The value of education
According to Nicholas Serota: "The past ten years have seen a revolution in museum education," in spite of the fact that Learning to Live found that some education staff are still "often treated as second-class citizens".
Seeing these comments alongside Anne Murch's claim in the facing page that no one much misses the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's (MLA) regional agencies, I felt I should write in recognition and in defence of those who, like me, worked within the regional access and learning teams from 2003-07.
It seems to me that funding streams such as the Museums and Galleries Education Programme, later Strategic Commissioning, are likely to have most sustainable impact when they are shaped by regional knowledge, research and strategic planning, which is carried out by staff recruited for skills and experience in learning and development. This is how we aimed to make a difference.
I have spent most of my professional life as an enabler, facilitator and adviser, so I am aware that it is far from unusual for development work in the early stages of a project or "revolution" to be forgotten by those who build on it, pushing forward partnerships but perhaps unaware that these were once specifically brokered by people who were not at the front line, but were at the cutting edge.
If we are now riding a wave of success in museum learning, we need to look back and reflect on all the forces that contributed to building that momentum, as well as looking over the horizon for the next powerful current.
Jocelyn Goddard, independent consultant, formerly access and learning adviser, SEMLAC/MLA South East
Green light
Peter Stott and Jane Henderson both commented last month on the Museums Association's (MA) approach to sustainability. Henderson criticised both the tone and the substance of my report on the British Museum's conference on greening conservation.
It is one thing to object to a slightly irreverent tone of voice, but she is wrong to characterise my column as suggesting that the nuts and bolts of museums' work to green their practice are irrelevant.
As I said in my column, when it comes to greening our practice, the detail may be tedious - but it absolutely matters. At the same time, we still need to explore strategic questions about how museums might fit into a more sustainable society.
Stott commended the work of the economist Tim Jackson who has advocated a new model for society, not based on wealth and consumerism. The MA is delighted that Jackson has just agreed to speak at this year's MA conference and will reflect on what place museums might have in such a society.
Helen Wilkinson, projects officer, Museums Association, London
The wrong story
Like, I suspect, most other museum professionals, I have always harboured aspirations to see my name in print in Museums Journal. I was delighted to see my recent place of work, the Athelstan Museum in Malmesbury, mentioned recently, closely followed by my own name.
Fame at last! I eagerly read on, wondering what coverage the museum would receive - perhaps the shortlisting for a Museums and Heritage Award for Excellence for project on a limited budget, or maybe the successful completion of a Heritage Lottery Fund-financed refurbishment, or even just the good news story of a museum that has recently moved from local authority control to a volunteer-run charity and whose trustees have brought about these achievements?
Imagine my disappointment when I read about the paid staff (including me) being axed - although I don't consider reaching the end of an externally-funded 12-month contract to be quite the same thing. Unlike many people in the current climate, I was fortunate enough to know that my contract was ending and was lucky to move straight into a new role.
I was disappointed in your article because I felt that it was a missed opportunity to feature a successful volunteer-run museum. The coverage of such museums seems to be a little thin on the ground in your pages. Having been fortunate enough to work for one, and having worked with many when
I was at MLA South West, I have seen many examples of good museum practice. These are undertaken by dedicated and passionate volunteers, often aided by excellent Museum Development Officers, and are usually accomplished on a tiny budget.
It would be good to see a greater coverage of these museums; in the South West at least they count for the vast majority of the museum sector.
Pippa Griffith, museum consultant
Brass in pocket
Reading Maev Kennedy's latest on free admissions you would be forgiven for thinking that all museums were free. It is worth pointing out that only a minority of museums are free, including national museums and some local government museums.
This has been something of a two-edged sword. Small independent museums have had to put up with seeing huge grants go to museums that could make a significant income from even a modest entry fee and they have also had to cope with a public expectation of free entry resulting in any entry fee, even if it is a tiny fraction of what you might pay for a football ticket or a cinema ticket, being resented by some visitors.
Free entry has been a major source of division between the haves and have-nots in the museum world and, if money is tight (as it certainly is), then perhaps free entry is one of the first areas that we should be looking at for savings.
Erik Blakeley, curator, Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Lichfield
Henry VIII catalogue
In the July edition of Museums Journal, Penny Ritchie Calder wrote reviews of two Henry VIII exhibitions. One was created under the guidance of David Starkey at the British Library, the other was Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill, the joint Royal Armouries/Historic Royal Palaces exhibition at the Tower of London.
Naturally my colleagues and I were very pleased to see the review, but were also disappointed that Ritchie Calder believed that no proper catalogue had been produced to accompany our exhibition. In fact, there is one: it's a 350-page publication called Henry VIII: Arms and the Man.
The catalogue has already had really positive reviews from journals such as History Today and I feel it would be a pity if your readership was not made aware of it. We are also running a conference of the same name on 5 September at the Tower of London.
Graeme Rimer, academic director, Royal Armouries, Leeds
Write to: the editor, Museums Journal, 24 Calvin Street, London E1 6NW, email: journal@museumsassociation.org
Museums Journal reserves the right to edit letters
According to Nicholas Serota: "The past ten years have seen a revolution in museum education," in spite of the fact that Learning to Live found that some education staff are still "often treated as second-class citizens".
Seeing these comments alongside Anne Murch's claim in the facing page that no one much misses the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's (MLA) regional agencies, I felt I should write in recognition and in defence of those who, like me, worked within the regional access and learning teams from 2003-07.
