This lesson is guaranteed to provoke a lively debate. Armed with all the contextual knowledge they need, and stimulated by some thought-provoking quotations, pupils work in teams to advocate a particular course of action. By way of preparation, they have to speculate as to likely arguments first before being given some ‘influence cards’ to deepen their thinking. Recently, in August 2022 the Horseman museum agreed to return a large number of Benin bronzes to Nigeria as this link shows. Yet another examples of how history constantly needs to be rewritten in the context of the times.
Learning objectives
- Pupils can think of a couple of reasons on both sides of the argument.
- They can arrive at their own judgement supported with good reasons.
- The most able can argue persuasively, showing ability to prioritise the most important argument.
- They advocate one view convincingly whilst accepting the validity of others.
Introduction
This Benin bronze (slide2) is housed in a museum in Exeter. The British museum has hundreds more. But should they be there, or should they be returned to Benin? Clearly emotions run high on these matters. Slide 3 and 4 offer a couple of typical perspectives. But what do the pupils
