Hello, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on Benjamin Zephaniah's poem "We Refugees".

My name is Dr.

Clayton.

I'm going to be guiding you through your learning journey today.

This lesson's all about understanding the poem, so you're gonna finish this lesson with a sense of not only what the poem is about, but we're also going to consider why Zephaniah might have written it and how it might relate to current dialogues and language around refugees.

Now, you'll need a copy of the Edexcel "Belonging" Anthology with you for this lesson, so make sure you have that at hand.

So, if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you use for this lesson, and let's get started.

So, by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain how Zephaniah presents a struggle of refugees in his poem.

So, we have five keywords that we're gonna be using throughout this lesson.

These words are chosen to only help you unlock the learning, but also to give you some vocabulary to discuss and write about the poem.

These words will be identified in bold throughout the learning material.

I'll try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

Now, our first keyword is refugee, and this means a person has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters.

Later on in the lesson, we'll consider words that often used synonymously with refugee such as asylum seeker, an internally displaced person.

We'll talk through the subtle differences between those terms. Our second keyword is displacement, which means the action of moving something from its place or position.

When we're talking about people being forced to leave their homes, we're talking about them being displaced because they've been forced to move away.

Our third keyword is persecution, and that means hostility and ill-treatment, especially on the base of ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

We're going to consider how Zephaniah's work implies that refugees face this sort of hostility and ill-treatment.

Our fourth keyword is oppression and that means prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or exercise of authority.

We're going to consider how Zephaniah alludes the oppressive regimes that force people to become refugees and leave their homes as a result of this cruel and unjust treatment.

Finally, our fifth keyword is universal, which means relating to or done by all people/things in the world or a particular group, applicable to all cases.

So we're going to be thinking about how Zephaniah's poem might be applicable to everyone.

Now, I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions, so pause the video and write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So, we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to focus on understanding the poem.

So we're gonna read through the poem, consider how people might respond to the poem and think about what Zephaniah is saying about not only how people become refugees, but also how refugees are treated when they're displaced into other countries.

We're then going to end the learning cycle by thinking about the title and why Zephaniah might have chosen to call it "We Refugees".

For our second learning cycle, we're gonna contextualise the poem by specifying the different terms around displacement mean and then taking a moment to think about some of the figures around refugees and using that to answer our final question around why Zephaniah might have chosen to not specify some of the facts about refugees within his poem.

So we're going into this lesson with some questions about the poem and hopefully, by the end of the lesson, you might have some ideas about how to answer them.

So, as I've said, we're going to spend this learning cycle working our way towards understanding the poem.

To do that, we're going to start and end this learning cycle by thinking about the title because the title's our first impression of the poem.

And if we can understand why Zephaniah chose this particular title, we might be able to understand what his intentions were with the poem.

So, our first discussion question of the lesson is, what do you think the poem will be about based on the title "We Refugees"? Remember that refugee is one of our keywords.

It means a person has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

So what do you think the poem is going to be about since Zephaniah called it "We Refugees"? Now, if you're working through this with someone else, you might talk about your ideas with them.

If working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video.

Consider what you think the poem will be about.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people already thinking about how Zephaniah used the word refugee in the title, which suggests they will be a focal point.

Now, because of this, one of our Oak people, Sam, thought the poem will be about someone's experience of being a refugee.

So, someone's experience being forcibly displaced from their home and their country.

Now, some of you might also have noticed a collective pronoun we in the title and considered how that might feed into the narrative of the poem.

One of our Oak pupils, Izzy, thought about that and thought that instead of just one person's individual story, the poem might be a collection of stories about people's experiences.

Now, hold onto your thoughts about the title because we'll be returning to it at the end of the learning cycle to think about why Zephaniah might have chosen that particular title once we've read and understood the poem.

So, we're now going to dive into the poem itself.

You'll find a copy of Zephaniah's "We Refugees" in the Edexcel "Belonging" Anthology.

