Learning to Live: Museums, Young People and Education
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Learning Learning ‘The past decade has seen a revolution in museum education. Museums have placed learning at the core of their service to the public and have developed extensive learning programmes, establishing their role as vital centres of knowledge to Live to in the community alongside schools and universities. Looking forward, we need to ensure that museums and galleries remain at the heart of children’s learning and development and continue to innovate to reach out to all young people in | edited by Kate Bellamy and Carey Oppenheim Bellamy and Carey Kate edited by their communities. ‘Learning to Live: Museums, young people and education was commissioned by the National Museum Directors’ Conference in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). It brings together leading figures from the worlds of culture and education to explore what more museums and educators, working with policymakers and delivery bodies such as schools, can and should be doing, both within and beyond the classroom, to inspire learning and creativity among all young people.’ Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate Carey Oppenheim, Co-Director, ippr Learning to Live Museums, young people and education edited by Kate Bellamy and Carey Oppenheim national museum directors’ conference ISBN 9781860303241 £14.95 Learning to Live Museums, young people and education edited by Kate Bellamy and Carey Oppenheim Institute for Public Policy Research National Museum Directors' Conference 30-32 Southampton Street Natural History Museum London WC2E 7RA Cromwell Road Tel: +44 (0) 20 7470 6100 London SW7 5BD www.ippr.org www.nationalmuseums.org.uk Registered charity no. 800065 © Institute for Public Policy Research and National Museum Directors' Conference 2009 Front cover photographs (clockwise from top): Young visitors learning about light © Science Museum/SSPL Up close with a giant sloth © Natural History Museum, London Young participants in the ‘On Common Ground’ project © Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales Enjoying sculpture at the Lady Lever Art Gallery © National Museums Liverpool CONTENTS About ippr 5 About NMDC 5 Acknowledgements 5 About the authors 7 1. Learning to Live: Museums, young people and education 9 Kate Bellamy, Louie Burghes and Carey Oppenheim 2. Museums and Young People: Where are we now? 21 Sir Nicholas Serota 3. The Listening Museum 30 David Anderson 4. The Power of Cultural Learning: The role of museums within a new cultural learning agenda 43 Sally Bacon 5. American Museums as a Borderland 53 Diane Miller 6. Museums and Schools: Nurturing an indispensable relationship 58 Estelle Morris and Martha Spurrier 7. Beyond the School: Museums and young people 67 Tim Desmond 8. Museums, young people and social justice 74 David Fleming and Carol Rogers 9. Online Technology: Unlocking opportunity, unlocking collections 81 Jane Finnis 10. Museum Learning: Not instrumental enough? 91 Alec Coles 11. Why Young People? Attracting a new audience to our museums 103 Kate Pontin 12. Science, Learning, Museums and Young People 113 Jean M. Franczyk and Alexandra Burch 13. Creating a Learning Adventure 122 Mick Waters About ippr The Institute for Public Policy Research is the UK’s leading progressive think tank, producing cutting-edge research and innovative policy ideas for a just, democratic and sustainable world. Since 1988, we have been at the forefront of progressive debate and policymaking in the UK. Through our independent research and analysis we define new agendas for change and provide practical solutions to challenges across the full range of public policy issues. With offices in both London and Newcastle, we ensure our outlook is as broad-based as possible, while our international and migration teams and climate change programme extend our partnerships and influence beyond the UK, giving us a truly world-class reputation for high quality research. About NMDC The National Museum Directors’ Conference represents the leaders of the UK’s national collections and major regional museums. These comprise the national museums in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, four leading regional museums, the British Library, National Library of Scotland, and the National Archives. Our members operate in over a 100 locations around the UK. While our members are funded by government, the NMDC is an independent, non-governmental organisation. The NMDC was founded in 1929 and today provides its membership with a valuable forum for discussion and debate and an opportunity to share information and work collaboratively. It works to inform and shape the museums and cultural policy agendas across the UK. Acknowledgements The editors are grateful to the National Museum Directors’ Conference (NMDC) whose funding has enabled us to commission the chapters of this book. We are particularly grateful to the members of the project steering group who provided excellent feedback and direction: Louie Burghes, David Anderson (V&A), Sally Bacon (Clore Duffield Foundation), Nick Canning (Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit), Paul Collard (Creative