Connections to Counter Anti-Immigrant Bullying

Introduction

Too many immigrant students are targets of bullying. In fact, a recent survey revealed that less than half of the schools in the United States communicate about the value of respecting immigrant students. That silence sends a strong message about the values of a school community. Indeed, when people are bullied, there is nothing more important than having people support them. The StoryCorps conversation below demonstrates the power that comes with knowing you have friends who are looking out for each other.

Connection to the Re-Imagining Migration Learning Arc

This resource can be used to support teaching the first part of the Re-Imagining Migration learning arc. Consider introducing the guiding questions for that section of the arc to begin the lesson. They are:

• We all have a story of migration – what is my story? What is yours?
• In what ways do stories of migration help us understand who we are?
• What can we learn from the many visible and invisible stories of migration around us?
• How can we approach the sharing of stories of migration with understanding and
  compassion?

Learning Goals

This short podcast, and the teaching ideas below, are designed to promote perspective-taking and empathy as well as the disposition to take action to create more welcoming and inclusive school communities.

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Teaching Ideas:

• This is an audio story. You might play this piece without showing the impact in the video.
• Allow students an opportunity to connect and reflect before driving the conversation to address the guiding questions. Consider asking each student to share a word or a phrase from the piece that stood out for them. You can ask students to explain their choice or simply let the words hang in the air.
• Next, you might want to just capture the questions that students identify from this piece using the Question Forming Technique from the Right Question Project. 
• You might then choose to focus on the question, “What can we learn from the many visible and invisible stories of migration around us?” Ask students, why do they think people can learn from hearing this story. Help students identify a range of potential audiences as they think about the questions. Do they see overlapping insights as well as differences that might come from listening to this story for different audiences?
• Ask students to listen carefully to the way that Luis Paulino and Angel Gonzalez describe their experiences at school as well as the connections between them.
• Help students identify the significance of stores like this one with Project Zero’s Three Whys thinking routine.
• As an extension, consider the challenges that the students faced with bullying. Engage students in thinking about preventing or responding to bullying. What can they do? What should the adults in the building do? What can the community do to create more welcoming and inclusive spaces for all students?