A s s e m b l y

On Tuesday 12 February envi (MA education network Victoria) met at the State Library of Victoria for a General Meeting. Our group was joined by colleagues from many Melbourne museums for a presentation about ‘People Learning in Museums’. The speakers were Kathleen Fennessy, author of the recently published ‘A People Learning: colonial Victorians and their public museums, 1860-1880″ and Frances Lindsay, Deputy Director, National Gallery of Victoria. Kathy elaborated on the background to her book illuminated by some fascinating images from the early days of the Zoological Gardens. Frances commented on current trends in museum learning with examples from both the National Gallery of Victoria and Queensland Art Gallery. Andrew Hiskens, Manager, Learning Services Division, State Library of Victoria - and the new Chair of envi - hosted the event and led the spirited discussion which followed. Some fifty persons attended this event - a great start for our program in 2008!

Outreach Education is comprised of 10 Education officers based in cultural organisations in Adelaide. It is an organisation funded by the state Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS). Check out the Outreach Education website.

Because we are a team integrated across a number of institutions, the entire collection of learning programs is substantial, and from this we have extracted some principles for program development. A planning tool was developed as a guide for use in writing and developing teaching and learning resources associated with exhibitions, events, web sites, mobile learning technologies, travelling exhibitions teacher professional development and special events.

For example, identifying and making explicit the key concepts or big ideas that students will take away with them is fundamental. They will approach it in different ways and it is important to acknowledge their prior knowledge and experience. They will form their own interpretations and have different experiences but it is engagement with the key concept that allows them to enter into deeper levels of thinking and consideration of issues.

Discussion and refinement is also fundamental in this process. Conversation and collaboration with people who have similar content knowledge, different thinking preferences, or who are unfamiliar with your expertise, is useful in providing different ways of looking at and evaluating the concept. Trial and evaluation with teachers, students and exhibition staff is implicit throughout this process. The Outreach Education guide is based upon Julia Atkin’s Integral Learning/thinking model which was adapted from work done by Ned Hermann.

The theory

The focus of Dr Julia Atkin’s work has been on researching how people learn. Atkin has developed and continues to refine her own model of Integral Learning. This model explores how learning can be deepened by integrating our multiple ways of knowing. Atkin’s builds on Ned Herman’s Whole Brain Model of learning, thinking and doing which highlights ways of processing: (Hermann, 1996)

• abstract, rational, conceptual (cerebral)
• sensory, kinaesthetic, emotional (limbic)

She describes these multiple ways of knowing as our ‘four thinking selves’:

• our rational, theoretical self
• our ordered, safe keeping self
• our emotional, interpersonal self
• our imaginative, experiential self

We use all ways of knowing and processing and we differ in the extent to which we use or rely upon each way of knowing – we have different thinking preferences. Powerful learning can occur when educators stimulate learners by providing a range of processes that develop these different ways of knowing. [i] (Atkins, 2000)

Chris Nobbs (and Outreach Education colleagues)
Education Officer
South Australian Museum

[i] See a more detailed outline of Dr Julia Atkin’s Integral Learning model (pdf)

I was at the social media and Cultural communication conference last Friday which looked at the way the latest developments in internet interactivity (called web 2.0) could be used to enhance the reach and impact of museums. So here are 10 of the more salient points I took.

1. Kevin von Appen, Ontario Science Centre, gave examples of museums which are using web capabilities to engage their “community” in co-creation of content. Questacon’s own Climate x change being a perfect example.
2. Caroline Payson, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum’s online Educator Resource Center suggested that in the first instance at least we should not use the opportunity offered by social media to pursue new audiences but to creatively engage important current audiences with an “A+” experience.
3. Seb Chan, Powerhouse Museum, spoke about the opportunity of learning from the way our audience use and interact with our web presence to inform our “physical” museum activities. See Seb’s work.
4. Seb again, we need to look to the ability of web activities to build our impact and influence. That the effort may not generate direct physical visitors to our door, but can enhance the reputation of the Museum among different and enlarged audiences.
5. Lynda Kelly, the Australian Museum, highlighted research they have done which had teenagers explaining that museums do not need to try to be “cool” but rather the audience knows what we are, and if they are visiting our sites they are there to use us as Museums. They have plenty of other places to play games and socialise. Lynda has a very informative audience research blog.
6. Tim Hart, Museum Victoria, posed the question of how we will support 21st century learners, those people who are learning to be participants ion a future we can’t really see and certainly don’t understand.
7. Tim Hart again, from the film Shift happens, China has more gifted and talented students than Australia has students. How can museums be part of ensuring we don’t fall behind in the clever country race?
8. Brett McLennan, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, told us how the brains of “digital natives” think and act differently.
9. Brett again, as quick as we train teachers, new and old, in the new contexts of knowledge and understanding - that training becomes outdated.
10. Damien Tampling, Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Advisory group, encouraged us to see the highly innovative way the modern museum/cultural worker thinks.

