If we are to believe the Oxford English Dictionary, museums are buildings where items of historical and scientific interest are ‘stored and exhibited’. What you can be sure of is that more or less every city in the country has one and that they are brilliant places to find RE resources and ideas.
Most of us have a favourite museum amongst these ‘national treasures’ and most are still free, even if they do request donations from visitors. Several have had a revamp of some kind or another recently and, like the British Museum, are becoming more family friendly, laying on free workshops and events such as the Mexican Day of the Dead in 2009, which was so popular you could barely squeeze past to see the dancing, hear the music or taste the specially prepared food. Nowadays there are sleepovers for kids and high quality lectures for the grown ups. And if you want to take things a step further and have free access to exhibitions and special discounts, you can join as a Friend of the museum and feel good about doing your bit to preserve collections for the future. This way you also get to hear of events way before they happen through monthly ‘What’s on?’ guides. But beware, sometimes the cost of Friend membership can be high and you have to think about how much you are likely to use the museum over the course of a year.
So how can you use a museum as an RE teacher? Well, you might be surprised at what is on offer and what you can find out if you know where to look and, crucially, who to ask. First off, most museums have an education department as well as different kinds of learning resources, many of which are increasingly online and digital or else available as printed documents. But working with education departments in museums needs some prior preparation. Bear in mind that not all are geared to both secondary and primary level. Often it is a case of being very specific about the needs of RE, especially if you are thinking of arranging a visit to see a specific gallery or an exhibition. Museums will get in touch about special exhibitions, such as the ‘Hajj: journey to the centre of Islam’ exhibition at the British Museum in 2012, which attracted over 140,000 visitors. If you cannot get to exhibitions such as this, there is often an online presence that trails away afterwards and artefacts or videos are available in museum shops linked to the exhibition, which can provide useful resources. If you do decide to use the services of an education department you need to be specific about what you want from them and be prepared, if they ask, to give a small donation. Often their services are free but it is important to check first. Museums, like many other institutions, rely on donations and do not get a lot, if any, government funding. A small donation will help them as well as you when you come to arrange another visit.
The clue about the kind of resources you might be able to use in a museum lies in its definition as a building where items of interest are both ‘stored’ and ‘exhibited’. Most people are unaware that the proportion of items ‘stored’ far exceeds what is ‘displayed’ by at least four to one. Tucked away behind the scenes in storage facilities is a vast array of items that you can have access to with prior permission, but most of the time they are in too delicate a condition to be seen or accessed by the public. Some await restoration or conservation and others are waiting to be catalogued. Sturdier items can become part of an object handling exercise under the careful supervision of a member of the museum staff even if they are thousands of years old. However, do not expect museum curators to advise you though as they are usually far too busy and have academic responsibilities directed at high-level research. Many take sabbaticals which means they are away from a telephone or out of email contact anyway. Instead look to museum staff, as they will always be there to help. After all, museum collections are for the benefit of the public and they play a key role in education. We have a right to these collections, provided we ask nicely of course and are reasonable in what we expect in terms of access. And if you want to photograph anything on an individual basis, expect to sign a disclaimer saying that the photograph will not be used for commercial purposes. Most items come under copyright and in some galleries photography is strictly forbidden. Damage to items from flash photography and bright light is a very real concern. Taking any kind of electronic equipment on a visit needs to be cleared first in fact.
Not all items ‘displayed’ are part of the permanent collections either. On one occasion I was frustrated to find that the Throne of Weapons, usually on display at the British Museum and part of work I was doing with some trainee teachers on attitudes to war and peace, had been removed so that it could be given out on loan to a travelling exhibition. At other times items are taken away for restoration or returned to their owners who had only given them as a temporary loan. It pays to check before going to make absolutely sure the items you are going to see are on display. And if an item is extremely popular you will of course have lots of other admiring people looking at it so think carefully about how to view it and when.
There never has been a better time than now. Museums are more open and willing to accommodate your needs as an RE teacher, whether it is to see what is on ‘display’ or what is ‘stored’, so why not take the plunge?
Dr Jim Robinson
Dr Jim Robinson is currently researching sacred objects in the collections of major UK museums and working with their education departments to think about how these can be used to create stimulating resources for RE.