It seems to me that funding streams such as the Museums and Galleries Education Programme, later Strategic Commissioning, are likely to have most sustainable impact when they are shaped by regional knowledge, research and strategic planning, which is carried out by staff recruited for skills and experience in learning and development. This is how we aimed to make a difference.
I have spent most of my professional life as an enabler, facilitator and adviser, so I am aware that it is far from unusual for development work in the early stages of a project or "revolution" to be forgotten by those who build on it, pushing forward partnerships but perhaps unaware that these were once specifically brokered by people who were not at the front line, but were at the cutting edge.
If we are now riding a wave of success in museum learning, we need to look back and reflect on all the forces that contributed to building that momentum, as well as looking over the horizon for the next powerful current.
Jocelyn Goddard, independent consultant, formerly access and learning adviser, SEMLAC/MLA South East
Museums Journal June 2009, p16
Green light
Peter Stott and Jane Henderson both commented last month on the Museums Association's (MA) approach to sustainability. Henderson criticised both the tone and the substance of my report on the British Museum's conference on greening conservation.
It is one thing to object to a slightly irreverent tone of voice, but she is wrong to characterise my column as suggesting that the nuts and bolts of museums' work to green their practice are irrelevant.
As I said in my column, when it comes to greening our practice, the detail may be tedious - but it absolutely matters. At the same time, we still need to explore strategic questions about how museums might fit into a more sustainable society.
Stott commended the work of the economist Tim Jackson who has advocated a new model for society, not based on wealth and consumerism. The MA is delighted that Jackson has just agreed to speak at this year's MA conference and will reflect on what place museums might have in such a society.
Helen Wilkinson, projects officer, Museums Association, London
Museums Journal July 2009, p18
Museums Journal June 2009, p9
For more information on the Museums Association Conference 2009, click here
Museums Journal June 2009, p9
For more information on the Museums Association Conference 2009, click here
The wrong story
Like, I suspect, most other museum professionals, I have always harboured aspirations to see my name in print in Museums Journal. I was delighted to see my recent place of work, the Athelstan Museum in Malmesbury, mentioned recently, closely followed by my own name.
Fame at last! I eagerly read on, wondering what coverage the museum would receive - perhaps the shortlisting for a Museums and Heritage Award for Excellence for project on a limited budget, or maybe the successful completion of a Heritage Lottery Fund-financed refurbishment, or even just the good news story of a museum that has recently moved from local authority control to a volunteer-run charity and whose trustees have brought about these achievements?
Imagine my disappointment when I read about the paid staff (including me) being axed - although I don't consider reaching the end of an externally-funded 12-month contract to be quite the same thing. Unlike many people in the current climate, I was fortunate enough to know that my contract was ending and was lucky to move straight into a new role.
I was disappointed in your article because I felt that it was a missed opportunity to feature a successful volunteer-run museum. The coverage of such museums seems to be a little thin on the ground in your pages. Having been fortunate enough to work for one, and having worked with many when
I was at MLA South West, I have seen many examples of good museum practice. These are undertaken by dedicated and passionate volunteers, often aided by excellent Museum Development Officers, and are usually accomplished on a tiny budget.
It would be good to see a greater coverage of these museums; in the South West at least they count for the vast majority of the museum sector.
Pippa Griffith, museum consultant
Museums Journal June 2009, p13
Brass in pocket
Reading Maev Kennedy's latest on free admissions you would be forgiven for thinking that all museums were free. It is worth pointing out that only a minority of museums are free, including national museums and some local government museums.
This has been something of a two-edged sword. Small independent museums have had to put up with seeing huge grants go to museums that could make a significant income from even a modest entry fee and they have also had to cope with a public expectation of free entry resulting in any entry fee, even if it is a tiny fraction of what you might pay for a football ticket or a cinema ticket, being resented by some visitors.
Free entry has been a major source of division between the haves and have-nots in the museum world and, if money is tight (as it certainly is), then perhaps free entry is one of the first areas that we should be looking at for savings.
Erik Blakeley, curator, Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Lichfield
Museums Journal June 2009, p17
Henry VIII catalogue
In the July edition of Museums Journal, Penny Ritchie Calder wrote reviews of two Henry VIII exhibitions. One was created under the guidance of David Starkey at the British Library, the other was Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill, the joint Royal Armouries/Historic Royal Palaces exhibition at the Tower of London.
Naturally my colleagues and I were very pleased to see the review, but were also disappointed that Ritchie Calder believed that no proper catalogue had been produced to accompany our exhibition. In fact, there is one: it's a 350-page publication called Henry VIII: Arms and the Man.
The catalogue has already had really positive reviews from journals such as History Today and I feel it would be a pity if your readership was not made aware of it. We are also running a conference of the same name on 5 September at the Tower of London.
Graeme Rimer, academic director, Royal Armouries, Leeds
Museums Journal July 2009, p45
www.royalarmouries.org/what-we-do/exhibitions/dressed-to-kill/henry-viii-arms-and-the-man
www.royalarmouries.org/what-we-do/exhibitions/dressed-to-kill/henry-viii-arms-and-the-man
Write to: the editor, Museums Journal, 24 Calvin Street, London E1 6NW, email: journal@museumsassociation.org
Museums Journal reserves the right to edit letters
