Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

40 minutes	Part A: What is Hope?
60 minutes	Part B: Biography Writing and Gallery Walk
20 minutes	Reflection

Part A: What is Hope?

Step 1.

Explain to students that during this lesson, they will explore the concept of hope and how it can emerge from personal stories of overcoming challenges and adversity. To orientate the class to the topic of hope, watch the 1:45 minute promotional video for the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team.

Click on the link to open the video: Refugee Olympic Team to shine spotlight on worldwide refugee crisis

Before explaining the Refugee Olympic Team to students, ask them what they think the video is promoting. If required, inform the class that the athletes in the clip were all refugees who competed at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was the first ever team of refugee athletes from a number of different countries. The team was established to celebrate the human spirit and send a positive message of hope to over 60 million displaced people and refugees around the world.

Step 2.

Invite students to activate prior knowledge about the topic of hope by completing the 3-2-1 Bridge visible thinking routine on the Student Worksheet. Students identify their initial thoughts, ideas, questions and understandings about the topic of hope and will later connect this to their new learning about the topic as a reflection activity.

If students need prompting, you could pose questions such as: “What gives you hope?”, “What do you hope for?”, “Have you ever felt hopeless about something?”, “How does hope motivate you?” Explain to students that similes and metaphors are figurative comparisons that can help to understand a concept or topic, e.g. feeling like "a fish out of water” is a simile that describes when someone is feeling uncomfortable in their surroundings. If you have time, invite students to share and discuss their initial thoughts about the topic of hope.

Step 3.

Split the class in half and ask the students on one side of the room to watch the first clip below and the students on the other side to watch the second clip (both are embedded on the Student Worksheet). The clips showcase the concepts of hope and hopelessness in contexts of seeking asylum.

Chasing Asylum Clip 5 (https://vimeo.com/183257810/9d6b8fa85e)

Chasing Asylum Clip 12 (https://vimeo.com/183258013/dbe3e13a72)

Step 4.

After both sides of the class have watched their clips, ask students to pair with one person from the other side to form an ‘Expert Pair’. In this pair, they will share with each other what they observed in the clip they watched, then share back with the rest of the class what their partner explained to them. Expert pairs help students to develop active listening and synthesis skills and to work collaboratively with their classmates to understand key concepts.

Give students five minutes to share what they watched with each other and how the clip explored hope or hopelessness. Then, ask the listener to share their partner’s explanation. Encourage students to offer each other support by adding to the explanation.

Step 5.

Invite students to synthesise the class discussion by using the 'Colour, Symbol, Image' visible thinking routine to represent their new understanding of either hope or hopelessness. This involves selecting a colour, a symbol and an image that most effectively summarises their understanding or interpretation of these concepts and then justifying their choices in writing. Encourage students to share their thinking in a quick class discussion.

Part B: Biography Writing and Gallery Walk

Step 1.

Explain to students that the power of hope for people seeking asylum cannot be underestimated. The inclusion of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team in the 2016 Olympic Games was a strong message of hope to displaced peoples around the world.

Provide each student with a copy of the ABC article Olympic Refugee Team overcomes hardship to make Games debut or ask students to open the version embedded on the Student Worksheet.

Read through the article with the class, then engage the class in a discussion about the article using the questions below as a guide:

Think about and recall the experience of Yusra Mardini, a Syrian swimmer. Would you say that she has been on a journey?
What are some of the hardships that were faced by members of the team?
What messages do the team send to people around the world?
How is the theme of hope established in relation to the Refugee Olympic Team?

Step 2.

Conduct a quick brainstorm on the board with the class to activate prior knowledge about the biographical writing genre. Use the questions below as a guide for the brainstorm:

Who do biographies tend to be written about?
What sort of stories and content are usually or often included in biographies?
What type of language is used (such as formal/informal, tense, narrative voice?)
How can biographies be organised or structured and why?
What is the difference between a biography and an autobiography?

Then, refer students to the Biographical Writing Factsheet (also on the Student Worksheet) and draw students' attention to the information under the three headings.

Step 3.

Ask students to form groups of two or three, then refer groups to the research and planning guide on the Student Worksheet. Explain to the class that the next part of the lesson will involve researching a member of the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team and creating a biographical profile about the person they research.