So, when you found the poem, pause the video and read through the poem now.

Welcome back, everyone.

I really hope you enjoyed reading the poem.

I personally think it's one of those powerful in the anthology, and I'm really looking forward to talking through it with you now.

So we're going to begin with just thinking about how you'd summarise the poem.

This is a really useful exercise 'cause it allows you to create a really concrete idea about what is happening in the poem before we start delving into some of the nuances and smaller details.

So, how would you summarise Zephaniah's "We Refugees"? What happens in the poem? As before, if working through this with someone else, you might talk about ideas with them.

If working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video.

Consider how you'd summarise what happens in the poem.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I'm going to share the summary of one of our Oak pupils, Izzy.

Now, she said she thinks the poem depicts how easily someone can become a refugee.

So now we have an idea of what happens in the poem.

We're going to now consider some of the nuances and smaller details to really understand what Zephaniah are saying through the poem.

So now that you've read the poem, I want you to think about which words you think are the most powerful in the poem.

It's a really useful exercise because Zephaniah has crafted this poem with a purpose in mind, so the concepts and ideas that drive the poem will come out through those powerful words.

Now, when I say powerful, I mean the words that stick in your mind or the words that create a strong emotional reaction.

So pause the video.

Consider which words are the most powerful to you.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some wonderful ideas there.

I'm gonna share with you now some of the words from my Oak pupils.

And remember that everyone will have different emotional reactions to these words.

So your word might be the same as one of our Oak pupils and it might not, and that's absolutely fine.

So Laura thought that "hated" is the most powerful word.

Lucas thought "tortured" is the most powerful word.

Jacob thought "lie" is the most powerful.

And Sophia thought "I" is the most powerful.

Now, as I said, you might have different words or the same words, and that's completely fine.

It is all down to emotional reactions, and those are individual responses.

Now, let's just take a moment to consider the four words that Oak pupils chose and how that might take us a step closer to understanding the poem.

So the four words were hated, tortured, lie, and I.

So I'd like you to take a moment.

Consider what those four words might tell us about the experience of being a refugee.

So pause the video.

Think about what those four words might reveal to us.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

It was great to see that people noticed that those words create quite a negative impression, a hostile impression.

To say that you're hated especially feels as if people have a very negative impression of you.

Tortured means you feel as if people are causing you physical or mental pain.

The word lie implies that people don't believe you.

They doubt you, and they doubt your story.

And Sophia's word I, just that negativity and hostility is being directed at individuals.

As our Oak pupil Sophia says, "They show just how hard life is for a refugee and the oppression, ill-treatment, and judgement they endure." Now, oppression is one of our keywords.

It means cruel and unjust treatment.

So, Zephaniah's language is suggesting to us the refugees face cruel and unjust treatment.

Now, this just takes us another step closer to understanding the poem based on those powerful words.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like to do is tell me whether it's true or false.

Does Zephaniah implies that refugees face judgement and persecution? Now, persecution our keywords.

It means hostility and ill-treatment, especially based on ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

So, is it true that Zephaniah implies that refugees face judgement and ill-treatment? Pause the video.

Make your selection now.

Welcome back, everyone.

The correct answer is true.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's true.

So, think back to what we just said about the language.

Consider why it's true that Zephaniah shows refugees are facing judgement and persecution.

Pause the video.

Explain why the statement is true.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, the statement is true because words such as hated, tortured, and lie imply that refugees are treated poorly and persecuted by others.

So, very well done if you got that right.

So now that we've considered what Zephaniah might be saying about the treatment of refugees, let's think about what he's saying about the catalyst for becoming a refugee.

And by that, I mean the reason behind people being displaced and forced to become a refugee.

In order to think about that, we might consider the following four words, skin, pray, hurricane, and guns.

And what I'd like you to discuss is what these four words suggest to us about why people are forced to become refugees.

So pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people noticing the four words have different connotations and that in itself suggests there are many different reasons why people might become refugees.

