Focus on: education in action
Museums and galleries can create opportunities, spark ideas, and inspire the development of new skills by engaging with learners of all ages.
In this article, four museum sector workers highlight the impact of their focus on education, sharing insights into co-curating with school groups at North Lanarkshire Council, working with students without clear career paths at Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds, and how Glasgow Life explores topics of migration and empire in museum education.
Their interviews are full of useful insights for anyone aiming to develop the educational offer of their museum or gallery. They also showcase how organisations can achieve the education aims of Scotland’s museums and galleries strategy.
What is the education priority area?
Museums and galleries support Scotland’s educational system and are recognised as key providers of opportunities for wide-ranging lifelong learning.
This is one of the ten priorities of Scotland’s strategy for museums and galleries. You can read the collaboration priority area and actions in full here.
Co-curating with school groups
Gillian Brogan (she/her), Learning & Access Officer at North Lanarkshire Council, collaborated with teachers and young people to co-develop an engaging programme of activities which support STEM learning.
A key part of this programme was their Ravenscraig Anniversary project. Loretta Mordi (she/her), a member of our internal working group for education, spoke with Gillian to find out more.
LORETTA: Hi Gillian. Thanks for speaking with me about education at North Lanarkshire Council today. Can you provide a brief overview of your Ravenscraig Anniversary project?
GILLIAN: The project was part of the museums re-engagement project in 2022 which was funded by Museums Galleries Scotland. Pupils from the Primary 6 class at St Bernadette’s Primary in Motherwell worked with us to co-curate a community display commemorating 30 years since the closure of Ravenscraig Steelworks.
The class had a special interest in this subject because 16 of the 20 pupils all had a relative who had previously worked at the steelworks.
LORETTA: How did you get St Bernadette’s Primary involved in the project?
GILLIAN: St Bernadette’s are regular users of the museum for term-time workshops, and the teacher reached out to us for help with their chosen class topic of Ravenscraig. I suggested that we could work together to create a community exhibition showcasing the pupil’s work.
LORETTA: How did the young people at St Bernadette’s Primary participate, and what did they learn?
GILLIAN: The children took part in 4 sessions in school and in the museum, culminating in a display in the museum’s new community case. At the outset of their topic the class brainstormed with their teacher to plan out their learning objectives. They highlighted 3 questions which they hoped we could help with; how was steel made, what jobs the workers did, and why Ravenscraig closed.
In the museum we hosted an object handling and information session using the many Ravenscraig objects in our collection. Several of these were protective equipment which generated a lot of conversations around health and safety, while sample rocks and ores explained the basic science for making iron and steel.
We also examined some production medals which helped to explain the complex relationships between the staff, government unions, and local community around the time of the closure. The children brought their own interesting insights to this discussion too, based on their families’ experiences.
We welcomed a special guest as well, a former Ravenscraig steelworker, who hosted a Q&A session with the kids. He was able to answer questions about the many roles of workers and helped everyone understand the expanse of the site.
Following on from this, the class selected objects for the final display and some photos from their visit. They wrote captions and labels, mounted photos, and worked out how best to use the display space. In addition, they curated a PowerPoint presentation highlighting cultural references from the 1980s and 90s such as music, fashion, films, and sporting occasions.
LORETTA: What lessons did you learn from this project?
GILLIAN: It’s always good to engage the children in the decision-making process, asking them what they want to learn. I also like to work out a timeline with the teacher and factor in some additional time for the pupils to work on their material. Things often take longer than I expect!
LORETTA: Have you got any tips for other museums who may be thinking of co-curating displays with school groups?
GILLIAN: Make sure you have plenty of practical tasks for the pupils to do when creating their displays, e.g. mounting photos, preparing labels, displaying objects. That way everyone feels involved in the final product.
Also, transport can be a barrier for schools getting involved. We are lucky to have a few schools close by to the museum, but it’s worth including travel costs in your grant application at the outset, or of course run the sessions in the school.
I’d say capitalise on the things that you and your museum already does well: show off your assets!
LORETTA: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this brilliant project, Gillian. Your work demonstrates how museums and galleries can support Scotland’s educational system by investing in the teaching and learning of young people, all while meeting the education objectives of Scotland’s museums and galleries strategy.
Working with students without clear career paths
🌱 Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds has fostered close ties to their community by creating an extensive learning and engagement programme. Heritage Engagement and Access Officer Jamie MacGregor (he/him) highlights how this creates new opportunities for students while providing support to the museum team.
“Our connection with Oban High School has flourished in recent years, providing students with a range of educational opportunities which are especially beneficial to those who don’t have clear career paths.
Following the pandemic we linked up with Oban High School’s construction class. We’ve set work-based challenges for pupils to design and build vegetable beds, planters, and a unique throne for storytelling. This gives students a great opportunity to develop their skills while achieving level 5 construction qualification.
In 2022 we established our high school gardening group for pupils who thrive in outdoor environments. This has given group members hands-on experience whilst achieving the Saltire award and level 4 qualifications in employability and volunteering.
2022 also marked the start of our Business Foundation Apprenticeship partnership with sixth year pupils of Oban High School. In this programme we provide one pupil the opportunity to gain valuable work experience over a six-month period by assisting staff across various departments at Dunollie. The Foundation Apprenticeship provides a great platform into life after school.
The Pathways project is our longest-serving partnership with Oban High School. Each year we welcome multiple sixth year students to Dunollie, allowing pupils to utilise our unique site to support a range of activities including assisting with exhibitions and creating digital content. This project provides a Scottish studies award by the end of term which has helped pupils form clear career paths.
It is so important to continue our partnership with Oban High School, to allow pupils to flourish and develop their skills ahead of stepping in to life after school.”
📢 Visit the Dundonald Castle and Visitor Centre website to learn more about the range of events, activities, and retail opportunities they’ve created through collaboration with businesses and makers.
Migration and empire in museum education
📝 Museums Education Officer Carolyn Foran (she/her) and Learning and Access Curator Jen Keenan (she/her) reflect on how museums at Glasgow Life have engaged with themes of migration and empire, and share their plans to develop further resources to support teaching on these topics.
“The 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans provided museums with an opportunity to focus on a previously overlooked aspect of Scottish history. In response, we introduced a new schools’ workshop at the People’s Palace exploring Glasgow’s connections with this trade. As interest grew, a walking tour of the Merchant City was also added to our programme.
Since then, our practice has been shaped by new research, training opportunities, sector networking events and a dedicated curator role for this topic. We continue to adapt and learn as we go!
The opening of the Glasgow: City of Empire display at Kelvingrove Museum last year involved a fresh approach to interpreting the collections and a new schools’ workshop was created. At the Gallery of Modern Art, the learning team has taken a complementary approach by focusing on the responses of contemporary artists to Empire and Slavery, with a session aimed at secondary school groups.
So, what’s next? We’re aware that in a one-off museum workshop we can’t cover everything we’d like to. Working with external partners, including the Lilian Thuram Foundation, we are currently developing a set of post-visit classroom resources. These will assist teachers in using our collections digitally to explore and learn further about anti-racism and contemporary social justice issues.”
Find out more
Thank you to Gillian, Jamie, Carolyn, and Jen for taking the time to share their work in this month’s Focus On! You can discover more about education in museums by reading our blog post on the topic. You can also contact us for advice and support in this area.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Focus On. Next month we’ll be highlighting digital skills, training opportunities, and the workforce of the future in Focus On: Skills & Confidence In Action.
