Through our Education and Leadership programme, students learn about the ideologies that perpetuate genocide and come to understand it as prejudice and exclusion at its most extreme. Committed to empowering young people to take positive action against genocide and connecting them to Aegis Students throughout the UK, Rwanda and the rest of the world, the global dimension is at the heart of our programme. Carefully adapted to complement each school’s Holocaust education programme, our workshops and presentations bring their education up to date, make global issues relevant to them and show young people how they can become informed and active global citizens.
REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER WORKSHOP
Through myth busting exercises students take an objective look at refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and around the world, with a particular focus on Sudan and Darfuri refugees and asylum seekers.
Students will explore the different ways in which they receive information about the world, from national media to their peers, and the effects of forming opinions on inaccurate information.
By the end of the workshop students are able to distinguish between the different types of immigration and will be informed on a variety of issues surrounding the British asylum system. Students will be encouraged to view immigration, refugee and asylum issues in both a local and global context and are provided with the tools and information to assess their own opinions and preconceptions.
PREJUDICE AND PERSECUTION WORKSHOP
Along with the facilitator, students will breakdown prejudice into 5 escalating stages, with the final stage being genocide/extermination. Students will take a look at case studies from Rwanda and Sudan, and investigate ways in which genocide/the final stage can be prevented.
Genocide – when broken down into its key components – is a process of exclusion, prejudice and racism at its most extreme. Although genocide is something that many young people in the UK will feel disconnected from, its precursors are concepts they are very familiar with.
Students will work together to explore how the precursory stages are present in their own communities – breaking down weighty international issues of genocide and mass atrocity, to individual levels of choice and action – and are encouraged to discuss ways to challenge each stage, in both a local and global context.
By the end of the workshop, students will understand how levels of prejudice, racism and intolerance build up towards genocide and will be informed and empowered to make a positive difference.
For more information email our Education and Outreach team at speaking@aegisstudents.org.
