KS3 British History: Should we be Proud or Ashamed of the British Empire?

In this lesson, students will be able to use factual information as well as the views from historians and historical sources to help them form their own opinion to the question – is the British Empire something we should be proud or ashamed of? As always, the lesson is fully resourced and contains a number of printable resources, engaging activities and information. The lesson presumes that students already have a knowledge of what the British empire was although this is quickly recapped at the start of the lesson.

The lesson includes the following:
Slide 1: Title slide
Slide 2: Lesson learning aims and progress
Slide 3: Recapping the British Empire – includes a British Empire map and discussion questions
Slide 4: Starter Discussion based on an old Indian saying about the British in India.
Slide 5: Source analysis activity 1
Slide 6: Source analysis activity 2
Slide 7: Source analysis activity 3
Slide 8: Printable worksheet/question sheet based on the sources used in the previous slides
Slide 9: The two historical interpretations about the British empire
Slide 10: Activity 1 – How have attitudes to the British empire changed in recent years?
Slide 11: Activity 2 – Documentary clips about the legacy of the British Empire
Slide 12: Activity 3 - Instructions
Slide 13: Activity 3 - printable information sheet which includes sources and interpretations about the British empire.
Slide 14: Activity 4 – What is your opinion?
Slide 15: Activity 5 – Based on a higher level question about the difference in two historical interpretations.
Slide 16: Printable worksheet based on the two interpretations about the British Empire
Slide 17: Learning Review discussion.

I would be grateful if you could leave a review for the lesson if you feel the lesson is effective for you. Many thanks if you spend some of your valuable time doing this as feedback is highly valued.

All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free at the time of publishing. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. Thank you.