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91�ȱ� Teach > Primary Resources > KS2 History > British Asian History

Video summary

Music teacher, Zi Lan, talks to 10 year-old Cherie about how she came to Liverpool as a child and why people emigrated to Britain from Asia.

In the 19th century, goods such as cotton, silk and spices arrived from China by boat into Liverpool docks, and some of the Chinese sailors decided to stay in Liverpool.

Zi Lan talks about her own family's journey to Britain and how they have helped to support the Chinese community in Liverpool.

She explains how during the Second World War, 20,000 Chinese sailors worked in Liverpool, sending food and supplies by boat to people around the whole country. Lots of these Chinese sailors stayed, married and had children, but when the war finished, the government sent them back to China.

Zi Lan also describes the abuse many in the Chinese community experienced when the Covid pandemic began, and how she and many others have been trying to fight against the racism towards people with Chinese heritage.

This short film is from the 91�ȱ� Teach series British Asian History.

Teacher Notes

Learning points:

• To learn about the reasons why people have emigrated to Britain from Asia over time, and in the post-war years.
• To learn about the contribution of a diverse range of people during World War Two: focus on Chinese sailors in the British Navy.

Key Vocabulary

This film gives you the chance to explore and learn this vocabulary in the context of a personal story.

• Vocabulary used in the film:

  • Community
  • Immigrants
  • Shipping industry
  • Sailor and seaman
  • Docks
  • Flourished
  • Culture
  • Minister
  • Youth orchestra
  • Tai-chi
  • Abandoned
  • Racism

• Vocabulary useful for discussing the film:

  • Immigration and immigrants - coming to live permanently in another country.
  • Emigration - leaving one's own country in order to settle permanently in another.
  • Asia/Asian - the largest and most populous continent on earth.
  • Britain/ British - 'Great Britain' is often used to refer to England, Scotland and Wales, including their component adjoining islands. Great Britain and Northern Ireland now constitute the United Kingdom.
  • Community - a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
  • Culture - a pattern of behaviour shared by a society, or group of people.
  • Discrimination - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people.
  • Diversity - differences in racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic and academic backgrounds.
  • Equality - when people are treated the same, regardless of what they look like or where they come from.
  • Inclusion - being a part of what everyone else is, being welcomed and embraced as a member who belongs.
  • Legacy - something we inherit from past generations and pass to our future generations.
  • Prejudice - a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
  • Racism - the belief that people of different races or ethnic groups have different value in society, and using this against them.

Before watching the film

You may want to discuss what your pupils understand by the word ‘immigrant’ and what they already know about people who have come to live in the UK, over time. Pupils could discuss what they understand by the term ‘community’ and whether they identify as being part of any communities.

The central events discussed by Zi Lan Liao in the film take place during World War Two and in the post-war years. She talks about the Chinese community’s contribution during the war, and then how unjustly they were treated. You might want to discuss with the children what they already know about different people living in Britain during World War Two.

Links can be made between the pupils’ prior history knowledge, for example, discussing what they know already about the Victorian era.

Please note, Zi Lan Liao talks about families being separated by the UK government after World War Two, with Chinese sailors being arrested and sent back to China, leaving their families in the UK. Towards the end of the film, Zi Lan Liao also talks about how some people have blamed the Chinese community for the pandemic since 2020, and how this has led to racism. As part of your preparation you should consider the needs of any pupils in your class who may have similar lived experiences.

Questions to consider

Depending on the focus of your lesson, you may wish to pause the short film at certain points to check for understanding, asking questions such as:

• What did Zi Lan Liao tell us about the ‘left behind children’? What happened to families of Chinese sailors?
• How do you think the Chinese sailors and their wives and partners felt when they were arrested and sent back to China?
• Zi Lan Liao said the community worked to get an apology for what had happened, many years later. What do you think the impact of this apology would be?
• Why do you think Cheri says she is proud to be a Chinese Liverpudlian? Why do you think she is inspired by Zi Lan Liao

Activities to further explore learning

• Pupils could work on timelines from 1800 - present day, with well-known UK historical events, adding elements and events from Zi Lan Liao’s story.
• When studying World War Two, pupils could find out more about the contribution of Chinese sailors, using this film as a historical source. Were there other communities which contributed to the war effort? How were they treated during the war and afterwards?
• Compare and contrast this story with Ganesh’s in Epside 6 and Noor’s in Episode 9 as part of learning about World War Two.
• Pupils could discuss how our British Values were or were not enacted in this story. For example, was the rule of law followed?
• Having watched the film, pupils could write down any questions they would ask Zi Lan if they had the opportunity.

How this film meets the aims of the National Curriculum in England:

• History

This film will help you to ensure your pupils understand the history of these places as a coherent, chronological narrative, focusing on the 19th Century to the present day. Through this personal story, pupils will learn about the diversity of people who have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world.

Pupils will develop deeper understanding of historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, and frame historically-valid questions.

They will also gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

How this film meets the aims of the Scottish Curriculum:

• Social Studies
  This film will enable pupils to compare and contrast communities and the lives of people in the past with their own, and to contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences.

  They will find out why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.

• Health and Welbeing Across the Curriculum

This film will help pupils to develop self-awareness, self-worth and respect for others, understanding diversity and that it is everyone’s responsibility to challenge discrimination.

How this film meets the aims of the The Northern Ireland Curriculum:

• The World Around Us

This film will enable pupils to learn about how people and places have changed over time, the causes and effects of people moving from one place to another, and the positive and negative impacts of people on places. Exploring the lives and memories of people from the past is part of the history non-statutory guidance and this film provides an ideal starting point for this.

• Personal Development

This film will enable pupils to appreciate the similarities and differences between themselves and others by providing a starting point for discussing cultural heritage, community and the diversity of people living in Britain.

How this film meets the aims of the National Curriculum in Wales:

• History
  This film will enable pupils to place events chronologically, identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different places during the 20th Century, and to discuss the consequences to people of historic events.

• Personal and Social Education Framework
  This film will help pupils to see people who have been active citizen and help them to develop respect for others. Through personal stories, pupils will learn the value of diversity and recognise the importance of equality of opportunity.

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