There are 10 athletes in the team (list retrieved from here and also available on the Student Worksheet). Depending on the class size, you may wish to allocate one athlete to each group.

Rami Anis (M): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Belgium; sport – swimming
Yiech Pur Biel (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
James Nyang Chiengjiek (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 400m
Yonas Kinde (M): Country of origin – Ethiopia; host NOC – Luxembourg; sport – athletics, marathon
Anjelina Nada Lohalith (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
Rose Nathike Lokonyen (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
Paulo Amotun Lokoro (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
Yolande Bukasa Mabika (F): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – judo, -70kg
Yusra Mardini (F): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Germany; sport – swimming
Popole Misenga (M): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – judo, -90kg

Students should include the following in the profile they develop (also listed on the Student Worksheet):

Basic details - name, date of birth, country, sport.
Images (including maps)
Short written biography (250 word minimum) including:
- Early life/childhood/teenage/young adult years
- Life in their home country
- Challenges faced/endured
- Refugee/asylum journey
- Accomplishments/achievements
- Goals and ambitions
- Quotes from the athlete (where possible)
How their story/journey inspires hope through overcoming adversity and challenges
Consideration of layout and visual design (fonts, spacing, image placement, size)

Give students time to research, plan and develop their profile (digital or printed) about the selected athlete. The official Olympic Organisation news pages are a good place to start: here and here. The UNHCR news page also has some valuable information. Encourage students to expand their research and find some websites and news pages independently.

The completed profiles will collectively create a gallery walk - think 'museum/gallery display'. The purpose of the profiles is to illustrate (using biographical text, images and other engaging media) how the athlete has overcome adversity and challenges. It should create a message of hope and inspiration for people; including refugees and people seeking asylum. Each group’s work will also help the class to learn about the athletes in the Rio Olympics Refugee team, how they overcame obstacles and challenges and inspired other people to feel a sense of hope.

Extension or ICT opportunity:

If you have the resources and time, pairs/groups could produce a short digital mini-documentary about the athlete, including any visual and audio footage, accompanied by narration and on-screen text. Alternatively, an online www.padlet.com or Adobe Spark page could be used for students to complete this profile.

Step 4.

Once students have completed their profiles, display each profile in its own space around the classroom, for example, stuck to the wall, and encourage students to walk between each profile to recreate a ‘gallery’ experience. Alternatively, profiles could be displayed at workstations around the room, or if digital profiles have been created, such as on www.padlet.com or Adobe Spark, these links can be written/projected on the board. Depending on the needs of individual students or class compositions, the gallery walk element of this activity could be changed to a brief group presentation.

Step 5.

Invite students to synthesise what they see/read/hear by summarising the profiles of two other athletes whose stories inspire hope. Refer students to the Triple Venn Diagram (also available on the Student Worksheet) and invite them to make brief notes that compare and contrast the experiences of three different Refugee Olympic Team athletes - including one they profiled.

A Venn diagram is useful for comparing and contrasting information. Students will identify the similarities and differences between different people/places/concepts and so on. By conducting a Venn analysis of three of the Refugee Olympic Team members, students will be able to see how different experiences can inspire hope in different ways, and make links between the similarities and differences of various journeys of seeking asylum.

Step 6.

Summarise the lesson by facilitating a brief discussion of the common features of each story as well as how the Refugee Olympic Team collectively and individually inspire hope. You could try using the questions below as a guide:

What similarities did you notice between the team members' stories?
What challenges did the athletes have to overcome?
How do the stories differ in terms of why the athletes fled their homes?
What does the response the team received indicate about their journey?
In what ways do the athletes have similar and different perspectives on their journey?

Reflection

Ask students to revisit the 3-2-1 Bridge visible thinking tool to complete the 'new response' section around the topic of hope. Students should also complete the 'bridge' component of the thinking tool in the space at the bottom of the table on the Student Worksheet.

Assessment

Use the Stories of Chasing Asylum - Assessment Task Lesson so that students can demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the topics and English outcomes explored throughout the unit.

Take Action

Use the Stories of Chasing Asylum - Social Action Lesson so that students can apply their knowledge and design a social action project. Students can raise awareness by organising a screening of the film or take action to promote positive change in their own community.

Stories of Chasing Asylum - Stories Of Hope

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