Learning Opportunities – A Tassie perspective

Well what a fantastic conference this proved to be. The wealth of innovative and creative projects going on around the country is truly inspiring. And the research that points out some of the future directions that our ‘industry’ is going in is equally revealing. I think the short sharp nature of the program gave us all great exposure to the plethora of activity around the country. I’d like to reiterate my thanks to the National Museum Australia for the bursary that allowed me to attend from Tassie.

Some thoughts on some aspect of the conference: The challenge that the conveners must have had in allocating the presentation to the four themes was apparent especially in the ‘offsite’ session. I really enjoyed the sessions from the presenters on the day but got to wondering if what we have termed ‘offsite’ is really being sidelined by the ‘on-line’ environment? What has happened to the real offsite programs? What’s the latest on the ‘museum in the box’, the old ‘Musbus’, those outreach programs that museums used to take into the regions? Where are the programs that reach into the community but aren’t on-line? Are they happening, are they successful, what’s new in that world?

Whilst it was really encouraging to see programs such as that run by the Art Gallery of NSW that brought regional students into Sydney after first going to the regions, I wonder how much of this type of activity has gone by the wayside due to costs, and whether museum professionals see anything worrying in such programs’ demise? I think many of us would agree that we can’t replace on-line the benefits of direct experiences with the objects that comes from either visits to the exhibitions or with objects out on loan (usually part of teaching collections). But I truly wonder if we are all taking the easy option in a tight budgetary world when we resort to imagining the on-line environment will meet those same needs as real ‘offsite’ programs do (or did!). Not sure what all this means for a library however –couldn’t get much more off-site than some of the places I’ve taken library books!

Of course I’m not being down on the on-line story, after all my presentation was all about collaborative polar e-books as a tool of engagement (see http: //iem.tmag.tas.gov.au), and I recognize the on-line environment is another avenue for extending the learning spaces of students and all visitors for that matter. On this front the presentation from the ACMI folks, Brett and Vincent got me thinking. As someone who hasn’t play ‘a game’ since triggering all those free credits on the space invaders consoles (remember how you used to be able to use a gas sparker to shock the machine into giving free credit?) I was intrigued by the learning potential of the internet game environment. Watch this space it seems, since only one person in the audience appeared to use such games in their educational programs. See Lynda Kelly’s blog summary of Brett’s presentation on the ‘twitch’ response for some future program design issues.

On another note I enjoyed Lyn Beasley’s comments in her “School students are people too!” presentation and heard the collective groan from the audience as so many of us in the educational field felt the issue’s resonance in our respective organizations. This will only get more significant with the ‘Education revolution’ as museums play a bigger role in formal education, have more school visitors and clash with those in our organisations who would wish to keep the museum/art gallery a hallowed sanctuary of quiet contemplation (and yes we need to maintain this aspect somewhere in our broad charter, but…!). As Lyn said the research shows that what students remember most of their visits are social circumstances rather than content, and getting growled at by staff or other adult visitors isn’t such a great memory to leave with! How about Lyn bundle up her presentation and workshop she runs at the NMA and send out the “Convert your workplace’ training package!

I could ramble on forever, I encourage anyone who didn’t get to Melbourne (and those that did) to down load the papers/ presentations when they come on–line and rekindle your enthusiasm for a profession going places.

Andy Baird, Manager: Centre for Learning and Discovery, Tasmanian Museum and Art gallery

Teaching the teachers about Australian History

From 13 to 23 Jan 2008 the Australian National University, National Archives of Australia, Old Parliament House, National Museum of Australia and Australian War Memorial hosted 120 primary and secondary History teachers from across Australia. An initiative of the Australian Government, the Australian History teachers’ summer school provided a 10 day intensive program packed with amazing lecturers, research opportunities and site visits.

The National Archives of Australia provided two half day workshops which included dramatisation, demonstrations of experiential learning strategies, case studies and research opportunities. An evening event also presented ‘living archives’ – people who have stories to tell about their personal records in the Archives collection. Feedback from participants has been excellent. Here’s a recent article on the Summer School.