If we take the word pray, that implies people are forced to become refugees because of their religion, and they're facing religious persecution.

If we think of the word skin, that implies people face persecution because of the colour of their skin and racism.

The word hurricane creates a sense of natural disasters.

It's just that people are forcibly displaced because of extreme weather.

Finally, the word guns could hint that perhaps a war or even criminal gangs.

As our Oak pupil, Izzy, summarises for us, "The word suggests there are many reasons why people might become refugees from racial or religious persecution to war or natural disasters." Now, in terms of who might be causing the oppression and creating the hostile environment that causes people to become forcibly displaced, Zephaniah uses the words they and leader.

What I'd like you to think about now is why do you think Zephaniah has used such general terms and not specified certain leaders, countries, or organisations? So pause the video.

Take a few minutes to consider what the generalised language might suggest for the meaning of the poem.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic discussions there.

I'm gonna share one of our Oak pupil Sam's ideas with you.

Sam said, "Perhaps the lack of specificity and the use of general terms is perhaps to show how universal and common this is.

Perhaps to emphasise that it can happen to anyone." If Zephaniah specified a particular country or leader, people might think it's an isolated issue.

However, by not specifying a country or leader, Zephaniah invites us to think this could happen anywhere, or it might be happening in multiple places at once.

Now, for a quick check for understanding, what I'd like you to do is tell me which of our Oak pupils' interpretation of Zephaniah's use of they do you think is the most appropriate for the poem.

So Lucas said, "Perhaps Zephaniah uses anonymous pronouns 'cause he doesn't know who first began the persecution." And Sophia said, "Perhaps Zephaniah uses the pronouns to show how universal and common this is and how it happens to people all around the world." Now consider everything we've said about the poem so far.

Pause the video.

Select which interpretation you think is the most appropriate.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, while it's true that Zephaniah might be unaware of who began the persecution, everything we've looked at so far in the poem adds this sense of generalisation rather than specificity.

So it's more likely it was done on purpose, which suggests that Sophia's idea that perhaps if now use the pronoun to show how universal and common this is and how it happens to anyone all over the world is the correct answer.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

Now, the first task of the lesson.

So, as I said earlier now we've explored the poem and some of the language, I'd like us to return to the title "We Refugees".

I'd like you to consider why Zephaniah chose that particular title.

Remember, the title is the way a poem is presented to the world, and it really speaks to how the poet wants the poem to be perceived.

So why do you think he chose "We Refugees"? I'd like you to write a few sentences to explain what you think and explain your reasoning.

So, what in the poem makes you think that? Now, in order to help you, you might consider the following things, the number of reasons within the poem for people becoming refugees.

So we had the idea of racial, religious persecution, natural disasters, war, and perhaps even organised crime.

You might also think about the use of they and leader rather than specific names.

What do we say that might suggest about the oppression and who faces it? So pause the video.

Consider why you think Zephaniah chose the title "We Refugees".

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people considering their original thoughts about the title and how they can enhance and add their original ideas now that we've talked through the poem a little bit.

Now, I'd like us to consider one of our Oak pupils Izzy's response and I'd like to think about how we might extend our answer by adding any consideration of they and leader.

So Izzy said, "I think Zephaniah called the poem "We Refugees" to remind us that anyone could become a refugee in their life since we all might face persecution, war, or a natural disaster." So Izzy's thought about the reasons and catalysts that Zephaniah alludes to, but she hasn't thought about the use of general term such as they and leader.

So pause the video.

Consider how we might extend Izzy's answer to include those ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

We might extend Izzy's answer to, "I think Zephaniah called the poem "We Refugees" to remind us that anyone could become a refugee in their life since we all might experience persecution, a war, or a natural disaster.

The terms they and leader remind us that these events are universal.

They've been happening throughout history to people all around the world." Now I'd like you to check your own answer to see if you considered the universality of they and leader in your answer.

So pause the video.

Read back through your work.

