MAGPIE: Museums and Galleries Partners in Education 2019-2021 funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Teacher Development Fund

The purpose of the Teacher Development Fund is to support delivery of effective arts-based teaching and learning opportunities in the primary classroom, and to embed learning through the arts in the curriculum. It aims to do this through supporting teachers and school leaders to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, confidence and experience.

The MAGPIE project draws on inspiration from Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums’ diverse collections, through visual arts and creative writing to support speech and language development. 

Within a subject focus of Art, History and Science, using enquiry based learning approaches, the action research looks at how these experiences can impact on communication and vocabulary, using the skills of museum learning teams, teachers and artists explore the potential of museum collections to be a focus for curriculum focussed learning and the development of skills, knowledge and experience, which can be em-bedded in the practice of the school.

Opportunities are created to develop questioning and thinking, discussion and debate. Each of the schools have different priorities, and so in addition to communication skills the following needs have also been identified: 

•  Improving quality of art provision and its potential to influence other subjects.
•  Creative and critical thinking.
•  Supporting early career teachers to develop enquiry skills.
• Project based learning.
• Opportunities to develop creative partnerships empowering teachers to make better use of cultural resources and connect in school and family learning. 

Key areas of shared interest

All participants realise that although their roles and responsibilities differ there are some areas of shared interest that can be addressed as part of this partnership, including (but not limited to):

• Developing the knowledge and skills of staff/individuals from all settings.
• Opportunities for shared planning, development, delivery and evaluation.
• Commitment to individual action research questions.
• Supporting School Development Plans (SDPs).
• Engaging with the communities around their organisations.
• Impact on pupil progress (for identified pupils).