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Who are immigrants to Britain? (key stage 3)
Respect for all: Who are immigrants to Britain?
This activity was used with pupils in key stage 3, year 9.
Aims
- To know and understand the nature and scale of immigration to Britain in the period after the end of the Second World War.
- To recognise that immigrants who have been granted residency have a legitimate reason to be in Britain: the UK is home to many immigrants; most immigrants are British citizens.
- To critically examine information sources on immigration.
Activity objectives
- To investigate several sources of electronic data, using appropriate strategies to verify information.
- To select and use the appropriate applications to store and organise information, taking into account the type of information and the questions to be answered.
- To sort and analyse information, identifying patterns and trends that evolve over time.
- To create graphical forms of information suitable for a class presentation.
This activity relates to the scheme of work unit 10 'Information: reliability, validity and bias'.
This activity also relates to the key stage 3 ICT programme of study, particularly:
- finding things out (1a-c);
- developing and exploring information (2a);
- interpreting information (3a);
- using a range of ICT tools efficiently (3b).
Activity description
The pupils were asked to investigate the question 'Who are immigrants to Britain?'. They were asked to consider the nature and scale of migration to and from Britain, exploring common perceptions and misconceptions. To help focus their research, the pupils were asked to consider the following statements and decide to what extent they are true or false:
Since the end of the Second World War..
- the scale of immigration is increasing year on year;
- all immigrants are black or from India;
- the majority of black people under 25 are born in Britain;
- immigrants came to Britain to take advantage of welfare payments;
- people from Britain emigrated to Australia, Canada or South Africa for similar reasons (for example, better living conditions).
In small groups, the pupils decided what information they would need to research these statements, recognising that both statistical and written information would be required. The research tasks were divided among the pupils in each group. The class agreed that statistical information would be collated using a spreadsheet and that written and visual information would be saved into a shared folder.
As the project progressed, the teacher, where necessary, supported the groups by intervening to help the pupils' search for information. The teacher directed the pupils to previously searched sites saved in a 'favourites' folder. All the pupils were encouraged to verify their researched information against other reliable sources.
Some of the groups collected statistics showing how many people migrate to and emigrate from Britain each year and their countries of origin or destination. They entered the information into a spreadsheet and created charts showing the proportion of immigrants from different countries for selected years over the past 50 years. They used the spreadsheet to calculate the number of immigrants as a percentage of the whole UK population.
The other groups collected data from newspaper and television archives and government sites. They visited sites dealing directly with anti-racism, such as the Institute of Race Relations.
The project culminated with each group giving a five-minute talk to the rest of the class using presentational software. The form and style of the final product influenced how the pupils engaged with the materials: they used bullet points to synthesise their main arguments and created charts and tables to illustrate the important statistical trends.
Finally, the teacher distributed reports on immigration taken from a range of sources. The pupils discussed the style and tone used, making reference to information gained from their own research. The pupils were asked to consider why immigrants to North America and Australia have traditionally been referred to as settlers.
Commentary
The pupils' presentations covered a range of themes associated with immigration. Through their research, they increased their knowledge and understanding of the nature and scale of immigration. The statistical information led some pupils to re-evaluate previous assumptions: some were surprised at the diversity of countries from which migrants originate; others were surprised at the balance between numbers of people immigrating and emigrating over the years.
The pupils learnt that, historically, many black immigrants came from countries that were once part of the British Empire. Historical sources indicated that many immigrants came to fill a shortfall in labour in Britain during the post-war period. The pupils began to recognise that immigrants bring skills and expertise that contribute to the wealth and talent of the country.
In their discussion time, some pupils used facts obtained from their statistical research to consider different source materials that deal with immigration and asylum issues.
Resources
National statistics about population and migration can be found at www.statistics.gov.uk
The Institute of Race Relations provides information about racism and the ethnic composition of Britain as well as links to UK-based organisations. Its website address is www.irr.org.uk
The Runnymede Trust is an independent think tank that deals with ethnicity and cultural diversity. It provides materials for schools about multi-ethnic Britain. Its website address is www.runnymedetrust.org
The information and communications technology schemes of work can be found at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes
The online national curriculum can be found at www.nc.uk.net