Check that you've extended your answer fully.

Fantastic work, everyone.

It was great to see people using Izzy's original extended response in order to add to their own work because considering other people's thoughts and opinions is how we allow our own ideas and opinions to grow and evolve.

You are all doing amazingly well so far, everyone.

Now, we're moving on to our second learning cycle, but we're going to consider some of the contextual information around the poem and why Zephaniah might choose to not use certain contextual information in "We Refugees".

So, before we start looking at the facts, I just want us to take a moment to explore the language around human displacement because there are a lot of different terms associated with it, and I think it's important to understand what they actually mean.

So, refugee is one of our keywords.

It means a person is forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters.

Now, when someone is forced to flee their home, they begin the process of applying to be seen as a legal refugee.

And once they've gone through that process, they're officially termed a refugee.

And that means they're entitled to legal protection.

Now an asylum seeker is a term you might have seen in the news or heard in people's discussions, so I think it's important we understand who an asylum seeker is.

Asylum means a safe place.

So, an asylum seeker is essentially someone who's looking for a safe place.

They are people in the process of being legally recognised as a refugee.

So, an asylum seeker and refugee are the same.

They've both been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters, but they're called an asylum seeker until they've been legally recognised and then they're called a refugee and granted legal protection.

Now, another term you might hear is internally displaced person as part of these conversations around human displacement.

And that essentially means someone who's been forced to leave their home for the same reason as a refugee, but they haven't crossed an international border.

So, once you cross an international border, you become an asylum seeker.

And then, once legally recognised, you are a refugee.

I think it's important to recognise that all these terms refer to people who've been forced to leave their homes.

They're not doing so by choice.

So keep that in mind when we think about the facts around human displacement in a moment, but also in general when you hear people talking about these terms in the news or in their general discussions.

Now, Zephaniah's poem I think can be summarised as trying to show the suffering of refugees and how they face persecution not only in their home country, but also, they face hostility and judgement when they find somewhere considered safe.

We talked at the end of the first learning cycle about how's Zephaniah's title is arguably suggesting we could all become refugees at any moment.

And I think these numbers speak to that idea.

Now, numbers and statistics are collected every year around refugees, but keep in mind, these numbers are only the ones we know about.

It's highly likely there are more, but they've slipped through the cracks in the system and they've not been accounted for.

So, by the end of twenty 2023, 117.

3 million people were forcibly displaced, including refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people.

So, for context, the population of the UK is just under 68 million.

So nearly double the population of the UK were forced to leave their homes because of war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Now, that was at the end of 2023.

So, realistically, that number will now be a lot higher due to the conflicts in Israel and Palestine as well as the continued conflict in Ukraine, but we won't have those figures until the end of 2024.

At the end of 2023, 37.

6 million people were refugees.

So, out of those 170 million people, only 37 million have been legally recognised as refugees.

They're entitled to legal protection.

So that means around 80 million people have either been internally displaced or are waiting to be legally recognised as refugees.

Between 2018 and 2023, around 2 million children were born as refugees.

And finally, 73% of refugees come from five countries: Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syrian Arab Republic, Venezuela, and South Sudan.

Now, these are all countries facing either internal or external conflict, and that's forcing people to leave their homes.

Now let's consider how these facts might relate to Zephaniah's "We Refugees".

So, let's focus on the first fact.

By the end of 2023, 117.

million people were forcibly displaced, including refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people.

What I'd like to think about is how does that fact relate to Zephaniah's "We Refugees"? So, think about what we said about the title at the end of the first learning cycle.

How might this fact be related to that? Now, as I said, if you're working with someone else, you might talk about your ideas with them.

If working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video.

Think about the fact that 117 million people were displaced and how that might relate to Zephaniah's "We Refugees".

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people firstly talk about how high that number is because it's incredibly high.

And as one of our Oak pupils, Sam, said, "It reminds us just how many people are refugees and how it could happen to anyone." As we said, 73% of refugees at the moment come from just five countries involving internal/external conflict.

