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how i make the difference
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how I make the difference
. . . bringing history to life
Handling a metal slave trader's chain, with which slaves were once bound, makes a lasting impression.
The chain is among many artefacts now being used at Hull's Museums to teach children and adults about the past.
"It gets visitors asking questions about the people and events that shaped history," says Jon Pywell, head of education and lifelong learning at Hull Museums.
It's Jon's job to ensure that the 410,00 visitors to Hull Museums every year learn as much as they can every time they visit.
And that includes more than 25,000 primary and secondary school children who come from 420 schools across Hull, the East Riding and North Lincolnshire.
"Museums are not dusty buildings full of relics – but vibrant and exciting places of learning that offer a top-quality visitor experience for people of all ages," adds Jon, a former primary school head teacher, who has also worked in tourism.
"We encourage pupils to handle items from our collections.
"Everything they work on in the museums is linked to their primary and secondary school studies, so visiting a museum makes sure they are learning outside the classroom."
The numbers of schoolchildren visiting Hull Museums has doubled in the last two years – and that's partly a result of Jon's work in developing learning tours and workshops which help guide school parties around the exhibition areas.
"Before we set up the tours, teachers had to draw up their own worksheets for pupils whenever they visited our sites, but now all the preparatory work has been done for them."
Jon, whose office is based in the Museums Quarter, in High Street, has also developed learning tours for adults and families, to help them around the galleries and exhibit areas of Hull Museums.
To mark the opening of Wilberforce House, Jon has prepared a special tour for Hull in print readers and their families on pages 22 and 23 of this issue.
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Hull Museums have free admission. They include Wilberforce House,
Hull and East Riding Museum, Streetlife Museum,
Maritime Museum,
Hands on History Museum,
The Ferens Art Gallery,
the Arctic Corsair,
and the Spurn Lightship.
For more information, call 300300 or visit www.hullcc.gov.uk
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