aiMOOC

ABI - Migration – Push, pull and beyond

QR-Code

ABI - Migration – Push, pull and beyond

Mini-description: Explore economic, political, social, family-related and personal reasons for migration — and test where simple push-pull explanations reach their limits.

Target group: Englisch als fortgeführte Fremdsprache, Kursstufe Baden-Württemberg, gemeinsamer BF-/LF-Kurs. English first; German support only when it adds precision or removes an unnecessary language barrier.

Level: B2, in parts C1 as a learning orientation. The goal is not artificial difficulty but increasingly precise, independent analysis.

Media entry — 90 seconds: Look before you explain. Write three observations, two careful inferences and one question. Do not infer a person's reason for migration from an image alone.

Viewing focus: Which reasons for migration are named? Which ones overlap? Which important factors are not visible in a simple push/pull list?

Einleitung

Migration is the movement of people from one place of residence to another, within a country or across borders. People may move for work, study, family life, safety, social networks, personal goals or several reasons at the same time. Some moves are strongly constrained or forced; others involve more choice. The same condition can affect different people differently.

A push-pull model is a useful first sketch: disadvantages at the place of origin may push, while opportunities elsewhere may pull. But it can become misleading when it treats people like objects moved by external forces. A stronger explanation also asks about aspirations, capabilities, family strategies, social networks, legal possibilities, timing, chance and the option of staying.

This aiMOOC trains you to use the model, challenge it and move beyond it. It does not reproduce complete required texts or copyrighted film scenes. For the 2027 Baden-Württemberg Abitur, use the official required works only through lawfully provided school materials.

I-can goals

I can distinguish economic, political, social, family-related and personal migration drivers.
I can explain push and pull factors without treating them as automatic causes.
I can analyse how aspiration, capability, networks, law, timing and chance shape migration decisions.
I can read visuals and data without confusing observation, inference and evidence.
I can speak and write a structured, source-based argument at B2 level and extend it toward C1 where appropriate.
I can evaluate sources for date, author, data basis, framing and missing perspectives.
I can transfer the model to unfamiliar cases and explain its limitations.

Prior knowledge: quick start

Migration: Give one example of a move that is migration and one form of mobility that may not count as migration in a given definition.
Push and pull: Name one possible push factor and one possible pull factor, then add a reason why neither factor predicts an individual's decision.
Source check: What would you need to know before using a migration statistic in an argument?
Image analysis: Separate what you can see from what you think it may mean.
Argumentation: Complete: “This factor matters, but it is not sufficient because …”

Datei:Emigrants (i.e. immigrants) landing at Ellis Island -.webm

Historical viewing prompt: The footage shows movement, not motives. List the evidence available in the film and the information that is missing. Then explain why “they moved because …” would require additional sources.

Core concept: push, pull and beyond

Five overlapping reason clusters

Cluster	Possible examples	Better analytical question
Economic	employment, wages, livelihood, business prospects, housing costs	Which opportunities or constraints matter, for whom, and with what resources?
Political	persecution, armed conflict, restrictions on rights, legal insecurity, state policies	Is movement voluntary, constrained or forced, and what legal pathways exist?
Social	education, health care, discrimination, community expectations, social networks	How do institutions and relationships shape the perceived options?
Family-related	reunification, partnership, care work, children's futures, household strategies	Is the decision individual, negotiated or made for the household?
Personal	study, curiosity, identity, career plans, relationships, adventure, life-course goals	What does the person want, and what makes action possible or impossible?

Key idea: The clusters overlap. A “job move” can also be about family security, status, education, a visa route and a personal ambition.

Visual analysis: What does the painting foreground: hardship, waiting, family, uncertainty, hope, class, or something else? Use visual evidence. Then name at least two possible readings and explain why the artwork cannot prove the actual motives of historical migrants.

Push and pull: useful, but incomplete

Use it for: an initial overview, comparison of origin and destination conditions, brainstorming and organising evidence.

Do not stop there. A stronger explanation asks why people exposed to similar conditions make different decisions. It also asks whether they want to move, whether they can move, what family and networks do, how laws and borders shape options, and whether chance or timing opens or closes a pathway.

Simple sketch	Beyond push-pull
origin conditions → movement	origin conditions + aspirations + capabilities + networks + law + timing → different outcomes
destination opportunities → movement	information, expectations and social ties shape how destinations are imagined
individual decision	decisions may involve households, family obligations and transnational relationships
move or stay	stay, internal move, international move, return, onward move or repeated mobility are all possible outcomes

LF extension / BF challenge: Jørgen Carling presents several ways of answering “Why do people migrate?”. Note one answer that supports push-pull thinking and one that complicates it. Then write a two-sentence judgement on the model's usefulness for a specific case, not in the abstract.

