gcse citizenship teachers’resource times... · london olympics in 2012. the great british art...

GCSE Citizenship Teachers’ResourceRestless Times: Exploring British community and identity through art from 1914 to 1945

The Great British Art Debate at Museums Sheffield1

GCSE Citizenship Teachers’ Resource Restless Times: Exploring British community and identity through art from 1914 to 1945

This resource has been created for teachers in response to an exhibition which is part of the Great British Art Debate. The aim of the pack is to provide a unit of work across 5 lessons, with enough ideas and material to cover a longer period if necessary. As part of the Great British Art Debate and the exhibition Restless Times: Art in Britain 1914-1945, Museums Sheffield worked with young people from Firth Park Community Arts College in Sheffield to create a film exploring the idea of ‘Britishness’. This film, along with a selection of artworks from the exhibition, is a fantastic resource to explore units from the Citizenship curriculum particularly when investigating what nationhood means and how it shapes our identity.

Between 1914 and 1945 Britain was very unsettled with Two World Wars. The inter-war period saw the Great Depression, a period of protest with events such as the Jarrow Marches and various strikes. Emotions ran high and people formed groups with a collective identity in order to give weight to their cause. During wartime people comforted each other, as friends and family members were killed and their homes came under threat from bombing. The Blitz spirit prevailed as communities pulled together in such difficult times. The armed forces fought for their country, demonstrating powerful teamwork and patriotism. Soldiers were celebrated as heroes but were left with a huge range of mental and physical disabilities. How did this shape their own identity and did it affect how other people saw them? Many women were employed for the first time, or were doing jobs they’d never done before, children were evacuated and being raised by strangers. How were identities shaped under these conditions? Are there any parallels with life in Britain today? Did this period make us who we are?

Artists documented this period vividly through both realistic and more surreal works. This resource uses some of these artworks to support the sessions and to encourage discussion on the use of art as a resource. These works are available to download along with this pack and the film in order to support the teaching of this unit.

This resource has been planned in consultation with Rachel Smith, Citizenship teacher at Firth Park Community Arts College, Sheffield.


Aims• Toexploreidentity,communityandnationhoodtodayusingBritishArtfrom

1914 to 1945 as a resource.

• TohelpstudentsunderstandthenatureofBritainandhowitshapestheir personal identity.

More information about the Great British Art Debate at Museums Sheffield

VisionTo inspire, motivate and entertain the widest possible audience by giving them unprecedented access to the partners’ outstanding collections of British Art and to engage them with issues of nationhood and identity in the lead up to the London Olympics in 2012.

The Great British Art Debate is a partnership between Tate, Tyne & Wear Museums, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service and Museums Sheffield, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and by the Renaissance - museums for changing lives programme. The aims are;

• TogivepeopleunprecedentedaccesstooutstandingcollectionsofBritishArt

• TohelppeopleengagewiththesecollectionstoexplorehowBritishArtrelates to their lives today


Contents

1. What is Britishness? Learning objective:

To reflect on and discuss what it means to be British and begin toexpresstheseopinions.

2. Communities in war Learning objective:

Toexaminethrougharthowwaraffectsindividualsandcommunities.

3. Modern community Learning objective:

Toexplorethevarietyofmoderncommunitiesandtheextenttowhichindividuals can be a part of them.

4. Identity and values Learning objective:

Todiscussandexaminethethemeofidentityandtoattempttodefineit.

5. What Makes Britain what it is today? Learning objective:

To recognise the diversity of the population of Britain and to appreciate theextenttowhichwearedependentonothers.


Resources – see appendix for film, artworks, worksheets and further information

Lesson 1Film

Lesson 2•British Pathé film www.britishpathe.com •A Kurd, Miza Mohammed, a Watchman by Edward Bawden •Mahommed Nur Bakheit, Easter Arab Corps, Omdurman

by Edward Bawden •Making Soldiers: In the Trenches from The Great War:

Britain’s Efforts and Ideals by Eric Kennington •Bombed Women and Searchlights by Clive Branson •Shadowy Shelter by Henry Moore •Worksheet for lesson 2

Lesson 3•Film•Examples of Facebook groups

Lesson 4•Unemployed Man by Percy Horton•Two Females by Ceri Richards•The Mutilated by Jankel Adler •Portrait of Edith Sitwell by Wyndham Lewis• internet images of Cheryl Cole, Wayne Rooney and Amir Khan

(or alternative currently famous people)

Lesson 5•World map •Fact sheet


1. What is Britishness?

IntroductionWatch the film as an opener and discuss how artwork is going to be used to explorewhatbeingBritishmeansandaboutidentity.

