About this unit

This unit centres on ways of portraying life in Victorian Britain.

While factual knowledge of aspects of Victorian life in Britain are a vital component of the unit, the main focus is on exploring the way living museums present the period, taking into account their purpose and audience.

This unit was originally taught over the space of two mornings of normal school days but could also be taught across a sequence of lessons. There is scope to adjust some of the teaching activities to take account of time constraints in different schools.

 

 

 

Expectations

By the end of this unit

Most pupils will have: justified the place of their image of Victorian Britain on a continuum by reference to details in or about the image; expressed an opinion about the level of amusement in Victorian children's lives by some reference to the games pupils played themselves; analysed an advertisement for a living museum, taking into account its purpose and audience; helped to create a commentary for a documentary clip on the period; selected, organised and deployed information to produce a structured account in answer to the question "How useful are living museums in telling us about what Victorian Britain was really like?"

Some pupils will not have made so much progress and will have: placed their image of Victorian Britain in a continuum with an attempt to justify this positioning; expressed an opinion about the Victorian games pupils played; commented on an advertisement for a living museum; taken a limited role in the creation of a commentary for a documentary clip on the period; produced some writing in answer to the question "How useful are living museums in telling us about what Victorian Britain was really like?"

Some pupils will have progressed further and will have: justified the place of their image of Victorian Britain in a continuum by reference to details in the image and comments about it; expressed a nuanced opinion about the level of amusement in Victorian children's games by reference to the games pupils played themselves; analysed an advertisement for a living museum with specific references, taking into account its purpose and audience; taken a lead in creating a commentary for a documentary clip on the period; selected, organised and deployed information to produce a fluent, structured account in answer to the question "How useful are living museums in telling us about what Victorian Britain was really like?"

 

Prior Learning

It is helpful if pupils:

• studied Victorian Britain before completing this unit.
• are familiar with the idea that historical interpretations can vary depending on their purpose and audience e.g. films, documentaries etc.

 

Resources include:

• Images of Britain in the nineteenth century.
   
• Data capture sheets.
   
• Victorian children's games equipment.
   
• Layers of inference diagrams.
   
• Episode one of "A People's Century".