Developing communication friendly museums
Background
During 2006-08, four museum services – The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-
Trent, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, Worcester Museum & Art Gallery and The New
Art Gallery Walsall - took part in a partnership project, funded by NESTA. What makes this
project significant is that its central aim was to investigate how collections and their
interpretation can be used to nurture communication between babies, young children
and their parents. Working with partners, the project came about in direct response to the
communication needs in these towns. As would be expected, the changes also helped the
museums become more welcoming places for families with young children, especially those who
were infrequent visitors.
The project was led by Amanda Heath of Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service. It was supported by a NESTA mentor, Jo Graham, who is an Early Years and Museums Advisor. Early in the project, Dr Vicky Cave was commissioned to carry out research to identify barriers to communication within the partner museums and to inform the project planning. Each partner took part in the research, which included baseline studies and extensive observation of visitors. Museum staff also went to other museums to investigate practice and attended training in early years and communication issues.
The inclusion of Stoke Speaks Out, a multiagency partnership focusing on the issues underlying children's language deficits, was crucial in ensuring that project members understood the issues surrounding family communication. Stoke Speaks Out also provided access to groups of ‘difficult-to-reach’ parents. Following outreach sessions, discussions with visitors and focus groups, gallery improvements were piloted, installed, evaluated and refined.
External evaluation of the project has clearly shown that museums have a key role to play in providing safe, welcoming environments that encourage communication and close family learning.
