In The Guide:

• Background & Context
• Standards & QA
• The Process
  • Benefits & Objectives
  • Initiating Partnerships
  • Induction & Mentoring
  • Setting a Work Plan
  • Agreeing a Timetable
• Monitoring & Feedback
• Provider Checklist
• Mla Checklist
• Trainee Checklist

Downloads

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Model for Establishing Placements in Mlas [34.0kb]

Related Links

Yorkshire Museum Case Study

Yorkshire Sculpture Park Case Study

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The Benefits

For those participating in placements so far the benefits have been to do with better insights into the current and potential relationship between museums, libraries, archives and schools.

From the feedback it is clear that the placements offered both mla staff and trainees opportunities to share new ideas, be creative and enhance teaching skills.

Placements provide a better understanding of how mlas and teachers work. Mlas learn about mapping collections and resources to the National Curriculum whilst trainees learn how to match mla resources to learning both within the mla (the school visit) and in the classroom.

Shared Objectives

It's worth setting out some objectives right at the beginning of discussions, so that everyone is clear on what the placement is trying to achieve.

In the Yorkshire Museum case study we show how a museum staff member and a trainee both set down their objectives for the placement.

Where objectives for mlas and trainees are likely to be consistent, expect to find that a provider's aims and objectives will be far more complex. It's likely that no two providers will share the same aims either. It's worth pursuing a provider's objectives for proposed placement though, to avoid discovering later that your successful placement hasn't been invested with the same worth by the trainee's tutors.

As one trainee put it:

"I am still very enthusiastic about the placement. I have learnt about how the education service in the museums works, and how to organise a major outing. The experience for the children was of a much better quality than anything I could have put together outside the placement. However in terms of the course requirements I think it was an opportunity missed. None of the time or experience will contribute to my course."

See an example of how a Provider can set out simple aims and objectives that fit their course - the document Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Model for Establishing Placements in Mlas [34.0kb] is taken from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park case study.