Learning is not an added extra, says Trevelyan
Geraldine Kendall, 07.09.2011
MA president gives keynote speech at GEM conference
Vanessa Trevelyan, Museums Association (MA) president and head of Norfolk Museums Service, told delegates at the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) conference yesterday that education must remain central to museum activities in spite of funding cuts.
In her keynote speech for the conference Trevelyan said: "Learning is not an added extra that we can dispense with when times are hard. Learning is integral - there is no point in having collections if you are not using them to inspire and educate people."
Trevelyan's comments come after the MA's recent survey on the impact of cuts to the sector showed that visitor and education services in museums were bearing the brunt of staff reductions, with almost 60% of respondents reporting cuts in those areas.
Trevelyan said museums must be prepared to adapt and built new partnerships to keep their education services alive and relevant over the next few years.
This includes developing relationships with higher education institutions and keeping a close eye on changes to the national curriculum and to the funding and governance of schools, she said.
Trevelyan added that museums should also take advantage of the Department of Education's commitment to promoting learning outside the classroom with easier risk assessments and CRB checks.
Trevelyan said: "We have to have something very special to offer that schools can't get in the classroom. This is likely to include specialist levels of skill and expertise that need professional educators to orchestrate and deliver."
Trevelyan said museums need to collect robust evident to demonstrate the impact of their learning services.
She described how research by Norfolk Museums Service showed dramatic benefits to people using its formal and information learning programmes: 60% of pupils from a range of abilities had achieved higher marks for assessments following a museum visit, she said, rising to 70% for lower ability pupils.
Museums can also provide "different models of engagement for schools", she said, and Norfolk Museums Service has run learning programmes with demonstrable impact for youth offenders, children in foster care, travellers and people with severe learning and physical disabilities.
Norfolk Museums Service is facing a £650,000 cut to its £4.5m budget over the next four years. Trevelyan said that, as elsewhere, high fixed costs meant that the service's public facing services would be worst affected.
But the service had tried to protect learning by working more efficiently, reducing expenditure across the board and increasing retail income, she said.
Trevelyan said: "We do not want to get into a bunker mentality whereby we secure the collections in a safe environment and wait for the situation to improve. We have to operate effectively whatever the financial to cultural environment."
To read Trevelyan's speech in full, click here (word)
In her keynote speech for the conference Trevelyan said: "Learning is not an added extra that we can dispense with when times are hard. Learning is integral - there is no point in having collections if you are not using them to inspire and educate people."
Trevelyan's comments come after the MA's recent survey on the impact of cuts to the sector showed that visitor and education services in museums were bearing the brunt of staff reductions, with almost 60% of respondents reporting cuts in those areas.
Trevelyan said museums must be prepared to adapt and built new partnerships to keep their education services alive and relevant over the next few years.
This includes developing relationships with higher education institutions and keeping a close eye on changes to the national curriculum and to the funding and governance of schools, she said.
Trevelyan added that museums should also take advantage of the Department of Education's commitment to promoting learning outside the classroom with easier risk assessments and CRB checks.
Trevelyan said: "We have to have something very special to offer that schools can't get in the classroom. This is likely to include specialist levels of skill and expertise that need professional educators to orchestrate and deliver."
Trevelyan said museums need to collect robust evident to demonstrate the impact of their learning services.
She described how research by Norfolk Museums Service showed dramatic benefits to people using its formal and information learning programmes: 60% of pupils from a range of abilities had achieved higher marks for assessments following a museum visit, she said, rising to 70% for lower ability pupils.
Museums can also provide "different models of engagement for schools", she said, and Norfolk Museums Service has run learning programmes with demonstrable impact for youth offenders, children in foster care, travellers and people with severe learning and physical disabilities.
Norfolk Museums Service is facing a £650,000 cut to its £4.5m budget over the next four years. Trevelyan said that, as elsewhere, high fixed costs meant that the service's public facing services would be worst affected.
But the service had tried to protect learning by working more efficiently, reducing expenditure across the board and increasing retail income, she said.
Trevelyan said: "We do not want to get into a bunker mentality whereby we secure the collections in a safe environment and wait for the situation to improve. We have to operate effectively whatever the financial to cultural environment."
To read Trevelyan's speech in full, click here (word)
Add your comment