{"id":9888,"date":"2019-03-28T12:43:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T12:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9888"},"modified":"2020-09-04T15:21:24","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T14:21:24","slug":"postcard-to-the-pacific-outreach-teaching-in-the-fens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museums.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2019\/03\/28\/postcard-to-the-pacific-outreach-teaching-in-the-fens\/","title":{"rendered":"Postcard to the Pacific: Outreach teaching in the Fens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropolog<\/a>y<\/a> (MAA) refurbished its Pacific Island cases thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund<\/a>. An associated education programme has been increasing engagement with the new cases.<\/h2>\n

Part of this programme involved outreach to three schools in the Cambridgeshire and Fenland region: Gretton School in Girton, Hinchingbrooke School in Huntingdon and Park Lane Primary in Whittlesey.<\/p>\n

The outreach program aimed to reach schools and students that were not regular visitors to MAA. We hoped to engage them with some of the key themes of the refurbishment like climate change, ocean pollution, migration and movement and the importance of the ocean to Pacific peoples\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\"A
Some of the newly refurbished Pacific cases at MAA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Making new connections with non-visiting schools was tricky and time-consuming. We knew talking to a specific person was better than sending something to a general email address, but finding the right contact wasn\u2019t straight forward. Teachers are busy and can\u2019t always reply to emails. While we thought our sessions related to the curriculum, this wasn\u2019t a guarantee they would be relevant, timely or useful when we contacted teachers.<\/p>\n

We targeted secondary schools initially as many of the themes of the refurbishment seemed to fit the Geography curriculum. Also, while we often have Visual Arts students visit MAA, secondary schools don\u2019t use our collection as widely as primary schools do. This seemed an opportunity to attract new audiences. In the end though, we were able to reach a mix of schools: Primary, Secondary and SEND (Special Education Needs and Disability).<\/p>\n

The partnerships came about in a variety of ways. I attended a Festival Bridge<\/a> event in March to meet teachers and to advertise the upcoming outreach offer. The Vice-Principal of Hinchingbrooke School took my details and put me in touch with their A-Level Geography teacher.<\/p>\n

Gretton School emailed to see if we ever did outreach and if we could support their students\u2019 Arts Awards. As the school is for students on the autistic spectrum, class visits to MAA could be difficult or stressful. The teacher thought outreach would be more successful as the school setting was comfortable and familiar for students.<\/p>\n

Finally, at the end of last year, we sent out emails to all primary schools in the Fenland area offering free outreach sessions on the Pacific. Several teachers at Park Lane Primary emailed back and we arranged for four classes over two year groups to be taught on the same day.<\/p>\n

\"A
Jenny teaching in the galleries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each session was tailored to the needs of the school. For Hinchingbrooke, I had an initial meeting with the A-Level Geography teacher to talk him through the Pacific displays. He suggested we frame the session as a demonstration of \u2018Synoptic Thinking and Skills\u2019. This is where a case study is looked at from a variety of different angles and the most important information summarised. Students would need to demonstrate this kind of thinking in their A-level projects.<\/p>\n

Gretton School had been experimenting with wood carving for their Arts Award, so asked for a talk on the Haida Gwaii totem pole from Canada. We suggested expanding the talk to include the Maori pouhaki (flag pole). We also brought carved Fijian and Solomon Islands objects that students could handle.<\/p>\n

Park Lane Primary had been learning about oceans. We framed the session around the importance of the ocean for Pacific peoples, how it helped them live and shaped their lives.<\/p>\n

\"Pink
A collective \u2018mind map\u2019 from Park Lane Primary \u2013 the yellow post-its are what the students knew before the session, the pink post-its are what they learnt during the session<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lessons learnt<\/h3>\n