From the GEM (Group for Education in Museums) NEWS magazine, No.109 Summer 2008
by Clara Pereira.
Heritage Builds Bridges:
An audience development case study
The Heritage Builds Bridges (HBB) project is a learning resource website that Hillingdon Council’s Local Studies, Archives and Museum Service recently launched in partnership with Brunel University and the British Foreign School Society (BFSS). Drawing from the collections of the borough, this resource was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and can be found at www.heritagebuildsbridges.org.uk.
Our aim was to catalogue and digitise the collections to make them more accessible to a wide variety of audiences through developing a variety of educational resources. Visitors to the HBB website are able to search the catalogue, to access the educational resources, and to see images of the archives and museum collections.
The main target audiences are teachers, KS2 & KS3 students, and everybody interested in local and family history.
We want to reach out to schools, and we want our collections to be used by both students and teachers. Also essential to the work of the project is to encourage the local community to get more involved with its heritage, and therefore, this group is also a key part of our target audiences.
How did it all start?
For the education content formative evaluation was carried out with schools and teachers to test the project’s aims and objectives as well as to test out teachers’ opinions on the themes thought to be relevant both for National Curriculum teaching and the usability of our collections.
Questionnaires were sent to all 77 schools in Hillingdon and a reasonable 24.6% response was obtained. The graph shows that most teachers considered the theme ‘Living in Wartime Britain’ the most popular for their teaching followed by Victorian Childhood and then Life after 1948. Victorian Schools and Victorian children’s costume come close behind. The need for Victorian themes and resources was very strong.
To support the development of the educational content of the website we set up a working group that included two primary teachers and two secondary teachers. We invited a pre-eminent local historian to represent the adults and the local community. The group was a very valuable resource for us in ensuring that we met the needs of our audiences. We tested ideas including any interactive material and the teachers answered questions like ‘Are these materials and activities suitable for KS2 or/and KS3 pupils, and are they relevant for your teaching?’ This was essential to guide the project and to inform our activities .
We met for a couple of hours every 6 weeks or so. The group advised us on the depth of information content required for the different sections of the website. They commented on draft designs, ensuring that we met school curriculum needs and the needs of adult education audiences.
For the first theme, ‘Victorian Childhood’ we tested ideas showing the group storyboards of our ideas on how to treat the theme. In return, we got their expertise advice, their useful comments and critiques. Agreement amongst everyone regarding how to approach the theme, the text used and the activities for children was always an imperative for us. Site navigation was also critical for us and their comments were taken into account. The working group worked alongside us, looking and commenting on every step of the project including the draft of the web pages, choosing the images, the museum items and the archive material as well as choosing the more suitable activities for KS2 children.
After the completion of the first theme we carried out user testing in 3 schools. The teachers led a lesson using the website with a member of the team present noting down issues that needed attention.
For the second theme we found it more convenient for the teachers if we went to the schools. In one school we worked with a group of students that had been chosen as a focus group and they commented on the first draft of the KS3 theme ‘Industry and Empire’. Again here, some critical changes were made as a result of their comments and observations.
Evaluation of the resource is on-going. With the website now live we can monitor hits and receive enquiries and comments from the web visitors. We have also arranged an INSET session to further promote the resources for a wider group of teachers in Hillingdon.
So what worked well for us?
The most rewarding part of this work was to visit schools and to be able to see first hand the audiences’ reaction to the resources that we have developed.
In terms of lessons learnt, always try to be flexible in your approach when working with teachers. Don’t always expect them to come to you, and recognise that going to the schools is often a better way to get feedback that includes the voice of young people.
Keep in mind that schools are always interested in being involved in new projects and that their involvement at all stages makes for a better outcome that you know will be used by the target audiences.