Learning power
Julie Nightingale on why the Museums Association is changing its flagship professional development programme
It is a decade since the Museums Association (MA) launched its flagship professional development programme. The associateship of the Museums Association (AMA) replaced the MA diploma, which had outlived its usefulness, being too specifically curatorial at a time when what was required was a far wider skill set than the ability to identify a Byzantine pot at 50 paces.
Marketing, management, finance, education, leadership - these were all areas that the modern museum professional of the mid-1990s was increasingly obliged to embrace.
"The diploma's reputation had declined and in the changing world we were entering, we needed to be able to attract and hold on to people with other skills beyond curatorial," says MA director Mark Taylor. "The nationals and, to a lesser extent, university and independent museums, didn't engage with the diploma. It was perceived as anachronistic."
The nature of the exam involved was also off-putting. "There used to be a practical where they gave you an object and you had to describe how you would display it, which used to reduce people to wrecks," Taylor recalls.
"We felt unable to continue with an exam like that, but also the range of skills needed to drive a museum was much wider than whether you knew the history of open-air museums since 1950."
The AMA was created to be more accessible to a wider range of museum staff, and offered four flexible routes and a broader eligibility
criteria. It has proved popular - about 500 museum professionals have completed the programme - and has come to be well regarded, but it has some flaws and it is now under review to examine where it can be improved for today's museum professionals.
"It is an opportunity to take stock of where people's professional development needs are in the sector and where they have changed," says Charlotte Holmes, the museum development officer responsible for professional development at the MA.
Consultants Anne Murch and Gaby Porter have researched attitudes to the AMA as part of the review and have identified a fundamental problem - the programme's core purpose is unclear to many people.
"What should the AMA be doing? People we spoke to said they didn't know," Murch says.
"Some feel it should be about continuing professional development (CPD) for the individual while many others, probably the majority, were keener to see it as a way of moving forward in the profession, that it should be the key recognition of your contribution to the profession."
If the purpose is blurry in the eyes of individual museum professionals, it is even more clouded for employers. Murch says: "I sit on the MA's professional development committee and we get applications for bursaries to do the AMA from people in large national museums.
Those employers should be able to afford to pay but they can't see any real value in it. It needs to be clear that the AMA is about helping individuals to progress in the profession, but also to link directly to their role and the needs of their employer."
The lack of credibility with employers was further underlined at a recent seminar convened as part of the review where several AMA graduates from the past decade - many now directors or heads of department - said they had never been asked at interview whether they had done the AMA, nor had they requested it as employers.
Taking on board the research and consultation findings, the MA's professional development team will be putting its proposals for revamping the AMA to focus groups later this year. The new programme is expected to be up and running from September 2009.
Julie Nightingale is a freelance journalist.
Marketing, management, finance, education, leadership - these were all areas that the modern museum professional of the mid-1990s was increasingly obliged to embrace.
"The diploma's reputation had declined and in the changing world we were entering, we needed to be able to attract and hold on to people with other skills beyond curatorial," says MA director Mark Taylor. "The nationals and, to a lesser extent, university and independent museums, didn't engage with the diploma. It was perceived as anachronistic."
The nature of the exam involved was also off-putting. "There used to be a practical where they gave you an object and you had to describe how you would display it, which used to reduce people to wrecks," Taylor recalls.
"We felt unable to continue with an exam like that, but also the range of skills needed to drive a museum was much wider than whether you knew the history of open-air museums since 1950."
The AMA was created to be more accessible to a wider range of museum staff, and offered four flexible routes and a broader eligibility
criteria. It has proved popular - about 500 museum professionals have completed the programme - and has come to be well regarded, but it has some flaws and it is now under review to examine where it can be improved for today's museum professionals.
"It is an opportunity to take stock of where people's professional development needs are in the sector and where they have changed," says Charlotte Holmes, the museum development officer responsible for professional development at the MA.
Consultants Anne Murch and Gaby Porter have researched attitudes to the AMA as part of the review and have identified a fundamental problem - the programme's core purpose is unclear to many people.
"What should the AMA be doing? People we spoke to said they didn't know," Murch says.
"Some feel it should be about continuing professional development (CPD) for the individual while many others, probably the majority, were keener to see it as a way of moving forward in the profession, that it should be the key recognition of your contribution to the profession."