ActivitiesGroup workDiscuss and list the characteristics of ‘Britishness’. Think about what are the perceived national characteristics.

Class workCollect ideas and highlight which of these can be agreed on as being British. How do things become British? Is there such a thing as ‘British’? Is it important? Why?

Group workDiscuss and create a group definition of ‘Britishness’, about a paragraph. Backupyourpointswithreasonsandexamples.Writetopersuadeyour audience that you have a good definition of what it means to be ‘British’!

Class work Each group in turns shares their definition giving other groups the right to reply. Discuss the positives and negatives of each group’s definition.

ConclusionGroup work and individual work Redraft the original definition in light of the discussions and record definitions individually.


2. Communities in War

IntroductionShow The Twentieth Century by C R W Nevinson as a lesson starter and discussion piece. What is this work all about? What are the artist’s views on war? Why do you think he felt that way? Look carefully at the groups of people in the picture. Who are they?

ActivitiesGroup workBrainstorm everything you know about British people and their communities during WW1 and WW2. What happen to the lives of British people? Did the war change day to day lives?

Class workCollect ideas from brainstorms. Watch a Pathé film showing everyday life during war time. Is there anything else that can be added to the brainstorm list?

www.britishpathe.com

Discuss what kinds of feelings these people had. Were they all negative? Show or give out copies of A Kurd, Miza Mohammed, a Watchman and Mahommed Nur Bakheit, Easter Arab Corps, Omduman both by Edward Bawden, Making Soldiers: In the Trenches by Eric Kennington and Bombed Women and Searchlights by Clive Branson. What do these works tell us about communities during wartime? Aim for responses such as the involvement of people from different communities, the role of women, neighbour communities and how people pulled together.

Individual work Examinethe4paintingsandcompletethecharacterworksheet.

Class work Discuss the characters and any thoughts about them. Teacher to give out any missing information about each of the works. Look at Henry Moore’s Shadowy Shelter. What can this work tell us about communities in wartime?

ConclusionIndividual work Write down anything new you have learnt about people and communities in wartime.


3. Modern Community

IntroductionShow the film again and take note of the people. All the people in this film are part of one community, a school community. Is it possible to belong to more than one community? Collect a list of other communities they might belong to.

ActivitiesIndividual workList all the communities that you belong to. Discuss the benefits of being part of a community.

Class workDiscuss the different communities of people in the class and the benefits of belonging to them. How does being in a community feel? Discuss the feeling of being together. Does Britain ever feel like a community? Think about times when we feel a sense of unity. ExpectanswersrelatedtosportingeventssuchastheWorldCuporOlympics.Whatkindsof things do we do to show we are part of this national community? Does being part of this national community make us feel more ‘British’? Looking at football, if we support England does that make us feel more British? What if we support Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales,wouldwestillfeelBritish?LookingattheOlympicswouldwecheeronarunnerinthe Great British team? What if the runner was from Scotland? Look at how we can belong to small communities such as a local club or a class at school, but we can belong to larger communities too. Refer back to the last lesson and that sense of belonging, shared experiencesandcommunityduringwartime.

Group work Discusssharedexperiences.Examplescouldbe:• Wherewereyouwhen...?• Whatchildren’sprogrammesdidyouwatchwhenyouwereinprimaryschool?• WhatFacebookgroupsdoyoubelongto?• Whatdoyouliketodoafterschool?

Class work Collectsomeoftheexperiencesandnotehowtheseexperiencesgotpeopletalkingto each other. This is how communities can develop when people have shared interests and experiences,whethertheseexperiencesarepositive,asinenjoyingaparticularsport,ornegative, as in sharing a bomb shelter during a war.

ConclusionIndividual work Answer the following questions.• Canpeoplebelongtomorethanonecommunity?Explainyouranswer.• Whyisthereoverlapbetweencommunities?• Whatarethepositivesofbelongingtoacommunity?• Whatarethenegatives?• IfyoucouldsetupyourownFacebookgrouptostartanewcommunity,• whatwoulditbecalledandwhy?


