Title of Learning Resource: Spaces for Children and for Understanding Childhood? Exploring Museums, Galleries and Libraries

Name and email address: Mel Gibson and Kay Sambell mel.gibson@unn.ac.uk and kay.sambell@unn.ac.uk

University: Northumbria University

Background: Module - Perspectives on Childhood.
• Key theory module on BA Joint Honours in Childhood Studies
The module introduces first year undergraduates to key theoretical perspectives on the academic study of childhood. There are usually around 120 students participating in this module, many of whom could be considered ‘non-traditional’ students.

Aims

That an institutional or professional ideology of childhood can be read through an analysis of the collections of artefacts a museum, library or art gallery contains and through the use and layout of displays, rooms and other spaces within these buildings is a complex set of related concepts.

We predominantly employ the resources below, a series of trigger questions about libraries, art galleries and museums, and their collections, to develop student awareness of the ways in which places and collections can embody the ideology around childhood of the professionals who manage those spaces.

In addition, through their use, students begin to analyse artworks and other materials in collections in relation to what they reveal about attitudes to childhood both in the way they are placed in, say, a gallery, but also at the point that they were created.

Further, we see the questions below as having a role in improving visual literacy through the way that they ask that students begin to analyse individual images.

These are initial steps for students into all these areas and the work below can be built upon in a number of ways.
Sample strategy
These questions can be used for student visits, either formally, or informally, to the types of site mentioned above. Whilst originally designed with specific collections in mind, the versions below are more general and should be adapted to suit sites that your students can easily access. They offer two sets of questions, one on the building and the various spaces within it and one on artworks and objects.

Student visits to a single site would enable them to start analysing whether these could be seen as child-related environments and visiting several would allow students to begin to compare whether the professionals organising the spaces hold differing ideologies around childhood.

Ultimately, we are trying to encourage the students to see how sites can reflect and embody professional values, and understand that this may have a direct impact upon children’s lives through the services they and their families encounter. Further, we are trying to encourage an understanding that the collections and activities that are held in those sites may also be reflections of the ideology of the staff.

Working in small groups, students who have all, either as group or individuals, explored a single setting using the trigger questions, can pull together a view on the perspectives on childhood the site and collection embody (views which may well be contradictory, in tension and multiple, rather than simple and monolithic). If only a single site is visited, I would suggest that it is an art gallery (see Notes for Staff for further information).

If several different sites are visited, comparisons of different sites of the same type, say museums, could be carried out, analysing why one site or collection could be considered more child-focused than another.

Finally, visiting different types of setting enables students to explore the differences and similarities between the ideologies expressed. All of the above can be drawn out during feedback, enabling students to share key understandings with peers and link theoretical perspectives with ‘real world’ examples.

Learning Resource

The following question sheets could be seen as offering an ‘off the shelf’ resource that can be used in a variety of ways in your own teaching to develop students’ understanding of key issues, concepts or debates relating to childhood.

The trigger questions given here assume a general museum or gallery, rather than one specifically devoted to childhood.

Each section below could be produced as a separate document, with relevant information as to opening hours etc. at the start.

1) Museum

(Put website address here)

The website gives information on opening hours and maps. The Museum can be visited for free.

Childhood in the Museum

Use the Permanent Collection when thinking about these questions. The Permanent Collection consists of things that are on show all the time to the public, often in special display cases. Other objects will only be on show for a short period (probably be called a temporary, or special, collection or exhibition). You can look through this other kind of collection too, if you want to, but make sure to add that it is temporary to your notes.

General Questions to Consider

What rooms or displays contain references to childhood in terms of

a) objects
b) clothes
c) childhood cultures (e.g. games, or school life etc.)?

Create a map of the building which shows where childhood features.

You should then add a list of what appears in each of these parts of the building related to childhood (or a theme, if a whole room relates to childhood).

Approximately what percentage of all the things in the museum do you think this represents?

If low or high, why do you think this may be the case?

Analysing the collection

Focus. If a room or display is not totally about childhood, but it does get mentioned a little, how and why is it included?

Some parts of Childhood but not others? Looking at all the objects in the museum, what aspects of childhood does the whole collection focus on in particular? Play? Work? Why do you think a particular part of childhood features more than another, if it does?

Gender. Are there more objects that focus on boys? On girls? If there is an imbalance, why?

History. Do any specific periods dominate the materials you have identified? Why might that be the case?

‘Everychild’ or named children? Are the exhibitions about childhood in general, ‘everychild’ or do any specific (named) children feature? If there are any of the latter, who are they and why do they feature? If the exhibitions are about childhood in general, is there any indication of differences across class or across different time periods?

Children in the Museum

Create a map of the museum in which you indicate which rooms or part of rooms you consider to be child-friendly. As you do this you need to outline why you think this is so.

Answering the following questions may also help clarify your thinking about how the building, room layout and displays work.

For instance, are the objects positioned so that a smaller child could see them easily? If not, why might that be the case?

How is the information about the objects presented?

What materials exist to help younger visitors understand and explore the objects effectively?

Are there any interactive elements to the museum?

Are there spaces specifically targeted at children? What is the aim of these spaces? Are adults also welcome?

What age range does the museum seem to have in mind when it addresses children and young people? Are any age ranges separated off? Why?

Does the museum reveal a specific view of children as visitors (e.g. as pupils, or as explorers, as problematic)? Does the same view apply to teenagers?

Can you see any signposting that specifically refers to children (e.g. Under Fives Only, or Children Not Allowed)? What do they say? What do they tell you, if anything, about attitudes to children being in the building?

2) Library

(Put website address here)

The website gives information on opening hours and maps. The Library can be visited for free.

Childhood in the Library Stock

Create a map of the building which shows where books and other materials for children (e.g DVDs) feature. Are they all together in one place?

Approximately what percentages of the all the books, music and other materials do you think this represents? If low or high, why do you think this may be the case?

Are there separate collections of books for children and young people of different ages? If so, what are they, how are they indicated and why is the book stock divided in this way?

Is there material that could be useful to children, but is not labelled as for children? Where and what? Why do you think this is?

What limits are there on what children can borrow from the library? Is it different in terms of quantity from adults? Is it different in terms of which parts of the library children and young people can borrow from?

Is there a specific age at which children join the adult library? If so what is it and why do you think an age limit is set?

Children in the Library

Create an inventory of the parts of the library that you consider child-friendly.

For instance, are there places particularly for children and young people? How are they marked out? What is the aim of these areas? Are adults also welcome?

Are there any spaces for activities other than reading alone? What are they?

Are the books for younger children positioned so that a smaller child could access them easily? Are there any collections that are less accessible? Why?

How is information about the collection and services presented? Is this information aimed at children?

What materials exist to help younger visitors explore the library effectively?

Is there any suggestion that some of the library book and other stock is for boys or girls in particular?

Are there any activities for children flagged up? How? What are they? Are they free?

What age range(s) does the library seem to have in mind when it addresses children and young people? Are any age ranges separated off into different parts of the library? Why?

Does the library reveal a specific view of children as visitors (e.g. as pupils, or as explorers, or as problematic)? Does the same view apply to teenagers?

Can you see any signposting that specifically refers to children (e.g. Under Fives Only, or Children Not Allowed)? What do they say? What do they tell you, if anything, about attitudes to children being in the building?

3) Art Gallery

(Put website address here)

The website gives information on opening hours and maps. The Gallery can be visited for free.

Childhood in the Art Gallery

Use the Permanent Collection when thinking about these questions. The Permanent Collection consists of paintings, sculptures and other works of art that are on show all the time to the public. Other works of art will only be on show for a short period (probably in what will be called a temporary, or special, exhibition). You can look through this other kind of exhibition or collection too, if you want to, but make sure to add that it is temporary to your notes.

General Questions to Consider

What paintings, sculptures etc. feature children? Make a list which includes who made the work of art, the date when it was made, the title of the work and what medium it is made in.

The last term, medium, refers to what the artist used to make the thing you are looking at. It could be oil paints, watercolour, sculpture, photograph, or even video, amongst many others. There will be an information card of some kind near the work of art that will tell you what kind of medium the artist used, as well as give you the dates and names.

When you write down this information, lay it out like a bibliography e.g. William Holman Hunt, (1866-1868) Isabella and the Pot of Basil, oil on canvas.

