Museum Learning

I can still recall every school trip I attended as a child and believe it is a fantastic way of making a subject come to life.  Being out of the classroom enables children to see things for themselves and gain a better understanding of what they are studying.  Children have different learning styles and cannot all learn from sitting and reading in a classroom, so by seeing actual artefacts up close it makes subjects real.   By visiting different places learners become enthusiastic, excited and keen to learn and it enables access to resources they would not have in school.

Recently we visited Cardiff Castle and The Firing Line Museum and could instantly understand what a fantastic experience it was for everyone to learn, from foundation phase right through to A level and even adults. Children are allowed to dress up in military uniform and hold muskets to experience things for themselves.  They are given the opportunity to hold the drum a ten year old drummer boy would have played going into battle, which enables them to relate to how times have changed.  Then at lunch they can use the vast, safe, outdoor area within the castle grounds to run around and pretend they are defending the castle.

The Education Officer explained how they work closely with schools to be topic specific, therefore if the class are studying WWII she will visit the school prior to the trip and present a show and tell using an evacuation suitcase.  This allows the children to build a rapport with the staff and they will know what to expect when they get to the museum and be relaxed and enthusiastic about the visit.  They can research the topic with their teacher prior to the trip and build on their knowledge when they eventually visit the site.  This increases their interest and enthusiasm for the subject and as the majority of the staff are volunteers and experts, with real experiences to talk about, children develop respect, admiration and can ask questions to understand topics better. 

The museum will also link your visit with other museums to increase learning further, so you can visit the Air Raid Shelter within the Castle walls or The Cardiff Museum.  The Firing Line Museum explained how important and successful museum visits and the interactive approach can be for capturing children's attention, as in the past even the most disengaged learners in a classroom setting become imaginative, animated and passionate in the museum.


It's not just about history though and these visits are a great way to use cross curricular teaching.  Literacy skills can be hugely improved in many ways but in particular by getting children to write about what they have experienced.  When studying The Egyptians, a visit to Swansea Egyptian Center to study Hieroglyphs will introduce children to coding and improve numeracy skills and at Cardiff Castle, children are introduced to various technologies through the ages to show how Science has developed.  

Some of these museums can cost however and this is a disadvantage to low income families. However if the schools can fund the transport costs then some museums are free.  The video below is based on the free to visit, London Science Museum, which I have also had the pleasure to visit and can confirm, with its interactive approach and real life environment, illustrates perfectly how from one museum visit students can cover the whole curriculum.