Introducing the Invisible Stories Research Report
Talking about migration in the classroom is fundamental for civic education and social cohesion among young people. However, teachers face significant challenges in addressing these issues. To support teachers and students, we have launched the Invisible Stories project. The project starts with an initial research on the topic in the three participating countries, Spain, Poland and Belgium, which has resulted in the report ‘Invisible Stories – Shaping common narratives on recent European migrations’.
The Invisible Stories Report: An in-depth analysis.
The report, published by Smilemundo (Spain), the School with Class Foundation (Poland) and the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium), serves as a starting point for us to design the tools and classroom scenarios we will offer in secondary schools.
The report summarises findings on the treatment of migration in educational content and media in these three countries. It includes analyses of curricula, teaching materials and narratives in the media and social networks, as well as interviews with educators and experts on migration.
Key Findings
The report highlights that migration in the classroom is mostly dealt with in a quantitative way, without addressing European identity in a profound way and underlines the importance of providing a balanced view on migration, including human aspects of migrants, their needs and the invisible realities of their experiences. This approach makes it possible to see migration as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon.
Solutions proposed by experts and teachers to improve teaching on migration:
- Create educational tools that are adapted to national contexts, while maintaining a coherent European narrative.
- Include real stories of migrants and actively address stereotypes and misinformation.
- Use participatory methods such as storytelling, role-playing and interactive approaches that build empathy and challenge students’ prior beliefs.
Next steps: Creating Educational Resources
Based on these findings, we are developing classroom scenarios and educational resources to support teachers and students in exploring migration and European identity. Our aim is to encourage critical thinking among young people and to combat misconceptions from social media and fake news.
We are currently testing and prototyping the materials and are looking for teachers and schools to join the project and try out the exercises in their classrooms. If you want more information about the available exercises you can send us an email to hello@smilemundo.org, we’d love to hear from you.