Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Miss Halliday, and I'll be your teacher for today, guiding you through the learning.

It's an absolute pleasure to have you all here, and I can't wait to begin discussing " A Christmas Carol," in more depth with you.

So, let's get started.

So, today's lesson is called Charity in "A Christmas Carol." And by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to analyse how Dickens presents ideas about charity in this novella.

But first, here are some keywords that you'll need to access today's learning.

We've got institutional.

We've got welfare, Sabbatarianism, charitable, and employer responsibility.

Let's have a look at what these keywords mean.

So starting off, we've got institutional, which means relating to organised establishments, like schools, churches, and charities.

Now, someone's welfare is their health, happiness, and fortune.

Sabbatarianism is the belief that no work should be undertaken on the holy day, which is Sunday.

Somebody charitable is generous with their resources and they use them to help or aid those in need.

And finally, employer responsibility is the belief that employers should be responsible for the welfare of their employees.

As we progress through the learning, do keep an eye out for these key words.

And if you need to remind yourself of what they mean, then please feel free to pause the video and flip back to this slide.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're gonna begin by looking at the responsibility of charity and thinking about who that lies with.

We're then going to continue and look at individual versus institutional charity.

But let's start first with the responsibility of charity.

As always, we're going to begin today's lesson with a bit of a discussion.

So, I'd like you to discuss, well, what is charity? What does that word mean to you? Who do you think should be responsible for charity in society? And can you remember any moments in the novella which demonstrate moments of charity? So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you or jot your ideas down if you're working independently.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and what a great start to the lesson.

I'm so impressed by how respectful you interacted with one another and how many of you were able to remember so much from the novella.

So, massive well done.

Let's feed back some ideas.

So first of all, charity is defined as the voluntary giving of help or relief to those in need.

Here's a list of acts from the novella.

I'd like you to rank them from most charitable to least charitable according to the definition above specifically.

So, here are the acts.

First of all, we've got Bob giving Scrooge a better wage.

We've got the portly gentleman collecting money for the poor.

Fezziwig hosting a huge Christmas party for his community.

Fred inviting Bob round to his house following the death of Tiny Tim.

And last but not least, Scrooge donating an undisclosed amount of money to the fundraising gentleman.

What I'm going to do now is give you a few moments, so that you can pause the video and rank those from most charitable to least charitable.

At this stage, you're not discussing this with anybody else, it's just about what you think.

So, pause the video and off you go.

Thank you very much.

Let's come back together.

And it was really interesting for me to observe, because we had a real variety of opinions about which act of these is the most charitable and which is the least charitable.

Now, because there was such a wide variety of opinion, what I'd like you to do now is discuss your rankings with somebody else.

So, I'd like you to find another person to share your rankings with, and I'd like you to justify why you have put them in your chosen order.

If you're working independently, no problems at all.

You can just bullet point your justification next to your rankings.

So, pause the video and share your rankings with somebody else.

Off you go.

Excellent work.

And it was so nice to see so many of you really respectfully disagreeing with one another and having a little bit of a debate about why you think your rankings are the correct ones.

So, well done for being so respectful and for giving that your best effort.

Really well done.

Now, I wanted to get some feedback from some of our old pupils to see what they put as their rankings.

So, we're going to start by hearing from Jun.

And Jun says, "I put 'Scrooge gives Bob a better wage,' as the most charitable act because it's the act of generosity that made the biggest difference to the Cratchit family." Okay, lovely point from Jun there.

And Sophia states, "Hmm, well, that's interesting.

Well, because I put that as the least charitable because I don't see paying someone a fair wage as an act of charity.

It is an act of employer responsibility.

I think Scrooge just does something that's long overdue when he gives Bob the raise." And both those points are really interesting and very thought provoking.

So, what I'm going to invite you to do now is we'll discuss who you most agree with out of Jun and Sophia and why.

So again, I'd like you to pause the video and discuss this with somebody else around you or bullet point your ideas independently.

