How do you want your history served up? A straight telling of facts and a march through a chronology of kings, queens, wars and nation building?
Or what about pupil-led learning, out-of-classroom experiences, story-telling, investigation and exploration that develops critical thinking and wonder?
The draft national curriculum for England has generated much debate among politicians, teachers, parents and those who work in museums.
Museums have spent years trying to get away from chronologies and a dull regurgitation of facts, only to be confronted with a curriculum that does just that.
Many museums that rely on Key Stage 2 visits have built displays and activities around the relevant areas of the curriculum, and now face threats to their income streams if these subjects are dropped.
No one is arguing to rigidly stick to the Victorians and the second world war just because museums are good at that. There are other stories that can be told, but it will be a challenge to create new content and programmes when there are fewer people and resources to do it.
It would be great if children could leave school with a good knowledge of British history.
But cramming a vast chronology into the primary school years creates the danger of switching children off history permanently, and opting not to study the subject at GCSE. The big danger for museums is that it will squeeze out other ways of learning, in particular off-site visits.
Museums have been at the forefront of learning outside the classroom and have long been places for fresh approaches to education. Now they will have to work hard to maintain relationships with schools and to provide experiences that children value.
Often, it’s not what is taught but the experience of being away from a classroom in an environment that caters for different learning styles that counts. Museums are in a unique position to switch a generation on to history where a dull curriculum may fail.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
See this month's Head to head and Vox pop
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference
Or what about pupil-led learning, out-of-classroom experiences, story-telling, investigation and exploration that develops critical thinking and wonder?
The draft national curriculum for England has generated much debate among politicians, teachers, parents and those who work in museums.
Museums have spent years trying to get away from chronologies and a dull regurgitation of facts, only to be confronted with a curriculum that does just that.
Many museums that rely on Key Stage 2 visits have built displays and activities around the relevant areas of the curriculum, and now face threats to their income streams if these subjects are dropped.
No one is arguing to rigidly stick to the Victorians and the second world war just because museums are good at that. There are other stories that can be told, but it will be a challenge to create new content and programmes when there are fewer people and resources to do it.
It would be great if children could leave school with a good knowledge of British history.
But cramming a vast chronology into the primary school years creates the danger of switching children off history permanently, and opting not to study the subject at GCSE. The big danger for museums is that it will squeeze out other ways of learning, in particular off-site visits.
Museums have been at the forefront of learning outside the classroom and have long been places for fresh approaches to education. Now they will have to work hard to maintain relationships with schools and to provide experiences that children value.
Often, it’s not what is taught but the experience of being away from a classroom in an environment that caters for different learning styles that counts. Museums are in a unique position to switch a generation on to history where a dull curriculum may fail.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
See this month's Head to head and Vox pop
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference