GEM/SMC GRASS ROOTS PROJECT
Guidance Notes -
Curricular Developments
National Priorities in Education
Ways to engage with Secondary Schools
Continued Professional development - Teacher Placements in Museums (the EEBL scheme)
Introduction
Grass Roots ran a training day on 9 March 2006 looking into developments in the school curriculum. The following information and case studies have been adapted from this event.
The Curriculum Review
A Curriculum for Excellence is the programme of curricular reform in Scotland. The programme aims to review the curriculum from 3-18, in a way that enables all young people to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. In practical terms, the outcomes of the programme will, in time, be simplified and prioritised guidance on the curriculum, offering teachers and educators greater scope for flexibility, and time for a more creative approach to learning and teaching.
In 2002 there was a national debate on education. It discovered that there was a lot of satisfaction in the education sector; however there were one or two concerns. It was generally felt that the curriculum had too much content; it was too prescriptive and there was too much formal assessment. The Curriculum Review Group was established, meeting during 2004 and 2005. They were to look closely at why we do what we do – the values, purposes and principles of the curriculum. In November 2004, the publication A Curriculum for Excellence was produced. This stated that we should have a curriculum that allows young people to become:
· responsible citizens
· confident individuals
· successful learners
· effective contributors
This was to be the new set of principles for curriculum design – for the first time the word “enjoyment” was included – challenge and enjoyment. This was also the first time it covered provision for all young people, regardless of whether they were at nursery, 5-14, or secondary level. It will have a profound effect on the way progression is viewed – there will be much more breadth in the curriculum. There is a need to change the scaffolding of the 5-14 curriculums.
It is planned that the focus will be on whole school issues and joined-up learning. Priorities like citizenship, literacy and numeracy will be better embedded. A lot of things are already happening in schools – especially at nursery and primary level.
The minister’s response to A Curriculum for Excellence came out in 2004. He agreed with the ideas and set out the broad aims to:
· de-clutter the curriculum
· structure S1-S3 – foundation for learning in latter half of secondary school
· provide skills for work courses
· review all areas from 3-18, starting with Science (however, they are now looking at more areas)
A small working group is looking at eight broad areas for ideas on how to de-clutter. Some peoples’ ideas are quite radical, whereas others think that only small changes are needed.
The Curriculum for Excellence team now needs to put significant effort into turning this overview into a reality. There will be a statement from the programme board forming a view of what the next stage will be. This should be released at the end of this month (March 2006) and the minister will also produce a statement of practicalities. Schools will have to think about more creative ways to deliver outcomes. There will be large implications on training and development. How this ties in with new ways of developing through new technologies will need to be considered. A lot of answers relating to how the curriculum should be developed need to be provided by the teaching profession in places such as museums and other learning centres.
As you can see, the changes are still very much in their early stages and it will be a number of years before things are entirely developed.
So how can museums get involved and fit in with the curriculum for excellence right now?
This is the “kick-off’” for a period of engagement. There are a number of ways to be involved:
· There is the “grass roots” element – awareness raising about different approaches to learning, not just for museums, but also other areas such as outdoor education
· Look at the explanation and outcomes section of A Curriculum for Excellence – how might your museum fit into this? See http://www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk/about/index.asp for more information
· Work with your local schools and education authorities to devise ways in which you can support this
· You can register an interest for engagement in the process of the curriculum group. This should be done at a communal level –for an input from the network. GEM or SMC may have a role.
· Make sure that what you do can be described in curricular terms.
As more information becomes available on the developments of the curriculum for excellence, we hope to update the Grass Roots website.
National Priorities in Education
There are five National Priorities in Education, which were set out in December 2002. Each has a number of outcomes. These are:
· Achievement and Attainment
1. Increased level of numeracy and literacy skills
2. Improved examination results
· Framework for Learning
1. CPD of teachers’ skills
2. Increased self-discipline of students
3. Enhanced school environments which are more conductive to teaching and learning.
· Inclusion and Equality
1. Every pupil benefits from education
2. Every pupil benefits from education, with particular regard paid to pupils with disabilities and special educational needs
3. Every pupil benefits from education, with particular regard paid to Gaelic and other lesser used languages.
· Values and Citizenship
1. Increased respect for self and others
2. Increased awareness of interdependence with other members of their neighbourhood and society and increased awareness of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society.
