Main Attraction
Review what students remember from the film: how did the filmmakers represent Britain in the film? What about London? Why did the film focus on Britain's shared history with the Commonwealth nations? Remind students about the previous lesson's work on the reliability of the film. Why might the government want to promote a sense of shared British and Commonwealth history?
Now, replay the section of the film that takes place on top of St. Paul's, asking pupils to note down the key 'British values' mentioned. As students feed back their ideas, ask: do pupils recognise these values as intrinsically 'British'? Given the film's origin, how likely is it that Britain and the Commonwealth nations shared these ideals and common sense of history?
Challenge students to think about what they understand as British 'values' today. Ask them to work in pairs to come up with a list of four 'British values' - they will need to argue in support of their choices.
It might be a good idea to show students a contemporary article or speech about values - perhaps Gordon Brown on 'Britishness' (the BBC also has a range of useful pieces). Do they agree with the values suggested in these resources? How do they compare to the values in 'From the Four Corners'? Can one set of values apply to a whole people?
Once students ideas have been collected on the board, have a look at the role of history and heritage in the values they have chosen. Are there values that are linked to our understanding of Britain's past - ie. democracy? Perhaps students don't feel that Britain's past is very important in defining 'British values' today?
1. Pub chat (3:16)
