Botswanans express some of their attitudes toward the influx of Zimbabwean migrants in this Wide Angle video segment.
This is a lesson in which students examine songs, interviews, and photos of migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression and then create a scrapbook from the point of view of a migrant worker. Students use photos and recordings of migrant workers to create captions, letters, and songs. This lesson can be particularly useful when students are learning about the Great Depression or reading The Grapes of Wrath.
This is a collection of downloadable video clips on the theme of Movement of People and Goods, with guiding questions for students. Clips are drawn from the following PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries: "To Have and Have Not" (2002), "Border Jumpers" (2005).
Since the mid-l970s, economic reforms have transformed China from one of the most egalitarian societies into one of the most unequal in the world. Wide disparities currently exist between the income levels of a relatively few rich and middle-class Chinese and their fellow citizens who number in the hundreds of millions. This "wealth gap" is particularly acute when one compares the incomes of urban and rural residents, between Chinese living in the interior of the country and those living in the rapidly developing cities on China's eastern coast.
The causes of the growing income gap include previous governmental policies that favored city dwellers over farmers, the uneven regional patterns of foreign investment, and the massive outflow of displaced farmers to China's already overcrowded cities in pursuit of manufacturing jobs.
Recently, the Chinese government, in recognition of the potential for social instability, and in the face of growing unrest amongst China's poor, has made the elimination of economic and social inequalities a top priority. Plans are in motion to build a more "harmonious society" through the delivery of improved educational and health services to those who appear to have been left behind in China's rush to modernize its economy.
This lesson, using clips from the WIDE ANGLE film "To Have and Have Not" (2002), can be used after a lesson on the Communist Revolution and Mao's rule. A basic knowledge of China's geography, of the tenets of Chinese Communism, and of Mao's efforts to redirect the course of China's future by means of the Cultural Revolution, is required for the successful completion of the lesson.
Throughout history, as the concepts of empire and nation-states took hold, individual countries secured their borders and tried to keep unwanted migrants out. As we enter the 21st century Anwarul K. Chowdhury, an Under-Secretary of the United Nations, says, 'The first step towards examining the road to peace should start with an appreciation of the changing nature of conflicts. Gone are days of war between states for conquest, extension of spheres of influence in the name of ideology ... Today's wars are about settling border disputes....' In these lessons students confront that issue. Students begin by discussing why people cross borders and the rights people have when they enter another country. Students will discover the factors that determine the location of borders through the examination of maps, cartoons, and primary source documents. After completing this introductory activity, students will analyze a chart comparing the economic situation in the neighboring countries of Zimbabwe and Botswana, and predict what economic problems each country has. They will then view segments of the WIDE ANGLE film 'Border Jumpers' (2005) to understand why these economic problems exist, develop further arguments for those streaming into Botswana from Zimbabwe and for those in Botswana itself, and compare them to their own predictions. As a culminating activity, students will work in groups to develop a presentation for a simulation of the 17th Annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum. Their presentations will be shared with their classmates, and, if desired, sent to the United Nations.