· Learning for Life
1. Pupils are equipped with the necessary foundation skills, attitudes and expectations to prosper in a changing society
2. Increased levels of creativity and ambition in young people.
For more information, see http://www.nationalpriorities.org.uk
Enterprise in Education
What is Enterprise in Education?*
Enterprise in Education is broadly defined. It includes:
· knowledge and understanding of the world of work
· career planning and development
· development of creative approaches and enterprising attitudes, skills and behaviours.
Enterprise in education also includes fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in the young people of Scotland to motivate them and give them the confidence to succeed. This includes the development of social entrepreneurship.
Involvement in enterprise in education provides opportunities for enhancing learning in innovative and creative ways by offering contexts for different kinds of learning within and across the curriculum and through integrated activities. Increased choice and flexibility in the curriculum can facilitate the provision of enterprise in education.
The development of enterprise in education is likely to be realised through a renewed consideration of learning and teaching approaches and the creation of learning and teaching conditions conducive to enterprise and creativity as well as strong partnerships between educational establishments and parents, carers, business and the wider community.
Establishing strong partnerships can create valuable opportunities for curriculum enhancement as well as authentic learning experiences. It can also facilitate the exchange of expertise, advice, practical support and staff development opportunities.
*This information was kindly supplied by Learning and Teaching Scotland. The full description and further information can be found at http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/wholeschoolissues/crosscurricularissues/enterpriseineducation/index.asp
Case Study One: Elaine Scott, Museums Online
Elaine Scott works as both a Cultural Co-ordinator and an Enterprise Development Officer for East Ayrshire Council Department of Education and Social Services.
Museums Online is a video conferencing pilot linking primary schools to the National Museums of Scotland, in a project combining culture and enterprise in education. East Ayrshire school children invited museum experts and an Egyptologist into the classroom in their quest to find out about Ancient Egypt. They were able to look at treasured objects and even to learn to write hieroglyphs.
Curricular links:
· Environmental Studies – People and Places in the Past
· Technology
· Expressive Arts
· Enterprise – Determined to Succeed
· National Priorities
· Framework for Learning – “…cultural and enterprise activities”
The project fitted in with the cultural coordinator aims to:
· widen access to museums
· link with national organisations
· change perception of museums
· respond to identified curricular demand
and the educational aims to:
· enhance learning and teaching of topic
· make innovative use of IT
· provide staff development
· build confidence in use of technology.
It fitted the enterprise aims:
· children take responsibility for own learning
· interactive
· self-confidence, communication, organisational skills
· outcome – display of knowledge, artwork, games, drama.
The project:
East Ayrshire has 9 secondary schools, 46 primary schools, 4 special schools, 12 nursery schools and 18 nursery classes in schools. It has 5 museums – the Dick Institute, Dean Castle, Burns House, Baird Institute and Doon Valley.
Elaine received frequent enquiries about Egyptian artefacts. At the same time, she found schools perceived museums as being old-fashioned. She had an interest in media and technology and thought that this could be used to widen access to museums.
There were several challenges:
· there were no Egyptian objects in local museums;
· they had no funds;
· no primary teachers were trained in Video Conferencing;
· the IT Department was not keen;
· they had no VC equipment in museums or schools!
To do the project successfully, they required:
· equipment – TVs, VC cameras
· infrastructure,
· funding for installation and calls
· schools to take part
· a programme of work
· partners.
The first step was to work out where these would come from. Over a coffee break, Elaine had a chat with J Nisbet, the area’s Quality Improvement Officer. She said that she had money in her budget which could support Elaine’s work. She supplied Elaine with six TVs, six VC cameras, installation and funding for one year.
They selected six primary schools varied in size and location, some city, some very rural.
Elaine then met the head teachers. Together, they agreed on the topic – Ancient Egypt, agreed staff time for CPD, altered the school curriculum timetable and wrote it into an action plan. The added benefit for the schools was the option to keep the equipment after 1 year.
Elaine then met the partner museum, NMS. She met with Christine McLean (access & outreach manager) and Emma Webb (learning & programmes manager) They designed the programme to be interactive and to link with a curriculum topic. Teachers chose objects from NMS and together they set up a timetable.
The head teachers chose appropriate accessible sites in their school. The installation of the required ISDN equipment was done by BT and East Ayrshire IT department.
