Students had mock interviews with a partner and spoke about the current refugee crisis.
Students had four minutes (2 minutes each person) to conduct an interview with a classmate who was playing the part of a volunteer, a bureaucrat, or an academic. The goal of the interviewer is to understand the inequalities and political tensions that have led to the refugee crisis. The goal of the interviewee is to explain to the wider public the difficulties refugees and immigrants experience. To access the full activity click here.
If you want to watch the video of one of the interviews click here.
Besides reading articles, students got to watch videos to prepare for the interview. Once they wrote the script, I encouraged them to record themselves saying their part using Flipgrid.
Files
Students visited Casa Marianella, a group of shelters designed as transitional spaces to help immigrants resolve their immediate crisis
We visited Casa Marianella and introduced ourselves to the refugees and asylum seekers. Students and refugees introduced to each other in Portuguese. Then, we worked on a colour-symbol-image activity. Refugees worked on the idea of home and students on the idea of immigration. When we were done, María, a Brazilian refugee told us her story. Finally, students got a tour in Portuguese around Casa Marianella.
We could not meet with refugees during class time and some students were not able to show up. A student felt vulnerable because he thought refugees could perceive he was trivializing their experience for speaking overly simple Portuguese.
Files
Students interviewed refugees from Casa Marianella and immigrants from Cultura Brasil Austin.
Students interviewed refugees and asylum seekers in Casa Marianella and immigrants connected to Cultura Brasil Austin who had been in the city for more than ten years and had some insights to share about their experience. The student's objective was to find out about immigrants immediate needs and main issues while integrating into Austin life. This activity was completely carried out in Portuguese.
They wrote a writing assignment about their experience.
They recorded the interview using their phone to go through it whenever they wanted to.
It was hard for students to meet in groups with the interviewees. Most of them work and have a very tight schedule. The same goes for the refugees and immigrants who are mostly worried about fulfilling their urgent wants.
Files
Students presented their progress to our partner's representatives and the Portuguese Flagship's director to receive feedback.
Students spoke in front of the class about how are they contributing to developing the resource map? What subcategories are they researching about and what information have they found so far. They should speak at least for two minutes without any help (they can’t read, but they can have a card or a PowerPoint with some notes).
We used zoom so we could meet with our partners.
Files
