ENGLISH Celebrating Dickens


Tuesday (February 7) marks the 200th anniversary


of the birth of Charles Dickens. Dorothy Lepkowska looks at his legacy and how schools might mark the occasion


H


is appeal has endured for generations and few writers in the english language have been adapted to stage and screen more often. The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens on


Tuesday (February 7) is a chance to reflect on the legacy of what the great novelist, journalist and social commentator can still teach us today. For teachers, this bicentennial year offers huge scope for themed and topic work in the classroom, school trips and productions aimed at pupils of all ages. Dr Holly Furneaux, reader in Victorian studies at


the University of leicester’s school of english, and the author of three books on Dickens, said he continues to fascinate both young and old. she continued: “The attraction is not just in the vivid


story-telling and the reader’s ability to engage with his characters but also in his role as a social historian. “There is now a lot of material and resources on


Dickens that is hugely useful to schools and help to bring him to life, and film-makers still continue to adapt his work to the screen allowing families to watch together. This has increased his popularity hugely.” Dr Furneaux, who worked for a while at the Dickens


Museum in london while studying for her phD, added: “i was always really surprised at how young people would come to the museum genuinely fascinated by Dickens and with a lot of prior knowledge about him and his works. “The legacy he has left us is mainly of his novels


but actually he also had an important role to play as a social commentator and journalist, and this took up much of his working life. His writing tells us a lot about poverty and the legal system in england at the time, for example. To remember him only for his fictional works is doing him something of a disservice.” schools can register for information about events


related to the bicentenary online – the Dickens2012 website includes films and stage adaptations, festivals and details of activities aimed at schools being hosted at museums devoted to the writer. The site has pages devoted to literature and education which schools will also find useful (see further information). Teachers wishing to organise a visit to the Charles


Dickens Museum in london will have to get in quick, however. The attraction is closing its doors in april, until the end of the year, to allow for a major refurbishment to take place, though staff will be offering outreach work to schools during that period. a spokeswoman said: “These buildings have barely


been touched since the mid-1920s and are in urgent need to maintenance so that we can continue with our work long into the future. However, we will come back with a strong complement of staff who will work directly with schools and in the absence of being able to welcome visitors here we will be going into schools that request it.”


The museum website will also contain factsheets


and worksheets that teachers will be able to use in the classroom. The other major Dickens museum marks his


birthplace inportsmouth. Much of the modest house has been preserved how it would have looked in Dickens’ day. Gareth Brettell, learning and access manager for the museum, said the small size of the premises meant smaller group visits were more appropriate: “The museum chronicles the very early part of Dickens’ life and his childhood in this city. “His father came to work in portsmouth as a naval


clerk and the family lived in modestly, though they had servants who lived in the attic rooms which suggests they were moving up in the world. it really offers an insight into the type of childhood that shaped Dickens and some of the experiences that will have influenced his writing later.” Mr Brettell said any school trip to the museum


should take in a visit to the portsmouth City Museum which is putting on its own tribute and will have on show an original manuscript of Nicholas Nickleby, which is on loan. Meanwhile, for younger secondary pupils, the


author’s licensing and Collecting society and the National school partnership have come together to produce What the Dickens?, a copyright education programme for schools inspired by the writer himself, and supported by the Charles Dickens Museum. The author was a passionate campaigner for


copyright and continually raised the issue with the decision-makers of his day.aimed at key stages 2 and 3 and aligned to the national curriculum, the programme aims to inspire and encourage creative writing in schools as well as nurturing an appreciation of the importance of copyright. it features comprehensive lessons plans for teachers, activities, a competition for students, and supporting films from award-winning writers Meg Rosoff and Mal peet, and screenwriter sarah phelps whose credits include the recent BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. The package will be launched on Tuesday (February


7) with a reception at the House of Commons where Dickens once worked as a Hansard reporter, and where issues concerning copyright are once more the subject of current debate. Dr Catherine Neale, principal lecturer in english


studies at Worcester University, who has taught Dickens at both undergraduate and Master’s level, believes the appeal of Dickens is such that secondary english teachers would choose to introduce the author to their pupils regardless of whether or not he


Biography of Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth into a modest but aspiring family. His father’s job as a naval clerk later took the family to Chatham in Kent where young Charles attended William Giles’ School. He later spent three years at the Wellington House Academy in London but was otherwise largely self-educated. Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1936 and the couple had 10 children, but they


later separated and he had a relationship with an actress. He wrote 16 major novels, most of which were serialised at the time in weekly or


monthly magazines, as well as many less well-known books and articles. Although best known now as a writer of fiction, Dickens was also a leading journalist, editor and social commentator of his day. He died of a stroke on June 9, 1870, and is buried in Poets’ Corner, in Westminster


Abbey.


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featured on the curriculum or was examined at GCse anda level. she said: “Dickens has enduring appeal across


all social classes because he wrote about all social classes. He is poignant even today. some of his words and phrases are used in everyday life even today, for example, we call a skinflint a ‘scrooge’. He provides an insight into life in Victorian london, often using comedy and satire to poke fun at the civil service and legal system, and he exposed the injustices of the poor act 1834. “His stories continue to have poignancy for people of all ages. Great Expectations, for example, is about


social climbing but also teaches us lessons about falling in love with the wrong person. His works are as relevant now as they were 150 years ago.”


SecEd • Dorothy Lepkowska is a freelance education journalist.


Further information • Bicentenary website: www.dickens2012.org • The Charles Dickens Museum, london: www.dickensmuseum.com


• The Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum: www.charlesdickensbirthplace.co.uk


•What the Dickens? www.whatthedickens.org


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