National Curriculum Subject Areas: Cross curricular Length of session: 30 minutes Maximum group size: 32
Learning Outcomes
- To use historic and scientific enquiry skills to find out about an object
- To understand how objects can tell us information that we cannot find elsewhere
- To understand how and why the objects were acquired and how the Pitt Rivers foregrounds many voices to interpret objects
- To handle objects from the Pitt Rivers collections
Session Outline
The Pitt Rivers holds objects from almost every country in the world. What can the objects it stewards teach us about the lived-experience of the people who owned and used them? How does the museum connect ethically with people who have that lived-experience today?
This session interrogates how objects can act as a resource for research of different kinds, both the research of academics and the research of communities to uncover parts of their own histories.
Students will handle a number of objects from a variety of different places to research their meaning, uses and significance in a range of contexts.
‘My students loved handling the objects and talking about who owned or used them and why their voices are so important’
Secondary Teacher
