Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future

Developing Archives and AudiencesLearning for All framework can be used to transform theway in which archives engage users in learning.41Boosting Basic SkillsHampshire Record Office Educational Service is making archives moreaccessible to adults and children through practical activitiesLearning and Social InclusionArchives – like museums and libraries – can provideresources and stimulation for personal developmentthrough education and learning. People can drawinspiration from material in archives and use it to helpthem with formal or informal learning or enjoy anabsorbing recreational interest. Every visit paid by the oneand a half million people who visit archives each year isa learning experience, whatever their age or level ofeducational attainment. Each venture into the mass ofdocuments or images is a personally-structured researchjourney, in which the user learns how to assemble,analyse and interpret evidence; getting to grips with newways of living and thinking.Archives have a valuable contribution to make in enrichingthe national curriculum – studying history is a significantwork area for key stage 2 students. Archives can help tounderstand local communities and provide both teachersand pupils with a sense of place within their local area andwithin history. An example of good practice in this area canbe found in Gloucestershire Record Office where aCD-Rom (funded through the Department for Educationand Skills Museums and Galleries Education Programme)has been developed and piloted to support the study oflocal history. Archives can be used to help groups at risk ofsocial exclusion by offering unusual but imaginative routesto engagement with their lives and the wider community,and can provide innovative and creative content for basicskills work with both children and adults. Archives clearlyhave much to offer and tools such as the MLA’s InspiringHampshire Record Office is looking at how its work cancontribute to adult basic skills provision. It runs regular‘beginners’ sessions for people new to using archives,as well as education workshops for schools and colleges.It has also been involved in projects aimed at improvingaccess to archival materials, including Landlord toLabourer (an Access to Archives project) and the WiderAccess to Film project, based on Wessex Film and SoundArchive.The beginners sessions were set up following requestsfrom user groups. They provide guidance on using therecord office’s services, and show how archives can helpto improve adult literacy. Introductory sessions explorefamily and local history, using original archival materials.The sessions help to develop writing, reading, search andresearch skills. Education Officer David Bond comments,“We wouldn’t necessarily think that we’re teaching basicskills, but in reality we are.”Can working with archives inspire adults to improve theirbasic literacy skills? “Absolutely,” says David Bond,“because the documents relate to real people, they’re quiteoften stories people can look at and stories that have arelevance today.” Hampshire Record Office is developingits support for adult basic skills by making links with adultand family learning providers.Interaction with local archives has provided positiveexperiences for young people in raising personalaspirations and developing the value of their localenvironment. Local and community archives act as astimulus for understanding personal heritage in the contextof their locality. Projects such as the Black History Projectrun by Lambeth Archives have been designed to dispelstereotypical views of black people and to foster interestand pride among local communities.