Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
Resources for Teaching about Refugees
Primary Sources
 UN 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol
Audiovisual Library of International Law
http://untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/ha/prsr/prsr.html
Primary documents. In addition, this resource provides historical background and
analysis/explanation for the UN documents governing international status of refugees.
 “What is Forced Migration”
Forced Migration Online: A World of Information on Human Displacement
http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm
Primary document defining refugees, IDPs and forced migrants.
 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
UNRWA
http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2012091861555.pdf
This resource provides historical background and material for the UN agency governing
international status of Palestinian refugees.
 Historical Refugee Data: 1960 - 2012
UNHCR
http://data.unhcr.org/dataviz/index.html
Great primary tool to visualize data on refugees from 1960 to 2012. Figures include number of
refugees, places of origin, and places of refuge.
TEACHING ABOUT REFUGEES
 STUDY GUIDE: The Rights of Refugees
Human Rights Education Associates (2003)
Human Rights Library at University of Minnesota
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/studyguides/refugees.htm
While this resource is from 2003 and therefore a bit dated, it offers some valuable background
information on the rights of refugees, the international legal instruments that enshrine those
rights, international agencies that assist refugees, and a range of other resources. See especially
the “For Teachers” section.
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
 Against All Odds (Game)
UNHCR
http://www.playagainstallodds.com/
This is an online, interactive game allows students to learn about what it’s like to be a refugee.
US teacher’s introduction and educational resources can be found here:
http://www.playagainstallodds.com/teachersupervision/us/index_us.html
 We Want Peace
We Want Peace in Schools
http://wewantpeace.org/services/wwp-in-schools/
This resource offers lesson plans about a variety of issues in connection to the life and work of
Emmanuel Jal. See especially Lesson 2 which focuses on forced migration. This website also has
suggestions of ways in which teachers might incorporate “making a difference” into the
curriculum.
 Storytelling Videos
USA for UNHCR
http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.8104533/
In UNHCR's storytelling series, refugees tell their personal stories of escape, survival, and triumph
after being forced to flee their homes.
 Immigrant / Refugee Awareness Instructional Materials
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
http://www.brycs.org/clearinghouse/Highlighted-Resources-Immigrant-RefugeeAwareness-Instructional-Materials.cfm
This website offers a list of 21 resources and brief explanations about each. All are aimed for use
when teaching about refugees or immigration.
 UNHCR Unit plan for ages 9 – 11 in Art: A Response Through Artwork
UNHCR (2007)
http://www.unhcr.org/468103ae2.html
This resource outlines lesson plans in which students experience the refugee experience through
artwork. It suggests reading students “evocative passages” and allowing them to respond
artistically as well as showing students artwork by refugee children and comparing it to “peaceful”
paintings. The questions in both of these lessons may be helpful, but the discussion doesn’t seem
nuanced enough.
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
 Refugees and Children in Our World
Learning to Give: Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit189/lesson4.html#lesson
This resource provides lesson plans for 6th to 8th grade that aim at educating about refugee
populations and refugee rights. Something particularly helpful about this lesson plan is a tab that
allows you to pull up the academic standards from each state that this lesson fulfills.
“Learners will describe problems of refugee populations around the world and human rights
issues related to refugees. They will explain how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the Convention on the Rights of the Child act to protect human rights. Understanding that refugees
exist on all populated continents, learners will have a wider understanding of the basic human
need for dignity that all refugees feel.”
 Learning Resources
A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City Exhibit
Doctors without Borders
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/events/refugeecamp/resources/
This resource offers 5 lessons plans in both PDF and Word Doc formats.
Lesson 1: Forced to Leave: Students try to imagine what it would be like to have to flee from their
homes within a matter of minutes and research the reasons for displacement.
Lesson 2: Shelter: Building upon lesson one, students map out shelter space and discuss the
differences between a “shelter” and an “established home.”
Lesson 3: Food and Malnutrition: Students learn about food rations and the crisis of malnutrition
Lesson 4: Water and Sanitation: Students learn about the challenges refugees face in accessing one
of their most critical basic needs, water, and the implications of appropriate sanitation.
Lesson 5: Students are provided with suggestions for putting their knowledge into action by
raising awareness of refugee and displaced issues locally.