If the purpose is blurry in the eyes of individual museum professionals, it is even more clouded for employers. Murch says: "I sit on the MA's professional development committee and we get applications for bursaries to do the AMA from people in large national museums.
Those employers should be able to afford to pay but they can't see any real value in it. It needs to be clear that the AMA is about helping individuals to progress in the profession, but also to link directly to their role and the needs of their employer."
The lack of credibility with employers was further underlined at a recent seminar convened as part of the review where several AMA graduates from the past decade - many now directors or heads of department - said they had never been asked at interview whether they had done the AMA, nor had they requested it as employers.
Taking on board the research and consultation findings, the MA's professional development team will be putting its proposals for revamping the AMA to focus groups later this year. The new programme is expected to be up and running from September 2009.
Julie Nightingale is a freelance journalist.
Hedley Swain, director of programme delivery, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Graduated 1998
"I was an archaeologist working for the London archaeology service and doing the AMA was partly a way of connecting with the sector. I enjoyed working with the mentor and the professional review, though I did not enjoy the paperwork. The AMA is great in principle, but could be working much harder at developing people and giving them important skills. I do question just how much attention employers take of it - I certainly do not use it as an important criterion."
Graduated 1998
"I was an archaeologist working for the London archaeology service and doing the AMA was partly a way of connecting with the sector. I enjoyed working with the mentor and the professional review, though I did not enjoy the paperwork. The AMA is great in principle, but could be working much harder at developing people and giving them important skills. I do question just how much attention employers take of it - I certainly do not use it as an important criterion."
Emma Roodhouse, art curator, Colchester and Ipswich Museums
Graduated 2006
"I was assistant registrar at the Government Art collection in London when I began the AMA and had four different jobs while completing it. There were issues in taking it forward because I was changing jobs so frequently.
"For example, I had a number of short-term contracts and I think the AMA scheme is really designed to work best if you are just in one job full-time or undertaking a long project. Otherwise you have to keep changing your CPD plan. But the AMA was good for networking. The London AMA network led me to the Scotland network and work came from these contacts, so the AMA helped me to get jobs."
Graduated 2006
"I was assistant registrar at the Government Art collection in London when I began the AMA and had four different jobs while completing it. There were issues in taking it forward because I was changing jobs so frequently.
"For example, I had a number of short-term contracts and I think the AMA scheme is really designed to work best if you are just in one job full-time or undertaking a long project. Otherwise you have to keep changing your CPD plan. But the AMA was good for networking. The London AMA network led me to the Scotland network and work came from these contacts, so the AMA helped me to get jobs."
Steve Blackbourn, heritage director, Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park Heritage Trust, Yorkshire
Graduated 1999
"The AMA provided me with a good framework in which to do training and development. It has helped my career because it has given me a plan and focus for thinking about the future and reviewing my progress at regular intervals. It has also made me look good at interviews as it has been easy to use the AMA to show that I am driven and can be articulate about my profession."
Graduated 1999
"The AMA provided me with a good framework in which to do training and development. It has helped my career because it has given me a plan and focus for thinking about the future and reviewing my progress at regular intervals. It has also made me look good at interviews as it has been easy to use the AMA to show that I am driven and can be articulate about my profession."
Heather Lomas, heritage and museum consultant
Graduated 2001
"I have tremendous respect for mentors and the CPD process and I was very grateful for my mentor's support through the AMA. However, in retrospect, the process was too narrow and unchallenging; for me it felt like a tick-box exercise that didn't encompass my wider cultural sector experience or recognise my development along a broader, more complex path.
"I think the AMA needs to encourage mentees to recognise fully where museums are positioned within the cultural and political sector and help develop individuals to work confidently in this wider arena. There is an argument for more senior mentors and some from outside the sector."
Graduated 2001
"I have tremendous respect for mentors and the CPD process and I was very grateful for my mentor's support through the AMA. However, in retrospect, the process was too narrow and unchallenging; for me it felt like a tick-box exercise that didn't encompass my wider cultural sector experience or recognise my development along a broader, more complex path.
"I think the AMA needs to encourage mentees to recognise fully where museums are positioned within the cultural and political sector and help develop individuals to work confidently in this wider arena. There is an argument for more senior mentors and some from outside the sector."
