History · Year 12

Active learning ideas

The Marian Persecutions

Exploring the Marian Persecutions through active learning helps students grapple with the complex interplay of religious fervor, political power, and historical interpretation. Engaging in debates, analyzing conflicting sources, and constructing timelines moves beyond passive reception of facts to foster critical thinking about motivations and consequences.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• A-Level: History - Mary I: The Restoration of Catholicism
• A-Level: History - The Tudors: England, 1485–1603

• 45–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Socratic Seminar
• 60 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: The Privy Council Debate

Students are assigned roles of key figures (e.g., Mary I, Gardiner, Cranmer, a Protestant dissenter) to debate the justification and consequences of the burnings. This activity encourages empathy and critical analysis of differing viewpoints.

Explain why the burnings failed to extinguish Protestantism.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play: The Privy Council Debate, circulate to ensure students embody their assigned historical figures' perspectives and arguments, pushing them to justify decisions based on the historical context.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Socratic Seminar
• 45 min · Pairs

Source Analysis: Foxe vs. Official Records

Students compare excerpts from John Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' with official government documents or contemporary accounts of the burnings. They identify biases, propaganda techniques, and differing interpretations of events.

Analyze how influential John Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' was in shaping Mary's legacy.

Facilitation Tip

In the Source Analysis: Foxe vs. Official Records activity, prompt students during their comparisons to identify specific rhetorical strategies Foxe uses to persuade his audience, contrasting them with the drier, factual tone of official documents.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Socratic Seminar
• 50 min · Small Groups

Timeline Construction: Religious Shifts

Working in small groups, students create a detailed timeline charting the religious changes in England from Henry VIII's break with Rome through Mary I's reign. This visual aid helps contextualize the persecutions within broader historical trends.

Justify whether the persecutions were a political necessity or a religious crusade.

Facilitation Tip

When facilitating the Timeline Construction: Religious Shifts, encourage groups to identify moments of significant tension or compromise and discuss how these points might have influenced subsequent events.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

This topic benefits from a pedagogical approach that foregrounds the ambiguity of historical motives and the challenges of interpreting biased sources. Instead of presenting a single narrative, guide students to actively construct understanding through debate and source evaluation, much like historians themselves must do.

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the diverse factors influencing the Marian Persecutions and Mary I's reign. They will be able to articulate different perspectives on the events and critically evaluate historical evidence, recognizing the nuances of this turbulent period.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Role-Play: The Privy Council Debate, students might oversimplify Mary I's role, attributing sole responsibility for executions.

  Redirect students by asking them to consider the advice and actions of other council members assigned roles, referencing specific documents or historical accounts that highlight the shared decision-making process.

• In the Source Analysis: Foxe vs. Official Records activity, students may assume that all contemporary observers universally condemned the burnings.

  Prompt students to look for evidence within the official records or secondary sources about the reactions of foreign diplomats or less vocal segments of English society, encouraging them to question the universality of condemnation.

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Methods used in this brief

• Socratic Seminar