Issue 1: Divided Society Changing Attitudes towards Poverty Lesson starter: How did the surveys of Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree change the way people viewed the poor in Britain?

Today we will… Identify the reasons behind changing attitudes to poverty around 1900 Assess the usefulness of a source about changing attitudes’

I can… Describe the causes of changing attitudes to the class Complete a National 5 ‘How Useful’ Question on changing attitudes

As we know, the Booth/ Rowntree surveys were published in newspapers and made people realise that poverty was widespread They also started to realise it wasn’t always the fault of the person Some other factors also contributed to this changing attitude towards poverty…

What else changed attitudes?

The Boer War In 1889 Britain fought a war in South Africa known as the Boer War which lasted 3 years Britain was confident of winning quickly but the Boer forces were better trained than expected Britain used 450,000 troops to defeat 35,000 Boers The quality of British soldiers was blamed for the failure of Britain to get a quick victory Many volunteers had been rejected due to their terrible health Many of those who rushed to sign up were underweight and too ill to fight

‘National Efficiency’ Britain had been the world’s most successful industrial nation during the 19 th century Other countries like Germany were catching up with them People were worried that poverty and ill health in Britain would allow other countries to overtake Britain in production

The Committee on Physical Deterioration Set up in 1903 The committee investigated why so many young people were in ill health They recommended three things; 1.Medical inspections of children in schools 2.Free school meals for the very poor 3.Training in mothering skills

What have I learned? Taboo Game Your teacher will ask you to describe one of the terms below. You may not use any of the words in the phrase (example on next page) The Surveys of Booth and Rowntree The Boer War Fears Over National Efficiency Committee on Physical Deterioration

Task: Describe… ‘World War One’ This was a conflict which lasted four years. It was between Britain and Germany and their allies. It started in 1918 and Britain won.

National 5 Question Source A is from an article in the Daily Mail, written in Things are changing. The surveys of Booth and Rowntree have shown us the widespread problem of poverty. Many people are shocked at how prevalent ill health is. As we know, thousands of our young men were rejected from service in the Boer War on health grounds; the situation is extremely worrying. 1. How useful is Source A as evidence of changing attitudes to poverty at the start of the 20 th century? 5 marks

How useful questions Remember… The source is useful to some extent… Provenance – worth 2 marks Who wrote the source and why does that make it useful? When was the source written and why does that make it useful? Why was the source written? Content – worth 2 marks Describe what the source tells us Recall – worth 2 marks Describe what the source doesn’t tell us on the topic (your own knowledge)

Model Answer: Peer/ Self Assess The source is useful to some extent. The source was written by a journalist at the Daily Mail who had first hand experience of the changing attitudes to poverty in Britain. It was written in 1903 at the time when attitudes to poverty were changing. It was written to tell us why people were changing their minds about poverty in Britain. The source tells us that poverty has become a crisis in Britain and people are shocked to find out how common poverty is, thanks to the Booth/ Rowntree surveys. It tells us that many men were rejected from fighting in the Boer War because they were so unhealthy which is a worry. The Committee on Physical Deterioration The source doesn’t tell us that people were worried about ‘national efficiency’ and that countries like Germany would overtake Britain in production. The source doesn’t tell us that The Committee on Physical Deterioration found that poverty might be helped by things like free school meals or mothering training.

Homework Task: Revision Diagram Create a revision diagram covering the topics below Use your jotter notes to add on as much information as you can (at least 5 points per section) Divided Society Why were people so poor? What help was available for the poor? Why did attitudes towards poverty change?