Schooldays & Growing Up - Creative Activities   more activities >>

"Rule Britannia"
So many story-tellers speak about a schooling based on British patterns. Note how much they concentrated on the history, literature and geography of Great Britain and how many of their teachers were educated according to the British system. Was this equally true for the members of the group? If so, how did this affect their attitudes to the 'mother country'? Do they feel it was right to have this very British education? What were the gains and losses resulting from it?

We learned by heart
What songs and poems did the older people learn by heart at school. Have a half hour of recitation, writing down or tape-recording all the poems remembered. Extend this activity to remembered times-tables and other measures of weight, distance, volume, etc.

Once upon a time
Do the group members remember stories told them as children by their parents and grandparents at home or by their teachers at school? Can they re-tell favourite stories to one another, seeing how common the characters and situations are from one culture to another and where the significant differences lie.

In my school bag
Pass round an old fashioned school satchel and ask everyone in the group to pretend to put in it something they remember taking to school. They should say what it is as they put it in, and they can add a little explanation where necessary.

A message to my teacher
If members of the group could go back and speak to their teachers, what would they like to say to them. How have their lives been influenced by these teachers? Do they still remember injustice in the classroom? Do they feel grateful for the knowledge and skills their teachers gave them? Try playing out this imaginary meeting with a remembered teacher in pairs, and then reverse the roles. The person playing the "teacher" should listen, but does not necessarily need to say anything. The "pupil" can speak as an adult looking back, and does not have to speak as a child.
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Sticks and Carrots
Ask members of the group to talk about the prizes they won and the punishments they received. These memories can be played out bythe group, with everyone having an opportunity to see their 'scene' performed.

Games we played
How many people in the group remember the games they played as children? Try out some of these games with home-made toys which can be constructed by the group and compare with other group members the rules and regulations of the games. This is an enjoyable activity to extend to young people, so that inter-generational comparisons can be made.

When I grew up I wanted to be…
What were the ambitions of the group members when they were young? Did they want to continue their education beyond the level available locally? What kinds of obstacles were put in their way? Examples might be financial restrictions, parents' need for help in the home or workplace, parents' fear of over-educating their daughters, lack of suitable educational facilities locally, or just prejudice.

Far from home
Many of the men were sent away for education and began to lose touch with their home and community. Was this the case for some of the group members? If so, how did it affect their attitude to travel abroad later on?

Let's celebrate
If the group consists of people from different backgrounds, it might be interesting to make a list of all the religious festivals celebrated and look for images which show how they are observed with special foods and costumes and ceremonies. Members of the group might enjoy explaining their favourite festivals to one another, whether as remembered from childhood and youth, or as practiced today.

The role of religion in my life
Religion played a big part in the lives of many of the storytellers. Was attendance at church, temple, or other place of worship an important part of the "growing up" years of members of the group? Was it something they looked forward to, or was it just an obligation, something which was expected of them? How far have members of the group continued to practice the religions of their childhood? Has it been a source of strength and comfort to them in their lives? Do they feel that religious observance is still sufficiently strong in the communities they live in today? Have their children and grandchildren continued to observe religious practices?

Chinese New Year celebrations, at the Broadway Theatre, Lewisham 2004

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School photo
Look at the photographs which have been supplied by the older people of their school days, and notice how similar they are to the British equivalents at the time. Ask for grandparents and great-grandparents' photos and bring them in to compare.

Discipline and punishments
Find out from your grandparents or an older neighbour how teachers punished children in the past. Compile a list of all the 'crimes and punishments' you have heard about and then compare what happens today in your classroom.

It's not fair
Many of the women had less schooling than their brothers. Those who did progress well and wanted to obtain qualifications often had to forget their own careers to look after sick parents, younger siblings, or to get married. Compare this with your own situation, Can you imagine what it would be like for brothers and sisters to be treated completely differently? Working in groups, prepare a scene in which a daughter asks to be allowed to go to school, and the parents have to argue the case for only educating the boys. Try to enter into the culture of the family you are representing and the feelings of the daughter in questioning the existing pattern of behaviour.

Helping at home
Notice how many people had to work in the fields or in the home to help their parents, often after a day's schooling. What are you expected to help with and how do you feel about it? Are girls and boys expected to help out equally. Draw up lists of tasks undertaken by class members and compare
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Then and now
Very large families meant that mothers were working hard all the time, cooking, washing, sewing, shopping for food or growing their own food. Most of this work was done by hand with no kitchen appliances or sewing machines. Can you think how many labour-saving devices have been introduced since those days which have transformed a mother's working day? You can come right up to date with Internet shopping. Make a list of all the changes you can think of.

Mums then and now
Smaller families and labour-saving domestic appliances have radically altered women's lives and ambitions. Compare your mother's life with two of the descriptions of mothers' lives offered in this section. Make up "a day in the life of…" and see how many differences there are, including the possibilities for paid employment outside the home, leisure, education and sporting opportunities for today's mothers.

Games and toys exchange
Invite some older people, perhaps grandparents or great grandparents from different ethnic backgrounds to share with you their memories of the games they played as children. Then explain the games which delight children today and demonstrate to the elders how they are played. There may be songs attached to games, like skipping rhymes. Compare these with the ones the elders sang, and learn each other's songs.

Many older people remember playing with home-made toys and they may have made toys for their own children and grandchildren in the traditional way. Ask them into the classroom to show you how they did this and show them the toys you play with and where you buy them. Making a kite and learning to fly it can be an enjoyable joint activity with older people.

Sheila Rakhit in India with her first radio

The world before television
Most people in this section remember playing with friends in the open air, at sports and games, swimming in the sea and racing games on the sand. Others played indoor games or did sewing and other craft work. Remember that computers and television were not available to our story-tellers when they were young. What difference would it make to your life if suddenly there was no television and no computers? What do you think you might do with your free time? Would you see it as a tragedy or an opportunity? Write five sentences to explain how you spend your evenings after school now, and put a star by the ones which would not have applied to the storytellers.
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© Age Exchange 2006