Children-as-Co-researchers-in-the-design-of-museum-and-gallery-learning

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Working with the schools 8 Harris Museum & Art Gallery – Claire Wood
The research team worked with a class teacher in each of the schools. Head teachers were also fully briefed and consulted. Where senior managers at the school were supportive the experience provided more benefi t to the entire school, perhaps because the project connected with the school’s wider commitment to creative learning. The research team decided to work with a whole class at each school. This removed the possibility of creating a biased sample (for example in terms of ability, motivation or special needs) and allowed for a variety of opinions and perceptions to be expressed. This also corresponded to the museums and galleries’ normal practice in running education sessions. The children were from Years 4, 5 and 6 and the classes ranged in size from 19 to 28 pupils. There was a balance to strike between capturing a wide range of responses and leaving enough time for the collection and analysis of data. The smallest class was the most keenly engaged, partly because of the enthusiasm of the class teacher but also because it was easier to generate discussion in a smaller group. In three out of the four schools, small-scale ‘focus group’ discussions took place with pupils at the end of the project. Each discussion lasted about twenty minutes, which was long enough to supplement the main research fi ndings with individual verbal feedback. Groups of three generated the best discussion as they were neither too big to overwhelm the less confi dent children, nor too small to leave individuals feeling exposed. Manchester Art Gallery – Claire Wood In general, school expectations of learning, behaviour and adult-child relationships tend to shape school visits to museums and galleries. The point of these visits was not the more usual transfer of knowledge from adult to child, but the exploration of children’s responses to the museum or gallery as a place or ‘space’. This gave children a degree of independence and freedom of expression which was sometimes at odds with their normal experience of school. There is still some way to go before this level of consultation and involvement becomes a standard aspect of life in the classroom. Creative Spaces 9
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Children-as-Co-researchers-in-the-design-of-museum-and-gallery-learning

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