4. Identity and Values

IntroductionShow Percy Horton’s Unemployed Man. Share the title and give a little information about the date. In 1929 just 11 years after the First World War Britain was in a period of recession. Unemployment levels were really high as the American Stock Market Crash in 1929 led to a world-wide depression. Some people were not so hard-hit but for many in Britain it was a time of daily struggle. Many industries were in decline and there was a massive rise in unemployment. No welfare state meant that if you didn’t have a job, you had no support and so many people were destitute.

ActivitiesIndividual workAnswer the questions.• Describethemaninthepicture.Howdoyouthinkhefeels?• Whywas/isitabigdealtobeunemployed?(especiallyasamaninthosedays)• Howdoyouthinkotherpeoplewouldseethisman?• Howwouldhehavelikedtohavebeenportrayed?

Class workDiscuss answers to the above. • Whatcanwesayabouttheman’sidentity?• Whatcan’twesayfromtheportrait?• Howmuchofouridentityisboundupinwhatwedo?• Whatwebelieve?• Whatwelooklike?

Group work Select 3 internet images of currently ‘well known’ people such as Cheryl Cole, Wayne Rooney and Amir Khan. Discuss each of the images and brainstorm words and phrases to describe each person’s identity.

Class work Look at each group’s results. Is appearance important? How much does it matter? What if we look different? Show the class the works, Two Females by Ceri Richards, The Mutilated by Jankel Adler and Portrait of Edith Sitwell by Wyndham Lewis and just give the artist names and work titles. These are people we don’t recognise and Two Females is very abstract.

Group workThink about each character in the artworks. Imagine what each person values and what their priorities are.


Class work Discuss the values and priorities given to each of the people in the works. Give the students informationabouttheworks(seeappendix).EdithSitwellwasquiteacharacter.Didthiscome across in the group activity? What was the response to The Mutilated? Does it match the thoughts of the artist who was admiring the ‘Blitz spirit’ through the work? Note that we can so easily misjudge someone by taking them at face value. Can we really get an idea of a person’s values and priorities just using what a he or she looks like?

Group work Consider these 2 statements.• ‘howwebehaveismoreimportantthanwhatwelooklike’.• ‘whatwelooklikeiswhatmattersmost’Choose which one you agree with more. Give reasons for your group’s answer.

ConclusionIndividual work What’s your identity? Produce a paragraph entitled ‘My Identity’. Don’t just describe your appearance(althoughyoumayincludeitifyouconsiderittobeanimportantpartofwhoyouare).Thinkaboutbeliefs,values,background,importantactivities,communities.


5. What makes Britain what it is today?

IntroductionBrainstorm responses to the question ‘What makes Britain what it is today?’ Expectanswerssuchastypesoffoods,shops,technologies,opportunities.

ActivitiesClass workCollect up responses to the question.Exploretheresponsesandmapoutwhereallofthethingsinthelistcomefrom.Forexample,fishandchipsisonlyavailablebecauseofthepotatowhichoriginatedinaregionof southern Peru. It provided the principal energy source for the Inca Empire. As travel spread so did the potato and it became a popular food across Europe. Sir Francis Drake introduced potatoes into England in 1580. Mass cultivation and trade of tea was begun by the Chinese. Most of our technology is only possible because of development in places such as Japan and China. Many of our clothes are made in places like India. Coffee, chocolate, manyfruitsandvegetablesareonlyavailabletousbecauseweimportthem.OpportunityinBritain often allows us to have holidays in other parts of the world. While discussing this you could place points on a world map to show how dependant we are on other countries. Move on to looking at responses that refer to the people of Britain.

Group workWhat is a British identity? In groups discuss and write a group answer to the question. Ask each group to feedback. Give out fact sheets and see if any of the groups would like to change their answer.

Class work Discuss answers to the question. Go through the fact sheet. Are there any surprises? Discuss attitudes towards immigration today. Discuss the statement ‘immigration benefits a country’. Do the students agree or disagree?

ConclusionIndividual work Write a paragraph to answer the following questions.• WhatisBritishness?• BritishnesstodayverydifferenttoBritishnessinthepast?• HowhasBritainshapedyouridentity?


