Voices of the Past: Exploring Change and Continuity · 5th Class

Active learning ideas

Aftermath of the Rising: Political Shift

Active learning works well for this topic because the political divisions after the Treaty are complex and emotionally charged. Students need to engage with multiple perspectives and grapple with the human cost of disagreement to truly understand the consequences. Role-playing and discussion activities make these abstract ideas concrete and relatable.

• 20–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Formal Debate
• 50 min · Whole Class

Formal Debate: The Treaty Debates

Divide the class into 'Pro-Treaty' and 'Anti-Treaty' sides. Using simplified versions of the actual 1922 Dáil speeches, students must argue whether the Treaty is a 'stepping stone' to freedom or a betrayal of the Republic.

Analyze how the British response to the Rising fueled nationalist sentiment.

Facilitation Tip

During the Treaty Debate, assign roles clearly and provide primary source quotes to ground arguments in historical evidence.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are an Irish citizen in 1917. Based on the British response to the Rising and the actions of Sinn Féin, what political party would you vote for and why?' Facilitate a class discussion where students justify their choices using evidence from the lesson.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 40 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Building a State

Students work in groups to solve 'New State Problems': How do we design new stamps? What should the new police (Gardaí) look like? How do we fix the bridges blown up in the war? They present their solutions to the class.

Explain the reasons for Sinn Féin's electoral success after 1916.

Facilitation Tip

For Building a State, provide a mix of primary documents and creative constraints to help students see the practical challenges of governance.

What to look for

Provide students with a short paragraph describing the political climate after the 1916 Rising. Ask them to identify two reasons why Sinn Féin's popularity grew and one way the British response contributed to this growth. Collect and review responses for understanding.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Brother against Brother

Students read a story about a family divided by the Civil War. They discuss in pairs why it was so difficult for people who had fought together against the British to now fight each other.

Predict how the shift in public opinion would impact future political developments.

Facilitation Tip

In Brother against Brother, pair students with opposing viewpoints to ensure debate stays focused on ideas rather than personalities.

What to look for

Students write two sentences explaining the main goal of Sinn Féin after 1916 and one sentence predicting a future political development that might result from their electoral success.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by framing the Civil War as a tragedy born of idealism, not just a political disagreement. They avoid simplifying the conflict to ‘pro-Treaty’ or ‘anti-Treaty’ labels, instead emphasizing the emotional weight of the Oath and the fear of losing the Republic. Research shows that using personal letters or diaries from the period helps students connect to the human stories behind the politics.

Successful learning looks like students actively weighing arguments, recognizing the nuances of the Oath of Allegiance debate, and tracing the human impact of the Civil War. They should be able to connect political decisions to personal stories and explain why the split was so painful for Irish society.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Treaty Debates, watch for students oversimplifying the Civil War as a fight over partition.

  Use the Treaty Debate to redirect students to the Oath of Allegiance by providing them with excerpts from Dáil debates where pro- and anti-Treaty TDs explicitly discuss the Oath’s symbolic power.

• During the Collaborative Investigation: Building a State, watch for students assuming the Civil War lasted years.

  During the timeline activity in Building a State, have students calculate the duration of the conflict using dates from military reports and contrast this with the timeline of political divisions that followed.

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Methods used in this brief

• Formal Debate
• Inquiry Circle
• Think-Pair-Share