16th Learning Conference in Barcelona

Image, Cat just before we delivered our session

As I write this (Friday July 3rd) Cat and I are in Barcelona, a beautiful city even in the extreme heat, for the Learning Conference.  We gave our presentation yesterday to a group of learning professionals and it appears to have been well received.  Our careful palnning and extensive mind mapping came to fruition as we were able to cover everything we wanted, as well as having time for questions and a diversion to talk about The Manchester Hermit.

Image, Group 1's spatial gallery design exercise

There is a lot going on in this conference, with 9am Plenaries from invited speakers and 30 min talks or 60 min workshops, like ours, going on until about 8pm every night,  its probably just as well nothing opens for dinner here until 9pm.  Its been great to meet and converse with learning professionals from schools, colleges, Universities, science centres and from anywhere else learning takes place.  Its also good to be out of the extreme power of the Barcelona sun in the middle of the day, on Monday night it was 32 degrees at 830pm, goodness knows how hot it was at midday.

Image, Group 2's spatial gallery design exercise

I’d just like to thank those who attended our presentation, their input and enthusiasm made our job a lot easier and great fun to be part of.  Here are some images of some of the activities we did with the group and in the next week or so, I’ll blog about all the Museums and Galleries we have been fortunate to visit whilst on this trip.

Image, Group 3's spatial gallery design exercise

Museums: a place for questioning..?

Image, The Benin Tusk on display at The Manchester Museum

In anticipation of our conference paper in July on ‘how to teach controversial issues using museums’, I have been doing some research online. It seems like this is a hot topic at the moment, with a lot of resources recently highlighting potential topics and guidance for teachers on how to approach discussion and debate in the classroom. A simple search for ‘teaching controversial topics’ can bring up a multitude of potential resources. Mostly, this links directly with the secondary Citizenship curriculum but, of course, the subject matter can refer to topics which span the whole of the curriculum – science, economics, art, technology, religious studies etc.

The important thing for me, as a museum educator, is how this all relates to the collection we house at The Manchester Museum. I used to think that museums were fairly impartial places, where debates had already taken place and the most objective viewpoint was on display. Since I started working in museums, however, my own viewpoint has altered somewhat. Collections can engage people in controversial discussions simply by being on display. The rich history behind objects and their origin can bring to life potential stories that highlight the topic under debate, making a direct link between the past and the present moment.

Image, Frogs from The Manchester Museum Vivarium

Objects from Africa collected during the colonisation period, for example, can create an understanding of the complexities of the history and religion of a people who were struggling to maintain tradition when faced with conversion to Christianity. A display of taxidermy animal specimens reminds us of environmental issues and the possibilities of losing species to extinction as we accelerate through the 21^st Century. The Manchester Museum’s vivarium, with its camouflaged reptiles and amphibians, highlights this further, but can also pose questions about the benefits and/or drawbacks of keeping animals in captivity. Archaeology displays may bring to life histories passed, but latent information is sometimes destroyed in excavation – should we be preserving historical sites, or investigating them?

This is just a snapshot of what a museum collection can add to a controversial topic and I anticipate I will find even more. But the thing I’m looking forward to the most is discovering interesting ways of drawing students into these types of discussions whilst on a visit.

No – it’s not a Myth! It really is back!

No doubt you have all heard about the opening of our brand new Manchester Gallery! Back in October the old living cultures display was closed for the installation of this original display which has the Maharajah as a central focus point. This also meant that we had to temporarily suspend our workshop called ‘Myth, Media and Modern Times’ that utilised these galleries.

Image, A close up of the new Manchester Gallery

However, now that the galleries are back and we have the new material in the Manchester Gallery to work with, the ‘Myth, Media and Modern Times’ session is now being offered again. We’ve also adapted the workshop to include the Manchester Gallery, so students can investigate the new additions on display and link them to the topics they are studying.

Image, One of the cases in the new Manchester Gallery

For those who need reminding ‘Myth Media & Modern Times’ is an innovative and involving session highlighting a time when Africans were considered “savages” and in need of cultural enlightenment. It provides a unique opportunity for students to explore and identify the myths about African culture that provided justification for colonialism and perpetuated ideas of racism.

During the two-hour session students will:
• Select a range of features which describe a society as ‘civilised’
• Identify and handle a variety of objects from different African cultures
• Record and communicate a range of arguments that dispel historical myths around colonialism
• Discuss how interpretation can be influenced by presentation

To find out more, or to book one of our limited offer FREE workshops, contact me on email or 0161 3061765

The News is in on Lindow Man!

Image, Work from Breeze Hill pupils

Back in February I received a lovely letter from Pat Percuich, Assistant Head of Breeze Hill High School. Pat brought two groups of Yr7 students to take part in our Lindow Man: The Verdict school session earlier in the year to improve their discursive and persuasive writing talents. It also appears to have infused their imagination as Pat sent me some examples of the magazine articles which resulted from the workshop here at the museum.

These were wonderfully presented with many aspects of the Lindow Man: The Verdict session carefully revealed in several reports on the mysterious crime in a number of fictional newspapers. I could not resist showing these well-written pieces to our Head of Human Cultures, Bryan Sitch, who writes our Lindow Man blog, and he was delighted by the effort and detail that was put into them: so much so he has dedicated an entry to them!

I want to thank Pat and her wonderful cohort of students who took part in the workshop. It’s great to see the fun we had in the courtroom drama translated onto paper.

Image, Work from Breezehill pupils

Image, Work from Breezehill pupils

Image, Work from Breezehill pupils

Image, Some of the work from Breeze Hill pupils

Teaching Controversial Issues Using Museums

Image, Students debating issues at The Manchester Museum

We (Louise and I) recently submitted a workshop proposal for the 16th International Learning Conference in July on how to teach controversial issues using museum collections. This 60 minute session has now been accepted and will look at how the Learning Team at The Manchester Museum have explored multiple concepts within our programming and how this can assist teachers in presenting controversial topics to their students.

For Secondary and Post-16 Humanities we will be using case studies such as our debate days investigating public attitude to display of human remains, the KS3 workshop Myth, Media and Modern Times which examined slavery and racism issues and KS3 Citizen of the City which focuses on the tricky concept of what it means to be a citizen in both past and present society.  (See our KS3 programming here)

In the upcoming months we will also be working on a session linked to the Science and R.S curricula regarding Darwin and the theory of evolution. This will examine the multiple concept of truth including how individuals can believe different things and the importance of recognising and respecting these varying, often conflicting, views.

Our experiences in designing and practicing these workshops form a major part of our research for the paper we will be presenting in July. Therefore, if your school has participated in one of these workshops, or you have been a part of any event at the Museum which you think is relevant, we would love to hear from you!