Partnerships), Dr Michael Dixon (Natural History Musuem), Jean Francyzk (National Museum of Science and Industry), John Holden (Demos), Ruth Mackenzie (Department for Culture, Media and Sport), Sir Nicholas Serota (Tate Museums), Carole Souter (Heritage Lottery Fund), Sue Wilkinson (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council), and Erica Bolton (Bolton & Quinn). Many ippr staff gave assistance, feedback and advice during the project, in particular Carey Oppenheim, Jennifer O’Brien and Lisa Harker, Julia Margo, James Crabtree and Kay Withers for their early involvement. We would also like to thank the many contributors to the book. Georgina Kyriacou at ippr edited and managed production of the book. About the authors David Anderson is Head of Education at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Sally Bacon is Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation Kate Bellamy is Head of Strategy & Communications at the National Museum Directors’ Conference Louie Burghes is a Research Associate at ippr Alexandra Burch is Senior Visitor Researcher at the Science Museum, London Alec Coles is Director of Tyne & Wear Museums Tim Desmond is Chief Executive of NCCL Galleries of Justice, Nottingham Jane Finnis is Director of Culture24 David Fleming is Director of National Museums Liverpool Jean Franczyk is Head of Learning at the Science Museum, London Diane Miller is Senior Vice President, School and Community Partnerships, at Saint Louis Science Center, St Louis, Missouri Rt Hon Estelle Morris is the Chair of the Strategy Board for the Institute of Effective Education at the University of York and the Chair of the National Coal Mining Museum Carey Oppenheim is Co-Director of ippr Kate Pontin is a freelance consultant specialising in the evaluation of learning in museums and other informal learning centres Carol Rogers is Executive Director of Visitor Services at National Museums Liverpool Sir Nicholas Serota is an art historian and curator, and has been Director of the Tate since 1988 Martha Spurrier is Estelle Morris’s researcher, and is training to be a public law barrister Mick Waters is a Professor of Education, President of the Curriculum Foundation and former Director of Curriculum at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 1. LEARNING TO LIVE: Museums, young people and education Kate Bellamy, Louie Burghes and Carey Oppenheim This collection of essays, authored by prominent and expert figures from the worlds of culture and education, addresses key questions about the role of museums and other institutes of material culture in young people’s wellbeing and learning. Our aim in bringing their thinking together was to explore what museums, working with policymakers and delivery bodies such as schools, can and should be doing, both within and beyond the classroom, to inspire learning and creativity among all young people. The current economic climate gives added impetus to the issue. More than ever young people need the chance for self-reflection, to think about the world and their place in it, and the opportunity, which museums can provide, for developing the creative skills for a new economy. Families, too, need affordable, inspiring and uplifting things to do and places to go in the safe and inclusive spaces that museums provide. Debates about children’s quality of life in Britain, and the need for a more holistic approach to education – moving beyond the three Rs – also provide the basis for a re-evaluation of the powerful contribution museums have to offer (UNICEF 2007, Layard and Dunn 2009). The chapters in this book are drawn closely from the authors’ own personal experiences, whether as curators, educators, politicians or funders, and they reveal how museums can and do make a difference to young people’s lives. Our view is that museums as a sector offer a huge and still relatively untapped resource which is relevant to, and can support, inspiration and learning – in its widest sense – for everyone. To fulfil this brief, however, there will have to be concerted action by museums, schools and government to: • Enable children and young people to have equal status with adults within museums • Put learning at the heart of museums and museums at the heart of learning • Embrace a more holistic approach to learning: valuing informal and formal learning equally • Reach out to all young people, including the hard to reach. 10 Learning to Live Where are we now? Until relatively recently ‘learning’ was marginalised in the museum sector, and ‘culture’ sidelined in the education sector. But in the past few years both sectors have made a concerted effort to engage with one another. There has been real progress in widening access for children and young people in museums, with the launch of the Government’s Find Your Talent initiative, and a plethora of activities that have reached out to communities that have never visited museums before or experienced what they have to offer. And in the education sector, a more holistic approach to child development and a focus on wider child outcomes at school have the potential to widen and deepen the learning experience and development of children and young people beyond the core academic subjects.