Aspiration and capability

Aspiration means wanting or planning to move. Capability means having the practical possibility to do so. Money, documents, health, skills, information, transport, social contacts and legal access can all affect capability. This distinction helps explain why hardship does not automatically lead to migration: a person may want to move but lack the means, or have the means but prefer to stay.

Think in contrasts:

high aspiration + high capability → migration may become possible
high aspiration + low capability → involuntary immobility may result
low aspiration + high capability → staying may be a chosen option
changing circumstances → plans may change over time

Listening and Viewing

Viewing 1: Why do people migrate?

Before viewing: Predict five reasons. Sort them into the five clusters above.

During viewing: Note only keywords. Add a symbol: E = economic, P = political, S = social, F = family-related, Pe = personal.

After viewing — BF: Explain two reasons and one overlap in 60–90 seconds using “because”, “however” and “therefore”.

After viewing — LF: Identify one simplification in the video and formulate a research question that would test it.

Viewing 2: Refugee, migrant, asylum seeker

Task: Build a three-column note sheet: term — working definition — legal or conceptual caution. Do not use “refugee” and “migrant” as interchangeable labels without checking the context.

Transfer: Explain why a person's migration story may include several categories over time and why legal categories do not by themselves tell you all of a person's motivations.

Viewing 3: Similar conditions, different decisions

Listening challenge: The Oxford Martin School explainer asks why people exposed to similar structural conditions may make different migration decisions. Write a one-sentence thesis beginning with: “A list of reasons is not enough because …”

LF: Compare this older research explainer with the 2025 PRIO video above. Use at least one term from: aspiration, capability, opportunity, constraint, agency, immobility and note whether the newer source reframes the question.

Reading: a compact model text

Read actively. Underline causes once, mediating factors twice and outcomes with a box.

A migration decision is rarely produced by one factor. Economic conditions, political insecurity, social expectations, family responsibilities and personal ambitions can interact. Yet even strong reasons to leave do not determine movement. People need information, resources, legal or informal routes, and often support from networks. They also compare migration with alternatives such as staying, moving within a country or waiting. This means that migration is better understood as a process than as a reaction. Push-pull categories can organise the first layer of evidence, but they do not explain why two people facing similar conditions may act differently. A stronger analysis therefore connects structural conditions with individual or household aspirations and capabilities. It also checks how policies, borders, labour markets, social ties and chance shape what is actually possible. Finally, researchers must distinguish what migrants say about their reasons, what institutions record as an admission category, and what analysts infer from data. These can overlap, but they are not the same thing.

BF: Write a 3-sentence summary: main idea → one example → one limitation of push-pull.

LF: Turn the text into a causal diagram and mark where evidence would be needed to move from correlation to causal explanation.

Context vocabulary and word formation

Core word	English explanation	Word family	Useful collocation
migrate	move to another place to live for a period or permanently	migration, migrant, migratory	migrate for work
displace	force someone to leave a home or habitual place	displacement, displaced	forced displacement
persecute	subject someone to serious hostile treatment, often for identity or belief	persecution, persecuted	flee persecution
aspire	strongly hope or aim for something	aspiration, aspirational	migration aspiration
capable	having the ability or means to do something	capability, incapable	capability to move
restrict	limit what is possible	restriction, restrictive	entry restrictions
reunite	bring people together again	reunion, reunification	family reunification
remit	send money, especially across distance	remittance	send remittances
mobile	able or likely to move	mobility, immobility	social mobility
agency	capacity to make and act on choices	agent, agentic	exercise agency

Vocabulary help ladder: 1. infer from context → 2. use the English explanation → 3. check the word family → 4. use a monolingual dictionary → 5. only then use a bilingual dictionary or German help if needed.

Micro-task: Build one sentence with a noun form and one with the related verb: restriction / restrict, aspiration / aspire, migration / migrate.

Visual and data literacy

Important: This is a 2020 snapshot, not a current map. Before using it, say what the map measures, identify the year, and distinguish absolute numbers from shares of population.

BF: Describe two patterns without explaining them yet.

LF: Add two possible explanations and two pieces of extra data you would need before testing those explanations.

Economic-family link: Remittances show that migration can connect households across borders. Explain why “higher remittances” does not by itself reveal the original reason for migration.

