determined to undertake was decided upon before the full horror of the European refugee crisis in summer 2015 was seen on our TV screens, and the subsequent coverage of makeshift camps and desperate migrants made this issue even more pressing and poignant as I planned my project. I conducted both qualitative and quantitative research and challenged the boys through a series of activities (or ‘actions’) which complemented and extended their A2 Macroeconomics course, and then pored over the data to look for patterns and effects. The main findings were satisfying: the boys began the course with strong empathy for those less fortunate than themselves, and over the course of the research period their overall attitudes shifted towards giving greater targeted support for refugees. Against a backdrop of ongoing debates on both sides of the Atlantic over just how open a nation should be to those from outside its borders, a belief in helping others remained strong. I was pleased throughout by just how open to new ideas and experiences the pupils were. What else? Boys like group work: their recall of the activities where they learned and researched together was strong, even if they reflected more frequently that the things that had surprised or challenged them the most were discovered through individual work or reading. There was also an increasingly nuanced understanding of what it means to be a ‘global citizen’ – aware, engaged, and willing to take responsibility – and how this can differ from someone with ‘international’ experience. The project began with intensive training in Action Research methodology at the IBSC annual conference in Cape Town during July 2015, and the full paper will be presented in Vancouver this summer. By far the most enjoyable aspect of the process has been the framework it has provided to look, in detail, at the link between teaching and learning in my own classroom. Action Research is a powerful tool for exploring a teacher’s work and impact, and other teachers here at the College have already been inspired to explore research themes of their own.
Want to read more?
• CORE Economics. (2014). Economics as if the last three decades had happened. http://www.core-econ.org/
• ‘Generation Boris’. (2013). Politics and the young. http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21578666- britains-youth-are-not-just-more-liberal-their- elders-they-are-also-more-liberal-any
• Save The Children. (2015). One Second a Day - Syria in London. [Television advertisement]. Channel 4.
• Stringer, E (1999) Action Research (2nd Ed.) London: Sage Publications
• UCL. (2014). Positive economic impact of UK immigration from the European Union: new evidence. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1114/051114- economic-impact-EU-immigration
Thinking globally: reactions to the research
‘I feel now that migration should be (reduced) and priority given to asylum seekers,’ ‘More should be done to ensure that asylum seekers are the higher proportion of migrants.’
‘My eyes are more open to problems from around the world, and the danger of parties that aim to limit immigration’
‘The UCL article showed me that migrants can have a highly positive effect in economic terms and are less likely to claim benefits than the indigenous population’
‘(I was) surprised at how little the UK was doing to help the refugee crisis’
‘The net gain from migrants was surprisingly large’
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