Immigrants And Refugees
Lifting barriers to inclusion through Non-Formal Education
Course Description
The course aims to support participants (teachers, educators, youth mentors, VET trainers) to deal with learners with a refugee background, and lack often the language skills or suffer from war traumas that become a barrier to their full integration to their “new” home. Educators confronted with such issues have to be better prepared to know how to deal with these learners to reduce the current high drop out from education. Thus, each educator must be supported and trained about refugee’s rights, overcoming language barriers, mental health, etc. so that they are able to engage them in building connections, foster emotional skills, develop social skills and dealing with discrimination in everyday life. The main theme of the training will be focused on raising awareness of the realities, possibilities and new tools for building a more inclusive society, away from marginalization and against social exclusion.
Training Program
Day Activities
- Welcome addressed to the participants by management
- Course outline
- Ice-breaking activities
- Introduction - Immigrants and Refugees: Lifting barriers to inclusion
Day Activities
- Why Immigrate?
- Deciding to Immigrate: A History
- Immigrating and human rights
- Waiting in Line Game
- Spot the Myths
- A History of Xenophobia
Day Activities
- Refugee Role Play
- Youth, Identity, and Immigration
- Culture and Identity
- How to make a difference for refugees?
- Social integration, social inclusion and active citizenship
Day Activities
- Emotional support for immigrants and refugees
- Balance between self-awareness, empathy and objective perspective
- Demonstrating kindness and compassion to child refugees
- Effective goal setting
- Motivation for working with marginalized youth groups
Day Activities
- Final activities
- Evaluation of the course
- Diploma awarding
Learning Objectives
- Gain an understanding of the reasons why people may leave their homes, and that although the historical contexts will be different, the reasons can be similar
- Connect reasons for immigrating to the human rights described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Gain a better understanding of the refugee crisis and what it means to be a refugee
- Consider the importance of “humanizing” those who otherwise seem distant and different from us
- Recognize the power of taking a “small step” when faced with a problem that seems too large to tackle
Methodology
Empathy Mapping Exercise
- Participants must put themselves in the shoes of migrants confronting obstacles, guided by supplied prompts and scenarios.
- Building empathy maps to visualise migrants' experiences, feelings, and barriers.
Storytelling Circle
- Share personal migration experiences in a safe environment.
- Discussions focus on common themes and human rights issues raised by the stories.
Role-Playing Simulation
In groups, participants are assigned different roles (e.g., government officials, migrants, NGOs, local community members) and work through a migration-related scenario, making judgements that adhere to human rights values, followed by a debriefing session to reflect on the issues and consider alternate ways.
Interactive Case Studies
- Analysis of real-life cases of human rights breaches during migration.
- Collaboration in small groups to identify human rights issues, develop advocacy methods, and present their findings and recommendations for group debate.
Upcoming Sessions
| Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|
| May 20, 2024 | May 24, 2024 |
| June 3, 2024 | June 7, 2024 |
| July 1, 2024 | July 5, 2024 |
| April 8, 2024 | September 12, 2024 |
| December 9, 2024 | December 13, 2024 |
| February 10, 2025 | February 14, 2025 |
| March 10, 2025 | March 14, 2025 |
| March 31, 2025 | April 4, 2025 |
| May 12, 2025 | May 16, 2025 |
| June 30, 2025 | July 4, 2025 |
| July 14, 2025 | July 18, 2025 |
| August 4, 2025 | August 8, 2025 |
| September 15, 2025 | September 19, 2025 |
| October 20, 2025 | October 24, 2025 |
| November 17, 2025 | November 21, 2025 |
| December 8, 2025 | December 12, 2025 |