 The Most Important Thing
A UNHCR project asking people to imagine and take a picture of the one thing they would take
with them if they had to flee their home. In addition to asking the students to do this exercise, it is
useful to also have them analyze the photos of the others and what they would take. What do
“real” refugees take with them? What do those participating in the project take with them? What
do the differences among them imply? How can you understand wealth, access to technology,
need, citizenship, and emotion through these photos and stories?
http://www.unhcr.org/1family/ or http://pinterest.com/refugees/the-most-important-thing/
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
 Refugee Posters
USA for UNHCR
http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.4803803/k.CDEB/Posters.htm
This resource provides free, printable PDF versions of UNHCR “Spot the Refugee” posters.
Problematic in terms of how they present refugees as basically nothing now that they are refugees,
because they lack homes and material goods (although the sentiment is good). Important to
remember that they have other skills, knowledge, and emotions.
 Resource Gateway: for teachers working with refugee young people in Victoria
Victoria Settlement Planning Committee
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/settle/_pdf/resource-gateway.pdf
This document provides links to resources on a range of issues facing young refugees in Victoria,
Australia today. The Refugee Experience section looks especially helpful, but otherwise this
document is focused on the Australian immigration system.
 Teacher Resources
Australia’s Refugee Week (2012)
http://www.refugeeweek.org.au/resources/2012_RW_ResourceKit_Ch5.pdf
This resource provides suggestions for teachers in Australia to incorporate refugees into lesson
plans. It outlines the following activities for looking at definitions and stereotypes:
Activity 1: Moving: This activity works well in pairs. Ask students to write down as many reasons
as you can why people move from their homes. Sort the reasons into two columns: reasons people
move voluntarily and reasons people move against their will. Discuss your lists with the whole
group. Will help students to understand the difference between a migrant and a refugee. An
opportunity to learn about “push” and “pull” factors.
Activity 2: Definitions: This activity works well for small groups. The group, pair, or individual will
need 8.5”x11” paper, poster size paper, pens, access to research material, and an information
sheet giving the UN definition of a refugee, asylum seeker, internally displaced persons, and
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. First, without using resources, ask each
group to work on a definition of the word “refugee.” Share with class and discuss. Then, ask each
group to research the word “refugee,” using as many of the information sources available to them
on poster size sheets. This activity aims to give a clear understanding of the definitions used by the
UN in their work with refugees. The differences are important because different groups have
different rights under international law.
Activity 3: Refugees in the Media: After exploring and researching key definitions, students collect
news items from television, newspaper, or radio sources which mention refugees. In class, or in
smaller groups, they can discuss what attitudes are evident towards refugees and asylum seekers.
Is the word “refugee” always applied correctly? Why or why not? And what does the use of the
word mean in each case?
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
TURNING LEARNING INTO ACTION
 Students Helping Refugees
USA for UNHCR
http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.6235809/k.6FCE/Students_Helping_Re
fugees.htm
This resource offers a list of different ways that American students can get involved to help
refugees across the world.
 Connecting with American Classrooms
Classrooms Connect
The Refugee Response
http://www.refugeeresponse.org/StandardContent/Index?page=148
This program aims to connect students from inner-city Cleveland with students in refugee camps
in Western Thailand through interactive media. Simultaneously, the program will seek to provide
the students in these camps with basic computer skills and English language training. These
students will be provided the opportunity to experience a world outside the only one they know,
while the students in Cleveland will be made aware of the situation faced by many their own age
in different parts of the world.
MULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM
 Digital Story-Telling for Language and Culture Learning
National Writing Project (2009)
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2812
In this article, teacher Judith Rance-Roney explains digital storytelling and her experience using it
in the classroom. Especially relevant is her description of the “What is an American?” Digital Story
Project, which allows students to respond a culture through storytelling.
 Video in Theory and Practice: Issues for Classroom Use and Teacher Video Evaluation
David Denning
http://www.ebiomedia.com/downloads/VidPM.pdf
This paper discusses some strategies to take advantage of video’s strengths or to extend the
educational effectiveness of video in the classroom or lecture theater. A second portion of the
paper discusses video evaluation guidelines and some features of video production to watch for
when evaluating video for instruction.
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/

Standards-Proof Your Digital Story Telling Efforts
Teach and Learning: Ideas and Tools for Ed Tech Leaders (2006)
http://www.techlearning.com/tech/media-coordinators/0018/standards-proof-yourdigital-storytelling-efforts/43347
In this article David Jakes addresses how teachers might use digital storytelling in their
classrooms while still meeting educational standards. “In today's educational climate of No Child
Left Behind, classroom instruction must be correlated with local, state and sometimes national
standards. This correlation in many cases is in support of a guaranteed and viable curriculum,
which itself is in support of effective schools. In some instances, this correlation may also relate to
high-stakes testing and the need for students to perform at acceptable levels. Given the above,
how can educators justify an educational activity like digital storytelling, which at first glance,
seems an unlikely candidate for standards-based education?”
