WebQuest
Charles Dickens on Child Labor
Process
1. Take an overview of the situation by watching the BBC FOUR documentary entitled "The Children Who Built Victorian Britain" (see attached file below).
Take notes as you watch to prepare your task, and answer the questions (see below).
Take notes as you watch to prepare your task, and answer the questions (see below).
2. Then discuss on what you have understood: what strikes you most? How did you feel when viewing the video? What did you learn?
- You can start by exploring Charles Dickens' Page: the "Dickens' London" section is particularly interesting to understand what life was like in the 19th century.
- Then take a look at the BBC website, designed for young pupils, in which the Victorian era is well described.
- And don't forget to check you know what a workhouse was. This page will prove useful.
- Then, by watching a video (see at the bottom of this page) made by 5 students, you'll have a good overview of the situation during the Industrial Revolution.
STEP 2: Gathering information
GROUP ONE: the journalists
You are journalists living in Victorian London and your newspaper has aked you to investigate on child labour in your country.
Your goal is to write an article to arouse the readers' awareness of the problem and a feeling of revolt.
To do so you'll need to:
- Describe the children's working conditions in different trades
- Focus on two or three examples which have revolted you (from the video or other sources - see below)
- Explain the different reasons why children were sent to work at that time
You may need further knowledge and these sites will be very useful:
- Take a look at the BBC website, designed for young pupils, in which the Victorian era is well described.
- Don't forget to check you know what a workhouse was. This page will prove useful.
- By watching a video (see at the bottom of this page) made by 5 students, you'll have a good overview of the situation during the Industrial Revolution.
- To have an idea of the tone you can adopt in your article, why not read this one, written in March 1843 entitled "Child and Female Labour"?
GROUP TWO: interviewer and expert
You are a TV presenter on a History Channel. Your next guest is an expert on child labour in England.
Prepare his/her interview in which you'll want to know what the situation was in Victorian England and how it has evolved.
Prepare his/her interview in which you'll want to know what the situation was in Victorian England and how it has evolved.
To do so you'll need to:
- have a good knowledge of the diffrent trades children worked in in the 19th century
- learn about the different laws which were voted and the changes they led to
- know what the current legislation in Great Britain is today. Do you think it is satisfactory or do some things still need to be changed?
Here are some suggestions:
- You can start by exploring Charles Dickens' Page: the "Dickens' London" section is particularly interesting to understand what life was like in the 19th century.
- Take a look at the Victorian website to start learning about some of the laws which were voted.
- Learn about the 1833 Factory Act: visit this website and do the tasks 1, 2 and 3.
- See how the British legislation has evolved by visiting this page and reading the document "UK Child Labour and Education Laws" (below).
- Discover what Great Britain's legislation is today
- You may also want to enlarge your study and learn more about child labour today throughout the world. Stop Child Labour is the site you'll want to visit!
GROUP THREE: Literary critics
You are famous literary critics and Charles Dickens' experts!
You are going to give a lecture on Oliver Twist to show how Dickens dealt with the issue of child labour in this novel.
You are going to give a lecture on Oliver Twist to show how Dickens dealt with the issue of child labour in this novel.
To do so you'll need to:
- read the summary of the novel to know about the plot and the main characters
- read the extract (see attached files below) and analyse it (action / setting / description of the characters / vocabulary / tone used to arouse the reader's awareness of the problem / ...)
- say what means Charles Dickens used to denounce child labour.
Helpful websites:
- Sparknotes: to get a good knowledge about the stories, their contexte and character analysis
- The whole novel is available on the Project Gutenberg Website.
- More about Oliver Twist
- Charles Dickens and Oliver Twist : a social history
- You'll find interesting books and essays in your school library too!
STEP 3:Preparing your task
GROUP ONE: the journalists
You are now ready to write your article.
Think about a catchy headline.
Don't forget to add photos and captions.
Don't forget to add photos and captions.
GROUP TWO: the interviewer and the expert
You are now ready to prepare your 10mn interview.
To make it more lively, why not illustrate it with a slide show?
To make it more lively, why not illustrate it with a slide show?
GROUP THREE: the literary critics
You are now ready to present Oliver Twist and the extract from the novel to the class!
Attachments
File
-
UK Child Labour and Education Laws
Description: Learn about the important dates in Child Labour Legislation
Links
- The children who built Victorian Britain
-
Child Labour
Description: A richly documented article (including videos) on the British Library website - The Victorian Child: 1837-1901
- Factory conditions - an article by Charles Dickens - 1854
Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution
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