Over the past 13 years, we’ve welcomed more than 30,000 students, with around a third from secondary schools. Our cross-curricular learning programme has made a significant impact, linking personal experiences of migration to the broader landscape of migration in the UK. 

Recently, however, demand from geography teachers has grown for workshops that focus specifically on migration from a geographical perspective.

While our award-winning learning team already has a proven track record of engaging students across different themes and subjects through our cross-curricular approach, this new demand presents an exciting opportunity. That’s why we’re expanding our geography offer — developing tailored workshops and resources that bring the human side of migration to the forefront of geography learning.

“What is often missing in schools from the way geography is taught is the human side of migration. This is where the Migration Museum’s approach of personal stories can really add to the statistics and facts that geography leads with in schools. We humanise, bring empathy and contextualise migration, in a way that is often difficult to do in the classroom.”
— Tia Shah, Learning Manager at Migration Museum

Tia Shah, Learning Manager, and Liberty Melly, Head of Learning, speaking at the Geographical Association Conference 2025, Photo: Migration Museum

 

To meet this demand, we’ve been actively building partnerships, creating gallery resources, and developing new workshops. Some of the steps we’ve taken so far include:

• Developed a new workshop menu tailored to specific subjects — starting with a KS3 geography workshop and a KS4 interactive talk 
• Included more geography specific resources on our resource bank. (Just type “geography” in the search bar to find them.)
• Made connections with key organisations who work in this area including the Geographical Association, and the Royal Geographical Society 
• Spoke at the Geographical Association Conference, delivering both primary and secondary sessions 
• Delivered a CPD session as part of GeogLive! Watch the recording here
• Developed more specific CPD and ITT for geography teachers 

 

These initiatives are just the start. As we continue to develop our learning programme, we aim to provide teachers with a growing menu of engaging, discursive workshops across subjects, supporting teachers and learners by bringing migration to every classroom — all as we work towards the opening of our permanent museum in 2028.

Central to all of these workshops is our approach to teaching migration: humanising the topic and leading with personal stories and connections to migration. By bringing our unique learning pedagogy and tried-and-tested tools to different subjects like geography, we ensure that migration is taught in a sensitive, empathetic, and personal way, supporting students to explore migration as a source of connection rather than division.

“The case studies…It really brought the examples to life hearing from, not about, the migrants.”
— Harris Federation teacher

“It will give me more confidence to try and draw connections more frequently in our learning, and also to aim to humanise stories where possible.”
— Queen Elizabeth’s School teacher

We’re excited to continue developing workshops that bring the human stories of migration into geography classrooms, helping students engage with the topic in meaningful, empathetic ways.

Interested? Book a workshop or talk with Tia, our Learning Manager, by emailing tia@migrationmuseum.org

Top Image: Student engaging with migration story discs at the Migration Museum, Photo: Migration Museum