Humanities and Social Sciences · Year 9

Active learning ideas

Global Migration Patterns

Global migration patterns are complex and emotionally charged, making them perfect for active learning. Students need to move beyond facts to grapple with real people’s decisions and consequences. Hands-on sorting, role-play, and mapping help students process these human stories while building geographic and critical thinking skills.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9G9K04

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Human Barometer
• 30 min · Small Groups

Card Sort: Push and Pull Factors

Prepare cards with real-world scenarios, such as drought in Africa or job ads in Australia. In small groups, students sort them into push or pull categories, then justify choices with evidence from news clips. Groups share one example per category with the class.

Analyze the primary push and pull factors driving current global migration flows.

Facilitation Tip

For the Card Sort, circulate with a notepad to capture student debates about ambiguous factors like ‘family reunion’—this often reveals deeper misconceptions.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were advising the government of a country experiencing significant 'brain drain', what two policies would you recommend to mitigate its effects?' Allow students to discuss in small groups before sharing with the class.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Jigsaw
• 45 min · Small Groups

Jigsaw: Migrant Case Studies

Divide class into expert groups, each studying one migrant group like refugees or students. Experts note adaptation challenges and impacts, then reform mixed groups to teach peers and co-create comparison charts. Conclude with whole-class synthesis.

Explain the demographic and economic impacts of migration on both sending and receiving countries.

Facilitation Tip

In the Jigsaw, assign each group a unique case study to prevent overlap and ensure all stories are heard during final presentations.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study of a specific migration scenario (e.g., a refugee crisis or a skilled worker program). Ask them to identify and list two push factors and two pull factors relevant to that case.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Simulation Game
• 40 min · Pairs

Simulation Game: Migration Role-Play

Assign roles as migrants, border officials, or policymakers facing a crisis scenario. Pairs negotiate entry based on push/pull evidence, then debrief in whole class on decisions and real impacts. Use props like passports for immersion.

Compare the experiences of different migrant groups in adapting to new environments.

Facilitation Tip

During the Simulation, pause the role-play at key moments to ask neutral observers what they noticed about the decision-making process.

What to look for

On an index card, have students write one sentence explaining the difference between a push factor and a pull factor, and one example of a country that has experienced significant immigration in the last decade.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Human Barometer
• 35 min · Individual

Mapping Flows: Interactive Data Viz

Provide world maps and migration stats from ABS or UNHCR. Individually plot top flows, then small groups add impacts with colored markers and discuss trends. Project for class vote on biggest surprise.

Analyze the primary push and pull factors driving current global migration flows.

Facilitation Tip

For the Mapping Flows activity, check that students compare absolute numbers with percentages to avoid misleading conclusions about migration size.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were advising the government of a country experiencing significant 'brain drain', what two policies would you recommend to mitigate its effects?' Allow students to discuss in small groups before sharing with the class.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers find success when they frame migration as a series of human choices rather than abstract data points. Start with the Card Sort to surface prior knowledge, then use the Jigsaw to humanize statistics. Research shows role-play builds empathy, so use it sparingly but strategically. Avoid lecturing about ‘benefits of migration’—let students discover trade-offs through evidence and discussion instead.

By the end of these activities, students will confidently distinguish push and pull factors, explain migration’s varied impacts, and use evidence to support their arguments. You’ll see this in their discussions, maps, and role-play justifications as they move from initial ideas to nuanced understanding.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Card Sort: Push and Pull Factors, watch for students grouping all factors as economic, missing the emotional and safety drivers like war or reuniting families.

  During the Card Sort, circulate with guiding questions like ‘What might someone fear if they stay in their home country?’ to redirect attention to conflict or persecution as push factors.

• During Simulation: Migration Role-Play, watch for students assuming all migrants are refugees fleeing violence, ignoring skilled workers or climate migrants.

  During the Simulation, hand each role card face-down and have students reveal one clue at a time, forcing them to consider multiple migration pathways before making assumptions.

• During Jigsaw: Migrant Case Studies, watch for students believing origin countries always lose skilled workers, missing how remittances offset brain drain.

  During the Jigsaw, require each group to calculate the percentage of skilled workers who send remittances home and compare it to the number leaving, using data from their case studies.

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Methods used in this brief

• Human Barometer
• Jigsaw
• Simulation Game