watch clip one of SBS Face up to Racism – What does racism mean today? Groups to discuss the similarities of these to the list that the groups created in the first activity.
  2. Watch clip 5 of The Framing Effect. Groups are to discuss why the same people responded differently to the two stories. Discuss how the media can impact on the experiences of migrants.
  3. Class view clip 6 of Racism on our streets 1 and the Scanlon Foundation clip on social cohesion 2016. What conclusions can be drawn about the continued experience of migrants and other culturally and linguistically diverse people?

Show clip 7: Racism on our streets 2 from Face up to Racism and view the short clip on bystander anti-racism on the train. Students are to note down the strategies used to combat racism and they need to identify other strategies they could use if they witness racism.

  • Brainstorm questions that could be used by students to interview a migrant about their experiences, including racism. Students to interview one migrant and share the interview with the class.
  • Each student is to bring in a headline, words from a story or images that have been used to portray migrants negatively. These can be from past stories on the internet or more recent news stories. These images, headlines and words are to be used to create a class collage.