At the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History, we are able to offer some fantastic experiences for all
our visitors, but arguably our Christmas Lectures for Year 9’s have the most potential
to be life changing. Seeing experiments
happen right in front of them in the lecture theatre and hearing from some of
the best in their field, these students are offered a chance to look at what
university education offers close up. These lectures are delivered by some of
the front runners in the field of science who are well known by their peers and
who more usually teach undergraduates and graduates. What could follow that?
However
talented the speaker, it turns out the collection of the Oxford University
Museum of Natural History is itself just as able to keep the attention of the
hard to impress teenager. Surrounded by
twenty Year 9 students recoiling from cockroaches loudly and with pantomime
gestures, I feel pretty much at home. Is
that the picture that comes to mind as the definition of success? For me, I think it is. Two hundred students came
out of the Chemistry lecture in high spirits.
I hear the lads before I see them and when I ask the group “Would anyone
like to come and see some cockroaches?” They respond en masse, egging each
other on while clearly reluctant as individuals to actually touch the
insects. The noise settles as I wait for
their attention then introduce the insects.
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| Handling a cockroach |
Curiosity
gets the better of them. Once several others have gently touched its back and
found it to feel a bit like the wooden surface of the handling table, one of
them bravely offers to hold a large cockroach. In a 2 minute encounter they have
overcome a prejudice, calmed their behaviour, bonded with the group and learnt
about the relevance of insects in biodiversity and asked relevant questions
taking responsibility for their own learning.
Museum education is not solely
about the moment of encounter with the collection, but also the reflection and
discussion of that encounter. One of the girls who had never previously come to
the museum and had never handled insects before really enjoyed the experience.
She insisted her friend film the cockroach in her hand as she didn’t want her
mum to miss out on learning about the insects. I wonder how her mum felt about
that?
I
guess there is quite a parallel with my own experience. Through
Skills for the Future, I too have had an unusual opportunity to experience
something unique in a hands-on way, and have been able to apply theoretical knowledge
about learning to real scenarios. I also
have a responsibility to ensure my own development and make the most of what is
offered and then share it in new ways. A
recent job interview showed me exactly how relevant the Skills for the Future
programme was, focusing as it did on the
skills of working as part of a wider team, being adaptable to the needs of an audience
in the moment as well as planning ahead and creating and developing a programme
and resources. I was able to give
examples of working with a wide range of audiences from Under Fives to Over
90’s and everyone in between. I could talk about working in a wide range of contexts
from a science museum DNA workshop in the lab to shadowing Reminiscence Officer
Helen Fountain at a Day Centre for the elderly, to teaching a KS1 group at the Shrine of Taharqa in the Ashmolean Museum
and of course the lantern workshops which involved 200 children in nine schools. In addition, I could talk about creating
resources for all these audiences and reflect on my own learning.
 |
| Facilitating a DNA workshop at OUM |
These
experiences are not unique to me of course; Aisling, Corie, Hannah, Jenny and
Rachel can equally cite their relevant experience as opportunities for work
arise for them. But while our direction
of travel in terms of our career ambition is the same, we are very different
people. Each one of us brings different
strengths and approaches, and we have learnt to make the most of that difference
too. Sharing and growing through peer
learning is a key part of our training and gives us something that is common to
all good museum educators: we share ideas and resources and lend a hand and are
extremely adaptable. Of all the
experiences I have particularly enjoyed working with the other trainees on
Outreach and In-reach activities such as Friday Live at the Ashmolean, The Need
Make Use at the Pitt Rivers Museum or
Cowley Carnival. Where non-traditional
museum audiences and these personalities combine I am always impressed by the
result which is so creative. The visitor comments show that the experience for
them is effortless and fun despite the huge amount of work behind the
scenes!
 |
| Trainees preparing for Live Friday at the Ashmolean |
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| Trainees taking the 'museums' to the Cowley Carnival |
While
each of us has much in the way of initiative we also know that pooling talent
makes for the best events and activities and enables us to achieve much more in
a short space of time than we could alone.
As importantly, we have unique opportunities in Oxford to work at
different sites in different collections with different strategic priorities. We have learnt much from assisting other Education
professionals in each museum as they negotiate the daily issues that are never
on the job description, such as: “You will need to manage a group of thirty people
several of whom are in wheelchairs. They
are coming to an exhibition on the 3rd floor. The Lift can only take
one wheel chair at a time. Ensure that
every person in the group has an interesting and low stress visit” or “Manage
the expectations of a secondary school group who despite their booking
apparently thought this was a different museum with another specialism” or “A group of thirty has just arrived
unannounced and require a lesson” “A
schoolchild would like to buy one of the exhibits.” “A volunteer wishes to work with only one
activity out of three and is rejecting your proposed rota.” “Create an app for KS2 which is user
friendly, accessible to all abilities and which will be of interest to schools”
“Adapt a resource created for families to use with a primary group. Now adapt it again for under-fives.”
Before
I did the traineeship, I felt my lack of a teaching or post graduate
qualification was a barrier to gaining a role in museum education. Rejections from museum and heritage
organisations suggested that my informal experience as a volunteer did not
really count and my Heritage studies degree was almost an artefact in itself
being from 20 years previous. In
applying for the Skills for the Future Education and Outreach Traineeship I was
really looking for a way to prove to employers I could add value to their
organisation and contribute as a member of their team. The feedback from my Skills for the Future
interview showed me that the imagination, innovation and hard work I had
brought to volunteering were very welcome here at the Oxford University Museums
and Collections and would create
foundations to build upon. Through
rigorous recruiting and incredible training it is clear that Skills for the
Future Trainees are all highly committed to working in museum education and each
of us will reflect on our experiences to push the bar higher next time.
Post
Script: Mary has just accepted the role
of Lifelong Learning and Outreach Officer at Steam Museum and Lydiard Park in
Swindon.
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