Family and social dimension: Use the diagram to explain a possible global care chain. Then identify one benefit, one cost and one question the diagram cannot answer.

Ethical image reading: Describe only what is visible and what the Commons caption identifies. Do not invent a biography, motive or emotion. Then ask: What additional source would be needed to discuss reasons for movement responsibly?

Analysis toolbox

Step	Question	Sentence starter
Describe	What does the source show or say?	The source presents …
Contextualise	Who created it, when, for whom, and with what purpose?	Published by … in …, the source …
Analyse	How do wording, structure, data or visuals shape meaning?	The contrast between … and … suggests …
Connect	Which migration drivers and mediating factors interact?	An economic factor is linked to a family-related factor because …
Evaluate	What can the source support, and what can it not support?	This evidence is useful for …, but insufficient to show …

AFB reminder: Reproduction of facts is not enough. Analysis explains relationships and effects; evaluation weighs evidence against criteria and acknowledges limits.

Speaking

60-second explanation

Choose one fictional case from the Transfer section below. Speak for one minute:

name two interacting reasons
explain one push or pull factor
add one “beyond” factor such as capability, network, law or timing
finish with one limitation of your explanation

BF support: “One factor is … A second factor is … These interact because … However, migration is not automatic because …”

LF extension: Add a counter-hypothesis and explain what evidence would discriminate between the two explanations.

Discussion prompt

To what extent is push-pull a useful starting point for explaining migration?

Use this speaking frame: claim → evidence/example → limitation → refined claim.

If real migration policy enters a case, distinguish the documented rule, its stated aim, available evidence on effects and contested interpretations.

Writing

Task: “Push-pull models organise migration drivers well, but explain migration decisions poorly.” Discuss.

Planning frame:

define the model in one precise sentence
use one economic or political example
use one family, social or personal example
introduce aspiration/capability or networks
include one counterpoint: when is push-pull genuinely useful?
conclude with a qualified judgement tied to the evidence

BF: Use one source and a clear paragraph structure. Prioritise precision over breadth.

LF: Link at least two materials or perspectives, make assumptions explicit and include an AFB III evaluation.

No replacement essay: Write your own draft first. Feedback tools may help you revise, but the final reasoning, wording and source checking must be yours.

Mediation option

Fictional source — Stadt Lindenbrück, school project, 2026: “In einer anonymisierten Befragung von 200 neu zugezogenen Erwachsenen nannten 31 % Arbeit, 27 % Familie, 18 % Ausbildung/Studium, 14 % Sicherheit und 10 % sonstige Gründe als wichtigsten Grund für den Zuzug. Es durfte nur ein Hauptgrund angekreuzt werden. Die Stadt warnt deshalb davor, die Kategorien als vollständige Erklärung individueller Entscheidungen zu lesen.”

Task: An English partner school asks what the data show. Mediate the key information in 90–120 words. Do not translate sentence by sentence. Explain the central methodological limitation.

LF extension: Add one sentence on why “primary reason” data may underrepresent multi-causality.

Transfer: fictional cases

All cases are fictional and deliberately incomplete. Your job is to identify what you know, what you infer and what evidence is missing.

Case A: A trained nurse receives a job offer abroad. Pay is higher, but the move would separate her from a parent she currently supports. A cousin in the destination city offers temporary housing. Her visa depends on the employment contract.

Case B: A student wants to study abroad after repeated discrimination at home. A scholarship is available, but travel documents are difficult to obtain. The student's partner prefers to stay.

Case C: A family leaves a region after violent conflict disrupts schools and work. They first move within their country, then consider crossing a border where relatives live. Transport costs and changing entry rules shape their options.

BF: Analyse one case with the five reason clusters + one beyond factor.

LF: Compare all three cases and show why a single push-pull diagram would hide different combinations of agency, constraint and capability.

Help, feedback and error analysis

BF support

Start with one case, one visual and one short source.
Use the five-cluster table as a scaffold.
Use sentence starters from the Analysis toolbox.
Aim for one clear causal link per paragraph.
Check: Have I separated evidence from inference?

LF extension

Compare multiple materials rather than treating each source separately.
Test alternative explanations.
Distinguish correlation, reported motive and causal claim.
Evaluate source limitations and missing perspectives.
Move from “what factors?” to “how do factors interact, and under what conditions?”

Feedback code

Code	Meaning	Revision move
EVI	evidence too weak or missing	add a source, data point or textual detail
INF	inference presented as fact	signal uncertainty and justify the inference
ANA	description instead of analysis	explain how or why the evidence matters
COH	ideas not connected	add a logical connector and clarify the relationship
LEX	vague or repetitive vocabulary	replace with precise migration vocabulary
GR	grammar blocks clarity	correct the pattern, then rewrite the whole sentence

Revision routine: Mark one strong sentence, one sentence needing evidence and one language error pattern. Revise those first before polishing everything.

Privacy, copyright and responsible AI use

Work with fictional or anonymised data unless a source clearly allows personal data use.
Audio or video recordings are optional and should remain private unless you explicitly choose otherwise.
Do not upload classmates' recordings, personal migration stories or identifying data without clear consent.
Do not upload complete copyrighted required texts or film material to external services.
No external AI access is required for this aiMOOC.
If AI use is allowed by your teacher, use it for questions, language feedback or counterarguments only after your own attempt; document the use and verify factual claims and sources.
Do not submit AI-generated replacement essays or fabricated citations.

Abi-Check 2027 Baden-Württemberg

Checked for the 2027 examination cycle; source status reviewed 02 October 2026. The official Baden-Württemberg Facherlass for Abitur 2027 names On the Move: Migration and Cross-Cultural Encounters as the English focus topic.

Leistungsfach: The mandatory corpus includes Denis Villeneuve's film Arrival (2016) and short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sefi Atta, Andrea Levy, Luis Alberto Urrea, Zadie Smith, Kit de Waal and Neel Mukherjee. This aiMOOC does not reproduce those works; use lawful school copies and teacher-provided excerpts.

Basisfach: The focus topic and required works are the same as in the Leistungsfach, but the topic and at least part of the required works are treated in an appropriate scope while respecting the level differences between BF and LF.

The Facherlass also requires the topic fields Politics, culture, society – between tradition and change with the reference cultures USA and United Kingdom. This aiMOOC is therefore a focused migration module, not a complete Abitur course.

The Baden-Württemberg English curriculum differentiates BF and LF by the complexity and abstraction of texts and topics and by the breadth, depth and differentiation of task work. The overall orientation at the end of the course stage is B2, in parts C1.

If you use this page for a later examination year, re-check the current Facherlass before teaching or assessment.

Official check before teaching or assessment:

Abi self-check: Can you explain a multi-causal case, analyse a visual or text, use precise evidence, qualify claims, connect materials and evaluate a model's limits?

Common BF/LF course: differentiated path

BF	LF
exemplary cases and manageable materials	broader material base and more complex texts
explicit structure aids and sentence starters	greater independence in planning and source linkage
one central analytical relationship at a time	several interacting causal relationships
guided AFB II with selected AFB III	more sustained AFB II/III analysis and evaluation
language support remains visible	language support fades as independence grows

Follow-up course

Continue with ABI - Migration – Cross-cultural encounters and belonging. Apply the concepts from this course to legally provided excerpts, narrative perspective, identity, belonging and cross-cultural encounters.

Interaktive Aufgaben

Quiz: Teste Dein Wissen

What is a push factor? (A condition at the place of origin that may encourage leaving) (!A legal category that automatically causes migration) (!A guarantee that a person will move) (!A statistic about the destination only)

Why is a push-pull explanation often incomplete? (It may ignore aspirations, capabilities, networks, law and timing) (!It can only be used for historical migration) (!It always excludes economic reasons) (!It proves that migration is voluntary)

What does migration aspiration refer to? (A desire or plan to migrate) (!The legal right to enter every country) (!The amount of money sent home) (!A map of migration routes)

What does capability add to migration analysis? (It asks whether a person has the practical means and opportunities to move) (!It measures only language ability) (!It classifies every migrant as a refugee) (!It replaces the need for evidence)

Which is a family-related migration factor? (Reunification with close relatives) (!A lower unemployment rate in a destination) (!A change in exchange rates) (!A border map)

What is a remittance? (Money sent by a migrant to people in another place, often family) (!A visa refusal) (!A refugee status decision) (!A transport route)

What is the safest first step when analysing a migration photograph? (Separate visible evidence from inference) (!Guess the person's motive from facial expression) (!Assume the caption explains the whole story) (!Treat the image as representative of all migrants)

Why can one migration reason fit several clusters? (Economic, social, family and personal motives can interact) (!Every migration decision has exactly one cause) (!Political factors never affect families) (!Personal goals are unrelated to institutions)

What should you check before using a migration statistic? (Definition, year, source, measure and data limits) (!Only whether the chart uses strong colours) (!Only whether the number is large) (!Only whether the result supports your first idea)