I was lucky enough to attend most of the lecturers associated with the ANU Summer School. The program was AMAZING. My personal highlights included:

• May Leckey, Precarious Empathy in Historical Understandings: Problems and possibilities
  
• Tracey Banivanau-Mar, Decolonising History: Hidden histories and silent voices
  
• Inga Clendinnen, Workshopping a Document for maximum results
  
• Ann Curthoys, Revisiting is History Fiction?
  
• Marilyn Lake, The Militarisation of Australian History
  

The Summer School really demonstrated how collections and cultural institutions cab be utilised by teachers. They are such valuable resources and are often at the cutting edge of education research, developments and theory. And of course the staff are always extremely helpful and approachable!

The ANU Summer School was a policy of the former government. It is yet to be confirmed whether the new government will take it on, although it looks a little doubtful. Follow up sessions and a website for participants has been set up to create a dialogue.

Museum theatre in education

Collaborating to perfection… Lyn Beasley, Manager of School Visits at the National Museum of Australia, describes her work with Peter Wilkins, Drama Coordinator at Narrabundah College.

Museums have an opportunity, indeed a responsibility, to enable students to learn in ways that differ from but complement their school learning. Even before it opened, the National Museum of Australia regarded performance as a key element. In a paper he wrote for the Museum, Peter Wilkins, Drama coordinator for Narrabundah College, said:

Schools offer an invaluable resource to national institutions. Similarly the National Museum offers the opportunity for interaction with all subject areas of the curriculum …

Collaboration between schools and the National Museum provides a unique experience to interpret and present ideas that reflect the Museum’s collection, at the same time as presenting the talents of young people who participate in the performing and creative arts.

Peter and I began to collaborate in 2004 with a production called Stranded. Based on the story of the Mozart Vienna Boys Choir in the Horizons Gallery at the Museum, it also drew on emotive themes in the Eternity Gallery. Stranded was performed at two conferences in Canberra in 2004 and 2005, and elicited very positive responses. We decided to collaborate again in 2006.

In January 2006 I went to the National Gallery of Victoria to see Exiles and Emigrants and think about what programs we might develop when it toured to Canberra. I found the images extremely evocative and felt they could inspire a performance piece. Peter had seen the exhibition too, and agreed that it had great potential for theatre.

As the exhibition was due to open in Canberra in April, we had not left ourselves much time. And because it is not a National Museum exhibition, our access to the background information was more limited than it had been for Stranded, however generous the curator, Patricia MacDonald, was (and she was, extremely).

We used the exhibition catalogue to choose stories, images and characters. A trip to the National Library supplied letters and newspaper clippings, and from there we developed the synopsis. Letters with dramatic interest formed the basis. We added pieces of poetry and songs to create a poignant, atmospheric work called Exile. Sue Webeck, the director, workshopped with the students to produce the dramatic outline, while Cati McCarthy and Michael Caesar worked up the musical numbers.

The production used no set and minimal costume. Paintings from the exhibition were projected as backdrop. The students used extracts from letters and poetry to tell the story, and song and dance to evoke the emotion and passion of the paintings. Exile was performed three times while Exiles and Emigrants was showing at the National Museum, to both school groups and the general public. Both audiences received it enthusiastically.

The piece was then taken to Melbourne, to a national forum on performance in cultural institutions. There, the audience was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I don’t think it is going too far to say that these museum and theatre professionals were absolutely blown away by the talent, dedication and sheer presence of this group of young people. Earlier in the conference, one speaker had delivered a paper on what he called the eight P’s of interactive theatre. In closing the conference to a close Patrick Watt spoke of the ‘ninth P’ – the perfection of the performance by the students of Narrabundah College. While in Melbourne, the students also performed twice a day at nursing homes and schools – in seven other venues.

Peter and I look forward to our next collaboration. We are exploring the possibilities of stories currently featured in the Museum as well as looking at upcoming temporary exhibitions for inspiration.