ITE: A Trip Out

Final year B.Ed trainee teachers planned and organised the use of museum resources with pupils in their final placement. They worked closely with their mentors to identify possible curriculum links and resources. A series of case studies demonstrate the effects of a museum experience on four trainee teachers, their mentors and pupils. They examine the impact on learners of using museums, helping to identify good practice, successes, barriers and suggestions for future use of museum resources.

What did we do?

Agenda

To equip trainees with practical experience of using museums to support teaching and learning
To provide opportunities to identify and explore cross-curricular uses of museum services
To develop further the understanding of the benefits of teaching and learning using museums

"Sue, an experienced mentor, said: “I think the main thing I learned is that there’s more out there than I actually realised and I need to do a lot more searching on the web and investigating more….putting I time gives you a lot more….we’ve both learned a lot, thank you.”"

The museum experiences were observed and interviews were conducted in school with all the participants. The full questionnaires used are appended and were designed to find out how they felt about taking part in the museum experience and what they may have gained as a result. The questions were designed using the Inspiring Learning for All generic learning outcomes as a framework: the results gave some very positive findings.

The four case studies identified here were part of a larger project which included a twilight session and a wider research project by the University of Derby which explored the impact on pupils, teachers and trainee teachers.

What were the outcomes?

Trainee teachers and teachers gained positive attitudes and increased confidence in using museums

Staff gained opportunities to raise awareness of the potential of museums to support teaching and learning, and to share skills and expertise with teachers and trainees

Children gained increased knowledge and acquired or developed new skills. They talked about the their enjoyment or wonder at what they had experienced and some shared expectations of returning to the sites with their families or of undertaking further independent work at home.

Additional case studies

Detailed case studies from 'A Trip Out' are available to download:

Introduction Case Studies Introduction (13 kb)
Case study 1: Donington-le-Heath Manor House Donnington-le-Heath - Sarah Harrison (217 kb)
Case study 2: Sudbury Hall Sudbury Hall - Damian Sparrow (381 kb)
Case study 3: Pickford House, Derby Pickford House - Helen Reader (184 kb)
Case study 4: National Tramway Museum Crich Tramway - Rebecca Mantan (154 kb)

Student and Mentor Questionnaires

Questionnaires used with students and their mentors during the project are avaliable to download:

Derby ITE Form A (295 kb)
Derby ITE Form B (296 kb)
Derby ITE Form C (297 kb)
Derby ITE Form D (298 kb)

Facts and figures

Participation

32 final year B.Ed trainee teachers at the University of Derby, and their mentors in 22 partnership schools.

Partner organisations

University of Derby, MLA East Midlands, and a diverse range of participating museums and schools across the region.

Funding

The project was supported by MLA East Midlands.

What can you do?

If you would like to learn from this project to create similar opportunities please contact Sharon Bell, University of Derby.

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