Entertainment in the Past
WEA, Clifton Park Museum, Central Library, Rotherham
The cover of the book produced during the project
This ten week WEA course used museum, library and archive resources to improve literacy skills of adult learners. The group spent a term researching ‘Entertainment in the Past’, using library books, information such as old newspapers and photographs from the local archives, museum objects and oral history memories from friends and family.
The course was based in the central library, and included tours of the library and local studies section. Everyone in the group had the chance to join the library and take out books to help them find out more about their topic.
Museum staff visited the group bringing old objects that could be handled. Learners were also trained in one to one interview techniques and carried out oral history interviews, using loaned minidisk players.
Each learner took a different subject within ‘entertainment’ to research and produce text and pictures on. All work was compiled in a book, as a final product from the term's work.
Learners’ Comments:
“I found family memories interesting because they are so personal. I interviewed my aunties, and would love to write a book based on oral history memories of my relatives.”
“The course helped me to learn how to look things up, and how to get things to fall into place. I was glad to be involved, and enjoyed working as a group.”
100% of learners interviewed ‘felt more confident using different sources of information e.g. books, libraries, archives’.
Get more details about this case study: YMLAC_HeritageEducation.pdf [37.3kb]
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