Rebels in the records
Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
Time period: Early 20th Century 1901-1918, Empire and Industry 1750-1850, Interwar 1918-1939, Postwar 1945-present, Victorians 1850-1901
Curriculum topics: Diverse histories, LGBTQ+ Histories, Revolution and Rebellion, Significant individuals
Suggested inquiry questions: What does ‘rebel’ mean? What actions did people take? What is their legacy today? Can the documents tell us everything about these rebels?
Potential activities: Follow-up research with other sources on your chosen rebel; creative activities such as writing or illustrating your interpretation of the documents.
‘Rebels in the records’ is a series of film combining puppetry, model-making and animation created by young people in July 2021. They explored people/groups who have stood up for what they believe in, campaigned for change or lived in a different way to their contemporary society. The young people created, animated, scripted and recorded their films due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The young people took part in document and filmmaking workshops virtually, staying in the Zoom call to create a collaborative atmosphere, whilst working independently at home.
They considered what the word ‘rebel’ means, how you become a ‘rebel’ and examples of historical and contemporary rebels. In their document workshops they explored examples from the archives collection, using digital facsimiles of records under the guidance of the Education team. The young people reflected on the legacies of their rebels and used these considerations in their films. The resulting films show great ingenuity and empathy for the people whose stories they interpreted.
The series of films can now be used by teachers and students as brief overviews, introductions of interest points for the themes explored within the films.
The following questions can be asked of each film:
- What types of documents are shown that inspired the film?
- What do the documents reveal about the person/group?
- What did they do?
- What were they rebelling against?
- Why did they do this?
- What is their legacy and how are they perceived today?
- Why are these documents kept at The National Archives?
Tasks
Fighting a Great Fight
By Alicia
Countess Markievicz
By Chelsea
Radclyffe Hall’s Revolutionary Novel
By Elina
Countess Markievicz
By Gabriel
The Life and Legacy of Samuel Sharpe
By Jemima
Dagenham Women
By Lily
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Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
Time period: Early 20th Century 1901-1918, Empire and Industry 1750-1850, Interwar 1918-1939, Postwar 1945-present, Victorians 1850-1901
Curriculum topics: Diverse histories, LGBTQ+ Histories, Revolution and Rebellion, Significant individuals
Suggested inquiry questions: What does ‘rebel’ mean? What actions did people take? What is their legacy today? Can the documents tell us everything about these rebels?
Potential activities: Follow-up research with other sources on your chosen rebel; creative activities such as writing or illustrating your interpretation of the documents.
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