Hints:

The scenes which are remembered and related here can also be re-enacted as role plays. At the conclusion of each scene, the observers provide the actors with feedback in terms of content and presentation.


Procedure:

  • By way of introduction, the instructor provides the students with an example of how s/he was able to use the bicultural-bilingual competences which she had acquired along with her migration biography as a resource. Further episodes originate with the students. Example: “I helped someone communicate with the police at the airport on the way back, because I could translate”, “I dared to enter into a discussion between two people about my religion, because I am a member of this religion”; “I involved myself as I witnessed a misunderstanding between two persons from different cultures and was able to help clarify things”.
  • Subsequently, the students remember other personal experiences (or experiences of people from their environment) and write these on the paperstrips.
  • The students in the class as a whole (or in two group levels) form a circle to read the strips out loud and make comments. They will be pasted on the poster “my migration resources” and perhaps complemented with other strips. Example: “I speak more than one language; that is why I can mediate”, “I can communicate with people from two countries”, “I have several residences and have friends here and there”, “I can celebrate twice as much: the festivals from my culture of origin, and the festivals that are celebrated here!”, “I know stories which not everyone knows”, etc.
  • Further exploration/continuation of the topic (well-suited for homework assignments): “photographic self-portraits”: the student should take pictures of themselves (selfies) in ten locations that are important to them. By way of these pictures, the places of identification are documented and the resources emerge, visualized on the poster.

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