All Years
Teaching tips: Engaging with the GLAM sector
Teaching Guidance
GLAM is an acronym for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, and refers to cultural organisations that collect and maintain cultural heritage materials. Schools can engage with the GLAM sector to explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories through its rich range of taonga, exhibits, and specialist knowledge.
New Zealand’s GLAM sector holds a wealth of local and national taonga including artefacts, photographs, artworks, books, documents, diaries, letters, digital media, and articles. The GLAM sector includes nationally and regionally funded facilities and services, and smaller local volunteer spaces.
Teachers and students can work with the GLAM sector to:
- understand the big ideas of Aotearoa New Zealand histories
- learn about significant national and local people, events, and changes
- think critically about the past and interpret stories about it
- engage with primary sources of history for first-hand, eyewitness accounts.
(Opening slide “Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories. What do museums offer?”)
(Monika Kern, Education Manager at Waitangi Treaty Grounds” sitting in a room at the Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi speaking)
New Zealand has a huge GLAM sector, as we call it.
(Pātaka Art + Museum signage on the outside of the building with students walking in front of the sign)
That's the galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
(Kororipo Pā signage, drone shot over the pā and the water)
Museums and historic organisations can play a really important part in the implementation of the new curriculum content.
(Wide shot of the Waitangi Treaty House exterior at Waitangi Treaty Grounds; Inside the entranceway to the Waitangi Treaty House and the written text on the inside of the building)
They hold a lot of very important local and national stories that can really enhance the learning that they can broaden what the kids are learning in the classroom.
(Educator talking to students from inside the Pātaka Museum; Signage from inside the museum reading— “Whiti Te Rā!, The story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira”; illustration of Nohorua, senior half-brother of chief Te Rauparaha)
They can help the teachers get a bigger, deeper understanding of it. Some of the institutions have really good connections with their local iwi and hapu.
(Exterior of Te Whare Rūnanga - Carved Meeting House at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds)
Traditionally, many museums used to provide preset programmes that weren't very tailored.
(Group of students sitting in a circle on the floor at Pātaka Museum, listening to an educator; student at Pātaka cutting out an image of a Kupe's anchor stone with scissors; educator showing students an image of a traditional double-hulled waka printed out on a piece of A4 paper; educator working with students though exercises with images of the double-hulled waka)
Many museums nowadays try to tailor the programmes. There's an increasing opportunity to work with the educator or the curator host at the museum to really tailor a programme.
(The Waitangi flagstaff at the Waitangi grounds; Front exterior of Te Korowai ō Maikuku (waka house) at Waitangi; Inside a room at the Waitangi Treaty House)
Our stories can be told from different perspectives. Quite often, museums use artefacts to base their stories on, and it's really important that we think about what the artefacts actually stand for and what they tell us.
(Close up of the “James Busby Landowner” book on a table inside the Treaty House)
We're so used to having our history told on a piece of paper written down any other way of telling the history is something that's still a concept to be explored by some people.
(Walking through the ‘Curator’s Room/Rūma Kaitiaki’ inside the Treaty House. There are maps, photos, and illustrations in frames on the wall, and books are open on a table in the middle of the room)
As museums, we really have to be very careful that we are seen as experts. So we need to make sure our own biases are examined and that we know that the stories we're sharing are based on really good understanding of what's going on at the time, what has been going on at the time and how they have been interpreted at other times.
(A wide shot passing over an information board with details on Te Ana o Maikuku (Maikuku’s cave) and Hobson’s Beach, and ending on a wide shot of Hobson’s Beach looking out towards the water)
Museums can offer a lot of value to schools as they develop their local curriculum.
(Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories, Special thanks to: Monika Kern, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Pātaka Art + Museum & Glenview School)
Finding GLAM facilities and services
To make use of, and build connections with the GLAM sector, you need to identify what organisations are available in your area. The following four websites are good places to begin a search:
- Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom
Find community-based organisations that provide learning experiences to complement and enhance student learning. - Local Government websites
Find links to local, district, and regional councils which offer information about GLAM venues. - NZ Museums website
Search for museums close to your school. - Heritage NZ website
Find heritage New Zealand places in your area.
Larger GLAM organisations such as Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, Te Papa, and the National Library have online collections and programmes to support Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories.
Supporting learning about Aotearoa New Zealand's histories
Before you plan a school visit to a GLAM organisation, take time to visit yourself to:
- view the taonga
- meet with GLAM personnel
- determine how their assets, exhibits, and personnel can support learning about Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories.
You could visit a GLAM facility with your teaching team or entire staff. During your visit, consider and discuss the following questions:
- What stories and perspectives about Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories are shared at this venue?
- How do these stories and perspectives relate to the Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum?
- How would a school visit to this venue deepen and enhance learning for ākonga?
- How can people who work in the GLAM sector support my own learning and students’ learning about Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories?
Building relationships with GLAM people will add value and enable you to incorporate relevant knowledge into your teaching programme. Many people in GLAM organisations are responsive to schools and can tailor visits to suit your needs and topics. They may even be willing to visit schools to share their knowledge. This can be a dynamic and useful partnership to explore new opportunities, fresh thinking, and feedback.
