Learning Resources
If you can’t make it to The Keep in person, we have lots of free to use online resources, so that you can engage with Mass Observation wherever you are.
Find our various teaching and learning resources below. Looking for something specific?
Primary School Resources
These resources include activities for children working at Key Stage Two. They cover a variety of subjects including Maths, Science as well as English and History.
You can find our resources here
Secondary School Resources
These resources cover Key Stage Three and Four. Subjects include History, Sociology, Media Studies and English.
Find the resources here.
Covid-19 Collection
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Mass Observation captured people’s everyday lived experiences. This includes directive responses, personal diaries and 12th May day-diary submissions.
View and download submissions here.
Beyond Boxes
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund Beyond Boxes collaborated with Blind Veterans UK, the Brighton Housing Trust and HMP Lewes to encourage participants to share their lived experience.
As part of the project a variety of resources were created to encourage writing and literacy. They can be accessed here.
Observing the 1980s
Selected Directive responses from the 1980s are available on ‘Observing the 1980s’. This Open Education Resource was funded by Jisc in 2015 and brings together ‘voices’ from the Mass Observation Project and the British Library’s Oral History collections alongside 1980s documents and ephemera from the University of Sussex Library. For more information visit the Observing the 1980s webpage.
1980s School Booklets
These booklets were produced at the Archive during the 1980s. They were intended for use by 14-16 year olds but may also be helpful to students at A Level and beyond. Extracts from the booklets may be reproduced freely for educational purposes. The booklets are available for download free of charge.
They can be accessed here.
Class of ’37
“Class of ’37” uses the writing of young girls, collected by Mass Observation in Worktown, to transport readers back in time to a smoky industrial town, where once again the clouds of war were beginning to gather.
Watch the authors talk about researching the book and access their teaching resources.
The Nervous State
This is the third of three films about knowledge exchange and collaboration on “The Nervous State” project.
In this episode we hear from archivists and history teachers to shed light on the Munich Crisis (September 1938) and the coming of WWII.
Watch the film here. Further teaching resources from the project can be found here.
12th May
In 1937 Mass Observation asked people from all parts of the UK to record everything they did on the 12th May. They called this a ‘day-survey’.
Mass Observation revived the 12th May day survey in 2010 and since then we’ve received thousands of day diaries. These diaries are an invaluable way to capture everyday life across the UK. The project continues to this day. Find out more.