Making Connections - WOSDEC

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Museum Education often involveslearning about what happened inthe past. This can be fascinating,but is only of real educational valuewhen it supports learners to makethe connections with similar issuestoday. While conflict, violence,exploitation and inequality persist,learners can be inspired by activistsand pacifists from the past in orderto take action alive today. WithinCurriculum for Excellence, this kindof learning develops the skills, valuesand attitudes of Global Citizenship.The tasks and activities contained withinthis resource are aimed at providing ideasfor museum educators and can work eitherin a gallery or classroom setting. Manyof the techniques and approaches aretransferrable to a range of different themesand collections.This resource has been created throughthe Museums Galleries Scotland funded‘Brushes with War’ schools projectwhich centred around a temporaryexhibition of World War I soldiers’ artat Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.Ar tworksafor learn s a sourceingRefugee3sWorld W4ar 1S u f f ra g5et tesS l av e r y6Genocid7e9Creating a safe learningenvironmentExploring controversial issues within amuseum education session is particularlychallenging, as we often don’t have a previousrelationship with learners or the time toget to know their individual backgrounds.Taking five minutes at the start of yoursession to co-create a group agreementfor an inclusive and supportive learningenvironment will pay dividends. Be awarethat some learners may have first-handexperience of some of the situations beingexplored. Ensure all learners know whatyou will be covering so they can opt out ofparticular activities or have a designatedperson to speak to if needed. The activitiesin this pack help learners explore valuesand actions, express themselves, listen toothers, develop empathy and share theirideas and feelings. Fostering an environmentof trust and openness will enable educatorsto handle moments of uncertainty indiscussion. Let learners know that you arenot an expert on the issue, and that yourinterest is in how thoughtful responses andquestions are, rather than a ‘right’ answer.It is important to judge when, how, and ifto express personal views and opinions.See online Oxfam’s Teaching Controversial Issues guideand British Red Cross’s ‘Creating a safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment’Illustration by Natasha Sinegina from www.supercoloring.comMaking Connections: a practical resourceWhy this resource?Content2

Artworks as a sourcefor learningActivity 1:What’s the content?Give the pupils the title only of the artworkbefore they see it. From the title, can theythink what the artwork might show? Whatsort of content will it have? Now reveal theactual artwork. Are they surprised?Activity 2: CroppingShow pupils just a section of an artwork(see top right of this page). Based on thatsection, what do they think the rest of theartwork contains? Can they sketch it? Nowreveal the whole picture and discuss what wasdifferent or similar to what they had drawn.n Storm Trooper throwing hand grenade byHeinzPingerra, 1917; courtesy by Joel ParkActivity 3: Back toback ‘blind’ describinginsonYou will need: 1 clipboard sheet of paperand pencil per pair various artworks ondisplay. Ask pupils to go into pairs. Pupil Afaces an artwork. Pupil B goes back to backwith them, so they can’t see the artwork.Pupil A verbally describes the artworkwhilst Pupil B makes a sketch based onthe description. Give a time limit then allowPupil B to look. This activity alwayspromotes lots of looking and discussing.Activity 4: Mind mapThis paintingshows aBelgium refugeefrom WorldWar 1. ManyBelgians cameto Scotlandduring the firstWorld War.Use a mindmap sheet andask the pupilsto write downwords to describe the man, his featuresand his clothing, and to reflect on howhe might be feeling.The Belgian Refugee Glasgow City Archives, have digitised records relating to Belgianrefugees who came to Scotland between 1914 and 1915. Find out where they came from in Belgium, what theiroccupations were, and where they were housed in Scotland. How were the Belgians perceived in Scotland?How does this compare with the experiences of refugees coming to Scotland today? Research on the BBC.Norah Neilson Gray, Belgian Refugee, ca. 1915-21 (Reproduced with kind permission of Glasgow Museums)The first step is to encourage your pupilsto stop and really look at an artwork.Here are some ideas:AustriaMaking Connections: a practical resourceArtworks are not just a resource for groupsstudying Art and Design. They can beused to support learning in a wide rangeof subjects including History, ModernStudies, Citizenship, Religious and MoralEducation and English. Artworks arepowerful. Visual images speak to us inways that words often cannot. They canprovide an insight into a period in history, aperson’s life, convey an important messageor be the starting point for a piece ofwriting. Your pupils don’t need to knowlots about the artist or artistic techniques– often the answers come from looking,reflecting and discussing what is seen.3

