Culture Connections: The Psychology of Us and Them

This event will use the creative arts to engage children in thinking critically about cultures of inclusion and exclusion, especially focussing on migrants and their experiences. Starting out with the students personal experiences of both inclusion and exclusion, the day will lead up to meeting migrants from various backgrounds, giving the students the opportunity to ask questions and explore their stories and experiences. Students will also take part in a music and storytelling activity with a local artist that bring to life the themes of inclusion, kindness and friendship.

The main aim of the day is to explore the effects of human kindness and inclusion, encourage empathy and personal responsibility in an engaging and exciting way. The group leaders will facilitate discussion of times individual students have felt either welcomed or excluded (for instance focusing on transition to secondary). They will then have an opportunity to meet migrants and refugees and ask questions about their journey, their lives, why they came to the UK. Children will lead these discussions, and will be encouraged to make their own connections between migrants' experiences, and their own.

The programme is designed to move away from ideas of 'us and them' and towards a more globally inclusive attitude fostering love, care and respect. The use of creative arts allows the students to engage actively in the subject matter and make the conversations and content their own, as well as being fun and energetic. The event benefits from our experienced partners, Gulbenkian and Migrant Help UK and their education teams, to create a fun and energetic event that is thought-provoking and age-appropriate.