So, pause the video and decide who you most agree with and why.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And because this is such a subjective question, we're not going to feed back as a group, as everybody's entitled to their own opinion and all your ideas are equally valid.

So, well done.

Jun then comes back to Sophia and says, "Well, what about the moment when Scrooge buys the Cratchits the prize turkey in Stave 5 though? I can see how raising his wage might not be an act of charity, but surely buying the turkey is? He didn't have to do that." And Sophia states, "Well, I suppose that depends on the distinction that you draw between charity and employer responsibility.

Dickens believe that employers should be responsible for the welfare of their employees, and that includes ensuring that they have enough food." And Jun replies, "So, you don't think that that was an act of charity then?" And Sophia responds, "No, I don't.

I think Dickens included this moment in the novella to show employers the extent to which they should be looking out for their employees, not to show an act of charity.

This to me is a necessary act and not a voluntary one." And then Jun replies, "I see what you are saying, but what about Fezziwig's Christmas party then.

Is that an act of charity or an act of employer responsibility?" So both students raise really interesting ideas here and your next job is to debate those ideas and discuss them with the people around you.

What do you think? Do you think that Fezziwig's Christmas party was an act of charity or do you think it was just an act of employer responsibility? So, Fezziwig looking out for the welfare of his employees.

So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss and debate that with the people around you.

Off you go.

Lovely discussions and thank you for engaging so enthusiastically in those discussions.

It was fantastic to hear all of your ideas and suggestions.

So Sophia responds, "Well, nowadays, we might call Fezziwig's party an act of corporate responsibility, where companies have to give back to their local communities.

However, as corporate responsibility wasn't really a thing in the 19th century, I would say that this is more an act of charity." Okay, so here we've got Sophia's opinion and she thinks that this is simply an act of corporate responsibility before it was a thing really, but she says that because it wasn't really a thing that kind of makes it an act of charity.

So, she supports this as an act of charity but not raising Bob's wage.

So, thank you to Jun and Sophia for their fantastic contributions this lesson.

So, let's check for understanding.

Some students were discussing employer responsibility and charity.

Who gives the correct explanation? So is it Aisha or is it Jacob? I'm going to give you a moment to pause the video and read both Aisha and Jacob's explanations before you decide who gives the best one.

So, pause the video and do just that.

And well done if you correctly identified that the best explanation here is Jacobs.

Jacob states, "Charity and employer responsibility are different.

Charity is the voluntary giving of resources to those in need, whereas employer responsibility means that employers have to give their employees aid to support their welfare." So there is that distinction there that Jacob clarifies and this idea of charity as being something you voluntarily and willingly give, whereas employer responsibility is something that is expected of you.

So, it's not really the same thing.

So, well done to Jacob for that really concise explanation.

So onto our first task of the lesson.

First of all, you're going to share some quick thoughts with a partner about to what extent you think Scrooge is charitable in Stave 5 of the novella.

You'll then, once you've shared your quick thoughts, you're going to use the discussion grid, which is here, to formalise your ideas into a paragraph.

So, you're gonna discuss first and then write your ideas up second using the discussion grid.

Now, in terms of making a distinction between charity and employer responsibility, I think that's really important to do.

And the way that you can do that is through drawing a comparison.

So you can say, "Although charity is this, employee responsibility is this, and here's an example for a different question from 'A Christmas Carol.

'" So whilst Scrooge is a miserly and misanthropic character, Fred is a warm and generous character.

Then you're going to develop your ideas after you've made that distinction.

And you might say something like more specifically or indeed or in particular.

And again going back to our question about Fred and Scrooge, here's an example.

More specifically, Fred speaks openly about his feelings, especially in his conversation with Scrooge.

And then finally, you'll need to kind of draw some conclusions to your arguments and restate what your opinion is.

And to do this, you might use words like therefore, ultimately, consequently.

And again, here's our example.

So, you might say something like, consequently Fred acts as a foil to Scrooge, showing us the kind and empathetic way to interact with others.

