'The National History Curriculum: How Museums are Motivating the Response to Current Curricular and Educational Demand' presentation at the 2015 Museums & Galleries Queensland Conference.

1. 2015 Museums & Galleries Queensland Conference #2015MGQcon
Demystifying the Australian Curriculum
James Abernethy, Venue Supervisor - Redcliffe
Museum
Justyne Wilson, Venue Supervisor - Pine Rivers
Heritage Museum
Moreton Bay Regional Council
The National History Curriculum: How Museums are
Motivating the Response to Current Curricular and
Educational Demand

2. The National History
Curriculum
How museums in the Moreton Bay Regional
Council are responding to current curricular
and educational demand

3. The greatest challenge in
developing school programs
for a large and varied
demand is the ability to tailor
effective and differentiated
activities that can satisfy all
expectations.
With the role out of the
National History Curriculum,
museums have been put
front and centre as pivotal
stakeholders in supporting
school-based learning.
The Challenge

4. Museums have to face a
huge range of schools, with
different learning needs,
expectations and demands.
The standardization of the
curriculum is also a wonderful
opportunity for Museums to
program to, which we can
now use to connect to our
own collections and own
local stories.
The reality

5. Pine Rivers Heritage Museum
History of Education Program Development
• Initial program
• Development phase
• Education officer
• Resources
• Promotion
• Administration Systems
• Curriculum alignment
• Staffing and training
Nugget and Nellie

6. Program Promotion
• Finding your audience
• Keeping records
• Using records to your advantage (personalised
contact with teachers)
• Identifying key inquiry questions and curriculum
objectives

7. Reading into Statistics
Pivot Tables and Scatterplots

8. Tracking progress
Pivot Chart: Sum of Participants per School

9. • Reinvigorating semi-
permanent displays
• Network-wide
programs
• Continued training
and professional
development
• Implementing new
options with touring
exhibitions.
Adding to the Story

10. A Program in Development –
Redcliffe Museum
• Museum background
and Initial program
• Development phase
• Education officer
• Resources
• Curriculum alignment

11. A Program in Development –
Redcliffe Museum
• Higher demand for
museum service
brought about by
National History
Curriculum
• Change in demographic
and dynamic using the
museum program
• Consequence of this
changing demographic0
500
1000
1500
Yearly Totals
Year…
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Student Visitation by Month of
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
* 2015 half year
statistics
*

12. Development of Program
• Consultation with
schools and teachers
• Formalisation and
standardisation of tour
procedures
• Use of consultants to
help produce resources
• Continual revision and
development of
program to maintain
relevance

13. Staffing
• The education program is run by a team
of museum volunteers
• The education program is free for
students

14. HAS IT NOW BECOME THE RESPONSIBILITY OF
MUSEUMS TO SUPPLY ACTIVITY-BASED
LEARNING IN RESPONSE TO CURRENT
CURRICULAR NEEDS?

15. A collective response…
• Regional museum service regional areas
• No one else doing it
• Standard service museums provide
• Need to meet the curriculum for attendance
• Opportunity for numbers

16. Questions