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A lesson less ordinary
By Stephen Allen, Head of Learning & Programmes, National Museums Scotland
Scotland's rich culture and arts scene offers a wealth of opportunity to help deliver the Curriculum for Excellence.
Hurrah! The days of pupils scribbling on worksheets to find their way around old, dusty museum displays have long been consigned to the wastepaper bin. Museums are fantastic places to stimulate children's learning and engage them with themes and subjects across the Curriculum for Excellence. What we have to offer is face-to-face encounters with the real thing; the old, the new, the weird and the wonderful!
National Museums Scotland (NMS) holds wide and varied collections including archaeology, Scottish history, technology, art, design, fashion and science and technology, and the five very different museums display iconic objects such as the Lewis Chessmen, Dolly the sheep and Concorde.
At NMS we provide experiences to suit a wide range of learning styles. We recognise that pupils are stimulated in a variety of ways; developing their knowledge and understanding in and across curricular subject areas, learning through taking part in activities and interacting experiences, encouraging creativity, and stimulating a desire for pupils to find out more through further research. Each of our museums offer activities for primary and secondary pupils structured around key elements of the Curriculum for Excellence framework. Illustrations of the range of programmes include conflict resolution workshops at the National War Museum, Investigating Biodiversity at the National Museum of Rural Life, and Unwrapping an Egyptian Mummy at the National Museum of Scotland. The displays and exhibitions at our museums can themselves be useful teaching and learning tools, not least by making the learning exciting and fun. The Connect Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland is a series of interactive exhibits which help pupils discover more about science and technology; the Garden Detectives exhibition at the National Museum of Rural Life encourages children to explore their local biodiversity; and Fantastic Flight at the National Museum of Flight is a new, highly interactive gallery which looks at how aircraft fly. Handling boxes of museum objects are available for use within many of the galleries by school groups undertaking self-directed visits, accompanied by explanatory notes.
We have also developed a set of touring learning resources, Museum on the Move, which uses real and replica artefacts to help pupils learn more about topics such as the Picts, Ancient Egyptians and the Romans.
Learning staff are involved in the planning of all displays to ensure that they meet the needs of our different audiences. In particular, we are closely involved in the development of 16 new galleries - including two hands-on, interactive natural science and art spaces, Adventure Planet and Imagine - as part of the major redevelopment of the National Museum of Scotland, due for completion in 2011.
New technology
Increasingly we are using new technology to help give access to our collections for pupils and teachers who may not be able to visit our museums frequently. As well as downloadable packs for use at the museums, there are several specially designed web resources available on the website which have proved to be extremely popular with school users across Scotland. For example, we have created a set of online activities based on a series of archaeological digs for pupils to find out about what life was like 2000 years ago in Scotland and discover more about the Celts and Romans.
Museum visits
As a former teacher myself, I recognise well that a trip to a museum has to meet the needs of teachers, and we can help you get the most out of your visit in a variety of ways. Notes for teachers and learning resources are available as PDFs on our website. Expert staff are available to advise and help plan a school visit, and we also think through carefully the all-important logistics of the day, from arranging cloakrooms and lunch area to the obligatory visit to the shop.
We run regular CPD sessions for teachers in order to learn more about our collections and what we have to offer. We also seek advice and guidance from practising teachers through a programme of teacher placements and a newly established Education Panel. These channels of communication make us more responsive to what schools want and need, as well as adapt what we do to meet the changing demands of the new curriculum.