There was a lot of Staff Development involved - practical training session for the group of teachers, supported by Stuart Oliphant, LTS VC Co-ordinator. They also needed support from, Emma Webb at NMS, Matthew Rooks at BT and of course live link-up with Emma at the museum. There was follow-up support in the schools and actual practice sessions were held.
They used as resources for the workshops Ancient Egyptian handling kit, costumes and CD ROMs (all supplied by NMS).
It ran over several months from March 2005 until February 2006 – this included installation and testing, staff development, practice, the actual video conference (VC) sessions, evaluation and reporting. The VC sessions included three schools looking at objects with Emma Webb and another three looking at hieroglyphs with curator and egyptologist, Bill Manley. The children also communicated by e-mail and the different schools linked to one another via VC. All the schools also visited NMS in Edinburgh.
From the evaluation, it was found that the project achieved all its aims, the IT Dept “enjoyed project”, there was a motivational effect from the use of VC. It offered additional support for less able children, but at the same time was stimulating for more skilled children and provided access to experts and objects.
There are now six schools with VC equipment, three staff per school trained, 220 children with VC experience, 220 children and their teachers who have visited NMS, Edinburgh and sustainable links between the schools and the museum.
There was clear evidence of partnership working from school to school, school to museum, pupil councils and the teachers VC hub.
There were a few Improvements which Elaine felt could be made. She would in the future change the ISDN 2 to ISDN 6 which would provide a clearer connection. She would advise more about the physical location of VC equipment in schools and use smaller groups for each session.
For the future – the school to school links continue; Darvel school is now linking with Harlem, New York; Elaine is going to run a VC project called Politics Online;. Secondary links are planned; schools opt to keep equipment; and she is happy to say that there is now funding for continuation.
ICT in schools
ICT stands for Information and Communications Technology. ICT is being successfully used to enhance learning and teaching in Scotland. Schools increasingly are being encouraged and are becoming more IT literate with the use of software and applications, including computers, whiteboards, podcasts, blogging and digital imaging. Any of your museums’ curricular-based activities which can be enhanced by the use of ICT will have an added attraction for schools.
The Scottish Schools Digital Network
The Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN) is a broadband service for Scottish education. The national intranet will be a secure environment designed to deliver a range of online services, applications and resources to teachers, pupils and education managers across the country.
ICT in schools currently:
· There are more PCs and more devices all over schools
· Teachers are growing in confidence and using more applications
· There is more digital content and online service aimed at teachers and learners
· There is more experimentation, e.g. blogging, podcasting
Context of the SSDN:
· developed from a report commissioned by the executive
· highlighted broadband need to connect schools and authorities together
The SSDN consists of:
· broadband interconnect – 82% of Scottish schools now have broadband
· content delivery infrastructure
· national intranet
The aims of the SDDN fit in with those of A Curriculum for Excellence. To find out more about the SSDN, see http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ssdn/aboutssdn/index.asp.
For a good example of how a museum could be used in the SSDN, look at their Scottish History website. You can inspect some of the treasures held by the National Library of Scotland. Rare old manuscripts, photographs and maps are now available to everybody in digital format. http://staging.ltscotland.org.uk/lts/scottishhistory/nls/index.asp
Funding for ICT projects
Microsoft runs a scheme called ‘Partners in Learning’. If you partner with a local primary or secondary school you can get up to £2000 worth of funding. This can cover equipment.
The Executive have other schemes and funding for larger projects. If you come up with an idea, LTS can advise on different funding, etc. They can also advise on whom to approach within the Executive.
You can also apply for ICT funding from SMC, see http://www.scottishmuseums.org.uk/areas_of_work/ICT_intro.asp for more information on funding and other areas of ICT work in museums.
How can museums make sure they get to the right people?
Every Local Authority will set up a steering group on how to develop / implement SSDN. This will consist of 8-12 people mainly from the education department who will have an impact on how it will work in your Local Authority. You should contact your local ICT advisor or quality improvement officer. Learning and Teaching Scotland will be able to supply you with contact details for your individual authority. E-mail enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk or see http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ssdn/contactus.asp for individual contact details.