Now obviously, the examples on this slide are not the same question that you are answering 'cause I didn't want to give you the answers and make it really easy for you.

So, you'll have to come up with your own sentences that formalise your ideas from your discussion.

But those are just some examples to get you going and show you what kind of thing I'm expecting from you here.

So, what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you share your quick thoughts as to how charitable you think Scrooge actually is in Stave 5 the novella before you use the discussion grid to formalise your ideas into a paragraph.

So enjoy this activity, take things from each other, use each other's ideas, and off you go.

Fantastic work.

And it was really nice to see so many of you actually taking ideas from the other person that you've shared in your quick discussion and using them in your formalised paragraph.

That's absolutely lovely.

So, here's what you might have said, you might have said, "In Stave 5, Scrooge is presented as a considerably more charitable character than in Stave 1.

In Stave 5, Scrooge buys Bob Cratchit's family the prize Turkey and he raises Bob's salary.

Whilst both of these gestures are very well received by Bob, and have a transformative effect on his and his family's quality of life, arguably, they are not acts of charity, but rather acts of employer responsibility.

Indeed, the real act of charity that Scrooge undertakes is donating an undisclosed amount to the poor via the portly gentleman.

By definition, this is a genuine act of charity, an act that Scrooge is not morally obligated to perform, but that he performs out of genuine care for the welfare of others.

Thus, in conclusion, Scrooge is undoubtedly a more generous and charitable character, but not all of his acts of generosity can be considered acts of charity." So, I really like this response because it kind of says, well yes, Scrooge is more charitable, but actually some of his actions are just what's expected of him.

And that the real act of charity is when he donates that money because he did not have to do that.

He was not morally obligated or well nowadays legally obligated to look after the welfare of his employee.

So, I really like this answer because I think it's very clear in the distinctions that it draws between employee responsibility and charity and which of Scrooge's actions fall into each of those categories.

So, that's a lovely answer.

Feel free to take anything from it that you want to keep in your notes.

So onto the second part of the lesson now where we're going to look at individual versus institutional charity.

So, we know that Dickens obviously hugely champions or promotes charity in the novella, but he also questions the integrity of some of the people within the institution.

So, the organisations who were responsible for charity, like the church.

Now again, we're just gonna do a quick recap and a discussion.

So, we know that the predominant religion in the early 19th century was Christianity, but what influence do you think that this gave the church on society? So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you.

And excellent if you identified that the church was an extremely influential organisation in Victorian Britain and that actually many people look to the church for guidance and support, especially in hard times.

And as Lucas points out, especially in the 19th century and still today, the churches do position themselves as charitable institutes.

And now following on from that, a quick recap of what we know about Dickens' faith and what his views on religion were.

So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you quickly recap Dickens' views on faith and his religious ideas.

Again, fantastic discussions and I'm really impressed to see how much of this you all remember.

So, well done.

Just so we're all on the same page, I will run through Dickens' religious views again.

So, Dickens was Christian, but he wasn't interested in getting involved with the larger political conflicts surrounding the church at the time.

He did feel that people should live their lives according to Christian virtues, especially in relation to social justice and the plight of the poor, because we know that Dickens was very, very conscious of the injustice that was in society at the time, having experienced it himself.

And he really wanted people to treat the poor with more respect and empathy and kindness.

We know as well that Dickens was really familiar with the Bible, particularly the New Testament, and it was actually reported that this was the book that he read the most and which he took as his unfailing guide to life.

And some of you might have also remembered that he was very, very passionate about getting his children to read the New Testament and live their lives by the guidance of the New Testament as well.

So he was very, very passionate about Christian values and virtues.

Now in the 19th century, some people believe very passionately in this idea of Sabbatarianism.

Now, we know that the Sabbath is the day of rest and this is the day when people, well, Sabbatarians believe, that people shouldn't have to work and they should be able to enjoy their days off.

We've also got to remember that many Victorians worked really long hours and they worked six days a week.

