> THINK ABOUT LEADERSHIP AND WHAT ITTAKES TO BE A LEADER> CONSIDER HEROISM

> BECOME A BETTER ‘READER’ OF IMAGES

YOU WILL NEED...> ONLINE ACCESS TO ARTHUR DEVIS’ THE

DEATH OF NELSON PAINTED IN 1807TINYURL.COM/TSNELSON

> ACCESS ALSO TO THE ENGRAVING OFTHE IMMORTALITY OF NELSON BY

CHARLES THEODOSIUS HEATHTINYURL.COM/TSNELSON2

TODAY YOU

WILL...

STARTER ACTIVITY

On the 24th July (the day I amwriting this) 1797 Nelson wrote to thecommander in chief of theMediterranean fleet Admiral, SirJohn Jervis (later Earl St Vincent)prior to the sea-borne attack on theport of Santa Cruz de Tenerife duringwhich he sustained the injuries thatresulted in the amputation of hisright arm. In his letter he said‘Tomorrow my head will probably be

THENELSONTOUCH

LESSONPLAN

SUBSCRIBE AT TEACHSECONDARY.COM 67

As a full-time teacher of English,media and drama, the topic ofheroes and the heroic was onethat came up frequently. It stilldoes now I am freelance,travelling the UK deliveringactive workshops on the likes ofBeowulf and his unapologeticboasting as prelude toconfrontations with monsters, orMacbeth, whose final defiance inthe face of Malcolm’s armyarguably marks a recovery of theenergy and courage that hiscrimes and scheming hadobscured and perverted. It hasbecome even more central atheme when considering the life and times of Horatio Lord Nelson.

For the past two years I havebeen collaborating with historianPeter Warwick – author of TheVoices From The Battle ofTrafalgar – in the creation of aone-day workshop designed toteach Key Stage 2 and 3students something of theimportance of Nelson in ourisland’s story and also thebroader context within which hisachievements sit. The project isan on-going one thanks to thesupport of the 1805 Club, whichhas funded the initial series of‘pilot’ workshops as a prelude toour seeking the additionalfunding needed to broaden the programme.

It is at this crossroads that theproject now sits. And while theworkshops remain a work inprogress, a core of highly activeand interactive elements hasemerged, some of which will beexplained here: idealintroductions to Nelson, hissignificance, and theextraordinary life aboard theships he commanded.

Put heroism into anhistorical context,with JeromeMonahan’sinteractive ideas...

HISTORY | KS3

Project or distribute Arthur Devis’famous picture The Death ofNelson painted in 1807. It is notimportant to know precisely whoeveryone is – though the Wikipediasite does identify them. Theimportant discussions here relate tothe possible liberties with truth thatDevis may have taken in creating

MAIN ACTIVITIES

1 NELSON – DEATHAND THE SAINT

covered with laurel or Cyprus.’This was a permutation of afavourite formula used by Nelsontime and again prior to battles, andis highly suggestive of the kind of‘risk-all’ role he took on suchoccasions. To get students into theshoes of the man, invite them tomove around the room sharingthis bold but quite self-consciousstatement; speaking it in turns toone another, and then reflectingon it both in terms of the courageand self-promotion it hints at.

Jerome Monahan and Peter Warwickare eager to hear from secondaryschools that might be interested intheir hosting a free, day-longWooden World workshop both aspupil enrichment but also CPD.Please contact:Jerome.Monahan@dsl.pipex.com

+ STOP PRESS:

Lesson plan History_Layout 1 13/08/2013 09:35 Page 2

68 SUBSCRIBE AT TEACHSECONDARY.COM

LESSONPLAN

Invite students to cometogether in a standing circle.The task is then to read thefollowing, stirring prayer –the one composed byNelson before the Battle ofTrafalgar – around thegroup, one word at a time,but done as much aspossible without pauses andwith maximumconcentration. Oncecompleted, each student willhave at least one or twowords that are ‘his/hers’.Now repeat the circle read,but with each studentsupplying an action withhis/her word or words –including every functional‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘the’. Encouragea discussion of the varied

emotions and impulsesexhibited in the prayer.