Ways to engage with secondary schools
Secondary schools are a notoriously hard group to attract to museums. Demands of the curriculum and exam targets often mean that visits out of school are not a top priority. Timetable demands are often an issue as pupils have to be taken from other classes if they are to be away from school for any length of time. You also have the issue in S1 and S2 of whole year groups doing the same topic. Often the school will decide that if one group was to go on a visit then all pupils would have to have the opportunity.
There are ways to get around these issues. Look at planning events at suitable times of the year, away from exams; make sure the activity is relevant and exciting (and something which can’t be done in school); look at offering out of school activities or outreach visits; and speak to teachers and local schools to find out about what they want and the issues which they have. Building up good relations with your local schools will encourage repeat visits.
Case Study Two: Anne Wallace, Education Officer, Glasgow Museums
Glasgow Museums have been addressing the issue of secondary schools over the last year, and in particular examining how they market to secondary schools.
They began by looking at the reasons why secondary schools and young people might not visit your museums.
Barriers to young people visiting museums and galleries:
· environmental factors (location, cost, timing)
· personal factors (not having time, feeling embarrassed)
· school factors (put off by school visits)
· family factors (enforced attendance, lack of enthusiasm in family)
Factors that encourage attendance:
· family (providing opportunity, giving encouragement)
· school (encouragement from teachers)
· peer (encouragement from friends)
· media (positive images)
Schools visiting museums:
· can they get out of maths?
· behaviour
· travel costs
· will it be worth it?
Glasgow Museums recently ran a marketing campaign to target secondary schools. They did a survey of Glasgow schools to find out who wasn’t visiting and why. Out of 190 primaries, 29 didn’t visit and out off 29 secondary schools, 16 were not visiting. Anne met with schools and principle teachers. After consultation, she decided to concentrate initially on developing workshops for five main subject areas. These were Art and Design, Drama, History, Religious and Moral Education and Modern Studies. They produced marketing material focusing on these main areas which was sent to all schools. It contained lots of interesting and attention catching images on the front cover to try and attract people’s attention.
The workshops were all designed after consultation with teachers. Subjects like drama have proved to be very popular. She has also found simple things like the naming of workshops helps. After they changed the name of the Anti-Sectarianism Workshop to Bigot Busters there was a much higher demand for it. It must have grabbed people’s attention better.
The biggest area of interest has been for Art and Design. They can bring in artists to work with groups and this has a huge pull for schools. One of the most successful workshops this year was when they used a portraiture artist. The information had an image of the artist next to his self-portrait. They had a huge response as this is an area of interest in the curriculum.
They have also found that life drawing is very popular and offer artists’ talks on the last Thursday of every month from 5 until 6pm. These are both popular as they are things which can’t be provided in schools – this is the key!
Another area where they work with secondary schools is in career development. The Advisor for Government from the Career Advisory Service was quoted as saying,
“I have a great deal of respect for curators; it’s a highly skilled, specialist role but I couldn’t detail precisely what one does”.
Glasgow Museums decided to let young people know what people do in museums through placements, hopefully encouraging them to look at careers in museums. They also run courses on subjects such as conservation.
They have found that another area which encourages a school to visit is to provide good CPD opportunities for teachers. They hold a lot of sessions on learning from objects. Whenever they have artists doing presentations for schools they make sure they send a copy of the presentation to the teachers afterwards on a CD. Included on the CD will be images of the artist’s work for the teachers to use back in the classroom.
When marketing to schools and planning workshops, timing is everything! Glasgow Museums find August to December is the best time of year for secondary – before the prelims start. S1 and S2 are normally the easiest to get out of school at other times of the year. For older pupils, the time of year is very important. Anne advises going to the principle teacher meetings to find out when the best times are and to work out what they need. Make it a more personal relationship between you and the school. Make your activities irresistible!
Continued Professional development - Teacher Placements in Museums (the EEBL scheme)
Teacher placements are a really good way to help you adapt and create new resources which fit in with new curriculum areas and priorities. The Excellence in Education Business Links (EEBL) program is run by Careers Scotland. The scheme offers teacher placements within businesses for between two and five days. Monetary cover for supply teachers is provided by Careers Scotland. More information is contained in the working with schools section of Grass Roots see link
Case Study 3: Sue Mitchell, Education Manager, Historic Scotland
Sue first realised the benefit of teacher placements in the early 1990s and is now a devotee of the EEBL scheme. Historic Scotland has 345 properties in its direct care. 75 of these are staffed. The education unit has eight people to cover the whole country. This consists of four education officers – one in the north, one in the south, one at Edinburgh Castle and one at Stirling Castle. They have a road show on haunted heritage which starts going around schools this Monday. They also have large conservation and interpretation projects – for example the refurbishment of the Queen Ann Room at Edinburgh Castle.
