* Tips for Teachers

Moving Here is a website that has been approved by the National Grid for Learning.

Moving Here is an extremely powerful and moving resource designed to help all internet users explore the experience of migration and settlement in England over the last 200 years. Moving Here is also designed to help internet users understand the sources and methods used to research the history of migration and settlement. These methods and sources are of great interest to family historians as well as anyone with a general interest in history.

All the material (digitised versions of photographs, maps, documents, audio and video as well as specialist essays and tips) which makes up this site should also be of great interest to teachers of History and Citizenship. In general terms, the material could be used in two possible ways:

Moving Here: A History Citizenship Unit

This first option is likely to be a less common approach than the second, because of the nature of the National Curriculum and the fact that schools have well established schemes of work. Nevertheless, it is worth stressing that the National Curriculum programmes for History are actually extremely flexible. This is especially true of KS2 and KS3 History, where a long term study of migration and its consequences could fulfil at least some of the requirements to study aspects of:

The opportunity is also open to develop a scheme on migration which would fulfil many of the requirements of the Citizenship programme of study. In addition, it may be possible to plan a course of study in which the current Citizenship issues are discussed intelligently and sensitively as a result of being given a meaningful historical perspective. A scheme of work for such a unit might cover areas such as those set out below.

The first is as a large scale study of migration over time. A study such as this might cover one or more of the following areas:

Moving Here: A joint History Citizenship scheme
Issue which could be supported by Moving Here resources Historical dimension Citizenship dimension
Patterns of migration Periods of migration to and from particular areas by particular immigrant groups Current immigrant groups
Reasons for migration and the motives of the emigrants The importance of push pull factors and the extent to which each group was motivated by these Debate over current and relatively recent immigrant groups - debate over whether they really do get special treatment and whether this argument has been employed before
The experiences of migration - leaving home, making the journey and experience on arrival in Britain The methods, conditions and organisation of mass migration - legal and illegal The methods, conditions and organisation of mass migration - legal and illegal
Comparisons between the experiences of the different immigrant groups featured in Moving Here: Caribbean, Irish, Jewish, South Asian Comparing different groups and time periods, perhaps as a result of political or economic forces Understanding the reasons for present day migration and the dilemmas of assimilation and integration vs the desire to preserve traditional values and beliefs
Reactions to immigrant groups arriving in UK Study of one or more immigrant groups and reactions to them Study of one or more immigrant groups and reactions to them
Relations between the various immigrant communities in Britain Analysis of the welcome (or otherwise) given to immigrant groups by previously established immigrant groups Analysis of the welcome (or otherwise) given to immigrant groups by previously established immigrant groups

Moving Here as a supporting resource

It is more likely that most teachers will find Moving Here an extremely useful resource for studying particular aspects of National Curriculum History and Citizenship units which are already well established. Many schools use the QCA/DFES Schemes of work for History and Citizenship. Other schools have created their own units based on the Programmes of Study for History and Citizenship. The following table sets out ways in which the content of Moving Here might provide useful support to existing units.

The full versions of all of the schemes for KS1-4 can be found at the Standards Site

