Active tasks

Eton: An Activity in Text Choice

Etonians – that is, those who formally attended Eton College – refer to ‘school’ exactly rather than generically. Thus, when Old Etonians meet those they suspect of being Old Etonians, they may ask the question ‘did you go to school?’ This interrogative only has one school in mind, and for most readers of this website it is not the one you attended. So it goes. Eton may just about be the most famous school in the world. Alumni include Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Ian Fleming, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Henry Fielding, and that is just some of the writers. Nineteen British prime ministers, including David Cameron, attended Eton. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, also attended Eton, as did his wee brother, Harry, the Duke of Sussex. Of course, Eton does not currently offer the International Baccalaureate, seemingly confirming the aphorism that no school is perfect.

The following activity includes six texts that are about or refer to Eton College. The texts are: an extract from a novel; a magazine article; a newspaper story; an interview transcript; non-fiction prose; and song lyrics (yes, it is The Jam!). Some of the texts are wholly positive about Eton College, whilst others are less so. Popular with the great and the good, the school nevertheless divides opinion.

The activity is intended to be good for students, and good for their teachers. The activity is formative in construction, and culminates in Paper 1 textual analysis (a commentary at SL) or comparative textual analysis (a comparative commentary at HL). Before this, however, students have the opportunity to choose the text or texts they would like to write about through a process of elimination. In doing so, students select texts they feel comfortable writing about, and identify those they feel less comfortable writing about. This, then, isolates, for both students and their teachers, gaps in understanding. Since the Paper 1 examination can include many possible text types (albeit not literary texts at SL), teachers can modify their (subsequent) teaching, and the texts they teach, to best meet the needs of those that they teach.

Organizing the Activity

Teachers could organize the activity in this way:

Distribute the texts to students. Ask them to read all of the texts. This may be done for homework. Teachers may also ask students to develop contextual understanding through doing some preliminary and casual online research on Eton College; many may, despite its fame, never have heard of it.

In class, form groups. If the class has a mixture of HL and SL students, it may be judicious to organize groups according to level. Ask students which texts they most enjoyed, and why. Ask the students which perspectives they agreed and disagreed with. The quality of being open-minded is integral to the IB Learner Profile (and essential to citizenship), and this can be supported in classrooms with students being encouraged to express critical perspectives, whilst listening respectfully to those who may think otherwise, and with whom they may disagree.

After an initial discussion of the texts, ask students to consider the prospect of their Paper 1 examination, and to rank the texts from most difficult to least difficult to write well about. Groups of students should aim to reach a consensus. Encourage groups to elicit the views of quieter students, so that everyone takes turns to talk and listen. After allowing students time for preliminary ranking, distribute the Paper 1 marking criteria (SL or HL or both, as appropriate). Students should read the marking criteria and confirm or modify their initial ranking.

Elicit feedback. What did students think, and why? It is important, not least for teachers, to listen to the reasons students express for preference or disinclination. What do students think they understand, and what do they suggest they do not understand? Here, teachers have the opportunity to identify possible gaps in understanding and/or skills development.

Distribute the grid (in the grey box, below) to students to complete individually. This may be done in class, or as homework. Teachers should ask students to return the completed grid. It may be added to students’ learner portfolios or learner journals, if one is being kept. Completion of grids alerts teachers to variance in the class, and enables planning for differentiation. Teachers may like to have follow-up discussions with some or all of their class, time permitting.

Once students have identified their preferred text (SL) or texts (HL), they should write a Paper 1 response.

Teachers can repeat this activity several times with different text types during their two-year period of study. The thematic focus does not have to be Eton College!