Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

In the spirit of the current refugee crisis, I created a lesson plan centering around understanding and empathy of modern-day refugees. The goal of this lesson was to incorporate both learning and emotions to convey not only needed information for the curriculum, but to instill a sense of empathy and sympathy in my students. This project is a combination of digital, blended, and art-based learning, that touches upon refugee situations, struggles, profiles, stories, efforts for integration, international responses, conditions in refugee camps, conditions for receiving asylum, policies, best practices, international responsibilities, and human rights issues. The premise, although simple, is powerful. Working in collaborative groups, students chose a refugee from a list I provided. The students researched their refugee, and wrote a short biography using MLA format. Students then recorded their refugee’s biography, and embedded the recording on a QR Code. Then, using old suitcases, the student groups created a visual representation of their refugee. There were no parameters other than the suitcase must represent their refugee in some way. Some groups depicted a specific scene from their refugee’s life, and some groups were more abstract. The QR codes were placed inside each suitcase- the idea being a person can listen to the refugee’s story (as told by the students) while looking at the art work. The entire project culminated with individual students using social media to share their suitcases, and their personal thoughts on the refugee crisis.