Overview for teachers
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The rationale behind the design of the U.K. pavilion themes is to allow multiple paths within and between themes, to persuade children to make new connections between ideas and question their taken-for-granted ideas. There is the deliberate intention that the themes do not provide ‘packaged’ information which can be simply ‘lifted’ off the web-pages: in some cases (‘Participation’, ‘Moonlight Sonata’, ‘Sent from Coventry’) no answer to the questions posed on the web-pages is provided – in the latter two cases because the themes raise moral questions to which there is no unequivocal answer. ‘Democracy in the Classroom’ provides methods for debate, as well as links to themes with unanswerable moral dilemmas (as well as those mentioned above, the intensely human accounts of asylum seekers in ‘Respecting Diversity’ raise issues of whether a host nation can justifiably reject refugees, or whether it should protect its identity from being diluted, and ‘The Hunt’ raises issues of the suffering of animals as against human cultural heritage). In other cases (‘History on the Canals’, ‘Mr. Fox’), one strand of the theme poses questions; answers and deeper information are provided on another strand which can only be accessed via the teacher page, to make it difficult to ‘crib’. ‘Equality at Work’ and ‘Financial Awareness’ also use a quiz format, but one where answers are provided in the theme. An alternative approach, used in ‘Moonlight Sonata’, ‘Pixelated Tapestry / Sent from Coventry’, ‘Reconciliation’, ‘The Hunt’, and to a lesser extent in ‘Morris Dancing’, is to provide a complexly interlinking structure of multiple paths, for the reasons described above. All these themes draw on teaching-staff-written material; ‘Globalisation’ and ‘Respecting Diversity’ use and interconnect material written by students, and connect to the Norwegian pavilion, with its emphasis on student participation.
The themes are divided into two groups: those which relate to the UK pavilion topic ‘Symbols of Citizenship’, and those which relate to the topics of other national pavilions. Themes related to the topic ‘Symbols of Citizenship’ This theme is based on work done by Peter Lang at the University of Warwick on circle time, working with schools in England and Portugal. The theme looks at issues which can be discussed during circle time, and how circle time can be organised effectively to ensure all children participate. It links to the Equality at Work, Reconciliation, The Hunt and the Respecting Diversity themes, as examples of controversial areas to debate. This theme is based on work done at the Centre for Education and Industry at the University of Warwick. It is intended for secondary students and has three strands, all related to gender equality at work and increasing the opportunities for non-gender-stereotyped jobs. The strands are:- ‘Family Outing’ – a game where users have to use cues to match family members to their jobs; Picture Quiz – users have to decide which sex is appropriate for eight jobs – the answers give personal accounts from eight people who actually do those jobs; ‘Getting Employed, Getting Ahead’ – users have to decide how to solve dilemmas faced by six people in resisting pressures which prevent them getting the jobs or promotion they want. This theme links to the Hungarian pavilion and also to the ‘Sent from Coventry’ theme where gender equality in the ribbon weaving trade was an issue. This theme links to the National Westminster Bank ‘Financial Awareness’ website, which was developed with the Centre for Education and Industry at the University of Warwick. It links to the Hungarian pavilion. This theme is based on text and pictures from students at Foxford Community School, Coventry, who visited Jinan in China with other students from Coventry schools. It is divided into three strands:- Art – this looks at artistic conventions and symbols in Chinese art, and, through the symbolism of the dragon, crane and fish, links to Western ideas about the symbolism of animals in ‘Moonlight Sonata’ (animals as religious symbols) and ‘The Hunt’ and ‘Gothic Tales’ (the fox as loveable rogue and predator) People (how the Chinese reacted to and welcomed Westerners) Dance and music (including the ballet of the warrior princess Mulan, which links to gender equality). This theme is based on work done at the Elm Bank Teachers’ Centre, Coventry, on the Godiva legend. Godiva is the symbol of Coventry; the legend states that she rode naked through Coventry to persuade her husband to relive the citizens of an unjust tax, but, though Godiva was a real person, living shortly before the Norman Conquest of 1066, the evidence suggests that the legend is a fabrication (Donoghue 2003). The theme has two strands:- ‘Did Godiva do it?’ – an open-ended quiz for elementary children, inviting them to assess the evidence for whether the legend is true. This links to the Norwegian 'Sense of Identity' theme; How people put themselves out for others nowadays – at present this strand includes sub-strands on Children in Need (a British charity supporting children) and on conservation work for the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (linking to the conservation issues in ‘The Hunt’) but further links will be made, including to Warwick Volunteers, the voluntary work organisation at Warwick University. This theme is based on the work done to further reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral; this has been an important aspect of the Cathedral’s work since the old Cathedral was bombed in 1940. The theme has extensive cross-links to ‘Moonlight Sonata’ (described below) – the new Cathedral includes numerous artworks related to the theme of reconciliation. The theme has three strands:- What is reconciliation? Why are the reconciliation statues at Coventry and Hiroshima? How did the Cathedral start its work on reconciliation? The second strand links to the German theme 'In Time of War' and the last strand links to the Irish pavilion theme on migration, as conflict places immigrants at risk from the host community. This theme draws on the booklet Origins, written by secondary school students in Coventry. Most of the students who have written for the booklet have been refugees or asylum-seekers; others have moved from their birth-place. They reflect on what they have lost and what they have gained – previous experiences of home, school, friends and