2015 Museums & Galleries Queensland Conference #2015MGQcon

Demystifying the Australian Curriculum   Lisa JacksonAdministrator, North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum

Making the Museum a Classroom

Making the Museum

a Classroom

North Stradbroke Island Historical MuseumAugust 2015

Why is it important to engage with the National Curriculum?

• To offer programs relevant to what teachers and students want

• To share local history, using local collections, to spark curiosity

• To enhance the experience of young children in the museum

• To improve the Museum bottom line!

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Number of School Children visiting NSIHM 2009 - 2014

Engaging Local School ChildrenDunwich State School

• Under Eight’s Day

• Trialled being open after school

• Invited Principal to have a Staff Meeting in the Museum space

Year One History Unit – Present and Past Family Life

The key inquiry questions at this year level are:How has family life changed or remained the same over time?How can we show that the present is different from or similar to the past?How do we describe the sequence of time?

Year Two Science Unit – Chemical Sciences

Key ideas: Different materials can be combined, including by mixing, for a particular purpose

• exploring the local environment to observe a variety of materials, and describing ways in which materials are used

• investigating the effects of mixing materials together• suggesting why different parts of everyday objects such as toys and clothes are made from

different materials• identifying materials such as paper that can be changed and remade or recycled into new products

Year Three History Unit – Community and remembrance

The key inquiry questions at this year level are:

• ONE important example of change and ONE important example of continuity over time in the local community, region or state/territory; for example, in relation to the areas of transport, work, education, natural and built environments, entertainment, daily life

• comparing photographs from both the past and present of a specific location to identify the nature of change or continuity (that is key similarities and differences)

• investigating a development in the local community from the time of European settlement to the present day (for example through photographs, newspapers, oral histories, diaries and letters)

Year Three History Unit – Community and remembrance

Year Four History Unit - First Contacts

The journey(s) of AT LEAST ONE world navigator, explorer or trader up to the late eighteenth century, including their contacts with other societies and any impacts

• identifying key individuals and groups who established contacts with Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania during the age of discovery; examining the journey of one or more of these explorers (for example Christopher Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Ferdinand Magellan) using internet mapping tools, and examining their impact on one society

• using navigation maps to reconstruct the journey of one or more explorers

• investigating networks of exchange between different groups of people

Year Four History Unit - First contacts

Primary source material for the journey of Pamphlet, Finnegan and Parsons…and Thompson

Audiences from further afield – Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre (MBEEC)

• Programs developed in response to a need from a classroom teacher “tired of going to the Lego Centre”

• Year Two History Curriculum – The Past in the Present

The Year 2 curriculum provides a study of local history. Students explore, recognise and appreciate the history of their local area by examining remains of the past and considering why they should be preserved.

Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre

• Small Town, Big History

Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre

• Small Town, Big History

Special Interest Tours

• Programs developed in response to a specific requirement• Quandamooka history and spirituality• Sand mining/rehabilitation history

Delights

• Children learning solid, relevant information and developing an appreciation for history

• Students bringing their parents and families for a visit

• Local children knowing more about their neighbourhood – Pamphlet, Finnegan and Parsons

Pitfalls

• Children in the Museum space!

• Resource intensive

• Dependant on enthusiastic,skilled presenters and (perhaps) certain people

Some Ideas to Take Away

• The teachers and students like that we are not teachers!

• Talk to your local school - staff meetings, teachers

• Be open to partnerships

• Think about all the opportunities in different curriculum areas – History, Geography, Science, Technology, English

• Don’t forget the little kids – kindy and daycare excursions

Thanks to:• Elisabeth Gondwe, Committee and

volunteers at North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum

• Jenny Wilson and the staff and students from Dunwich State School

• Katrina Logan and Georgina Robertson from Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre

• Barbara Piscitelli

Lisa JacksonNorth Stradbroke Island Historical Museum

www.stradbrokemuseum.com.au