How does LF typically extend the shared BF/LF work in this aiMOOC? (By linking more complex materials independently and doing more AFB II and III work) (!By avoiding source evaluation) (!By replacing English analysis with German summaries) (!By using only longer vocabulary lists)

Memory

Push factor	condition that may encourage leaving
Pull factor	attraction associated with a possible destination
Aspiration	desire or plan to move
Capability	practical ability and opportunity to move
Remittance	money sent across distance, often to family
Reunification	family members coming together again
Displacement	movement caused by force or serious constraint
Agency	capacity to make and act on choices

Drag and Drop

Ordne die richtigen Begriffe zu.	Thema
Job prospects	Economic driver
Persecution	Political driver
Community network	Social driver
Family reunification	Family-related driver
Study ambition	Personal driver

Kreuzworträtsel

Aspiration	What word means a desire or plan to migrate?
Capability	What word means the practical ability to turn a plan into action?
Remittance	What word describes money sent to people in another place?
Persecution	What word describes serious hostile treatment that can force people to flee?
Network	What word describes social connections that may provide information or support?
Agency	What word describes the capacity to make and act on choices?

LearningApps

Lückentext

A condition that may encourage someone to leave a place can be called a

. A perceived advantage at a destination can be called a

. A desire or plan to move is a migration

. The practical possibility of turning that plan into movement is called

. Money sent across distance to relatives or households is often called a

. Family, economic and social reasons can

. A photograph gives visual evidence, but it does not by itself prove a person's

. Strong analysis connects evidence with claims while also stating the

of the evidence.

Offene Aufgaben

Leicht

Evidence before inference: Choose one Commons image in this aiMOOC and make two columns: “I can see” and “I infer”. Add one question that would require another source.
Word-family card: Create five word-family cards such as migrate–migration–migrant. Add an English definition and one original sentence.
Push-pull sketch: Draw a simple push-pull diagram for fictional Case A, then add one note explaining what the diagram misses.
One-minute speaking: Record a private 60-second explanation of one fictional case or present it live. Recording is optional; no upload is required.

Standard

Multi-causal case map: Map at least four interacting drivers in Case B and label each link as evidence, inference or open question.
Data check: Use one migration chart from Wikimedia Commons or an official source. Identify definition, year, unit, source and two limitations.
Mediation: Rework the fictional Lindenbrück notice for an English-speaking school audience, keeping the key methodological caution.
Source comparison: Compare the CFR Education video with the PRIO video. What does each explain well, and what does each leave out?

Schwer

Model critique: Compare push-pull with an aspiration-capability approach. Use one fictional case to show where the models produce different questions.
Mini-essay: Write a source-based response to “Migration is best explained as a process, not a reaction.” Include a counterargument and a qualified conclusion.
Research design: Design a small ethical study of migration aspirations using only fictional or anonymous data. Explain sampling, question wording and privacy safeguards.
Abi transfer: With lawfully provided course material, connect one current required text or film theme to two migration drivers and one beyond factor. Do not reproduce or upload the source material.

Lernkontrolle

Causal analysis: Two people face the same unemployment rate but only one migrates. Develop three evidence-based hypotheses that go beyond push-pull.
Model critique: Explain one situation in which push-pull is a useful simplification and one in which it hides more than it reveals.
Source linkage: Combine a photograph and a data visualisation. State one claim supported by both and one claim that neither can support.
Method critique: A survey allows respondents to select only one “main reason” for migration. Explain how this design can distort multi-causal decisions.
Mediation transfer: Mediate a short German source into English for a defined audience and explain why you omitted or reformulated some details.
Evidence-based judgement: Evaluate the statement “People migrate when pull factors outweigh push factors.” Use criteria, counterevidence and a qualified conclusion.

Lernnachweis

A strong learning record shows that you can:

distinguish and connect economic, political, social, family-related and personal drivers
use push-pull as a starting model without presenting it as a deterministic law
explain aspiration, capability, networks, agency, immobility, law and timing
analyse visual, audio and written sources with evidence
separate observation, inference and judgement
write and speak in structured English at B2 and, where suitable, toward C1
use feedback to revise content, argument and language
check current official requirements and source dates
document AI assistance where required and verify generated claims
respect copyright, privacy and voluntary participation

OERs zum Thema

Verknüpfte Lernbereiche

ABI - Migration – Push, pull and beyond

aiMOOC-Projekte

Inhalte werden geladen ...

Mediathek wird aus dem Wiki geladen ...

Frag mich zum aktuellen Lerninhalt oder wähle eine kurze Hilfe.

Textmodus bereit

Sprache