neighbours – and what they still have – their beliefs and their cultural heritage. The theme will link to ‘Everything’s foreign’ and ‘Me and school’ in the Norwegian pavilion, and through the dangerous and alarming journeys, to ‘Mr. Fox’. This theme explores the clash between cultural heritage (fox-hunting has been a major force in shaping the English landscape and the fox is a cultural icon in England as in other countries) and animal protection. In modern urban England animal protection is a major issue and a majority of urban dwellers are opposed to hunting; the theme has links with other pavilions, where national attitudes to animals are rather different. The theme has a complex interlinking structure; the interlinking strands are:- Are there conservation benefits from hunting? Are there economic benefits from hunting? Does hunting actually control foxes? Should people be allowed to inflict pain on animals? Is hunting a civil liberties issue? The theme links to ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and ‘Globalisation’ through the issue of the symbolism of animals, and to ‘Gothic Tales’ as the tale of ‘Mr. Fox’ is an allegory of the hunt. The Norwegian pavilion raises the issues of whether wolves and whales should be hunted; they are currently hunted in Norway. Themes related to other national pavilions This theme, which is linked to the Danish pavilion theme on Folk Tales, draws on work by Dr. Joe Winston of the Institute of Education at Warwick on drama work on the Gothic Tale of ‘Mr. Fox’. As indicated above, this is an allegory of the hunt, where the potential victim, Lady Mary, outwits the scheming villain, Mr. Fox. The theme is illustrated by pictures of Gothic buildings in Coventry, and links to the Lady Godiva legend, where a real person has been transmuted into a Gothic heroine, and to ‘Respecting Diversity’, where children who have been asylum seekers recount journeys which risked danger and required endurance. The theme, which is intended for elementary children, has three strands:- The tale of Mr Fox, in an open-ended form where users have to work out their own resolution; Prompts for users to write their own Gothic Tale; Information for teachers, discussing the merits of the ‘closed’ form of the Gothic Tale, where the constraints of the form enforce creative solutions, suggesting potential drama work with ‘Mr Fox’ and giving the complete version of the tale. This theme links primarily with the Transport theme in the German pavilion, but also has links with the Hungarian pavilion (the working world of the canals) and the Finnish pavilion (via ice-breaking, still an important economic issue in Scandinavia). The English canals became obsolescent as a working transport system in the early years of the twentieth century, so that many artefacts of the horse-haulage age remain. The theme, which is intended for elementary children, therefore has four strands; A puzzle strand, where users are asked to interpret the function of structures on the canal system, which are readily observable in many places in England; Three strands, radiating from the teacher pages:- A strand explaining the function of the structures in the puzzle strand in relation to the needs of horse haulage of boats; A strand looking at the boating life, including the interior decoration of the boats and the relationship between the boaters and their horses – this strand links to the Hungarian pavilion on the culture of work; A strand looking at ice-breaking and the canals in winter – this links to modern ice-breaking in Finland and other Baltic countries. This theme, which is closely cross-linked with the Reconciliation theme, also links with the Italian pavilion topic of City Images and the virtual restoration of the Kaiserslautern synagogue in the German pavilion. The theme takes its name from the code-name for the raid which destroyed the mediaeval Cathedral and has a complex structure based on four interlinking strands:- Windows and light – this links, through the great tapestry which serves as an east window, to the theme ‘Pixelated Tapestry’ and to the French pavilion on textiles; Angels, suffering and triumph; Spires and sky; Trees and the Cross. The beasts in the tapestry link this theme with ‘Globalisation’, ‘The Hunt’ and ‘History on the Canals’. This theme links primarily with the Finnish them on Seasonal Celebrations, as dancing was originally closely linked to May Day and Christmas. The theme has two main strands; The Morris as a seasonal celebration; The history and music of the Morris. The theme also links to the ‘History on Canals’ and ‘Sent from Coventry’ themes (because the Morris had an important function in relieving poverty, and both these themes explore the impact of poverty on working life a century ago) and to the German ‘Jakobsweg’ theme (through the historic pilgrimage to Walsingham in Norfolk, which had links to Morris dancing). These two themes are closely interrelated and cross-linked, and it is difficult to convey their structure in a linear text. ‘Pixelated Tapestry’ explores the ways in which design is transferred to textiles, whether manually, as in the great tapestry of Coventry Cathedral, or mechanically, as in the Jacquard loom, the first automatically controlled machine, which was used in the Coventry ribbon weaving industry, and was an early precursor of computer displays. ‘Sent from Coventry’ looks at the social history of the Coventry ribbon weaving industry, and the effects of technology such as the steam-powered Jacquard loom, which replaced the hand-loom, on the work autonomy of weavers and economic relations between the sexes. The themes link to the Hungarian pavilion on the culture of work, the Irish pavilion on Ordinary People, and the French pavilion on textiles, and to ‘Moonlight Sonata’ (via the great tapestry), ‘Equality at Work’, and, via the cyclical poverty in the weaving trade, to ‘Morris Dancing’ and ‘History on the Canals’. Donoghue,D. (2003) Lady Godiva: a Literary History of the Legend. Oxford: Blackwell. Neill,S.R.St.J. (2002) Symbols of Citizenship. In Karpinnen,S. (Ed.) NEOTHEMI: Cultural heritage and ICT at a Glance. Studia Paedagogica 28. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Neill,S.R.St.J. (2004) The past is a foreign country – they do things differently there. In Karpinnen,S. (ed) Cultural Heritage and ICT - Theory & Practice. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. |
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