(Opening slide “Connecting with museums and planning a visit”)
(Monika Kern, Education Manager at Waitangi Treaty Grounds” sitting in a room at the Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi speaking; Students and educators working on history exercises at Pātaka Art + Museum; Exterior of Te Whare Rūnanga - Carved Meeting House at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds; Wide exterior shot from the left of Te Korowai ō Maikuku (waka house) at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds)
There are approximately five hundred public museums, libraries, archives and historic places in New Zealand. There's a number of websites online that you can check for the location of your closest museum. You can head to the NZ Museum's website or to Museums Aotearoa and check out their maps on there.
(Students walking into Pātaka Art + Museum; Educator talking to students standing in front of him at the museum)
You can really visit a museum at any part in your inquiry at the beginning in the middle at the end. There's a lot of ways of how you can utilise exhibitions and the artifacts on display.
(Students pressing on a touchscreen monitor at the Pātaka Museum; Front exterior shot of Te Korowai ō Maikuku (waka house) at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds)
For example, a school might have started looking into the idea of stories being told in different ways, like Māori traditionally had oral storytelling and through arts and haka and waiata.
(Interior shot of Te Korowai ō Maikuku (waka house) at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds showing the carvings on Ngātokimatawhaorua, a ceremonial waka inside the waka house)
So if they came here to Waitangi, we would take them down to Ngātokimatawhaorua to our waka shelter, look at the pou whakairo there.
(Close up on the tukutuku/carvings on the outside of Te Whare Rūnanga (Carved Meeting House) at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds; Visitors at the treaty grounds being invited in and walking towards the entrance of Te Whare Rūnanga)
We would then go up to the Whare Rūnanga and look at all the carvings, tukutuku at the kowhaiwhai in there and have our performers explain to them how they are telling their stories in their daily work. That might launch them off then to go and speak to the local Kaumātua and kuia and talk -- look at their local places and spin their enquiry off from there. There might be a class that has started looking in something like say, leaving a legacy.
(Monika Kern talking)
And they might come here to Waitangi, they might visited Te Rau Aroha and look at the legacy that especially the soldiers-- the twenty eight Māori battalion have left.
(Students walking through Pātaka Art + Museum— touching an anchor stone and listening to an educator talking to them. Wide exterior shot of Te Whare Rūnanga - Carved Meeting House at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds)
And only by standing in the place where people stood and trying to experience what they experience, does it become real. So really, I think never is a bad time to come to a museum, any time can be supportive of your learning.
(Walking through the Waitangi Treaty House and into the Family Room/Rūma Whānau, there are framed illustrations, and glass encased miniature model of the house in the centre of the room; Signage to the Family Room/Rūma Whānau of the Treaty House; A bedroom inside of the Treaty House)
A can get the most out of a visit to a local museum if you plan really well ahead. Let's
firstly go and visit what is actually on display there. Have a chat with them when they can accommodate you, how many of your group they might be able to accommodate and then speak really in-depth with them about what you want to get out of the visit.
(Walking up from the Hobson Beach towards the front of the Te Whare Rūnanga)
You really want to make sure that they completely understand what it is that you're coming here for.
(Students walking through Pātaka Art + Museum; students at the museum touching illustrations on the walls, and placing with a toy eel into a replica Māori hīnaki (eel trap) and pulling a fish out of it)
Once you've got that part sorted, it's really important that you start preparing your students, not just the learning in the classroom, but also where are we going to go? What are we going to do there? What is it going to be like?
(A line of students sitting on the floor partaking in a history exercise at the Pātaka Museum; An educator shows the students images of waka; An educator sitting on the museum floor working with a student to complete the history exercise)
Your culture and heritage institutions can be a real treasure trove of knowledge and stories. Don't be afraid. Go and approach them. And they are more than happy to engage with you and make a programme work for you.
(Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories, Special thanks to: Monika Kern, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Pātaka Art + Museum & Glenview School)
Planning a school visit
Once you have decided on a GLAM facility to visit with your students, work with GLAM staff to plan the details. Make sure that you have a shared understanding of what you want to get out of the visit and work collaboratively to design a rich agenda of learning. Things to consider:
- What big idea/s do we want to explore through our visit?
- What national, rohe and/or local contexts bring the big ideas to life?
- What inquiry practices can the students use to think critically about the past?
- When is the best time to visit? Consider the stage of inquiry and a suitable day and time.
Once you have established the purpose, objectives, and timing of the trip you can begin to prepare your students. This might involve:
- completing classroom activities to build prior knowledge, curiosity, and questions
- going over practices and procedures for EOTC safety
- creating a list of questions for ākonga to work through during the trip
- designing follow up classroom work to build on the understandings and skills gained.
Possible questions for ākonga to ask
- What do I see, feel, think and hear?
- What do I want to know more about?
- Whose stories are being told?
- Is there another perspective to these stories?
- What’s missing? Why?
- How do these histories relate to present day life?
