A Room of Their Own (Immigration Project)
Essential question: What are the stories of people who have come to California, how have their lives changed and how have they changed the lives of those already here?
“We are all connected, everybody is a part of everyone else, we are all interconnected.” Rob Ryan (paper cutting artist)
“One of the greatest human endeavors (is) showing kindness in hosting and caring for others.” Ron Berger (educator)
“We are all connected, everybody is a part of everyone else, we are all interconnected.” Rob Ryan (paper cutting artist)
“One of the greatest human endeavors (is) showing kindness in hosting and caring for others.” Ron Berger (educator)
Why is this project important?
When we live in a place, we frequently take our knowledge and our belongings for granted. We forget how important it is to have people who know us, to have a place where we feel safe and belong.
In the Room of Our Own project, we will think about how we, as people who have this knowledge and these possessions, can help build this for others. We will seek out stories of children who have travelled to California and create a room for them. These people may now be adults, they may be dead, or they may be people who only ever lived in a book. Those who have arrived in California have brought with them knowledge, interests and celebrations. By learning more about others, our lives become richer.
Everybody needs to be valued and to be known. In building these rooms, we will begin to understand what it means to build a life. And what we believe is necessary to feel at home.
We will develop our empathy for other people and understand that our actions can make a profound difference. We will seek to understand, to welcome and to celebrate.
In the Room of Our Own project, we will think about how we, as people who have this knowledge and these possessions, can help build this for others. We will seek out stories of children who have travelled to California and create a room for them. These people may now be adults, they may be dead, or they may be people who only ever lived in a book. Those who have arrived in California have brought with them knowledge, interests and celebrations. By learning more about others, our lives become richer.
Everybody needs to be valued and to be known. In building these rooms, we will begin to understand what it means to build a life. And what we believe is necessary to feel at home.
We will develop our empathy for other people and understand that our actions can make a profound difference. We will seek to understand, to welcome and to celebrate.
Throughout the project, we will also discuss and answer (where possible) the following questions:
- How did people get to California?
- What were the first impressions of those who have arrived in California?
- How are these impressions similar and how are they different?
- Have the experiences of those who have arrived into California changed over time?
- Why do we have borders?
- What is home?
- Why do people choose to leave their homes?
- How does it feel to be a stranger in an unfamiliar place?
- What skills do we need to thrive in an unfamiliar situation?
- What are our human rights?
- Why are these important?
We will make:
- A room for a chosen immigrant, which, through artifacts and a letter (below) will demonstrate understanding of that person’s life.
- Simple wooden furniture built both as a team and individually to be placed in the room.
- A paper cutting representing one person’s immigration journey, complete with exhibition card, explaining details about that person’s life as well as our artistic choices within the paper cutting.
- A letter to our chosen immigrant, welcoming them to the country, addressing any concerns that they might have, celebrating what we know of them and soliciting additional information that we wish that we knew.
- A travel journal detailing imaginative journeys (for example, that of a prospective goldminer, a child on Angel Island, a new immigrant today) as well as our personal learning journey.