Appendix

Resource for Lesson 1www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeoiG9wZcb0


Art Work for Lesson 2

CRW Nevinson - The Twentieth Century, 1932 to 1935

©Laing Art Gallery, Tyne and Wear Museums


Art Works for Lesson 2

Edward Bawden - Mahommed Nur Bakheit, Eastern Arab Corps, Omdurman, c1941


Edward Bawden - A Kurd, Miza Mohammed, a Watchman, 1940-44


Clive Branson - Bombed Women and Searchlights, 1940. Collection Tate, London

©Rosa Branson, 2010

Eric Kennington Making Soldiers: In the Trenches c 1917 Lithograph on paper

TATE


Art Work for Lesson 2

Henry Moore Shadowy Shelter, 1940.

Collection Museums Sheffield ©reproduced by permission of the Henry Moore Foundation. DACS, 2010


Worksheet for lesson 2

Using war art to explore communityExamine the four pictures and complete each of the sections below.In thought bubbles put the following statements.• 2thingsInoticeare…• 2thingsI’dliketoknoware…• 2questionsI’dliketoask…• Iwonder…• Ithinkthepersoninthepicturemightbethinking…


Resource for Lesson 3www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeoiG9wZcb0

www.facebook.com/Museums.Sheffield

www.facebook.com/gbartdebate.


Art Works for Lesson 4

Jankel Adler The Mutilated 1942–3 Oil on canvas

TATE

Ceri Richards Two Females 1937–8 Painted Wood, strip brass and brass ornaments

TATE

Wyndham Lewis Portrait of Edith Sitwell Edith Sitwell 1923–35 Oil on canvas

TATE

Percy Horton 1897–1970 Unemployed man, c 1929 Oil on canvas

Museums Sheffield


Fact Sheet for lesson 5

Ethnicity and identitySince the days of Britons and Picts in the Iron Age people from overseas have settled in Britain, maybe to escape political or religious persecution or in search of better economic opportunities and more fertile land. At the same time people from Britain have migrated to and settled in other parts of the world.

FromtheveryearlydaysofRoman,Saxon,VikingthenNormaninvasionstherehasbeen alonghistoryofmigrationtoandfromBritain.Forexample,largenumbersofJewishrefugees arrived in Britain to escape persecution towards the end of the 19th century and in the 1930 and 1940s; immigration from the West Indies and Indian sub-continent was encouraged to cover labour shortages in the 1950s and 1960s; more recently people have emigrated from African countries and Eastern Europe to escape violence and persecution. Thesepeoplehavealsofilledlabourshortagesandhaveaddedtothemixofculturesanddiversity in Britain.

By 2007 the majority of people in many non-White ethnic groups living in Britain described their national identity as British, English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh.

The UK population: by ethnic group, April 2001

Total population

countUnited Kingdom %

Minority ethnic

population %

White

Mixed

Asian orAsian BritishIndianPakistanibangladeshiOther Asian

Black or Black BritishCaribbeanBlack AfricanBlack Other

Chinese

Other

All minority ethnic population

All population

54153898

677117

1053411747285283063247664

565876485277

97585

247403

230615

4635296

58789194

92.1

1.2

1.8 1.30.50.4

1.00.80.2

0.4

0.4

7.0

100

n/a

14.6

22.7 16.16.15.3

12.2 10.52.1

5.3

5.0

100

n/a

Source: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics


Proportion* of people who feel British, 2007

Great Britain %

White BritishWhite IrishOtherWhiteMixedIndianPakistaniBangladeshiOtherAsianBlack CaribbeanBlack AfricanOtherBlackChineseOtherethnicgroupAll

9926468769807853855672493693

* People aged 16 and over. Source: Annual Population Survey, Office for National Statistics.

Reasons why people migrate United Kingdom (thousands)

To Britain

2007 From

Britain Balance

Definite jobLooking for workAccompany/join*Formal studyNo reason statedOther

All reasons

* Includes partners, family members and friends. Source: Office for National Statistics

1727185

1493565

577

1007343156049

340

72-2

42134-2516

237


Further information about the work in order of useCRW Nevinson 1889-1946Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson was a follower of the Italian Futurist art movement. HisFuturistpaintingscelebratedtechnologyandallthingsexcitinginthemachineage.When he was sent to France during the First World War he saw the destruction and violence this technology caused. Although he continued to paint in a Futuristic fashion for a while, it wasnolongeracelebrationbutanexpressionofbleaknessandangerasheaimedtopainta realistic view of events.

