Lesson plan: Cultural Heritage

 

Introduction

Show the students the picture below of the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol. Ask them for any thoughts on the image.

Explain that the statue has raised a lot of controversy, due to Colston's links with the Atlantic Slave Trade.  Tell the students that this picture depicts the launching of the statue into Bristol harbour in June 2020 as part of the George Floyd protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Ask students if they can think of any similarly controversial historical monuments or statues in their country.

A Whole New Word

Introduce the word 'heritage'. Have students look up a definition for it in their dictionaries.

For example, Cambridge defines it as:

"features belonging to the culture of a particular society, such as traditions, languages, or buildings, that were created in the past and still have historical importance."

Provide an example of heritage in a sentence. Here are some ideas from Cambridge dictionary:

• These monuments are a vital part of the cultural heritage of South America.
• The area has been designated a world heritage site.
• They consider the building to be an important part of region's heritage.
• A fund has been set up to preserve the town's heritage.
• The heritage industry has an annual turnover of 25 million pounds.
• A vital part of the country's heritage has been destroyed.

Have students create their own sentences in pairs and feed back to the class.

The Museum Debate

Show students a picture of the following building in London to see if anyone recognises it:

Explain that it is the 'British Museum'. If a student has visited it, they can share their experience with the class. If not, show them the following picture:

Ask where students think the marbles come from. Explain that they are the Elgin Marbles, from Greece. And stress that Greece wants them back. Ask students to guess why Britain first obtained them, and why they still have them. 

If students are stuck for ideas, help them out. You can use Britannica to read up on it if you fancy. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Elgin-Marbles

Debates

Have some two-team class debates on the following question:

- Should museums return items to their country of origin?

Changing history

To finish the class, show students the following picture:

Explain that the Colston statue was briefly replaced with this statue of a BLM protestor. Ask their opinions on this - is this a good way to preserve cultural heritage? Does this generate debate? Should this permanently replace the old statue?

Homework/Extension

Get students to explore the UNESCO Cultural Heritage list for their country: 

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ 

Students should create a short poster presentation (with very few words!) on a site of their choice.