A portrait of Charles Dickens. Image courtesy of and copyright Charles Dickens Museum & Film London

The Dickens 2012 project, launched to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth, comes with some unique resources that you can dip into with your class at any time.

This project is part of the Connecting Classrooms school programme, which develops future global citizens. Dickens 2012 aims to use the author’s words to get a picture of life as it was in Dickens’ day and to understand how we might more vividly describe our own lives and surroundings. Above all, we hope that you can share your writing with others around the world.

Benefits

We’ve created some Dickens-themed resources which we hope will:

• facilitate dialogue between young people across the world
• encourage young people to learn more about their own contemporary writers
• develop in pupils essential skills for learning and life
• provide opportunities to share endeavours with overseas partners
• encourage children to develop leadership skills and engage in active citizenship.

The Education Pack introduces Dickens 2012 celebrations and provides ideas and activities for use in a variety of circumstances in Primary and Secondary Schools.

The Template Projects are specifically aimed at developing projects with your international partners, and are suitable for 7 – 14 year olds.

Download the Education Pack   (PDF  912KB)

Download the Template Projects   (PDF  143KB)

By discussing issues raised in the works of Dickens, young people can study literature from the past and present as well as exchange ideas about today’s changing world. By working with teachers from other countries, cultures and schools, teachers will have the opportunity to share best practice and develop strategies for addressing important issues such as social cohesion and cultural awareness.

Join the Dickens 2012 Discussion Forum

Find out more about the British Council’s Dickens 2012 programme.