This mini-unit of activity ideas will utilise De Bono’s "6 Thinking Hats" as a method of engaging students’ thinking on refugees in Australia. These activities stem from the issues raised in a close investigation of the article ”Julie Bishop casts doubt on validity of Sri Lankan asylum seekers after 16 chose to return home”, written by Caldwell & Marszalek, 24th September 2011, published  in The Telegraph (see it here).

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The article discusses a new scheme by the government, which gives money to asylum seekers to return home instead of being detained at Nauru. The decision of a number of asylum seekers to return home is initially characterised in a manner that strongly echoes an ‘us and them’ mindset. The asylum seekers are derided for “taking advantage” of Australia and are declared “not genuine refugees”. Statements by Julie Bishop attempt to generate fear about the number of “boat people” arriving from Sri Lanka, by claiming that this year Australia has received “soaring” numbers of Sri Lankan refugees; “the biggest number of arrivals ever recorded by Sri Lankans”. The article then goes on to subtly question the motive of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, negatively comparing it to “war torn Afghanistan”, and quoting Julie Bishop declaring this situation “’calls into question’ the processing of every application since the country’s 25-year civil war ended in 2009”. By questioning the asylum seekers’ decision to return to Sri Lanka instead of going to the “safe haven” of Nauru, Bishop attempts to criticise the authenticity of their claim of persecution.



The article concludes by countering these claims with the comment of Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Nick Riemer, who claims "The fact that there are 16 people who have consented, or who have been pressured, into returning doesn't tell us anything about the overall situation of all of the other Sri Lankans who are still in the Australian system, who are still coming here, and who are still evidently desperate to get out of the country."
The article’s presentation of conflicting perceptions of refugees, including one that attempts to construct fear about refugees and another, less prominent, view which presents a conflicting, positive opinion, makes this article an excellent starting point for a unit investigating one of the ‘big ideas’ in HSIE in a Stage 3 classroom.



Click on the hats to see the activities for each hat. The hats are in order, so go left to right.