Museums and Galleries Education Programme 2

Final Report

Centre for Education and Industry

University of Warwick

Learning Outcomes for Pupils

(The DfES criteria)• fulfillment and satisfaction from achievement

• increased learning within the subject area

• increased understanding of connections between subjects

• increased learning across subjects

• increased self-confidence and self-esteem

• increased cultural understanding and respect and tolerance of others

• increased ability to work with others

• increased involvement in class, school community events

• the ability to make informed choices within and beyond the planned experiences

• positive attitudes to the experience and a desire for further experiences

DfES Objectives for teachers

• increased confidence

• increased expertise

• increased professional satisfaction

DfES Access Objective

• Ensure that more pupils and, where relevant, teachers, benefit from access to objects and images from museums and galleries during the school day

Scale of MGEP2

• 130 projects – 16 galleries, 114 museums • 165 museums and galleries involved• Around 20, 000 pupils participating• £1 million • 9 regional museum, library and archive

agencies plus engage• Timeframe: October 2002 to March 2004

Evidence

• Initial Project Description, Quarterly & Final Report from 130 projects

• Project Portfolio: pupil responses and resources (61)• Simple exit questionnaire for pupils (4093 & 1436)• Selected entry questionnaires (2745)• Exit questionnaire for teachers, museum staff, assistants (536)• Observations(71), group interviews (59), teacher and staff

interviews as appropriate for 51 projects (85)• Entry/Exit Interviews with regional co-ordinators, observation

of training and networking sessions (129)

Evidence of Learning

Teacher assessment of student work: quality of work, before & afterComparison with non-project classes: teacher and pupil judgmentsObservation of activity: response to different learning styles,

independence New concepts, skills, knowledge: greater complexity/challengeObservation and recording of participation: inclusion, concentrationDevelopmental work: progress, group self-evaluationPupil work or response: how personal is response, how complete?Notes, sketchbooks, drafts: creative and original work, developmentResponse or requests for further opportunities: behaviour, decisionsPupils’ judgement and feedback: attitudes, satisfaction

• What and how much was learned?

• How did they learn it?

• Who and how many learned it?

Conclusions

• There was substantial aggregate impact on subject learning

– 64% of entry/exit respondents experienced “learning gain”

– 70% of teachers judged that pupils had learnt a lot about the specified topic

A1

don't knownot muchsomethinglots

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

B4

don't know

not much

something

a lot

Chart 3.31: Percentages of respondents reporting the extent of learning about “subject” at exit grouped in terms of extent of knowledge at entry. (n=2617). (A1*B4 Cross-tabulation)

• Activities were enjoyed– 61% of all pupils enjoyed activity very much (33% found it OK)– 73% of those who reported highest learning also reported highest

enjoyment

• Working with teachers and other pupils– Overall pupils judged relationships positively but similar to

normal– Teachers judged as more positive– Some groups of pupils reported relative progress– Projects involving artists/performers working intensively with

pupils were relatively successful at improving experience of “learning with adults”

• The projects impacted upon pupils’ future plans– 73% of all pupils wanted to do more learning with museums or

galleries– 56% said that there was learning or other activities that they now

wanted to try

• Fulfillment – some gains– 91% of pupils were either very pleased or content with the work

they did themselves– In aggregate fulfillment levels did not show significant value

added– Some identified value added for those least satisfied with their

own work at school

A3

don't knowdisappointedokpleased

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

B3

don't know

disappointed

ok

Very Pleased

Chart 3.53 Percentages of respondents expressing satisfaction with their own work at exit grouped in terms of how satisfied they were with their own school work at entry (n=2630)

• Confidence

– 58% of pupils reported a gain in confidence

– 77% teachers reported some or general gain for pupils

– Some gains in confidence for least confident

A4

don't know

not very confident

fairly confident

very confident

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

B6

don't know

unchanged

less confident

more confident

Chart 3.42: Percentages of respondents reporting changes in confidence at exit grouped in terms of how confident they were at entry (n=2609)

• Engagement

– 86% of pupils reported they were very or quite engaged

– Similar to pupils’ reported engagement in usual school work

– 84% of teachers reported very positive responses

– Some impact on “disengaged”

A8

not sure

not usually i

sometimes i

very i in some w ork

usually very i

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

B7

not sure

not very involved

quite involved

very involved

Chart 3.64: Percentages of Key Stage 2/3/4 pupils describing the extent of personal engagement with their project at exit grouped in terms of their general levels of engagement with school work at entry (n=2570) (A8 * B7 Cross-tabulation) (i = involved)

• Choices

– More experience of choice

– Experience of choice relates to satisfaction

B11

not sure

hardly any choice

sometimes choice

often make choices

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

B3

don't know

disappointed

ok

pleased

Chart 3.108 Percentages of Key Stage 2/3/4 pupils expressing satisfaction with their own work in the project grouped in terms of their experiences of making choices on their project at exit (n=3755) (B3 * B11 Cross-tabulation)

Outcomes for Teachers

• 94% of teachers reported a gain of satisfaction

• 84% of teachers reported an increase in expertise in using this kind of project

• Teachers contributed to design and development of projects

• Teachers valued collaboration with other teachers and other professionals

• Teachers valued projects which made curriculum more relevant for their pupils (and for them)

• Rare for projects to have wider impact on schools

Factors which affect the impact of projects

• Size or status of museum or gallery did not appear to make any difference

• Type of museum-school partnership

– Primary Stage – single museum/gallery works with 1 or 2 schools to deploy its collection/resources to meet an identified learning need

– Second Stage – museum identifies and brings in other partners or resources to meet needs of schools

– Umbrella Partnership – brings together many schools and many museums to create set of related resources which can be shared

• Involvement of other organizations

– LEA advisors

– Advanced Skills Teachers

– School Improvement Services

Characteristics of Museum and Gallery Learning

• Object handling and interpretation

• Situated learning/immersion in context

• Distinctive social context for learning

• Use of performance

• Enhanced opportunities for creativity

• Relatively long blocks of time and and extended treatment of a particular topic

• Cross curricular learning

• Learning in special places

Sustainability

• Different kinds of sustainability– Continuance– Pilot– Influence

• How sustainable– Meeting a curriculum need– Existence of ready schools market– Cost and future funding– Charging– Flexibility of project– Professional development– Embedding in school curriculum– Quality of marketing

Barriers and Issues

– Consultation, trialling and co-production

– Under-consumption - something extra – logistics, time and practicalities

– Effective marketing and advocacy

– Communication

– Time planning

– Equity and distribution

Areas of Further Research

• Analysis of relationships between different kinds of project performance

• Describing and benchmarking the kinds of learning that pupils can make over time

• Impact on school of more extensive use of museum and gallery learning