So, the numbers could easily rise if a different country became involved in a conflict or suffered a natural disaster.

So now I want us to take a step back and think about using statistics, talk about human displacement as a concept because the numbers are very useful to help us see the scale of human displacement around the world, but it could also be seen as a negative thing to focus on the numbers.

And what I'd like you to consider is why might that be.

So pause the video.

Consider why it might be a negative thing to focus on the numbers in relation to human displacement.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people remembering that these numbers and statistics are just what agencies have been able to collate.

There could be a huge difference in the numbers, especially when it comes to internally displaced people because we're then relying on governments who are involved in a conflict or a disaster of some sort to keep accurate records, and that's just not realistic.

And as one of Oak pupil, Sophia, said, "It might also be detrimental to focus on the numbers because the scale is so overwhelming, we might not be able to process it properly." The idea the number of people are forcefully displaced at the end of 2023 being nearly double the population of the UK is something that's actually very difficult to imagine, and therefore, we might switch off from the concept because it's too hard for us to wrap our minds around it fully.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

So, the population of the UK in 2024 is just under 68 million.

This means which of the following statements is true? A, by the end of 2023, fewer people than the population of the UK were forcibly displaced around the world, B, by the end of 2023, more people than the population of the UK were forcibly displaced around the world, or C, by the end of 2023, the same number of people as the population of the UK were forcibly displaced around the world.

So pause the video.

Make your selection now.

The correct answer is B, by the end of 2023, around 117.

3 million people were displaced, which has nearly double the population of the UK.

So, very well done if you got that right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now at the final task of the lesson.

We're going to think about how we can relate the context of human displacement we just talked about to Zephaniah's "We Refugees".

Now, Zephaniah was a strong advocate for refugees and he criticised those in power for seeing them as a numbers game.

What I'd like to do for the final task of the lesson is consider what you think Zephaniah might have meant by that.

What should we focus on instead of the numbers? As ever, if working through with someone else, you might talk about your ideas with them.

If working through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

Now, in order to help aid your discussions, you might consider that Zephaniah includes no statistics in "We Refugees", the fact that Zephaniah references many disasters and circumstances that might lead people to become refugees, and the repetition of "we" in the poem.

So pause the video and consider the question now.

Welcome back, everyone.

I heard some fantastic discussions, and it was truly amazing to see people taking such an empathetic response to the poem and the facts around human displacement.

Now, here is what two of our Oak pupils, Sam and Sophia, said about the question what Zephaniah meant by criticising those in power for seeing people as a numbers game.

So Sam said, "I think Zephaniah is suggesting that we see people as numbers, we forget their human beings, too.

And the 'we' is designed to bring back those human connections." Sophia responded, "Yes.

I think he focused on the different disasters and circumstances instead of the numbers to remind us how many different ways people can become refugees." So what I'd like you to do now is consider Sam and Sophia's discussion, how well does it align with your discussions? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

I think it's a really useful exercise to consider how other people discuss certain topics and ideas because we tend to focus on what other people have written down and then we compare that to our own writing.

But actually, our discussions are how we develop ideas and see things from other people's perspectives before we get to the writing stage.

So I think it's really important to have these moments of reflection and how other people express their ideas verbally and what we can take from that.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Zephaniah was a strong advocate for human rights.

Zephaniah's poem focuses on the struggle of refugees and how badly they're treated by many in society.

Zephaniah uses the pronoun "we" in the title to remind readers that anyone could become a refugee in their lifetime.

As I said, this was a really powerful poem and one of my favourites in the anthology.

It was fantastic to see how well people responded to it.

If you enjoyed the poem, you might like to read some more of Zephaniah's work.

He's written books, music as well as other poetry.

Another favourite poem of mine is "The British", which touches on the same themes as "We Refugees".

So, if you enjoyed this poem, you might like to take a look at that one as well.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone, and I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.