Children in Victorian Britain: Down the Mine

Down the mine Teachers notes (19 KB)
Down the mine Resources (all of them) (1.5 MB)
Down the Mine Resources just Lotte story (33 KB)
Pupil's Work (96 KB)
More information on download times and Resource Viewers

In these sessions we see the power of story to give children a key into the past, to engage them imaginatively and to provide them with a mental picture of an historical situation. The contextual knowledge and insight gained through the story enable them to understand the historical sources we turn to next. The subject is Victorian coal-mining and child labour in Victorian mines; the class are able to identify with these children, of a similar age to themselves, who tell their own stories.

The children's speaking and listening skills are extended through both sessions, where questioning, hypothesising and discussion play a central role.

by Jacqui Dean and John Fines

Video and audio
Storytelling: here on YouTube is a video of John Fines telling the story of Lotte to a group of children. The story of Lotte

See the Exeter University website from which you can download a recording of John Fines