So in Christianity, the Sabbath is Sunday and that meant that the only day that many people in Victorian society, particularly the lower classes had off would've been Sundays.

So, that was the only day that they had off work.

Now, Sabbatarianism is the belief that no commercial buildings should be open on Sundays.

So, no building that makes money should be allowed to be open on Sundays.

And this was to provide Christians with this day of rest and to honour the Sabbath, the holy day.

So, that was what the Sabbatarians wanted.

They wanted Sundays, the day of rest, no commercial buildings to be open.

So, let's check for understanding before we move on.

What is the Sabbath? Is it A, the day of rest where people should not have to work? Is it B, the days of work where people should work hard to earn a living? Or is it C, days of rest like public holidays? So, Christmas day would be an example of this.

So, I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you select the correct answer option.

And a massive well done if you correctly selected A, the Sabbath is the day of rest where people should not have to work.

And in Christianity this is Sundays.

So as Sunday is the holy day, all the bakeries and grocers, which are commercial buildings, were obviously expected to be shut.

However, this made it really difficult for people, especially the working class poor, to enjoy their days off and access the very small amounts of food that they could actually afford to buy.

'Cause the grocers and the bakeries is where they would have bought their meagre amounts of food that they could afford for the week.

Now in the 19th century, many poor people didn't have ovens in their house.

The bakers therefore would then lend them their ovens on Sundays so that the poor people could enjoy one hot meal a week, because other than that, obviously they didn't have have access to ovens.

They were working very long hours.

So, this Sunday was pretty much the only day of the week where they could actually afford to feed themselves and perhaps borrow a baker's oven to enjoy a hot meal.

Now bearing that information in mind, I'd like you to discuss, well, how do you think people who supported Sabbatarianism felt about the bakers lending poor their ovens? Do you think that they supported it or do you think that they condemned it? So, I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you.

And I'd like you to see if you can justify your answer.

So, can you tell me why you think that? Off you go.

Fantastic discussions and some really interesting and insightful opinions.

Now in response to this question, some religious people who supported Sabbatarianism objected to the bakers being open.

So, they did not support it, even to lend the poor with the working ovens.

So they said, "You know what? This is unacceptable.

We don't want the bakers to be lending the poor people the ovens, because Sunday's a day of rest and everything should be shut." So that's what they felt.

And some politicians even tried to pass laws to prevent the bakers from lending the ovens to the poor on Sundays.

And Lucas here raises a really interesting question because he asks, "But I thought that Christians was supposed to be charitable? Isn't this charity?" So isn't the poor people being allowed to use the baker's ovens a form of charity is what Lucas is asking.

And I'm now asking you, well, do you think that lending the poor their ovens makes the bakers charitable? And what issues might some people's objections to bakers being open on Sundays highlight? So, some challenging questions there for you to consider.

So, I'd like you to discuss those with the people around you or consider them independently if that's how you are working today.

So, pause the video and off you go.

We'll come back together to share ideas in a moment.

Fantastic discussions.

Now, I think we can probably all agree that the bakers lending the poor people their ovens is in fact charitable, because it's not something that they have to do.

It's something that they've willingly chosen to do to help somebody else out.

Now, in terms of people who objected to this and what issues this might kind of highlight, Aisha has this to contribute.

She says, "Some members of society felt that those who were against the bakers being open were being hypocritical, because Christianity preaches charity and kindness.

And these people were actively trying to deny people this kind of support and relief." And I think that what Aisha is saying is a really good point because actually all through, you know, "A Christmas Carol," charity, empathy, kindness, are promoted as Christian values and yet some of the people within the Christian church but actively seemingly trying to prevent charity from taking place by suggesting that these bakers should not be lending their ovens to the poor.

In some ways, there was a conflicting message coming from some people within the church because they were saying, you know, you've got to be charitable, but also how dare you lend your ovens to the poor on the Sabbath on the Sunday.

So, I think there was somewhat of a disparity with some people in Victorian society between what they were promoting and the actions that they were actually undertaking.

And this was the source of quite a lot of tension in Victorian society.