Moving Here and the History National Curriculum

Key Stage Programme of Study Areas Relevant QCA/DFES Schemes of Work How the content of Moving Here could be used to support this unit
1 Stories about people in the past  
  • Stories from the Read Your Story section could be used by teachers as a story to tell pupils about the experiences of people in the past.
  • Some of the short extracts in the Migration Histories exhibitions could be used as stories. A good example is the comment by Jamaican artiste Richard Riley describing his experience of leaving Jamaica.
2 Local study How did life change in our locality in Victorian times?
  • Students could search the 'Settling' chapters of the Migration Histories exhibitions and look for examples of where immigrants settled and what impact their settlement had on a particular area.
  • The Irish and Jewish Migrations Histories are likely to provide plentiful stories relating to the Victorian period. Students could be asked to research the experiences of these groups and compare them. Alternatively, they might be asked to write a diary from the point of view of a person living in a particular area, chronicling a range of changes which might include extensive urban growth and large scale migration.
2 Britain Since 1930 How has life in Britain changed since 1948?
  • Many areas of UK cities today are still seen as Jewish, Irish, Caribbean or Asian areas. The materials in the Tracing Your Roots exhibition might even be used as a guide to help students trace particular streets, families or businesses.
3 World Study After 1900  
  • Students could use the Migration Histories exhibitions to examine the issue of migration as a world development in the 20th century. Forced and voluntary migration is a major feature of 20th century history. The exhibitions and galleries could provide students with a range of small scale studies which throw light on the bigger picture of mass migration and make it more accessible to students.
3/4 Local Study or History Around Us Study for GCSE coursework or Modern World Study for Schools History Project GCSE  
  • Students could search the 'Settling' chapters of the Migration Histories exhibitions and look for examples of where immigrants settled and what impact their settlement had on a particular area.
  • The Irish and Jewish Migration Histories are likely to provide plentiful stories relating to the Victorian period. Students could be asked to research the experiences of these groups and compare them. Alternatively, they might be asked to write a diary from the point of view of a person living in a particular area, chronicling a range of changes which might include extensive urban growth and large scale migration.
  • Many areas of UK cities today are still seen as Jewish, Irish, Caribbean or Asian areas. The materials in the Tracing Your Roots section might even be used as a guide to help students trace particular streets, families or businesses.

Moving Here and the Citizenship National Curriculum

The Programme of Study for Citizenship is not structured in the same way as the History National Curriculum. The Citizenship National Curriculum requires that pupils are taught about:

However, these broad aims are supported by a range of suggested schemes of work. The table below suggests ways in which Moving Here could be used as a resource to support some of those schemes.

Key Stage Relevant QCA/DFES Schemes of Work How the content of Moving Here could be used to support this unit
1/2 Unit 5: Living in a diverse world
1. How are we the same and how are we different?
2. What are communities like?
3. What are different places like?
4. How are we all connected?		 The Migration Histories exhibitions provide an ideal opportunity to compare different groups. Students could examine the different (and similar) reactions to different aspects of migration contained here.
  Unit 7: Children's rights - human rights
1. What are our rights?
2. That's not fair!
3. Taking responsibility		 The exhibitions and galleries contain a number of examples of discrimination and experiences of prejudices which could be used as examples for students to study and discuss.
3 Unit 3: Human rights
1. What are my rights and responsibilities?
2. What are human rights?
3. What happens when human rights are denied?
4. What do I know about human rights?
 The exhibitions and galleries contain a number of examples of discrimination and experiences of prejudices which could be used as examples for students to study and discuss.
3 Unit 4: Britain - a diverse society?
1. What are my identities? (1)
2. What are my identities? (2)
3. What is my local community like?
4. What images do we have of Britain? (1)
5. What images do we have of Britain? (2)
6. What is a global citizen? Is there a global community?		 The Settlement chapters of the four Migration Histories exhibitions contain plenty of material for students to research issues such as:
  • the multiple identities which make up being British
  • how particular communities have developed the way they have
  • how emigrants saw Britain on their arrival and how they see Britain now
4 Unit 3: Challenging racism and discrimination
1. Where do we come from? What are our communities like?
2. What is racism?
3. How does the law protect citizens from discrimination and racism?
4. How can we challenge racism and discrimination?
 The exhibitions and galleries contain a number of examples of discrimination and experiences of prejudices which could be used as examples for students to study and discuss.
4 Unit 7: Taking part - planning a community event
1. What skills do we need for effective teamwork?
2. Who are the key partners in the community? How can we develop effective partnerships?
3. How can we improve performance through critical analysis and evaluation?
 The Migration Histories and the Tracing Your Roots exhibitions contain a wealth of material which could be used by students researching and planning a community event which looks at and celebrates the contribution of immigrants to a local area.

Useful links

To see more educational material from the archives visit The National Archives' *Learning Curve. This is an on-line teaching resource, structured to tie in with the History National Curriculum from Key Stages 2 to 5. It contains a varied range of original sources including documents, photographs, film and sound recordings.

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