Youth

Image from the Create-a-Crab workshop, Western Australian Museum.

As young people are our future it is important to encourage them to be regular visitors to the museum to engage with its exhibitions and programs and to alert them to the possiblities of being a volunteer.

Points to consider

Encouraging more young people to use the museum has as much to do with the teachers as the students. Try some of the methods suggested below to encourage teachers to incorporate a visit to the museum more regularly into their programs.

In the program that you present to schools include regular tours, at least once a year, of all aspects of the permanent collection. In particular, textile and design teachers will be interested in a costume collection and it might be worth having a 'special viewing' for teachers one evening.  Students may be interested in creating their own costumes inspired by the works in the collection and a fashion parade or exhibition may result.

In the event of an unplanned school visit to the museum (not to be encouraged!) having a list of topics that can be used as a guide to focus discussions with the group is very useful.  Here is a list provided by the education officer at the National Gallery which covers the topics of Cross Curriculum Perspectives. They are:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives
• Australian Perspectives
• Gender equity issues
• Multiculturalism
• Information technology
• Work studies
• Special needs
• Language use across the curriculum
• The Environment

Once teachers are encouraged to think that the museum is there not just to be visited occasionally, or on special occasions, but is available for more extended use, and that the permanent collection and changing exhibitions can be incorporated into their teaching programs, you should be able to build up strong links with local teachers and students.  For instance, students may begin to feel very much at home in the museum if they are permitted to visit regularly to discover more about the collection.

Perhaps you could think about starting up a Museum Club for high school students which includes a membership card, extended use of the museum, invitations to openings, involvement in workshops, excursions to other museums.  The students may even wish to produce their own newsletter and plan their own exhibitions once the group gets going.  This would also be a great way of encouraging interaction between schools and perhaps through access to the Internet this group may be able to make contact with similar groups overseas – the possibilities are endless!

Younger children should also be encouraged: a special group for them could include workshops and activities after school hours.  You could liaise with holiday day care centres (usually connected with local government community services) to organise holiday activities. You might also like to involve children in special 'weeks' such as Heritage or Book Week and run competitions and activities based on their visit to the museum.  When planning these and younger schoolchildren's programs, it's wise to include 'things to do'– children love to take home something they've made.  You may have to investigate places which you can use as a 'wet area'.

You could also encourage teachers and students to think more broadly about what the museum and the preservation of heritage involve.  Perhaps when you are giving a talk to classes, you could mention to students that there is more to museums than the objects themselves, that is, if they are interested in museums, there are a number of different paths they might pursue.  Give students a 'Behind the scenes' tour of the whole museum, including the storage areas, and talk to them about all the different tasks that are involved in putting together an exhibition.  This could be offered to schools as the 'Introductory Tour' for new year 11 history classes.

As a result of these activities being centred around the schools, you may find a few students who are especially interested in the work that you do, and who would be interested in working after school or during the holidays.  If they are planning to study history or museum studies later on, they would find it invaluable to learn about handling objects, installing exhibitions and all the other tasks which are a part of museum work.  It might be worth talking to school careers advisers as well, and letting them know that the museum is willing to accept students for work experience.

References and further reading:

Museums Australia Inc (NSW). Museum Methods; A practical guide for managing small museums.  Section 6 – Education and Public programs

EVRSIG: Evaluation and Visitor Research Special Interest Group (Museums Australia), link to information about youth audiences