I am sure others who were there will add their input soon. I will have more after a little time to digest it.

The Aus Pacific Network of Science Centres and Questacon have created a tool for sharing your climate change observations and stories. Using a Google map to locate people you can watch videos, see images and text describing people’s initiatives to reduce their climate impacts.

I know the Powerhouse is trialling a mapping tool for people to search for objects in our collection but climate x change is engaging the community in creating the content. If we could get people to publish materials associated with the objects in our collection – historic footage of our machines working, photos of themselves in a frock from the collection, or podcast of an event discussing museum things I think it would be wonderfully engaging for everyone.

I have always liked the idea that our collections are the tip of icebergs when compared to the knowledge and material in homes and offices around the globe. I am not alone in a desire to see the public at large able to provide meaning and interpretation of museum content, see:

• Reading the textbook is not enough
• Not learning, making
• A collection of secrets

just as a start.

envi (education network Victoria) in association with mavic presented a program at the Postmaster Gallery on Tuesday 20 November - Beyond Museum Walls.  The focus of this event was self education: internships, scholarships, fellowships and mentorships. Participants were invited to find out about a range of opportunities for further development in the museum sector. Museum professionals who have gone beyond their current workplace to enhance their knowledge shared their experiences.

Speakers included Dr Alison Inglis (University of Melbourne), Elizabeth Anya Petrina (National Trust) on the Attingham Summer School, Bronwyn Hughes (Freelance) on her ISSI Fellowship, Kate Richmond (Freelance)on Guggenheim Venice, Dr Tom Rich (Museum Victoria) and Melanie Archer (Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine) on the Museum Victoria Mentoring Program, Kelly Gelatly(National Gallery of Victoria) on her Asialink Fellowship, Karlie Hawking (Department of Planning and Community Development) on her internship at Powerhouse Museum, Georgie Meyer (Immigration Museum) on her Australia Council Fellowship and Henry Gaughan (Freelance) on Churchill Fellowships.

 There were opportunities for audience members to engage with the presenters over refreshments provided by host Australia Post. A lively discussion ensued.

 For further information contact Anne Thoday, Training and Professional Development program at mavic - (03) 8341 7344

While scouring the world of the web for inspiration for my next project I found a great post about using objects to analyse a cultural context. The activity was run at St Jude’s school in Tanzania by an education consultant training teachers there to be better.

Read the discussion here. It is fascinating to me that we spend so much time in our museums talking about objects, the makers, the lives of the people who used them maybe – stories around the object. But we seem to rarely make commentary on what the object says about the state of culture or society.

Those discussions are left to modern art or art history. What do the steam engines of the Powerhouse Museum tell us of those times – that although they were highly functional things they were made with great consideration to craft and detail. That people were being replaced, that there was a flux that would create a host of humans slave to machines for a decades to come.

Do we need to do more than just report on the creativity/ingenuity we are proud of and talk of the impact and social contexts? Just a little more.

Image: Duto Hardono, Untitled (detail), 2006. Collage, acrylic, mixed media. Courtesy of the artist.

Currently showing at UTS gallery is an exhibition of artworks created from other people’s rubbish. Ranging from childlike drawings on discarded used envelopes to a life-size skull constructed from bent nails, SISA helps us consider waste, art and social impacts.

Sisa is the Indonesian word for ‘remains’ or ‘leftovers.’ Located somewhere between folk art, design, and public intervention, much of this work generates new forms of expression from the rejection of hyper-consumption and over-development.

This an exhibition of diverse pieces that would not be out of place in any museum exhibiting on sustainability, or the art activism boundary. I was moved by the complexity and effort that had gone into turning $0 scrap into intricate and often beautiful figures and images.

As a practitioner I often wonder why we don’t see more of this in galleries and museums – something that web 2.0 practitioners, Cath and others often write about here and other places. The social or self-made museum.

The first of our prizes for writers submitting articles or comments to Assembly has been presented to Cath Styles who has spent 2 odd years as editor in chief. As well as establishing and managing our blog, Cath has created a range of insightful articles looking at the workings of museum education. Here is a list of my favourite Cath articles:

1. Power to the people
2. Prehistoric pine and platypus
3. An imperfect word map
4. The space in between
5. Idle and disorderly namesake
6. A good exhibition is…
7. History Summit in cloud-cuckoo land

And my favourite

• Wondrous art – workshop

As you can see Cath has been very busy. So with many thanks the committee have awarded the prize – a year’s subscription to Cabinet magazine.

Again I encourage all members to post about interesting things they are doing, reading, visiting or creating. It is immensely valuable to read and discuss all these in a forum of our peers.