Future educators at BPMA
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As well as the visit from Teach First student teachers in January, we have also been involved in the Intiial Teacher Education placement project and a Citizenship Networking event.
Initial Teacher Education placement project
From 4-8 February, we took part in the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)’s Initial Teacher Education placement project.
Two second year students from the BA Primary Education course at Roehampton University spent a week working alongside the Access & Development team, identifying and developing learning opportunities within our collections.
An introductory day at HMS Belfast brought together representatives from the MLA and participating museums and archives with students and staff from Roehampton. Staging the event on board an actual museum object provided a wonderful focus for wider discussion of the importance oflearning outside the classroom, and using museum and archive collections to support learning across the curriculum.
Midweek, we were delighted to welcome our two students to the BPMA. Samira Ugradar, an Early Years specialist and Sabiha Adam, a Mathematics specialist, both have strong family ties with Royal Mail. Samira and Sabiha had just three days to develop a learning activity based on one or two of our objects, and to produce a resource board which addressed citizenship and the concept of ‘Who Do We Think We Are?’
Sabiha and Samira (left) work on their resource board (right)
Whistle stop tours of the archive and the Museum Store at Debden introduced the students to a vast range of material to choose from. They decided to focus on ciphers, and on symbols used on early Regional stamps, which was very much in keeping with this year’s 50th anniversary exhibition and events. These inspired a programme of suggested activities which incorporated textiles, design and technology, history and art, and which encouraged children to consider the ways in which they represent themselves, and express their roles within school and society.
On Friday, all participating students presented their activities and resource boards back at the university. They demonstrated imaginative and challenging opportunities for schools to make effective use of original material from a variety of organisations. The experience had clearly been very positive for everyone involved. We hope that Sabiha and Samira will return to the BPMA with school groups to try out some of their
excellent ideas. Both students took away a set of our primary education packs for use in the classroom.
Citizenship Networking event
The MLA also ran a citizenship networking evening at The Museum of London, where trainee teachers from London Metropolitan University met with museum and archive professionals. Man students ordered copies of our education packs and expressed an interest in working with the BPMA later in the year. The BPMA’s collections lend themselves particularly well to the teaching of citizenship. The Post Office has always been at the heart of British culture, and its pioneering working practices and diverse workforce are a good reflection of wider social and economic change.
If you would like to find out more about learning resources available from the BPMA, have a look at the Learning section. Education packs, and other teaching resources for use in primary and secondary schools, can be downloaded by anyone free of charge. They can also be ordered in bound, printed format by teachers and educators by emailing info@postalheritage.org.uk or by phoning 0207 239 2570.