Fiona Moorhead, communications manager, Crafts Council
Graduated 2003
"What stood out for me was the mentoring process. It was particularly helpful in two ways - as an opportunity to meet in a professional context and reflect on the learning process, and also, having someone to challenge and push forward my thinking.
My mentor was also very supportive and proactive in helping me to network, and in enabling me to think of creative solutions to workplace issues. The support and feedback really helped to consolidate the learning process and also gave me skills and understanding to apply to my everyday work. I'm still in touch with my mentor."
Graduated 2003
"What stood out for me was the mentoring process. It was particularly helpful in two ways - as an opportunity to meet in a professional context and reflect on the learning process, and also, having someone to challenge and push forward my thinking.
My mentor was also very supportive and proactive in helping me to network, and in enabling me to think of creative solutions to workplace issues. The support and feedback really helped to consolidate the learning process and also gave me skills and understanding to apply to my everyday work. I'm still in touch with my mentor."
Ruth Gill, head of interpretation, Historic Royal Palaces
Graduated 2004
"I started to do the AMA when I was freelance and doing consultancy. I was on the fringe of the sector because I did lots of different things and it was my way of keeping in contact with the sector. What did I enjoy? I can't say that I enjoyed much of it at all, really. It's a bit like taking you're A-levels or writing a dissertation. I didn't enjoy either experience, but felt tremendously pleased and satisfied when they were over.
"Facing the review at the end was quite grim. I was quite keen to throw the towel in, but my mentor gave me a pep talk to get me remotivated. I also found it difficult to find the time for self-reflection and analysis."
Graduated 2004
"I started to do the AMA when I was freelance and doing consultancy. I was on the fringe of the sector because I did lots of different things and it was my way of keeping in contact with the sector. What did I enjoy? I can't say that I enjoyed much of it at all, really. It's a bit like taking you're A-levels or writing a dissertation. I didn't enjoy either experience, but felt tremendously pleased and satisfied when they were over.
"Facing the review at the end was quite grim. I was quite keen to throw the towel in, but my mentor gave me a pep talk to get me remotivated. I also found it difficult to find the time for self-reflection and analysis."
Jo Jones, arts and cultural services manager (museums and galleries), Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, Merseyside
Graduated 1998
"The AMA helped me to get where I am now because it made me go outside my comfort zone to develop my skills, knowledge and experience. One of the things that made me change my way of working was reflection and using reflection to plan future activities.
"It made me think about my aspirations, what I wanted to achieve and what skills and experience I needed. I enjoyed the networking aspects of the AMA the most. After doing the AMA I did CPD+ and am now in the final year of my fellowship for the MA (FMA)."
Graduated 1998
"The AMA helped me to get where I am now because it made me go outside my comfort zone to develop my skills, knowledge and experience. One of the things that made me change my way of working was reflection and using reflection to plan future activities.
"It made me think about my aspirations, what I wanted to achieve and what skills and experience I needed. I enjoyed the networking aspects of the AMA the most. After doing the AMA I did CPD+ and am now in the final year of my fellowship for the MA (FMA)."
Katy Archer, head of learning and access, National Centre for Citizenship and the Law, Nottingham
Graduated 2008
"I started working towards my AMA in February 2006 when I was learning and access manager at the NCCL. It coincided with a period of change within my organisation and my role and the AMA provided a framework for me to use when I was promoted to head of service to make the most of the opportunities inside and outside work.
"The biggest changes were in my confidence, my ambitions and my thinking around my role and responsibility within the sector. The AMA helped me to question and challenge my ambitions. My mentor, the framework and paperwork and my professional review were all key."
Graduated 2008
"I started working towards my AMA in February 2006 when I was learning and access manager at the NCCL. It coincided with a period of change within my organisation and my role and the AMA provided a framework for me to use when I was promoted to head of service to make the most of the opportunities inside and outside work.
"The biggest changes were in my confidence, my ambitions and my thinking around my role and responsibility within the sector. The AMA helped me to question and challenge my ambitions. My mentor, the framework and paperwork and my professional review were all key."
Links
For more information about the AMA review, click here
For more information about the AMA review, click here