“MAY THE GREAT GOD,whom I worship, grant to mycountry and for the benefitof Europe in general, a greatand glorious victory: andmay no misconduct, inanyone, tarnish it: and mayhumanity after victory be thepredominant feature in theBritish Fleet. For myselfIndividually, I commit my lifeto Him who made me… andmay His blessing light uponmy endeavours for servingmy Country faithfully. To HimI resign myself and the justcause which is entrusted tome to defend.All: AMEN AMEN AMEN”

SUMMARY

HOME LEARNINGA challenging task is to invite students to investigate the Battleof Trafalgar so that they can then either draw a picture ofNelson’s unique approach or even ‘fight’ the battle withstudents sitting on chairs – each depicting ships in theFrench/Spanish fleet or one of the two English columns thatdrove directly into the enemy line – despite the damage theyhad to suffer in the approach. It has proved one of the mostpopular elements of the Wooden World workshops!

Investigate the 1805 Committee’s site – one highlight ofwhich is ‘A Day In The Life’ of Nelson, which provides a year-round day-by-day happening from his biography (1805club.org).

INFO BAR

Jerome Monahan hastaught for over 20years. In 1999, after adecade working inLondon secondaryschools – both stateand independent, hebecame a freelanceteacher, educationalwriter and journalist. Hisbackground is English,drama, humanities andfilm/media studies.Since 2000 he hasdevised and delivered abroad programme ofprimary and secondaryinset and studentworkshops across theUK and internationally.The Nelson and TheWooden Worldworkshops, which hedelivers with historianPeter Warwick, havebeen developed withthe support of the 1805 Club.

+ ABOUT THE EXPERT

this famous image. Remember thatthe orlop deck where Nelson wascarried to was far more ‘low-ceilinged’ than the spacedepicted here, and it fantastical tothink such a crowd would havegathered around Nelson at theheight of the Battle. The task forstudents is to try to spot theunderlying geometry that governsthe arrangement of the figures –perhaps drawing the shapes theycan see for themselves. The keything is that students recognisehow constructed the picture is. Itwould be valuable to compare italso to any medieval orRenaissance ‘Christ’s DepositionFrom The Cross’ to help studentssee how painters borrow from animage tradition. That such picturesmight be a source for Devis is alsosuggestive of the kind of‘sainthood’ that would bebestowed on Nelson.

Now project or distribute theextraordinary Immortality ofNelson by Charles TheodosiusHeath. It reflects the next advancein Nelson hero-worship followinghis death. The detailed descriptionof the picture and its myriadsymbols and emblematic figures isprovided at the Royal GreenwichMuseum’s online pages dedicatedto the picture (see You Will Need).

Ideally teachers should explain thepicture and get students topractise some of its specialistvocabulary: ‘Britannia’; ‘Neptune’;‘hippocampi’; or ‘putti’. In order tohelp students get close to thepicture, put them in pairs and thendesignate one ‘the sculptor’ andthe other ‘the clay’. In each casethe pair must select a figure in thepicture to create, keeping theirchoice secret from others. Thechallenge then is for a chosensculptor to build their figure, slowlymanipulating their classmate intothe right shape. The rest can call‘freeze’ at any stage, with the‘sculptor’ taking suggestions fromthe ‘audience’ as to what bit of thepicture (s)he is creating. Theaudience should be encouraged touse the correct vocabulary todescribe the figures.

Heroism; vocation; compassion;courage; passion; loyalty;diligence; self-sacrifice;consideration for his men;inspiration; rigour, and a thirst for glory

All of these qualities have beenattributed to Nelson by hisbiographers over the last 213 yearssince Trafalgar. There were other,less positive characteristics too.He was a flawed man, doubtless,

2

but he was loved by those hecommanded and proved asource of inspiration when itreally mattered. A simple way ofhelping students gain a betterunderstanding of Nelson andthe ‘Nelson Touch’ that markedout his leadership, is to invitestudents to create a living virtueline of frozen scenes depictingthese characteristics.

If time allows, watch Peter Weir’swonderful 2003 film Master andCommander and keep a tally ofthe ‘Nelsonian’ leadership traitsapparent in Russell Crowe’sdepiction of Captain JackAubery. Another terrific exercisewould be to read an accountsuch as that in ChristopherHibbert’s biography of Nelson(pages 121-126) of Nelson’sbehaviour following his injury atSanta Cruz de Tenerife.

A further, useful source of online information aboutNelson’s genius for leadershipcan be found at:aboutnelson.co.uk/nelsonsgenius.htm

THE LEADER

THE DEATH OF NELSON (ARTHUR DEVIS, 1807)

IMMORTALITY OF NELSON (CHARLES THEODOSIUS HEATH)

Lesson plan History_Layout 1 13/08/2013 09:36 Page 3