So, it's an interesting point to consider.

And what I'd like you to consider now is, well, do you think that Dickens would've supported Sabbatarianism or not? So, would he have supported all of these organisations having to be shut on Sunday? And why do you think he would or why do you think he wouldn't? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you.

Think about what we know about Dickens and see if you can link Dickens' life experiences to your opinion.

Off you go.

Thank you.

Let's come back together.

And as always, some very interesting ideas raised there and a real variety of opinions.

Now, I think it's safe to assume that Dickens did not support Sabbatarianism, because we know that Dickens supported individual charity and this was a form of individual charity.

The bakers lending their ovens is an act of kindness.

It's an act of generosity, which is an act of charity.

So, I think we can safely assume that Dickens did not support Sabbatarianism.

And I think it's safe to assume that Dickens probably was getting quite frustrated with some of the people in the Christian Church that he perhaps felt were being hypocritical by promoting charity, but then denying the poor the use of the baker's ovens on a Sunday.

So, well done if you got that in your discussions.

Now, let's have a look at how we see this idea of Sabbatarianism in the text.

So, we're going to read a passage from Stave 3, which is from Scrooge's visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present, where he takes him into London at the time.

And he shows him Christmas day, and the markets, and the grocers, et cetera.

So, this is a passage from that section of the text.

I'll read it and you need to follow along, please, as we'll be discussing it afterwards.

"'Spirit,' said Scrooge, after a moment's thought, 'I wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment.

' 'I,' cried the Spirit.

'You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all,' said Scrooge.

'Wouldn't you?' 'I,' cried the Spirit." So now, that we've read that extract, we're going answer some questions.

So first of all, what does Scrooge mean here? What is he referring to? And secondly, what does Scrooge raising this issue show about him as a character at this point in the novella? So, I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you try and answer those questions.

Excellent work.

Some people are picking up straight away.

Don't worry if you didn't 'cause we're gonna go through some answers now.

So here, Scrooge's actually referring to the laws being proposed at the time to stop the bakers from lending their ovens to the poor.

Okay, so he's saying to the ghost, "Why would anyone want to stop these people from borrowing the baker's ovens?" And the fact that Scrooge recognises that this is immoral shows that he has actually found some moral awareness at this point in the text.

So, he has started that journey of transformation that we see across the novella.

Let's carry on reading.

"'You seek to close these places on the seventh day,' said Scrooge.

'And it comes to the same thing.

' 'I seek,' exclaim the Spirit.

'Forgive me if I'm wrong.

It has been done in your name or at least in that of your family,' said Scrooge.

'There are some upon this earth of yours,' return the Spirit, 'who lay claim to know us and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry and selfishness in our name who are estranged to us and all our kif and kin, as if they had never lived.

'" So, a little bit of confrontation there between Scrooge and the Spirit.

And I'd like you to think, well, what does Scrooge mean when he says it has been done in the Spirit's name? And secondly, who does the Spirit blame for these accusations? So again, pause the video and have a go answering those questions.

And remember, it all links back to this idea of Sabbatarianism.

Off you go.

Well done.

Some great contributions and effort there.

So here, Scrooge mistakenly thinks that these laws have been passed in the name of religion, but the Spirit quickly corrects Scrooge and he states that these people who are trying to pass these laws are not true Christians because they don't support charity.

So, the Spirit who is obviously somewhat representative of Christmas, which is kind of representative of religion, I suppose, is saying, "Well, actually this hasn't been done in my name.

And that anybody who supports this Sabbatarianism isn't really a true Christian, because they shouldn't be trying to deny people charity 'cause that's what we are promoting." So here, Scrooge mistakenly accuses the Spirit and religion of being hypocritical and the Spirit corrects him and says, "Well, it's not religion.

It's some people within religion who claim to be religious but actually clearly aren't because they're supporting the wrong values and actions." So I'd like you to discuss now about through Dickens's portrayal of Scrooge's conversation with the Spirit here, what is Dickens criticising and who do you think Dickens thought was responsible for charity? So, some really challenging questions there again, but I know that you can give it a good go.