RefugeesFleeing conflict: what haschanged over the years?Activity 1: JigsawingCut up a selection of images that depictrefugees from past conflicts, and refugeesfrom conflicts today. Each image shouldbe cut into 3 or 4 pieces (as shown heretop right). Ensure the pictures are muddledso that when you give them out, learnersnear each other have different images. What can they see in their piece? What do they think is ‘beyond the frame’? What questions do learners have oftheir jigsaw piece?Learners then find who has the other partsof their jigsaw and complete the image.Ask groups of learners to swap and look at animage that they think is from a different time. What is similar and what is different? Are the root causes of the people fleeingsimilar or different? BBC video: ‘Refugees in the digital age’ Action Aid Refugee Crisis resources Oxfam: Refugee Quiz Oxfam: Stand with RefugeesChildren photoby pixpoetry onUnsplashBeach photoby Ra DragononUnsplashActivity 2: Issue treeSplit the group in two and give each a blankdrawing of an issue tree. The first half shouldcomplete it with their understanding of theroot causes and effects of refugees fleeingpast conflicts. The other half should completethe same but with their understanding ofthe causes and effects for refugees fleeingcurrent conflicts.SOEFFELUTIONSCTSCAUSESCome back to the trees after facilitatingyour session, looking at your relevant artand objects and exploring the issues. What might learners change/add tothe roots or branches? Have they any ideas for the leaves?Making Connections: a practical resourceHeadlines of a refugee crises havebeen dominating the news in recentyears. In times of ‘fake news’ it ismore important than ever todistinguish between dangerousrhetoric and the actual facts,especially when they relate to realpeople and their personal stories.4

and watclifnocginrlopExWorld War 1 was to be the war thatended all wars. Unfortunately thatwas not to be the case and humansstill resort to warfare over issues ofresource and territory. Explore withyour learners whether there’s sucha thing as a ‘just war’, what theyperceive as acceptable andunacceptable warfare, and howit impacts those directly involved.r farent cover: FJHere & fromo 15zer, 1916-inch HowitMears, Ca(Reproducedmission ofwith kind person)Joel ParkinActivity 2: Stepinto the pictureAsk learners to take a good look atthe content and mood of this artwork:Activity 1: Diamond 9– weapons of warPrepare packs containing 9 different imagesdepicting weapons of war through history,from the historical weapons in your museumto present day unmanned technology suchas drones. In groups of three or four, learnersshould diamond rank the images in order ofmost fair to least fair. Is war ever fair? Does war ever leadto lasting peace? What are thealternatives to war? Are these different nowto alternatives in the past?Robert Lortac, A Shelter in the Trench, 1915 (Reproduced with kind permission of Joel Parkinson)Imagine they were to step into the pictureand be part of it, then make notes explainingwhat they would: See. Smell. Hear. Touch.This activity works with a wide range ofartworks, encouraging the learner to seeevents and experiences from someoneelse’s perspective. British Red Cross: The Unknown Soldier (film) and learning resource pack Stride Magazine for Global Citizenship: War and Peace: article and learning activities Quakers: Conscience and Conviction – WW1 learning resourcesMaking Connections: a practical resource World War I5

of Glasgow Museums)SuffragettesLook at the caricature, top right of thispage. Do you think it was in favour of thecause of the suffragettes, or against it?Look at other images and objects which relateto the suffragettes, as well as those relatingto recent women’s rights campaigns aroundthe world. Discuss with learners whether theissues and tactics have changed over time.Split your learners into two groups.Ask one team to write a speech supportingthe cause of the suffragettes and oneteam arguing against it. The speech shouldbe one minute long. Participants shoulduse clear language, short sentences andrehearse before delivery. Make sure to haverules in place during the delivery (e.g. thereshould be no heckling or inappropriatelanguage) and debrief afterwards.produced with kinActivity 2: Here I standExplain to students that they are going tostart this lesson by having them listen tosome statements about gender and inequalityand decide to what extent they agree ordisagree with each. Place the word ‘agree’ and‘disagree’ at either end of the room. Followingeach statement, each pupil must indicate theiropinion by positioning themselves along animaginary line, depending upon how stronglythey agree or disagree. The whole exercisemust be undertaken in silence. After theactivity, pupils have the possibility to explaintheir stance.Example statements:Girls and boys arealways treated equallyIt was right and necessary that thesuffragettes used acts of terrorismGender stereotypes mostly hurtgirls and womenAll women should be feministsMen don’t experience harassmentFeminism should include therightsand needs of trans womenWe don’t need feminism anymoreRobert Munsch picture book: ‘The Paper Bag Princess’Stride Magazine for Global Citizenship, Summer 2013 issue: What Does Gender Equality Mean?Oxfam: Raising her voice music resourceBritish Counci: Gender Equality through Citizenship Learning ResourceMaking Connections: a practical resourceActivity 1: Speak upAnti-Suffragette postcard (ReNowadays in the UK we take the rightto vote for granted. But before Britishwomen gained this right in 1918, boththe suffragette and the anti-suffragettemovements had a lot of supporters.It is important to understand where bothsides in a heated debate come fromin order to stand up against injustices,especially since women’s rights aroundthe world are still not a given.d permissionDo women still needto fight for their rights today?6