Are all the works of art featuring children put together in one room, or are they spread throughout the rooms that contain the collection? How are the rooms laid out? For instance, do they focus on a specific period in time, or on a specific group of painters (who might be seen as all having a particular style of painting, or working in similar ways at the same time in history and so seen as a movement, like the Impressionists)? Why do you think they are laid out as they are?

Approximately what percentage of all of the works of art on show do you think the ones with children in represents? If low or high, why do you think this may be the case?

Analysing the Artworks

Focus. Are the children the main focus of each of the images/objects you have identified? If they are not central, but just included, what is the overall theme of the artwork (is it a painting about a moment in history, for instance, or a myth)?

Gender of the children in the works of art. Are there more works of art that with children as the focus which focus on boys? On girls? If there is an imbalance, why?

Gender of painters. Are there more male or female painters making children central to the objects they make? If there is any difference, what might account for that?

Size. Are the paintings of children big or small? Making a big painting of a child might suggest that the child in them is important in some way. If any of the pictures are big, are there any clues as to why this might be?

‘Everychild’? Are the children in the paintings and other artworks representations of childhood in general? (Ones that show particular children who are named are looked at in the next set of questions). When you look at all the works of art that have children who are ‘everychild’ in them, is the ‘everychild’ a particular kind of child (e.g. blonde boy, or pretty girl)? If there is a type that dominates, what is it, and why do you think it does?

Named Children. Are any of the art works you have found portraits of named individuals? Do they have a special significance (e.g. they are religious figures, for instance, or children who feature in particular stories)? Can they be identified as of a specific class? How is that shown in the image?

Dates. Look at the dates. Are there any particular eras in which it seems more common to depict children? If so, why that might be the case?

Perspectives on Childhood 1. Do the images you have located suggest that the artist had a particular view of childhood? (For instance, are they very Romantic images, or images of the child as victim?)

Perspectives on Childhood 2. Choose two paintings, or other works of art, that show very different, opposed, views of childhood. Explain what they are and how the artwork tells you about that child (think about, for instance, what they wear, how happy or healthy they look, whether they are central or not, whether the picture is dark or light, what kind of colours are used and how all of this contributes to creating a specific view of childhood).

Children in the Art Gallery

Create a map of the gallery in which you indicate which parts of the gallery you consider to be child-friendly. As you do this you need to outline why you think this is so.

Answering the following questions may also help clarify your thinking about how the art gallery rooms and displays are laid out.

For instance, is the art positioned so that a smaller child could see it easily? If not, why might that be the case?

How is the information about the art works presented?

What materials exist to help younger visitors understand and explore the artworks effectively?

Are there any interactive elements to the gallery?

Are there spaces specifically targeted at children? What is the aim of these spaces? Are adults also welcome? How accessible is the site?

Does the gallery (and the specific spaces within it for children) reveal a specific view of children as visitors (e.g. as pupils, or as explorers, as problematic)? Does the same view apply to teenagers?

Can you see any signposting that specifically refers to children (e.g. Under Fives Only, or Children Not Allowed)? What do they say? What do they tell you, if anything, about attitudes to children being in the building?

Notes for staff in relation to the questions

Whilst most of the questions for the museum and gallery are fairly general, the Analysing the Artworks questions in the section about the art gallery need some supplementary information.

The following very general points indicate the reasoning behind some of the questions. Used in addition to key text, Philippe Aries (1960) Centuries of Childhood (and alongside critiques thereof as well as more recent theoretical texts around childhood more generally) they will support both student and staff understanding of the issues.

1) The size of paintings, in more conservative ways of thinking about and making art, was often seen as reflecting how important the subject was perceived as being. This was especially the case within the Academies of Art that very much dominated the nineteenth century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_art) and so, in turn, often dominated art collections in smaller galleries around Britain (they mostly began at that point in history). Size was often seen as most significant when combined with a specific genre (see 4 below). The bigger a picture, the more important. Size, then, often matters.

Making a picture of children on a large scale could, then, be seen as making a point
about how important this subject should be. Typically, images of children, unless of
significant named children (especially of Jesus as a child, or of royals for instance) are
most commonly on a small scale.