So, pause the video and give this your best effort.

Fantastic.

Some people getting it straight away, which is really lovely to see and some of you not quite so sure, which is absolutely fine because we're gonna go through the answers together, but well done for giving it a really good go anyway.

So as we go through the answers, if you weren't quite sure, please do feel free to jot down some ideas that you can refer back to in your notes.

So you might have said, "Well, perhaps Dickens is criticising individuals who seek to prevent other people from being charitable." Okay, so perhaps he's criticising the hypocrisy of those individual members of the church who claim to be Christians and promote Christian virtues, but then seek, you know, privately to try and deny the poor the use of the baker's ovens.

And Dickens seems to be suggesting here that individual charity is the most impactful form of charity.

Because perhaps he thought that if some few individuals were charitable that others, and therefore society, would follow suit.

And society would become much more generous, willing, and giving.

So, well done if you've got those ideas.

So onto our last task of the lesson now and over to you.

So Sophia here states, "Dickens seems to place a lot of emphasis on the importance of individual charity, but doesn't seem to touch upon what the government or large institutions like churches could actually do to help." And Lucas's response, "That's true.

Scrooge transforms one family's life, which is the Cratchits, but Dickens seems to advocate for the change of individuals, but he never seems to advocate for systemic or whole system change." A very, very interesting idea raised by Lucas and Sophia there.

And I'd like you to discuss and make notes on the following.

Well, whose responsibility do you think that charity is? And I know I asked you a similar question at the beginning of the lesson, but I'd like you to kind of reflect on that and see whether you think that your answer might have changed since we've gone through this in the lesson, or whether you still think the same thing that you did at the beginning of the lesson.

But I'd like you to think, well, whose responsibility do you think that charity is? And secondly, it's fantastic that Bob's life is transformed and Tiny Tim's life is transformed by Scrooge of generosity.

But what support could have prevented Bob from being in a situation of poverty and injustice in the first place? So, I guess what you're being asked here is, well, what systemics or whole system, you know, political changes might have needed to have happened to make sure that Bob was never put in that situation in the first place.

And I'm interested to see what you think about this.

So, pause the video and discuss these two questions with people around you or make notes independently if you're working on your own.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for this.

Some really interesting questions there.

So, enjoy and off you go.

Fantastic work.

And as always with you guys, a massively diverse range of opinions and perspectives, which is fantastic to see.

So, here's some things you might have said.

So, you might have said that, "Dickens places emphasis on the impact of individual charity suggesting that this has a profound impact upon the welfare of others.

And that whilst it is admirable that Scrooge commits to supporting his employee, Bob Cratchits and his family, Dickens doesn't necessarily suggest the kind of systemic changes that would have been really necessary to create a more fair society.

Instead, Dickens critiques government initiatives like the poor law, but he doesn't really offer any alternative approaches to supporting the poor beyond individual charity." And I have heard many of your suggestions as to what those alternative approaches could have been.

So, thank you for those suggestions.

I think that they were really insightful and very kind of progressive suggestions.

So, well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, well charity is defined as the voluntary giving of help or relief to those in need.

Some people might argue that Scrooge raising Bob's wage isn't really an act of charity, but an act of employer responsibility.

Sabbatarianism is the belief that all shops and businesses should be closed on Sundays.

And Dickens seems to be criticising Sabbatarianism, especially in Stave 3 of the novella.

In this stave, Dickens seems to be highlighting the hypocrisy of those who claim to be religious, but then seek to undermine others charitable efforts.

And finally, Dickens place is great emphasis on the importance of individual charity in this novella.

Thank you so much for joining me for today's lesson.

I've been blown away by how much you have persevered to understand this very, very difficult concepts of Sabbatarianism and how much you have embraced Dickens' message of charity throughout this lesson.

So, thank you very much for your contributions.

I will see you again another time.

Have a lovely rest of your day.