Two years ago, Historic Scotland had a group of primary and secondary teachers at Stirling Castle. They had noticed tensions between other visitors and school groups at busy times of the year. Teachers shadowed groups to find out the problems and to work out what could be done to improve the management of school groups at busy times. The teachers produced a report. They recommended that there should be a dedicated meet and greet for school groups – someone to show them the toilets, lunch, etc. This person would then be the main point of contact during the visit. This came as no surprise as part of the problem was the lack of staff, but Sue is happy to say that two years later – with a bit of push and with the help of the report – they now have a ‘meet and greet’ for schools.
With secondary schools, they have found that you particularly need to target certain areas: for example WW1. If you get the right subject, they will come! They had a teacher on placement that identified this area and produced a resource on it.
At Arbroath Abbey, a teacher spent a two day placement looking at how the abbey could be linked to other places within Arbroath. The three areas highlighted were;
· marketing (in particular secondary)
· technology
· DVD which links Arbroath – heritage trail. The teacher is now using her pupils and class to produce this DVD.
When Historic Scotland do major projects, they have teachers in right from the beginning. One of these projects is Stanley Mills. It closed as a mill in 1981 and Historic Scotland have been restoring it for a number of years. School groups are one of their target markets. They had teachers involved to identify some of the learning outcomes needed and what facilities were required, as they have good potential for providing educational facilities. They then had a second placement looking at designs for interpretation. This was a very important time. Luckily, they managed to retain five of the original teachers.
The benefits to Historic Scotland of EEBL are:
· raises awareness as an educational resource
· direct access to target user groups – the experts!
· informs the development of education service to meet teacher’s needs
· ensures best use of limited resources
· gives credibility to the service they provide
Tips for a successful placement:
· be clear about your objectives
· be realistic about what can be achieved
· schedule the placement days appropriate to your needs
· ensure that you find the time to manage the placement – remember that teachers have objectives too!
· choose teachers carefully – take time to sift through applications
· build in follow-up whenever possible
· pilot activities with a groups of teachers – such as the new resource on a teacher’s evening
Further information
More information on a Curriculum for Excellence:
http://www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk/
A breakdown of the 5-14 curriculum, along with diagrams of each subject area: http://www.thelearningcentre.org/projects_514.html
Learning and Teaching Scotland has a wealth of curriculum related information, including links to other websites managed by LTS, such as 5-14 online, which details the 5-14 curriculum guidelines, as well as numerous other useful resources. www.ltscotland.org.uk
Exciting ICT practice in Scottish education and useful practical advice and ideas: www.ltscotland.org.uk/sett/
The Scottish Schools Digital Network: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ssdn/aboutssdn/index.asp
The BECTA site is useful for information on ICT in schools (although it is specifically for England, it has general ICT advice which you might find useful): www.becta.org.uk
In particular, for Whiteboards:
http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=te&catcode=as-pres_02
And Videoconferencing:
http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=te&catcode=as_vidc_02
Grid Club DfES funded, this is the UK’s most popular safe online learning community for primary schools: www.gridclub.com
National Register of CPD Providers: www.cpdregister.org.uk
EEBL
http://www.careers-scotland.org.uk/careersscotland/Web/Site/LearningandGuidance/EEBL/EEBLHome.asp
National Priorities in Education, as approved by the Scottish Parliament in December 2000: www.nationalpriorities.org.uk
Lasting Impressions (an SMC publication) aims to support teachers (primary and secondary) and heritage staff with a remit for working with schools.
www.scottishmuseums.org.uk/members_services/learning_and_access/lasting_impressions.asp
Secondary Schools. For a good quick guide to National Qualifications: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/nqguide.asp
With thanks to;
Colin Brown, A Curriculum for Excellence
Nick Morgan, Learning and Teaching Scotland
Anne Wallace, Glasgow Museums
Sue Mitchell, Historic Scotland
Elaine Scott, East Ayrshire Council