Topic: Migrations in the world

Targed group

A students of the second‑class general high school and technical secondary school - basic scope

Core curriculum

VIII. Changes in demographic and social structures and settlement processes: distribution and population, demographic changes, migrations, national, ethnic and religious diversity, cultural circles, settlement network, urbanization processes, rural development.

Student:

6) characterizes the causes and consequences of global population migration;

7) discusses the effects of large migratory movements on societies and economies of selected countries around the world, with particular emphasis on European countries, including Poland.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the types of migration and the reasons for migratory movements.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to exchange types of migratory movements;

• to indicate the reasons for migration;

• to give contemporary directions of population movement;

• to discuss the consequences of migration.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• geographical tiers;

• projector.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher begins classes from the application launch Fri „Hangman” Learningapps, which the students learn about the topic of the class. At the same time, the question in the application is information about what the term migration means..

Realization

• The teacher asks students to find explanations in the handbook of terms such as emigration, immigration, reemigration, repatriation.

• Using the mental map, students classify migrations because of the reason, length of migration, and direction.

• Work in pairs. Students using the handbook and the Internet work on the causes of migratory movements. Discussion on the class forum.

• Overview of the main directions of migration in the world, the use of maps from the e‑textbook World. Differentiation in the intensity of migration movements. Indication of migratory and immigration areas.

• Work in groups based on information contained in e‑textbook and on the Internet.
  Group I - Positive effects of migration for the emigration state.
  Group II - Positive effects of migration for the immigration state.
  Group III - Negative effects of migration for the emigration state.
  Group IV- Negative effects of migration for the immigration state.

  Each team presents a developed thematic area on the class forum.

• The teacher presents the migration of Poles over the years 1946‑2012. On the interactive whiteboard, a diagram from an e‑textbook displays the intensity of migratory movements in Poland in the years 1946‑2012. Based on the scheme, pay attention to the highest intensity of migration, give their reasons.

• The teacher displays on the interactive whiteboard a map from the e‑textbook Świat- Rozmieszczenie Polonii. Students indicate the countries in which Poles live. Table analysis from the e‑textbook: The number of Polonia in the world.

• Work in pairs, students analyze the map in an e‑textbook: Europe's economic emigration of Poles in 2013. They point out countries in Europe with the highest number of Poles who have emigrated in earnings.

• The teacher explains how the migration balance is calculated. He asks for the command from the e‑manual: Calculate the migration balance for Poland, which in 2013 went 66 297 people, and to whom 43 404 people arrived. The task is calculated on the board by the indicated student.

Summary

• At the summary of classes, students perform exercises on the interactive whiteboard in relation to the topic of the lesson.

• The teacher assesses the students' work, taking into account the contribution and their possibilities.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Migrations in the world

The Polish version of one of the global encyclopedias available on the Internet provides an exceptionally generalized term for migration – movement of population aimed at changing the place of stay. ‘Movement’ is a clear term, but ‘place of stay’ is not.
The English and German versions of the same encyclopedia speak of a relocation with the intent to settle down – this definition is significantly narrower than the Polish version.

A broad definition allows to divide migrations according to various criteria. One of these is the duration of the relocation. Temporary migration, in contrast to permanent migration, is a journey with the intent to return. Temporary migrations may be regular (recurring from time to time), or irregular. Another criterion is the reach of the migrations: external migrations, unlike internal migrations, involve the crossing of administrative borders, not only between countries.

The next criterion is the reason for the journey. Migration can be either voluntary or forced. About 10–15 million people are refugees – individuals who left their countries in fear of persecution. Among migrants, there are repatriates – people who were previously forced to leave their places of residence, but who are returning to them. Most often, however, migrations happen for economic reasons, i.e., improving the standard of living of the individuals or their families. Migrations may also be religious, health‑related, or social.

Although people migrate in all directions, the volume of flow is not the same. If we use the methodology of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and divide the world into a rich North and a poor South, we will have 4 directions of migrations. The most numerous are South‑North and South‑South.

Examples of the former include migration from Mexico to the United States or from Turkey to Germany, and the latter – from Bangladesh to India and from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
The most numerous migrations within highly developed countries are Germany – United States and Great Britain – Australia.
The North‑South flow is mostly the United States – Mexico and Germany – Turkey. At the same time, these are examples of re‑emigration, i.e., return to the home country.

Both the inflow and outflow of people have consequences for the country of emigration and destination. The assessment of some is clear, while others – debatable.
The destination country gains workers who are often prepared to take on jobs that are too unattractive in terms of conditions and pay for its permanent residents. Sometimes they make up for shortages in the number of employees who have retired because of their age. Some migrants are educated and therefore immediately become productive workers. Even if they work illegally, they buy from legal shops, thus paying indirect taxes. So, the country gains economically.
Since the majority of arrivals are young people, the birth rate increases. This is important for countries that are at Stage 4 and Stage 5 of the demographic transition model.
The arriving people enrich the culture of the immigration country through, for example, cuisine, traditions, and clothing. Their presence helps the inhabitants broaden their knowledge of the world.

But there are many negative consequences too. The departure of educated people is a ‘brain drain’ that deprives the country of people with high potential, whose education costs are not reimbursed. Young emigrants give birth to children in new countries, hence the decline in birth rates in their home countries. Among the Polish women who arrived in the UK after 2004, the average fertility rate was 2.13, compared to 1.3 in Poland.

Children whose parents have emigrated remain under the care of further relatives. This is not a situation conducive to development. Long‑term separation can lead to health and upbringing problems, as well as poor results at school.

The Polish emigration has a long history. The first Polish settlers in North America appeared as early as 1608. The country’s later political fate and economic situation caused numerous and multi‑directional migratory flows – to the countries of Western Europe, into the depths of Russia, to the United States, and South America. After the Second World War, a large part of the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West did not return to communist Poland, dispersing themselves around the world. In the post‑war history, Poland was an emigration country. This movement increased after the accession to the European Union and the opening of the labor markets in Western Europe.

Present data of the Central Statistical Office are not fully reliable, because they are based on administrative (registration) information, and many emigrants do not comply with these laws. At present, it is estimated that about 20 million Poles and people of Polish origin live outside Poland. Hundreds of thousands of people (e.g. in the USA, Brazil, France, Belarus) only have Polish ancestors, but want to be considered part of the Polish community abroad, while hundreds of thousands of others live and work outside Poland (e.g. in the UK, Ireland, Germany), but do not consider themselves emigrants.