This painting was created in response to the spread of Fascism in Europe in the 1930s. The figure that dominates the centre of the picture was based on Auguste Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker. He represents a civilised society which is threatened by the bayonets, guns and crowds below.

Edward Bawden 1903-1989DuringtheSecondWorldWarEdwardBawdenservedasanOfficialWarArtistintheBritish Army, travelling to Belgium, France and the Middle East. Whilst in the Middle East he made portraits of soldiers serving with the British Army, alongside more general views documenting the war effort. Bawden worked in watercolour and his paintings include several images of military hospitals and of soldiers fighting for the British Army. It wasn’t just people living in Britain that joined the British Army but also people from places such as the West Indies, the Middle East and Africa.

Clive Branson 1907-1944Clive Branson lived in Battersea in 1940 and so witnessed the London Blitz firsthand. The Blitz was a period of sustained bombing of Britain during the Second World War. London was bombed for 76 nights in a row while other towns and cities across Britain were also targeted and suffered heavy casualties. This painting shows Branson’s wife, on the left, rescuing belongings from a bombed building. The composition is slightly surreal as barrage balloons loom overhead. Branson includes topical wartime references such as a ‘Dig for Victory’posterand‘VoteJoyce,SayPeace’whichreferstoWilliamJoyce,aBritishNazipropagandist who appealed to the British to surrender.

Eric Kennington 1888-1960 During the First World War a group of artists were commissioned by the Bureau of Information to produce The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals. Half the artists chosen focused on ‘efforts’, whilst others focused on ‘ideals’. Eric Kennington created a series of lithographs showing scenes of soldiers in the trenches. This lithograph shows a munitions worker.


Henry Moore 1898-1986Henry Moore was on his way home from his studio one evening in 1940 when he came across people sheltering from the air raids in Belsize Park underground station. He became fascinated by the rows of figures and when he returned to his studio he made some drawingsfrommemory.MoorehadresistedbeinganOfficialWarArtist,howeveruponseeing these drawings Kenneth Clark, chairman of the War Artists Advisory Committee persuaded Moore to accept the title.

Percy Horton 1897-1970During the First Word War Percy Horton was a conscientious objector and was sentenced to two years hard labour in Carlton Prison, Edinburgh. After the war, he took up his art studies again and also began giving classes at the Working Men’s College in London. He painted portraits of the unemployed during the Depression as he believed that artists should be committed to social issues. He later produced work showing scenes in factories for the War Artists Advisory Committee.

Ceri Richards 1903-1971TheInternationalSurrealistExhibitionwasheldattheBurlingtonGalleriesinthesummerof1936, and for a brief moment London was ‘the centre of the Surrealist universe’. Richards wasnotincludedintheexhibition,butwasinfluencedbytheworkofMaxErnst,PabloPicasso and Joan Miró which he saw there. Subsequently Richards began to include more pronounced erotic references in his own loosely surreal work. This construction shows two contrastingrepresentationsofthefemaleform.Oneisvirginalseductiveandtheotherismoreobviouslysexual.

Jankel Adler 1895-1949 Jankel Adler was a Polish Jew and a Socialist. He was forced to leave Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. He went to Warsaw and Paris before arriving in Britain as a member of the Polish army. This work was painted as a response to the London Blitz. Adler admired ‘the behaviour of Londoners under great stress and suffering, only then could humanitybeseenatitsbest’.HecomparestheBlitzspiritwithhisownexperiencesasaJewish refugee upon hearing news of the Concentration Camps.

Wyndham Lewis 1882-1957 EdithSitwell(intheportrait)wasoneofthemostimportantexperimentalBritishpoetsof her generation. She published her first poems in 1915 and from 1916-21 she edited the controversial magazine Wheels. This included cutting-edge young poets such as Wilfred OwenandAldousHuxleywhoreactedagainstconservatisminpoetry.Sitwellhadstruggled to gain independence from her parents.

LewishadbeenclosetoEdithSitwellandhertwobrothersOsbertandSacheverellduringthe early 1920s. However the Sitwells came to represent all that Lewis resented in society and politics, which made the sittings for this portrait difficult. Lewis behaved badly and Sitwell refused to sit for him anymore. Sitwell did not like the way she looked, but was proud of her elegant hands. Lewis left them out of the portrait, perhaps to spite her.

gcse citizenship teachers’resource times... · london olympics in 2012. the great british art...

Documents