 school thrived and showed signs of becoming much more independent.
The next stage of the project will examine how the gallery can boost teacher confidence in using the artwork within their curriculum. Interviews also showed that teachers were sometimes anxious about the behaviour of their children in an open public space.
An output of the project has been a new collection display co-curated with local primary teachers to provide a starting point for schools to engage with artwork and open the processes of curating. Schools-in-residence learn more about these processes before their residency begins and can select works from the gallery stores and swap them in and out of the display, taking ownership of the display to connect to their own interests. They are given the opportunity during the residency to generate interpretation materials for the display to make visible their own ideas, responses and knowledge for other visitors.
These experiences of the residency and the display are not designed to provide one-off arts experiences or prescribed curriculum links. Rather, we aim to support teachers in connecting with the collection in ways that are relevant to them and the curriculum, developing their experience in using artworks creatively, confidently and independently. The display provides a unique opportunity for teachers to experiment and reflect on their own practice and for children to develop their confidence in visiting and engaging with cultural venues: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/ideas-depot
The next stage of the study will be a further two residencies in the next six months. This will help the university and gallery to identify and test out a programme of professional development. At a time in the UK when cultural education is so at risk, the development of this model as a meaningful and genuine collaboration between schools and cultural organisations offers a strategic solution for sustainable engagement.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) (2012) The Culture White Paper. London: Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Mathewson-Mitchell D (2007) Multiliteracies in non-school contexts: Museums as cultural texts. In: AARE Conference, Fremantle, Australia, 25–29 November 2007. Available at: https://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2007/mat07150.pdf (accessed 25 October 2017).