2) Women artists were not generally allowed access to formal training in painting in the Western tradition (particularly in the Academies of Art in the early twentieth century and before). This means that the art they created tends to reflect what they had access to, often home, friends and family (but these were not often seen as ‘important’ subjects (see 4 below) unless the references were religious or mythological, particularly, say, images of Christ as a child). A number of women artists, including, for instance, Berthe Morisot, took family and friends as their focus.

3) Another hierarchy was about medium, with, for instance, watercolour being seen as less important than oil painting. For example, descriptions of watercolour as an appropriate medium for women to work in (or of the middle-class lady ‘dabbler’ in watercolours) contain a value judgement about medium, gender appropriate behaviour (paint, but not too well and not in oils, which would make a woman seem ‘serious’ about art) and notions of professionalism versus amateurism. Debates about hierarchies around medium continue today, with art photography, for instance, sometimes seen as problematic.

4) Yet another hierarchy within the schools of art of was based on genre. History painting (including myth, classical, literary, allegorical and religious subjects) was at the top and then, in the academies, in order of descent, genre painting, portraiture, still life and landscape. By making art from ‘lesser’ categories an artist might be seen as rebelling against dominant discourses about art. In addition, many movements within nineteenth and twentieth century art rebelled against the traditional approaches and hierarchies, for instance, Impressionism (and artists came to be seen as movements because, to exhibit when the academic hierarchies were dominant meant you either had to have a very able and rich single supporter, or work with others of the same style to get access to exhibition space).

5) Finally, hanging an image at eye-level, referred to as ‘on the line’, in the Nineteenth century, was a way of telling the viewer that this was one of the best works of art. Hanging a work of art higher suggested it was of poorer quality, and artists would argue against their art being placed in such a way. The eye-level, inevitably, is not neutral, in that it corresponds with that for an adult male of whatever is considered average height at any given point in history, rather than a woman or child. Today, single works of art are typically hung ‘on the line’ in a row, rather than the walls being crowded with images. This may work well for an adult viewer but, unless the floor space is big enough to allow a child to look from a distance, or they are carried, makes it difficult for a child viewer to enjoy a painting. Hanging below the line, then, whilst it could be good for children as viewers of paintings, could, historically, have been seen as a criticism and may, today, be seen as risking the artworks being touched. Adult viewpoints, then, tend to dominate galleries.

Advice to others thinking of using this resource
You should ideally visit the space you are planning students to explore with the trigger questions, to test out whether they work in a given space and what kind of data you might get from them. This will enable you to adapt the questions as needed.

Make sure that the students can visit for free. The trigger questions assume that the spaces will be largely unfamiliar ones. In actual fact, the art gallery is the type of venue that students are least likely to have visited and the one that they typically feel least comfortable about entering. The questions could be further adapted to allow students to talk about how comfortable they feel in the spaces, and why.

Specific exhibitions will have their own particular ‘take’ on childhood, and may, indeed, focus on images of childhood. This may not be the same viewpoint as that held by the staff that run overall site. Knowing what exhibitions are coming up will enable you to adapt the trigger questions to look for differences between the exhibitions. However, special exhibitions often attract a charge.

The questions are designed to negate the need for students to take pictures (which would need to be negotiated, if allowed at all).

Any leaflets offering information or a floor plan of the building, if available, it will prove useful pointers as to ideology, or simply help students to understand and map the space.

To build further on this exercise we have found it valuable to encourage students to do some research and reading in preparation for the visit, both in a practical sense through exploring the sites website (for which a further set of questions could be prepared) and in terms of perspectives on childhood.

This allows students to see how theory can be applied and perceive the contrasts between theoretical viewpoints they might come across in their secondary reading. At first this needs to be fairly strongly prescribed to give students confidence. It also is a useful way of cluing them in to the literature a module tutor wants them to use, because of course different secondary literatures can be applied to the same sites to highlight particular issues.

Further Resources
http://www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk/default.aspx?flash=true

The policy documents here offer a framework for staff working in libraries, museums and archives. They include a number of worksheets that could be adapted for use with students in relation to increasing their understanding of the issues facing adult stakeholders and emphasise the changing perceptions of the roles of some of these institutions.

Gibson, M. & Sambell, K. ‘Spaces for Children and for Understanding Childhood? Exploring Museums, Galleries and Libraries’ in The MEDAL Casebook, MEDAL Consortium (2006)
http://medal.unn.ac.uk/learning_resources/spaces.htm

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