Voices of Change: Ireland and the Wider World · 6th Year

Active learning ideas

Emigration and Diaspora

Active learning works for this topic because students need to grasp the human scale of emigration and the complex factors that drove people to leave. By sorting push and pull factors, mapping journeys, and role-playing voices from primary sources, students connect dry statistics to lived experiences, making the topic memorable and meaningful.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Social, cultural and aspects of everyday life
• NCCA: Primary - Continuity and change over time

• 30–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 35 min · Small Groups

Push-Pull Sort: Famine Factors

Provide cards listing events like potato blight or job ads abroad. In small groups, students sort into push and pull piles, then justify choices with evidence from a handout. Groups share one key factor on the board.

Explain the push and pull factors that led to mass emigration during the Famine.

Facilitation Tip

For the Push-Pull Sort, group students heterogeneously to ensure diverse perspectives when categorizing factors.

What to look for

Provide students with three scenarios describing potential emigrant motivations. Ask them to identify the primary push and pull factors for each scenario and explain their reasoning in one to two sentences.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Pairs

Emigrant Journey Mapping

Students plot major routes from Ireland to destinations on large maps. Pairs add annotations for challenges like sea voyages and arrival hardships, using historical data. Discuss patterns as a class.

Analyze the challenges faced by Irish emigrants in new countries.

Facilitation Tip

During Emigrant Journey Mapping, provide blank maps with key ports labeled to help students visualize routes.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How did the Irish diaspora shape both Ireland and its host countries?' Facilitate a class discussion where students share examples of cultural exchange, economic influence, and social integration discussed in the unit.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 30 min · Pairs

Diaspora Voices Role-Play

Assign roles from emigrant letters: family debating departure. Pairs perform short dialogues, then switch to highlight decisions. Debrief on emotional impacts.

Assess the long-term cultural and economic impact of the Irish diaspora.

Facilitation Tip

In the Diaspora Voices Role-Play, assign roles in advance so students can prepare by reading their character’s letter or ship manifest.

What to look for

Present students with a short excerpt from an emigrant letter. Ask them to identify one specific challenge the emigrant faced and one hope or reason for emigration mentioned in the text.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 50 min · Small Groups

Impact Timeline Gallery Walk

Small groups create timeline cards for diaspora contributions like GAA clubs abroad. Post around room for a walk, noting peer examples. Vote on most surprising impact.

Explain the push and pull factors that led to mass emigration during the Famine.

What to look for

Provide students with three scenarios describing potential emigrant motivations. Ask them to identify the primary push and pull factors for each scenario and explain their reasoning in one to two sentences.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by grounding abstract historical events in personal stories and primary sources. They avoid overemphasizing suffering without also highlighting resilience and agency, using activities like role-play to shift focus to emigrants’ choices and achievements. Research suggests that students retain more when they analyze primary sources in groups, as it builds empathy and critical thinking simultaneously.

Successful learning looks like students accurately identifying push and pull factors, explaining how emigration changed Irish society, and recognizing the resilience of emigrants through primary sources. They should also articulate the ongoing connections between Ireland and its diaspora, supported by evidence from activities.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Push-Pull Sort activity, watch for students who categorize all Famine-related factors as the only push factors.

  Use the activity to prompt students to identify pre-1845 push factors like tenant farmer evictions or seasonal migration, and post-Famine pull factors like factory jobs in textile cities.

• During the Diaspora Voices Role-Play activity, watch for students who assume emigrants were passive or unskilled.

  Direct students to highlight examples of agency in their role-play, such as building businesses or forming unions, using language from their assigned primary sources.

• During the Impact Timeline Gallery Walk activity, watch for students who conclude that the diaspora completely severed ties with Ireland.

  Ask students to note examples of ongoing connections, like remittances or cultural clubs, during the Gallery Walk by examining specific timeline entries.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis
• Gallery Walk