INTRODUCTION

Diversity of wealth, poor access to services, lack of affordable housing, problems of employment and low pay, uneconomic production, food security and immigration are only a few of the issues faced by communities in the countryside. The same issues affect urban communities as they rely on the countryside for their food supply and many of their leisure activities . This learning package offers examples of how using archival materials can help children, both rural and urban, understand some of these difficult and often controversial issues.

This Learning Package is designed to link historical information to the present-day issues of diversity and citizenship in the countryside. It provides access to archival material which can be used to stimulate both interest in and ask questions about these issues both in the past and today.

WHO IS THE MATERIAL FOR?

The material is designed to be managed by teachers within classroom situations. It is not designed to provide detailed lesson plans but is a resource from which teachers can select material for KS3 and 4 students.

WHAT'S IN THE LEARNING PACKAGE?

There are 4 SECTIONS:

1. Introduction to the site's aims and objectives and how it can be used
2. Sample Learning Activities based on the Dorset Coast Digital Archive provide examples of how to use archival material from the DCDA site for National Curriculum Key Stage 3 in
   a) Citizenship b) History c) Geography
   It includes possibilities for cross-curricular work
3. Sample Learning Activities specifically for National Curriculum KS4 Citizenship and beyond
4. Countryside Resources provide links to other supporting material.

The first 3 Sections provide LINKS to supporting material and other sites.

The learning package also contains two types of boxes :

Finally, where original documents are shown, a transcript link is also provided on the side panel.