Estimated Time: 40 minutes

In this lesson, students explore the concept of status with images as sources. They conduct research into medieval societal structures, and use this learning to inform the creation of contrasting tableaux.

Connections to Financial Literacy

Students will gain an understanding of how social and political structures impact upon personal economic realities.

Learning Goals

At the end of this lesson, students will

  • experience the workings of a hierarchy through exploration in role
Readiness

Expose students to readings from medieval societies that address tithes, taxes, bartering and trade systems so that they have an understanding of how money was made and exchanged during this time period.

Some knowledge of tableau. You may wish to use CODE's Tableau (Publicly available), Mime & Tableau Games / Les jeux de mime et de tableau (Members-only), or Tableau: Lesson Plan / Plan du cours (Members-only) to build their capacity before assessing their performances in this unit.

When engaging with issues related to class that may make students aware of their own socioeconomic status or relate to their lived experiences of poverty, a trauma-informed approach is necessary. Build your own knowledge of class using CODE's Artists as Disruptors - Learning Hub to prepare for challenging discussions. Knowledge of your students will support your approach.

Terminology
Social Studies
  • Feudalism
  • Feudal roles: king, knight, lord, baron, serf, peasant, noble
  • Fief/Manor
  • Tax
Drama
  • Tableau
  • Thought tracking
  • Teacher in role
  • Meeting
  • Role play
  • Writing in role
  • Corridor of voices
  • Flash forward
  • Level
Materials
  • Information about Feudalism
  • Images from Appendix 2 Images of Power
  • Internet connected device with projection capabilities (optional)
  • Sticky notes
  • Chart paper and markers
  • PDF #1 Jot Notes Organizer

Minds On

Whole Class > Status Analysis Through Pictures

Show students the images from Appendix 2 - Images of Power by projecting them, or print them out for class viewing.

As they view the images, have students respond using the following prompting questions.

Key Questions for Discussion
  • Who seems to be the most important/powerful person in this image? The least?
  • What did you see in the image that made this person seem powerful/powerless?
  • Does power ‘look’ different in men and women?
  • Does the historical time period and location of the people change the way that power is communicated? Explain your thinking.

Record students’ comments about how power was represented in the images on a piece of chart paper for future reference.

Select an evocative image from the selection above for students to view. Give students sticky notes and have them record a line of dialogue that one of the figures in the image might say.

Have students come up and stand in front of the print/projected image and assume the position of the person in the image and deliver their line.

Action

Whole Class > Research and Discussion of Individual Control over Wealth

Inform students that you are going to be engaging in role play later on in the lesson that will explore issues of status and power that resemble the way that societies worked in medieval England.

Have students look at the following websites:

and complete PDF #1 Jot Notes Organizer as they read.

Engage in a brief discussion about the amount of control different people within the feudal system had over their status in life.

Consolidation

Teacher Note

For reluctant performers, there are several strategies that may support engagement.

  • Reluctant students can be the "director" for their group's tableau and keep track of the success criteria/contribute to the creative process of building the tableau.
  • Multiple groups can perform their tableau simultaneously. Invite half of the class to unfreeze and observe the other half before returning to their tableau, and repeat with the other group.

Small Group > Tableaux of Contrasting Status

Divide students into groups of 4 or 5. Write the following lists on the board:

A - king, knight, lord
B - serf, free peasant

Invite half of the groups to create a tableau showing a scene from the life of someone from list A and the other half of the groups to create a tableau showing a scene from the life of a person from list B. Review the expectations/success criteria for tableau with students. Encourage students to contrast the difference in status between these two people by exaggerating use of levels, stance and the context the person is in.

As groups share, tap one or two students from each group while frozen in their tableaux as a means of bringing characters’ feelings to light through thought tracking.

Once all groups have shared, have one of the A groups re-establish their tableau and give sticky notes to the rest of the students in the class. Instruct students to focus on one of the figures in the tableau and write a single word describing what factor could increase or decrease this person’s status with an arrow beside the word to indicate if this factor would cause an increase or decrease (e.g. if an actor is bowed down before a king, write the word ‘knighthood’ with an upward facing arrow to indicate that this is how a lower person may rise in the ranks).

Afterward, collect the stickies and see if there are patterns or trends in the types of factors/events that students came up with during the exercise.

Extension

Invite students to extend this exercise by creating two more tableaux of people in modern Canadian society who have different social and economic status.

Differentiation (DI)

Provide opportunities for students to prepare scenes through role play to represent these contrasting people’s lives instead of tableau. Brainstorm ideas first using a T-chart to plan their ideas. Contrast figures from a different time period in history or a different culture from the medieval period, while being mindful of cultural appropriation (see CODE's In a Good Way document for guidance) and relevancy to students in your classroom.

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Assess students’ tableau work using the Tableau Checklist from CODE's Tableau resource.