KS2 History: Rosa Parks

Video summary

Rosa Parks tells the story of her life, showing how her refusal to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus changed the rules of American society, and led towards equality and justice for everyone, whatever the colour of their skin.

The story is told in the first person, and brought to life with a mix of drama, movement, and music.

Growing up in Alabama, Rosa struggled to understand why black and white people were treated differently.

One day Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white person just because she was black.

This small act changed American society forever.

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Teacher Notes

Questions to consider whilst watching the film

Depending on the focus of your lesson, you may wish to ask the following questions after the video or pause the short film at certain points to check for understanding.

  • Rosa Parks says in the video she was happy up to the age of seven. Why was her early childhood a happy one?
  • In what ways were black Americans treated differently to white Americans in Rosa Parks’ local town?
  • Why did the young Rosa Parks not understand this different treatment?
  • What do we learn from the video about what happened on 1st December 1955?
  • It was claimed that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat because she was tired, but she said it was because she ‘was tired of giving in’. What do you think she meant by this?
  • What was remarkable about the Montgomery bus boycott?

Learning activities to explore after the video

History is a subject which can lend itself to a wide range of cross-curricular links. As a teacher, you will have a greater awareness of how this topic may act as stimulus for learning in other subjects. However, the suggestions below relate to ways of developing the children’s historical knowledge and understanding.

Key Question: Why is Rosa Parks an important figure in the history of Civil Rights?

Diversity of society and a wider historical perspective
The story of Rosa Parks, like the story of Harriet Tubman, provides opportunities for teachers to teach a more diverse and inclusive history. It is equally important not to teach the story of Rosa Parks in isolation; beside the criticism of tokenism, this is a topic which critically needs to be placed in a wider historical perspective.

Margaret Bonds - March and Dawn from Montgomery Variations

Get to know two variations from Margaret Bond's 'Montgomery Variations', inspired by Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott that became a catalyst in the American civil rights movement.

Margaret Bonds - March and Dawn from Montgomery Variations

The difficulty facing teachers is how much historical background you are able to cover in the time available. Studying this topic in conjunction with the guide for Harriet Tubman will mean that the class has some background on slavery; if this does not happen, then the class will need an overview of how African-Americans had been treated from slavery through reconstruction up to the time of the Civil Rights movement for 1950s and 1960s. This is covered in a BBC Bitesize guide on The Civil Rights Movement in America. Although aimed at Key Stage 3, much of the text would be accessible to younger children, though they would not necessarily need some of the more specific factual information.

It is very important that pupils are aware of the Jim Crow laws and appreciate that segregation on buses was but one of the many indignities African-Americans had to face. This issue is explored well in the video. The Path to Civil Rights page has a series of images of other events at the time and so Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott can be seen alongside other key protests.

Irrespective of the amount of historical detail the class has, the concluding phase of the lesson needs to be an assessment of why Rosa Parks is an important figure in the history of Civil Rights. In doing so, it is important for pupils to see that history is complicated and that this one event did not in itself lead to integration. As the notes on this BBC Bitesize guide explain, ‘white-only restaurants and theatres still existed in Montgomery and across all the southern states.’

Historical enquiry
As this is a relatively recent event, a good range of primary sources about it can be found on the internet, especially from the United States. The Library of Congress has a primary source set of sources just on Rosa Parks as well as a complementary set focusing on Jim Crow and Segregation. Teachers could browse and choose any of the documents for use in their classroom. However, if there is only time to explore one of the sources, there is one powerful document to use in conjunction with this video and that is Rosa Parks’ own reflections on her arrest in her own handwriting. The first page is suitable for a primary classroom and although the whole document is just four pages (with just a few sentences on each page), teachers may feel that some of the later content is not appropriate or accessible for their children. There is also a pdf version which can be downloaded.

The American National Archives has a number of pro-forma worksheets for interrogating primary sources, aimed at different levels and these could be used in conjunction with any of the sources used. In addition, it has an online tool for teaching with documents and there are two interesting sources about Rosa Parks: a seating plan of the bus showing where Rosa Parks sat and a police report of her arrest. In both of them, the crucial details about Rosa Parks have been blacked out and so one or both of these ‘mystery sources’ could be studied in another lesson for recapping and reinforcing historical knowledge.

Learning aims or objectives

England

From the history national curriculum
Pupils should:

  • develop perspective and judgement.
  • gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts.
  • understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims.

Northern Ireland

From the statutory requirements for Key Stage 2: The World Around UsLinks can be made to other Learning Areas:

  • by researching and expressing opinions and ideas about people and places in the world around us, past, present and future.

To provide a balance of experiences in History pupils could study:

  • Places then and now and how our identity, way of life and culture has been shaped by influences from the local and wider world.

Scotland

From the Experiences and Outcomes for planning learning, teaching and assessment ofSecond Level Social Studies:

  • I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences.
  • I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past.

Wales

From the new Humanities Area of Learning and Experience

School curriculum design for History should:

  • develop rich content across the time periods.
  • expose learners of all ages to a range of historical periods on a local, national and global scale.
  • develop historical … source-based skills.
  • develop rich content across the time periods, through which learners can develop an understanding of chronology through exploring … the use of evidence.

Principles of progression

Descriptions of learning for Progression Step 2

Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future:

  • I can collect and record information and data from given sources…

Human societies are complex and diverse, and shaped by human actions and beliefs:

  • I have explored and am aware of diversity in communities.
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