community curriculum | HaSS Research Impact

Ulrike Thomas is a researcher based in the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CfLaT) at Newcastle University. Here she and her collaborators at Learning Arc tell us about the ESRC IAA funded project that explored working with archives and secondary schools.

Learning Arc is a group of North East archive educators whose members meet regularly to share good practice in archive education. They are dedicated to developing a deeper understanding of local heritage through the rich resource of archives. Regular discussions between members revealed that archives are being underused by schools- in particular secondary schools – with the archive educators struggling to find ways to break down the barriers and work on sustained projects with this older age group of students. In order to find ways to challenge this situation, the members of Learning Arc decided they would benefit from training on innovative educational practises, thus enabling them to develop projects which address the specific needs of secondary schools.

Academics and researchers from CfLaT have been working with schools over many years on the development of innovative pedagogies to tackle the issue of student (dis)engagement. Most recently their research has focussed on Project-Based Learning using community resources- a process known as Community Curriculum Making. Central to this approach is that students ‘go places, meet people and do and make things’ and that there is an external audience for the work giving it value and ensuring its quality. The Leaning Arc members and CfLaT successfully applied for funding to run a project that included:

Training delivered by CfLaT which introduced the Learning Arc members to innovative curriculum approaches/pedagogies as well as tools for planning and evaluation.
Funding to support two of the archives to develop pilot projects with two secondary schools.
Evaluation of the impact of the projects on the archivists, students and teachers.

The pilot projects: initial planning

Initial planning took place using the tools and Community Curriculum principals introduced during the training. Two schools local to the archives were then approached to gauge interest in the projects. This led to the involvement of the Head of Humanities at Berwick Academy and a Design and Technology teacher at George Stephenson High School, Killingworth.

The initial planning was crucial as a starting point for discussions with these teachers, however it was made clear that their collaboration was vital to guarantee that the projects addressed the agendas and working practices of the schools. Interestingly the schools developed two very different projects over very different timeframes, yet the planning tools ensured that both were underpinned by the key principals of Community Curriculum Making. Further planning involved the experts who would be working with the students on their final products. This was particularly important in ensuring the feasibility of what was being asked of the teachers and students.

Example project: From Cholera to Comic

A group of Year 9 students at Berwick Academy took part in a 4 day project which focussed on the cholera outbreaks in Berwick from 1832 to 1854. The students started with a visit to Newcastle University where they worked with the Special Collections Department and took part in a science workshop in the Medical School. This was followed by 3 days at Berwick Record Office and Museum researching the local Cholera outbreaks. The students were introduced to the archives, visited local sites affected by the outbreaks and heard about a volunteer’s research on one of the victims. They then worked with Comics Boss Lydia Wysocki on the production of a comic which would introduce the subject to a teenage audience. The comic has been published and distributed locally and the project showcased at the Berwick Literary Festival.

Students investigate cholera with staff and students at Newcastle University Medical School

The final comic

The project achievements

Overall this project has been a great success for all those involved :

The relationship of the archive educators with the university facilitated access to secondary schools otherwise hard to reach.
The training resulted in collaboratively designed projects based on community curriculum principals which addressed the agendas and needs of the secondary schools thus ensuring their success.
The students developed their knowledge of archives and their local history through first-hand experience with primary sources.
‘Going places, meeting people and doing and making things’ has broadened the horizons of the students, helping them to shape more complex identities and inform their aspirations.

Most importantly it has forged links between the university, local archives and schools and was a memorable and enjoyable introduction to archives for the students.

To view the comic: http://appliedcomicsetc.com/portfolio/cholera/

This blog post is a shortened version of an original magazine article published in ALES (Archives for Learning and Education)

Images courtesy of Berwick Record office

This week ESRC IAA Officer Dr Eve Forrest, went to find out more about a new approach to school based community partnerships.

On a beautiful autumn afternoon this week, I was lucky enough to travel up to Belsay Hall in Northumberland in time for the opening of a new exhibition called ‘Reimagining Ancient Greece’ a collaboration between Dr Sally Waite, a researcher in Greek Art and Archaeology at Newcastle University, the Shefton Collection at the Great North Museum, English Heritage and Belsay Primary School.

The project combined different elements of the ‘Community Curriculum’ approach, a local-learning model developed at Newcastle University Centre for Learning and Teaching, exploring the potential of utilising community partners to collaborate on a specific area of a school’s curriculum that they have specialist knowledge in. The idea of exploring Greek art and mythology began as part of a pilot from another ESRC Impact Accelerator (IAA) awarded project and has since developed into its own standalone work with new partners. What made the collaboration particularly unique was the strong partnership between Newcastle University and the Great North Museum. In particular it drew from artefacts in the large Shefton Collection, using some pieces that had never been on display before which was hugely exciting for the teachers and pupils too. Using these artefacts as a starting point, children created hands on artwork that allowed them to explore in-depth the everyday life and art of the Greeks as part of their learning in class.

Within a couple of the very grand rooms at Belsay Hall (itself an inspiring and unique example of Greek Revival architecture) glass cases are filled with ancient artefacts and their new interpretations. Original coins and pottery plates sit beside beautifully painted fragments and coin replicas made by the Year 3 and 4 Belsay pupils. Learning through hands-on art work was central to the project and artist Mina Heydari-Waite guided the children in their drawings and painting, alongside making their own artefacts and in turn, helping create excitement and curiosity about classics and archaeology.

Athenian red-figure wine cup, 525-500 BC, depicting Herakles helping himself to some wine in the cave of the centaur Pholos.

Fragments showing the Labours of Herakles, decorated by year 3 and 4 children at Belsay School and (bottom right) an Athenian red-figure fragment from a krater (used for mixing wine and water) of the fifth century BC depicting the head of Herakles (Shefton Collection 593).

What came across from the children and teachers at the launch was their huge enthusiasm for this new style of learning. In her welcome to those gathered at the opening Clare Cantwell, Head Teacher at Belsay School, perfectly encapsulated the approach from the pedagogical side describing it as a new way of ‘learning how to learn’ and talked of the potential that this method could have in refreshing their approach toward lesson planning. The exhibit may be drawing from the distant past but it is clear in the strength of the exhibition that the community curriculum approach is forward-facing and has huge potential as a future method for curriculum development at a local and national level.

Reimagining Ancient Greece runs until 25^th February 2019 at Belsay Hall. To find out more about the Community Curriculum approach and to access resources please go here.

The exhibition was funded through awards from HaSS Faculty, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, The Institute of Classical Studies and Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute

Read about preparations for the exhibition on the Institute of Classical Studies blog here and here.

HaSS Research Impact

Research Impact from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS), Newcastle University

Tag Archives: community curriculum

Breaking down the barriers: using archives to support innovation in school curriculum making

‘Learning how to learn’ – finding out about the Community Curriculum approach