 11 Reasons Every Educator Needs a Video Strategy
Online Universities
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/09/11-reasons-every-educator-needsvideo-strategy/
This blog post addresses various things teachers ought to keep in mind when incorporating video
use in their classrooms. Aimed at helping educators take full advantage of the medium.
 Handheld Visions: The Impossible Possibilities of Community Media
Book by DeeDee Halleck, Published by Fordham University Press
This book is a collection of essays about communication technology and the ways in which media
is accessed by various groups of people. Halleck discusses her time as a teacher and her use of
media in the classroom.
 Using Video in the Classroom
Synergy Broadcast Systems
http://www.slideshare.net/synergybroadcast/using-video-in-the-classroom-1075794
This presentation discusses research, thoughts and ideas on using video in the classroom.
Presents research findings, teacher opinions, student perspectives, usage tips, and usage statistics.
SUDAN/DARFUR
 Oxfam Education: Darfur
Oxfam GB
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/darfur
Using the stories of young people caught up in the conflict, this resource helps you to introduce the
realities of life in Darfur to students aged 13+. Lessons plans provided.
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
 Wikipedia essay on South Sudan
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sudan
 BBC “Sudan Profile”
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094995
SOMALIA
 Discover Somalia Tumblr
http://discoversomalia.tumblr.com/
This photo blog—with the tagline “There is more to Somalia!”--offers a series of colorful photos of
Somali people, cities, animals, etc. This resource would be helpful if used in a discussion of where
these refugees in Jordan come from.
 Endless War: a brief History of the Somali Conflict
Conciliation Resources: Working Together for Peace, 2010
http://www.c-r.org/accord-article/endless-war-brief-history-somaliconflicthttp://www.c-r.org/accord-article/endless-war-brief-history-somaliconflict#sthash.Et6WF8nr.dpuf
Mark Bradbury and Sally Healy’s article discussing the past twenty years in Somalia.
IRAQI REFUGEES
 Meeting the Needs of Urban Refugees
Center for Contemporary for Arab Studies, Georgetown University
http://ccas.georgetown.edu/urbanrefugees/cairoamman/
Reports on urban Iraqi refugees living in Amman, Jordan.
 The Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Teaching with the News
The Choices Program
http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn/twtn_iraq_refugee.php
This resource aims at teaching students about the difference between refugees and IDPs, the Iraqi
refugee crisis and U.S. policy towards Iraqi refugees. Handouts and videos provided. Good
discussion questions.
Grace Benton & Rochelle Davis
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/refugee-video-project/
 Scholars Online: Madeline Campbell (Professor at Roger Williams Univeristy, PhD candidate at
UC Davis)
The Choices Program
http://www.choices.edu/resources/scholars_Campbell_Madeline.php
Topics considered in videos:
What are refugees and internally displaced persons? [2:07]
Why did many refugees leave Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule? [2:14]
Why did many Iraqis become refugees after the 2003 invasion? [3:26]
What groups of people were most affected by the refugee crisis? [2:12]
Where did Iraqi refugees go? [1:07]
What is life like for Iraqi refugees in neighboring Middle Eastern countries? [2:07]
What is life like for internally displaced people in Iraq? [1:59]
How has U.S. policy toward Iraqi refugees changed throughout the war? [2:44]
How does the United Nations deal with refugee crises? [1:47]
How does an Iraqi get asylum in the United States? [2:28]
What is life like for Iraqi refugees in the United States? [3:11]
What has been the attitude of the U.S. public toward Iraqi refugees? [2:08]
What have your experiences been like working with and talking to Iraqi refugees? [3:43]
Why should high school students care about Iraqi refugees? [2:08]
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
 About UNRWA
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2012091861555.pdf
This resource provides historical background and material for the UN agency governing
international status of refugees.
 UNRWA Resources
UNRWA
http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=42
UNRWA produces a range of resources about its work and the status Palestinian refugees. At this
site, find publications, statistics, videos, and educational resources.
 Teaching Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun
Teaching Multicultural Literature
http://multicultraladlit.wikispaces.com/Men+in+the+Sun
http://teachmulticulturallit.wikispaces.com/Men+in+the+Sun
This resource offers overviews of and teaching suggestions for Ghassan Kanafani’s work Men in
the Sun.