Use this Page to Learn…
- The benefits for archives, teachers, and pupils in using archives as an educational tool.
- What to inform educators ahead of time.
- What the workshop will look like for the pupils and educators.
Benefits For…
ARCHIVES
- Increased visibility and eventual use of archives, from a younger audience.
- An opportunity to engage with educators on working with younger people in the future.
- Dispelling stereotypes that archives are only useful for those with an interest in history and expanding who believes they could get value out of an archive.
- A chance to show off local history items that otherwise do not get the attention they deserve.
- The opportunity to speak to educators on how best to use archives educationally.
EDUCATORS
- Expansion of the current curriculum, archivists can present archive items relevant to what is currently being taught.
- Contact with archival institutions for further workshops, and ideas for activities that can be used outside of the workshop, to continue making archives accessible to younger audiences.
Pupils
- An opportunity for them to learn the what, why, and how of archives!
- Breaking down the barriers of access and demystifying archives, enouraging future use and support of the sector.
- The potential for work experience opportunities with archives in the future.
- Supports transferable skills.
Archives are relevant to a range of subjects – Geography, Science, Media, Arts, English Literature to name but a few! The only limitation is your imagination! Be open to listening to teachers who might have some ideas you might not have considered.
Key point to remember #1
Before Approaching Schools…
- Check the relevant curriculum.
- Which age group(s) are you looking to work with?
- Which subjects do your collections relate to?
“As a science student, I didn’t really expect to use an
archive, but in a recent project, I found the records from
the first major study into my subject (elephants) were in the university archive. I went along to view them, and
found it really interesting to see how 200 years on, we’re still so far away from knowing everything about these animals!”– Phoebe Urmston, – Science Student
Tackling the Teachers
Communicating with educators is a must when preparing to work with a school, both the archivist and teacher are experts in their fields and can use opportunity as both a learning experience, and a moment to ensure everyone gets their best outcome from the visit.
What to say…
- Provide teachers with an understanding of what they and their students can gain from your visit.
- Keep information specific and understandable to teachers. Do not assume their knowledge, have a conversation!
- Let the school you’re working with know what will happen beforehand, what they’ll need to prepare, and what the objectives of the workshop are.
- Provide an outline of activities for the pupils.
- Don’t just pique the interest of the students, do it for the teachers too!
Keep in Mind…
Working with teachers and pupils is a two way street. We are working together to create benefit for all parties.
Archivists are not teachers; we offer something different and are inviting schools to collaborate with us. We want them to get involved, bring their opinions and ideas to the sessions. The archivist brings active learning into the classroom.
Key point to remember #2
Guidance through Games
Here are some ideas of what games can be used during the workshop, combining fun and archives to ease pupils into the idea of archives as something with which they can engage.
Then & Now
Take an older image of a location, and the present image of that location, and ask the pupils to match which old image is now the present image.
A to B
Ask students to reach a seemingly unconnected topic from a completely separate starting point.
Telephone
Taking sentences from an archival source, (letter/diary/propaganda poster) have students whisper the sentence to each other, and see how the sentence has changed by the final student. Demonstrate how easy it is for false information to be passed on.
Palaeography Challenge
Introduce basic palaegraphy concepts then challenge the students to decipher a passage.
One in a Series….
This resource is the second in a series designed to encourage and support archives in collaborating with the education sector. The series consists of the following resources:
1- Why your Archive should Work with Young People
2- Archives as an Educational Tool
3- Ways to Contact Educators
4- Case Study
5- Additional Resources