What can Alice Hawkins' life tell us about the development of democracy in Britain?

This resource is intended to support the teaching of the development of democracy during the Victorian era and the twentieth century, highlighting the progression toward women achieving voting rights on equal terms with men.

Through a series of six lessons, pupils will begin to understand how the campaigns for universal suffrage developed over time.

These history lessons can also be used to teach British Values – Democracy.

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Teaching idea

These lessons can be used together as a full unit or separately as individual lessons. The first lesson looks at the bigger picture of the fight for democracy during the Victorian era, then focuses on the women’s suffrage movement.

The next two lessons dive deeper into the growing efforts of women fighting for the right to vote, ending with the tragic story of Emily Davison’s death. Students will look at different sources, have debates, and think critically to come to their own conclusions.

The following lessons connect the national story of women’s suffrage to local events, exploring how World War I affected the suffrage movement and helped lead to the 1918 Representation of the People Act. We then shift from the past to the present, with ideas for honouring the legacy of Alice Hawkins and British democracy today. This lesson includes a link to a film and the official Alice Hawkins website for extra resources and inspiration.

You can choose to use all or just some of the slides and feel free to change them to fit your students’ needs.

Learning aims and outcomes

  • To understand how people’s lives have shaped this nation
  • To understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • To make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends and frame historically valid questions
  • To understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
  • To understand the connections between local, regional, national and international history

Prior knowledge

No prior knowledge needed, although it would be useful to know a little background about the Victorian period and where it fits on a timeline.

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